Howick Spring 2025

The competition hall at Howick High School buzzed with focused energy as timers flickered and plastic mechanisms clicked across the tables. Nineteen competitors gathered in Howick, South Africa over October 4–5 for an intense weekend of puzzle-solving across eight distinct disciplines and eleven rounds. From the opening inspections to the final solves, the atmosphere carried the distinct tension of competitors pushing their limits in pursuit of personal milestones and podium positions.

The sharpest drama of Howick Spring 2025 unfolded in the 2x2x2 Cube final, where the podium places were settled by mere fractions of a second. Rhynard Steyn captured the victory with a 3.48-second winning average, having posted a best single of 2.34 seconds during the event. Waseem Hoosain secured the second step on the podium with a 4.10 average, edging ahead of Grant Robert King who finished in third place with a 4.18 average. The separation between second and third came down to just eight hundredths of a second, demonstrating how unforgiving the event can be.

Beyond the tight 2x2x2 Cube battle, Hoosain delivered an authoritative set of performances across multiple disciplines throughout the cubing competition. In the classic 3x3x3 Cube, Hoosain claimed the top spot with an 8.47 winning average and produced a weekend-best single of 6.51 seconds across two rounds of action. Dalton Bosman took second place on the 3x3 podium with a 10.47 average, followed closely by Grant Robert King in third place at 10.86 seconds.

Hoosain extended his winning run into the larger cubes and specialized categories. In 4x4x4 Cube, Hoosain took first place with a 31.59 average and a 28.43 single, finishing ahead of Dalton Bosman at 42.18 and Casey Milos at 47.55. Taking on 3x3x3 One-Handed, Hoosain secured another gold with a 14.44 average, as Grant Robert King finished second with 20.07 and Dalton Bosman placed third with 25.13 in the single-round event.

Behind the headline winners, several competitors delivered remarkable personal improvements across the event roster. Levi Jordan Simeon achieved a massive personal best in 3x3x3 One-Handed with a 44.04 single, slashing 51.6 percent off his previous benchmark, alongside personal bests of 10.09 in Pyraminx and 6.37 in 2x2x2 Cube. Matthew Eaton improved his 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 20.54, an improvement of 25 percent, while completing his first ever official attempts in 4x4x4 Cube with a 2:16.21 and 2x2x2 Cube with a 5.76. Sidharth Keshava Singh made his official debut at Howick Spring 2025 across four events, logging first attempts of 1:12.19 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, 12.84 in Pyraminx, and 10.25 in 2x2x2 Cube. Tobias Lochner took on six events and lowered his Pyraminx personal best to 4.98 seconds, taking fifth place.

The breakthroughs continued across the field as competitors expanded their event repertoires. Joshua Holtzhausen entered his first WCA competition, recording an opening Clock attempt of 22.13 seconds to place eighth alongside a 45.94 single in the Rubik's Cube. Keyara Ramsamy also made her official speedcubing debut, posting an opening 18.98 in Pyraminx and a 28.83 single in 3x3x3. Vidya Moodley improved her 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 16.7 percent with a 21.27 single, while Elijah Scott improved his 3x3x3 mark by 17.8 percent with a 29.37 single across his two entered events.

The rotational events provided additional podium variety over the two days. Grant Robert King claimed the Clock title with an 8.77 winning average and a 7.64 single, outperforming Rhynard Steyn who finished second with an 11.76 average and Timothy Lawrance in third with 13.67. Steyn added another victory to his tally in Pyraminx, taking the top spot with a 4.49 average over Grant Robert King at 5.71 and Dalton Bosman at 6.32.

The weekend concluded with demanding blindfolded disciplines that test pure recall and execution without visual tracking. Timothy Lawrance dominated both memory-based categories, taking first place in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a winning single of 1:52.57 ahead of Dalton Bosman at 3:01.57 and Elsabé Erasmus at 6:27.73. Lawrance was also the sole competitor to log a successful solve in 4x4x4 Blindfolded, winning with a single of 5:49.85 as Howick Spring 2025 drew to a close with memorable speed cubing across all eight events.