HCHS Winter Open 2024

Kai-Wen Wang delivered a commanding triple-victory weekend in Hsinchu, Taiwan, claiming top honours in three separate disciplines on February 3, 2024. Across twelve rigorous rounds held at Hsinchu National Senior High School, reaching a final round was a grueling task as 76 competitors fought through crowded brackets. The one-day cubing competition demanded absolute consistency across five distinct puzzles, testing whether title hopefuls could hold their nerve across multiple rounds of high-intensity solving.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew 75 competitors, demanding three full rounds of cuts before deciding the champion. Yi-Fan Wu secured first place with an impressive winning average of 7.01 seconds, also posting a best single of 6.56 seconds. The 3x3 results remained tight right through to the last solve, with India representative Amey Gaba taking second place with a 7.21 average and Kai-Wen Wang earning third place on a 7.54 average.

Kai-Wen Wang established dominance in the larger Rubik's Cube categories, showcasing tremendous control across the bigger puzzles. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Wang captured the title with a 24.35 winning average and a 23.11 single, outpacing runner-up Ping-Yueh Huang who clocked a 26.27 average, while Yi-Fan Wu took third with 26.50. Wang doubled his big cube haul in the 5x5x5 Cube, recording a 40.52 average alongside a single of 37.12 to beat Wu on 46.53 and Huang on 49.40.

The Skewb bracket presented Wang with a third gold medal at HCHS Winter Open 2024. After navigating through the field of 37 entrants, Wang completed a winning average of 3.31 seconds featuring a top single of 2.52 seconds. Chao-Che Chung followed in second place with a 4.50 average, while Shih-Wen Su earned the final podium spot with a 4.77 average in the closing round.

The 2x2x2 Cube competition pushed 63 entrants through three rapid stages, ending in a razor-thin final. Yen-An Chen took victory with an average of 2.34 seconds, accompanied by a 1.93 single solve. Yan-Hung Lai was right behind in second place with an average of 2.39, while Yi-Fan Wu captured third place with a 2.71 average, rounding out a packed set of podium positions that saw Taiwan claim 14 medals and India take one.

Beyond the championship finals, the deep field yielded remarkable individual milestones that the final tables often obscure. Yu-Chun Lee tackled five different disciplines, logging a massive personal best of 1:18.40 in the 5x5x5 Cube that improved on their previous mark by 40.2 percent, alongside a 29.5 percent improvement in the 4x4x4 Cube with a 45.31 mark and a first career attempt at Skewb at 48.26. Shang-En Wang also delivered a major leap, taking 20.9 percent off their 3x3x3 Cube mark with a new 20.80 personal best, while making initial competition attempts in the 2x2x2 Cube at 7.13 and Skewb at 14.23.

Other competitors took on multiple events to test their skills in new arenas across the day. Zhang-Wei Lin logged a 13.9 percent personal best of 17.10 in the 3x3x3 Cube while recording first-time marks in the 2x2x2 Cube at 4.32 and Skewb at 11.16. Yu-Ching Liu entered four disciplines, posting initial official attempts in Skewb at 6.81, the 4x4x4 Cube at 37.10, and the 5x5x5 Cube at 1:21.68. Yi-Xiang Liao took on five events and set baseline marks in the 2x2x2 Cube at 4.79, the 5x5x5 Cube at 2:45.69, and Skewb at 6.88, while Shih-Chu Lin completed first-ever attempts across the 2x2x2 Cube at 4.56, the 4x4x4 Cube at 38.49, and the 5x5x5 Cube at 1:36.78.

The standard of speed cubing on display throughout the Hsinchu venue reflected an incredibly competitive regional field. With hundreds of solves completed across the five scheduled events, advancing through even the preliminary phases demanded exceptional precision and composure from every competitor on the floor.

As the 2024 season progresses, this WCA competition demonstrated that winning margins continue to shrink while entry lists expand. The HCHS Winter Open 2024 proved that speedcubing excellence in Taiwan reaches far down the rankings, providing tight racing from the earliest preliminary round all the way to the final stage.

