Drury Summer 2025

The competitive floor at Drury Hall was filled with intense focus and rapid turns on November 15, 2025. Across rows of official timing mats, 52 competitors gathered in Auckland, New Zealand, ready to test their preparation across 14 separate rounds. The atmosphere reflected the relentless drive of a new generation of solvers determined to shave critical fractions of a second off their previous marks.

The single-day cubing competition featured six distinct disciplines, drawing talent from across the region to showcase their skills on the classic Rubik's Cube and varied twisty puzzles. While seasoned contenders battled for the top steps of the podium, the primary narrative across the venue was the extraordinary pace of improvement shown by young speedcubing entrants pushing their limits in official World Cube Association play.

In the flagship 3x3x3 Cube event, which brought all 52 participants to the tables across three rounds, Chris Mills secured the title with a winning average of 6.76 seconds. Mills delivered the round's best single of 5.51 seconds to lead the field, while Alexander Vujcich took second place with a 6.98 average. Richard Yiheng Tao matched Vujcich with a 6.98 average to finish third, completing a fiercely contested final round in the premier 3x3 results.

Mills extended his dominance to 3x3x3 One-Handed, claiming victory with an average of 11.45 seconds and a standout single solve of 9.94. Tao earned second place with a 12.23 average, followed by Jesse Brooke in third with 13.38. Meanwhile, Alexander Vujcich captured the top spot in the 4x4x4 Cube, posting a winning average of 23.39 and the event's best single of 18.78. Mills placed second on the 4x4x4 podium at 25.45, with Kate Grahame taking third at 29.29.

Beyond the championship finals, the true spirit of the meet emerged in the massive personal leaps achieved across the roster. Theo Lindsay dropped his personal best in Skewb down to 6.55 seconds, a massive 56 percent improvement over his previous mark of 14.89, while also improving in One-Handed. Marco Lawson-Hughes contested four events and cut his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 49.2 percent to 2.53 seconds, while recording his first ever official attempts in Skewb with a 5.45 single and One-Handed at 30.95. Milton Zhong shaved 38.1 percent off his 3x3x3 mark to reach 28.47 and took his 2x2x2 best down to 6.03. Ethan Ruoqing Chen entered six events, finishing 18th in the main event while lowering his Square-1 best by 37.7 percent to 25.81 and dropping his Skewb mark by 36 percent to 6.44.

The breakthrough performances continued through first-time event entries and new milestones. Isaiah Bohan cut his 3x3x3 personal best by 36.1 percent to 28.48 while logging first-ever official attempts in 2x2x2 at 7.76 and Skewb at 16.10. Adam Edward John Tasker took on all six events on the schedule, setting a 4x4x4 personal best of 1:29.94 alongside first-time attempts in Square-1 at 49.23 and Skewb at 7.08. Noah Vaa tackled four events, recording a first official Skewb time of 19.59 and slicing 39.8 percent off his One-Handed best to finish in 50.21. Debutant Adrian Joel Schutte entered his first WCA competition, taking on six events and registering inaugural official marks of 23.83 in 3x3x3, 1:11.59 in One-Handed, and 8.93 in Skewb.

The side events also provided thrilling margins at Drury Summer 2025. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Yuki Gao claimed victory with an average of 1.78 seconds, narrowly edging Ram Thakkar who recorded a 1.79 average, while Tao placed third at 1.81. Grahame set the fastest single of the 2x2x2 rounds at 1.54 seconds. In Skewb, Caleb Hall took first place with a 4.59 average, edging Ashley Foster at 4.60 and Mills at 4.65 in a podium decided by hundredths of a second. Foster went on to win the Square-1 event with a 10.08 average and 8.11 single, followed by Kalvin Lum at 11.69 and Vujcich at 11.90.

The competitive display in Drury Hall concluded with New Zealand solvers taking 15 total podium places, joined by international medalists representing China, India, and the United States. With dramatic improvements across every discipline and young competitors proving their rapid development, the speed cubing gathering in Auckland closed a memorable day of racing against the clock.