Hampshire Autumn 2025

The sports hall at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College buzzed with relentless energy as stacks of timers flashed across rows of competition tables. Solvers from across the country and abroad settled into their seats, adjusting their mats and warming up their fingers under the bright lights of Eastleigh, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Hampshire Autumn 2025 drew a field of 137 competitors across two full days of play on October 25 and October 26, 2025. Across nine varied disciplines and 18 rounds of play, the weekend provided non-stop drama.

Saturday opened with early qualification rounds and technical disciplines that tested both raw pace and deep concentration. Blindfolded solving, an exercise demanding immense memorisation before executing moves without sight, featured prominently on the schedule. Michael Ngan delivered a masterclass across the larger blindfolded categories, claiming victory in the single-round 4x4x4 Blindfolded event with a single of 2:25.96, ahead of Liam Pintat at 3:53.63 and Ainesh Sevellaraja at 4:10.48. Ngan repeated his triumph in 5x5x5 Blindfolded, recording an average of 8:52.78 to beat Akash Jain and Edmund Finch.

The mid-table battles in the side events also began to take shape as Saturday progressed. Aidan Grainger established absolute command over two distinct puzzles, capturing first place in Clock with a swift 3.69 winning average and a single of 2.84 across two rounds. Grainger doubled his gold tally in Megaminx, taking the title with an average of 28.16, while Daniel Partridge took second place with 38.48 and Oliver Richards claimed third with 38.87. In the Square-1 final, Dorian Chan secured victory with an 8.52 average, edging out Partridge at 9.10 and Billie Hammill at 9.13.

Beyond the finals, the open stages of the WCA competition offered countless personal victories across the roster. Rowan Davey took on eight different events across the weekend, shaving 46.6 percent off a 2x2x2 Cube personal best down to 1.25, improving by 26.4 percent in 3x3x3 Blindfolded to 1:40.30, and taking ninth place in 4x4x4 Blindfolded. Alec Hall entered seven events, securing a 12th-place finish in 2x2x2 Cube while posting a personal best of 1.51, which was 40.8 percent faster than before, alongside first attempts in 5x5x5 Cube at 2:18.97 and Megaminx at 1:41.89. Emma Pintat entered seven events, making a first 3x3x3 Blindfolded attempt of 58.21 to place ninth, a first Square-1 attempt of 28.28, and a Clock personal best of 10.30.

The developmental progress continued throughout the rounds as solvers tackled new formats with determination. Marco Chan cut 48.1 percent off a Megaminx personal best to reach 1:19.00, improved by 26.6 percent in Square-1 to 24.52, and recorded a first Clock attempt of 23.61. Danyar Ahmed advanced to an eighth-place finish in the 3x3x3 Cube, improved by 17.1 percent in 2x2x2 Cube to 2.23, and logged first attempts in 5x5x5 Cube at 2:02.57 and Square-1 at 40.32. Sahibpreet Singh Randhawa cut 36.1 percent from a 2x2x2 Cube best down to 4.41, improved by 10.2 percent on 3x3x3 Cube to 19.60, and recorded a first Clock attempt of 17.76. Hazel Chan registered a first Megaminx attempt of 1:52.32 and lowered personal marks in 2x2x2 Cube to 2.71 and 3x3x3 Cube to 11.76. Isobel Morton entered six events, logging first attempts in 5x5x5 Cube at 2:19.33, Square-1 at 27.85, and Clock at 10.72.

Sunday morning turned the spotlight toward the big cube finals, where Daniel Partridge put together an outstanding run in the 5x5x5 Cube. Partridge earned the top spot on the podium with a winning average of 47.22 and a fastest single of 41.72 across two rounds, outlasting Jake Brown at 54.18 and Aidan Grainger at 54.31. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded competition, Liam Pintat secured first place with an impressive single of 18.91, leading Edmund Finch at 44.15 and Michael Ngan at 37.52.

Sprint events brought massive fields and razor-thin margins on Sunday afternoon, starting with the 2x2x2 Cube where 103 competitors battled over three stages. Jacob Sherwen Brown took the title with a sub-two average of 1.94, accompanied by a single of 1.34. Rufus Prabhu-Desai took the runner-up position with 2.33, while Grainger collected another podium finish in third place with 2.50. The event also featured regional benchmark marks from competitors across multiple nations during early rounds.

The weekend concluded with the classic Rubik's Cube final, where 124 entrants were narrowed down through three cut-throat rounds to determine the ultimate champion. Ainesh Sevellaraja delivered blistering turns to top the 3x3 results, capturing the title with an average of 7.41 and a best single of 6.81. Rufus Prabhu-Desai claimed second place with a 7.55 average, while Daniel Partridge completed the podium at 7.70. With the final solve completed, Hampshire Autumn 2025 wrapped up an extraordinary celebration of speedcubing and speed cubing excellence in Eastleigh.

The overall medal count reflected the wide international reach of the gathering, with United Kingdom solvers earning 20 podium positions, Hong Kong claiming four, Malaysia earning two, and Japan securing one. Competitors packed away their cubes after a grueling 18 rounds of tournament action, looking back on career-best performances and new milestones across every format.