在三階魔術方塊決賽中，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)繳出平均7.01秒與最快單次6.56秒的成績，奪得三階項目的冠軍。這場於2024年2月3日在Hsinchu, Taiwan國立新竹高級中學舉行的HCHS Winter Open 2024，吸引了76位選手共襄盛舉，在5個項目共12輪賽事中展開極速對決。

本次魔術方塊比賽中，Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)展現了強大的全面實力，個人包辦三座冠軍。他在四階魔術方塊以平均24.35秒及單次23.11秒奪冠，五階魔術方塊以平均40.52秒及單次37.12秒封王，並在Skewb項目以平均3.31秒摘金，同時還在三階項目獲得季軍。

三階魔術方塊的競爭格外激烈，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)以7.01秒平均成績稱雄，來自印度的Amey Gaba以7.21秒位居亞軍，Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)則以7.54秒拿下季軍。在二階魔術方塊項目中，Yen-An Chen (陳彥安)以平均2.34秒奪冠，Yan-Hung Lai (賴彥宏)以2.39秒緊隨其後獲得亞軍，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)則以2.71秒名列第三。

高階魔術方塊的頒獎台同樣精彩。四階項目由Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)以24.35秒奪冠，Ping-Yueh Huang (黃品越)以26.27秒獲得第二名，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)以26.50秒位居第三。五階項目由Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)以40.52秒拿下第一，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)以46.53秒居次，Ping-Yueh Huang (黃品越)以49.40秒獲得季軍。Skewb項目則由Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)以3.31秒登頂，Chao-Che Chung (鍾肇哲)以4.50秒獲亞軍，Shih-Wen Su (蘇詩文)以4.77秒名列第三。

除了領獎台上的激烈爭奪，這場WCA competition的賽場深處更記錄了許多選手的飛躍成長與初次嘗試。Zi-Qi Yen (顏子淇)在二階魔術方塊刷出2.76秒的個人最佳紀錄，比原紀錄大幅提升40%，四階也以51.74秒進步22.9%，三階更做出11.14秒。Wei-Chun Hung (洪煒鈞)參加了5個項目，在四階以53.68秒大幅提升38.6%，五階以2:03.87進步19.7%，三階繳出10.96秒提升7.6%，並在Skewb拿下第10名。Chou-Hsuan Li (李宙軒)同樣出戰5個項目，在Skewb以3.60秒大幅進步32.6%並取得第9名，四階以48.82秒提升20.9%，並迎來五階魔術方塊的生涯首次嘗試，記錄下1:34.35。

其他多位選手也在賽場上拓展了各自的競技版圖。Qing-Chun Weng (翁慶淳)出戰5個項目，在二階以3.60秒進步26.2%，四階以51.23秒進步23.7%，同時寫下五階項目的初次嘗試成績1:49.35。Dylan Zamora (葉銘倫)報名5個項目，在二階以3.59秒進步15.5%，並首次在正式比賽中嘗試四階與五階，分別繳出1:05.27與3:34.04。Si-Xiao Zhou (周思霄)參加3個項目，首次嘗試四階與二階，分別留下1:33.18與7.62秒的成績，三階更以15.58秒將個人最佳紀錄推快10%。

各項分組賽事的推進展現了極高水準，在二階魔術方塊賽程中，多位選手紛紛刷新個人單次與平均成績，其中包括Yan-Hung Lai (賴彥宏)的1.38秒單次與2.29秒平均，以及Yen-An Chen (陳彥安)的1.78秒單次與2.39秒平均。整體賽事獎牌分布中，台灣選手共斬獲14個頒獎台席位，印度選手獲得1席。

整場HCHS Winter Open 2024在緊湊的賽程與選手們的全力以赴中圓滿落幕。無論是登上頒獎台的頂尖高手，還是迎來項目初體驗與個人突破的新星，都在這場新竹的週末速解盛會中留下了珍貴的競技足跡。