Flushing Open PM 2024

Inside the ballroom at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel, the atmosphere was charged with the rhythmic clatter of plastic layers shifting at breakneck speed. Timers flickered in bright green as competitors adjusted their posture and studied their scrambles across four intense rounds of competition. The venue in Flushing, New York, USA brought together a field of 47 competitors on November 24, 2024, eager to test their skills against standard and specialized twists alike. The single-day schedule delivered a concentrated celebration of dexterity, precision, and varied problem-solving.

The tournament schedule at Flushing Open PM 2024 celebrated a rich mix of formats, demanding entirely distinct skill sets across three separate disciplines. Rather than sticking solely to standard two-handed execution, participants took on the heavy layer alignments of big-cube solving as well as the intricate finger dexterity needed to control a puzzle using only five fingers. Moving between the compact maneuvers of one-handed execution and the extensive alignment demands of large multi-layered mechanisms gave the gathering a unique competitive texture.

The marquee 3x3x3 Cube event drew all 47 entrants across two packed rounds of Rubik's Cube solving. In the final, Evan Liu captured victory with a commanding winning average of 7.42 seconds, having posted a rapid single solve of 4.87 seconds during the round. Aaron Jake Wong claimed second place on the podium with a 7.68 average, backed by a quick single of 6.16 seconds. Ayden Dincher took third place with a 7.97 average, having earlier produced an impressive 5.98 single in the round. The top tier of the 3x3 results demonstrated remarkable consistency under pressure.

Specialized events brought their own distinct thrills to the tables. In the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, 33 competitors took on the task of maneuvering the puzzle with a single hand. Jaylen Myles secured the top spot with a winning average of 11.84 seconds and a best single of 10.19 seconds. Kunaal Parekh of India and Kymberlyn Calderon of the United States finished in an exact dead heat for the remaining podium steps, both logging averages of 13.73 seconds.

The 6x6x6 Cube discipline tested endurance and spatial tracking across 24 competitors, requiring methodical reduction techniques on a massive mechanism. Evan Liu completed a golden double at Flushing Open PM 2024 by taking first place with a winning average of 1:43.24, alongside the best single of the event at 1:36.43. Ayden Dincher earned the silver step on the podium with an average of 1:53.00, while Kymberlyn Calderon took third place with an average of 1:58.08.

Beyond the podium battles, the heart of this cubing competition was defined by personal milestones and daring new event debuts. Evan Huang showed massive growth in the classic event, dropping his 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 8.59 seconds, which was 34.4 percent faster than his previous mark of 13.09, while also improving his one-handed mark to 28.90 seconds. Stanley Chen took a huge step forward in one-handed solving, recording a personal best of 28.30 seconds that was 26.3 percent faster than his prior 38.42 best. Luke Huxta trimmed his standard puzzle mark down to 12.69 seconds, an improvement of 16.5 percent. Sean Rodríguez Antonio tackled two events and shaved 14.1 percent off his one-handed record with a 59.03 solve.

Other competitors expanded their repertoires with ambitious new challenges at this speedcubing stop. Megan Kuo entered three events, recording a 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best of 16.65 seconds that was 10.1 percent faster than before, while logging her first ever attempt at 6x6x6 Cube with a time of 3:44.00. Javen Zhao made a stellar first appearance at an official speed cubing tournament, entering three events, taking 8th place in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and posting debut marks of 7.64 in 3x3x3 Cube, 16.07 in One-Handed, and 3:10.38 in 6x6x6 Cube. AJ Harned took on three events and notched first-ever attempts in both 3x3x3 One-Handed at 36.68 and 6x6x6 Cube at 6:45.29. Rafael Daniella Gabinete completed three events, including a first official 6x6x6 Cube attempt of 6:00.74.

The final medal tally reflected broad local strength alongside international flavor, with United States competitors earning eight podium places and India securing one. As the timers were packed away and the final scores submitted to the database, Flushing Open PM 2024 concluded having demonstrated the immense variety and depth that make modern WCA competition so engaging for solvers of every specialty.