Hsinchu Summer Open 2024

The sports hall at Hsinchu National Senior High School filled early on August 17, 2024, as competitors settled into their stations and warmed their fingers across dozens of practice mats. Before a single time appeared on the official display boards, the hum of turning plastic and the click of stopwatches set the rhythm for the day. Staging five separate disciplines across 11 rounds meant the tournament schedule offered little room for error. Every competitor knew that advancing through the preliminary stages required sharp execution right from the morning scramble tables.

The single-day format tested pacing across every discipline, demanding composure across multiple qualifying tiers. A total of 139 competitors gathered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, creating deep fields that gave the elimination brackets serious weight. With limited slots available for subsequent rounds in events like the classic Rubik's Cube, every turn of the puzzle mattered. The progression structure put immense pressure on initial solves, forcing contenders to balance reckless speed against the risk of an early exit before the afternoon finals.

Nowhere was that pressure more evident than in the main 3x3x3 Cube event, which featured 134 entrants and three separate rounds of competition. Kai-Wen Wang established control as the field narrowed, maintaining blistering pace to capture the title with a winning average of 6.26 seconds. His run was anchored by a best single solve of 5.63 seconds. Yi-Fan Wu secured second place on the podium with a 7.19 average, while Kai-Lun Cheng took third place with a mark of 7.34. The official 3x3 results demonstrated how consistency across three distinct stages separated the podium finishers from the rest of the pack.

Beyond the flagship puzzle, the round progression across the secondary events highlighted the depth of speedcubing talent present. In the 2x2x2 Cube, which featured two rounds among 101 competitors, Kai-Wen Wang claimed another victory by posting an average of 1.90 seconds alongside a 1.04 single. Yen-An Chen followed in second with a 2.11 average, and Alan Kuo finished third at 2.55. The 4x4x4 Cube saw 83 participants battle through two rounds, where Yi-Fan Wu took the win with a 26.34 average and a best single of 24.23, holding off Kai-Lun Cheng at 27.34 and Kai-Wen Wang at 27.51.

Away from the top of the podium, several competitors made massive individual strides across the schedule of this WCA competition. Chen-Rui Shen entered five events and delivered stunning breakthroughs, taking his Skewb personal best down to 3.30 seconds, an improvement of 70.4 percent from his previous 11.14 mark. Shen also improved his 3x3x3 One-Handed best by 14.9 percent to 13.56 and lowered his 3x3x3 Cube best by 5.8 percent to 7.53. Yu-Ching Liu also took on five disciplines, dropping his Skewb personal best by 18.5 percent to 5.55 seconds while recording his first official attempts in 3x3x3 One-Handed at 23.20 and 2x2x2 Cube at 3.49.

That drive to expand repertoires defined the day for other multi-event entrants at Hsinchu Summer Open 2024. Yi-Ting Lai competed in four events, cutting his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 17.8 percent to 9.34 seconds while logging first attempts of 24.30 in 3x3x3 One-Handed and 50.52 in 4x4x4 Cube. Hsing-Kai Hsiung took on five disciplines, earning a 12th place finish in 2x2x2 Cube alongside first attempts of 2.68 in 2x2x2 Cube, 45.14 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and 55.98 in 4x4x4 Cube. Yu-Xiang Chen completed first attempts of 2.99 in 2x2x2 Cube, 24.67 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and 46.45 in 4x4x4 Cube across five events, while Tien-Hao Chu tackled five events with first attempts of 14.12 in 3x3x3 Cube, 35.59 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and 1:30.43 in 4x4x4 Cube.

The 3x3x3 One-Handed competition brought 70 solvers to the tables across two intense rounds, further proving the versatility required at this cubing competition. Kai-Wen Wang completed a remarkable multi-event display by winning the final with an 11.15 average and a 10.46 single. Shih-Hao Wang claimed second place with an average of 12.05, while Wei-Chen Hsieh took third with 13.36. The single-handed discipline tested manual dexterity and lookahead under strict cut conditions, rewarding solvers who kept their turn speed fluid while managing move counts with one hand.

The technical demands shifted entirely for Skewb, where 66 entrants navigated two rounds on the corner-turning puzzle. Cian-Jyun Yang emerged victorious with a lightning-fast average of 2.38 seconds and a single solve of 1.61. Kai-Lun Cheng earned his third podium of the competition by taking second place with a 2.90 average, closely pursued by Malaysia's Eng Dickson, who took third at 2.92. This podium finish by Dickson represented the sole international medal in a weekend otherwise swept by Taiwanese competitors, who collected 14 podium places in total.

As the equipment was packed away at Hsinchu National Senior High School, the full impact of the day became clear. From the multi-round battles in the premier categories to the personal milestones achieved in the open rounds, speed cubing in the region showed remarkable breadth. Hsinchu Summer Open 2024 tested every entrant against the clock and the bracket, closing out a memorable August gathering that celebrated technical skill across every level of play.

在講求極致容錯率的魔術方塊競速中，每一次轉動與微小失誤都會左右全局。Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文) 在 3x3x3 Cube 項目展現了極高的穩定度，以 6.26 秒的決賽平均成績摘下冠軍，並繳出全場最快的 5.63 秒單次成績，成為這場盛會最亮眼的焦點。

2024 年 8 月 17 日，WCA 認證的魔術方塊賽事 Hsinchu Summer Open 2024 於 Hsinchu, Taiwan 的國立新竹高級中學熱烈展開。這場夏季的 speedcubing 盛事吸引了 139 名選手齊聚一堂，在 5 個項目共 11 輪的激烈比拼中角逐各項榮譽。

Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文) 在本次賽事展現全面主宰力。除了三階常規賽之外，他還在 3x3x3 One-Handed 項目中以 11.15 秒平均奪冠，單次最佳為 10.46 秒；隨後又在 2x2x2 Cube 決賽以 1.90 秒平均成績再度登頂，單次最佳達到 1.04 秒，個人一口氣包攬了三座冠軍金盃。

在三階魔術方塊項目的頒獎台上，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡) 以 7.19 秒平均位居亞軍，Kai-Lun Cheng (鄭凱倫) 則以 7.34 秒平均拿下季軍。而單手項目中，Shih-Hao Wang (王士豪) 以 12.05 秒平均獲得亞軍，Wei-Chen Hsieh (謝維宸) 則以 13.36 秒平均收穫季軍。

二階魔術方塊項目的爭奪同樣火熱，Yen-An Chen (陳彥安) 以 2.11 秒平均拿下亞軍，Alan Kuo (郭建廷) 以 2.55 秒平均摘得季軍。而在 4x4x4 Cube 項目中，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡) 成功突圍，以 26.34 秒平均成績奪冠，其最快單次為 24.23 秒，擊敗了 Kai-Lun Cheng (鄭凱倫) 的 27.34 秒與 Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文) 的 27.51 秒。

除了領獎台上的巔峰對決，賽場上許多突破自我的精彩表現同樣令人動容。Chun-Wei Lin (林君瑋) 參加了 4 個項目，在三階單手項目大幅刷新個人最佳至 19.00 秒，提升幅度達 60.5%，其四階 32.07 秒與二階 2.30 秒也分別進步了 57.8% 及 52.8%。Dylan Zamora (葉銘倫) 挑戰了 5 個項目，二階個人最佳推進至 1.32 秒，進步達 56%，並取得二階第 10 名的佳績，其單手 16.20 秒與四階 44.12 秒亦寫下新紀錄。Wei-Hao Yeh (葉韋濠) 在二階以 5.88 秒將成績提升 53.9%，三階亦以 18.36 秒進步了 13.5%。

初次挑戰新項目的選手也收穫豐碩成果。Yu-Chih Chuang (莊雨直) 報名 5 個項目，在首次嘗試的三階單手項目繳出 17.98 秒，其四階 35.16 秒與斜轉 6.12 秒皆寫下個人新高。Wei-Zhi Lu (呂煒智) 同樣參與 5 項賽事，二階個人最佳提升 33.3% 達到 2.90 秒，四階 43.71 秒進步 23.1%，單手亦推進至 41.42 秒。Yu-Ju Wu (吳宥儒) 首次嘗試三階單手繳出 28.83 秒，二階初試啼聲拿下 4.63 秒，三階也以 13.48 秒刷新個人最佳紀錄。

在 Skewb 項目中，Cian-Jyun Yang (楊謙君) 展現了驚人的手速與判斷力，以 2.38 秒平均奪冠，最快單次為 1.61 秒。Kai-Lun Cheng (鄭凱倫) 以 2.90 秒平均居次，來自馬來西亞的 Eng Dickson (黄迪胜) 則以 2.92 秒平均獲得季軍，為頒獎台增添了國際色彩。

這場 cubing competition 最終在熱烈氣氛中圓滿落幕。台灣選手在主場發揮出色，包辦了 15 個頒獎席位中的 14 席。Hsinchu Summer Open 2024 不僅見證了頂尖好手在毫秒之間的極限對決，也留下了無數選手挑戰自我極限的精彩篇章。