Irbid Winter 2026

Inside Zawaya Space, the tables were set with timing mats and displays as solvers gathered on January 31, 2026, to open the new year calendar in northern Jordan. Stacks of puzzles were inspected and scrambled in steady rhythm while competitors prepared for a packed day of speedcubing. Forty-two competitors arrived ready to test their practice against the clock across eight official events, marking an energetic opening stretch for the regional circuit as the 2026 campaign got underway.

The 2026 season opener in Irbid, Jordan brought a competitive atmosphere to the single-day schedule. Across nine total rounds, local solvers battled for early-year momentum in this WCA competition. The classic Rubik's Cube drew the largest lineup of the day with 41 competitors taking part across two rounds of play. When the final round wrapped up, Kamel Hammouri stood at the top of the 3x3 results, capturing victory with a decisive winning average of 8.34 seconds alongside an event-best single of 7.40 seconds.

Hammouri was not finished with just one title. In the 2x2x2 Cube event, which featured 35 competitors, he secured his second gold medal of the meet by averaging 3.34 seconds with a best single of 2.74 seconds. He also added a pair of silver medals to his tally, finishing runner-up in 3x3x3 One-Handed with an average of 17.60 seconds and taking second place in the 4x4x4 Cube with a 38.46 average. His versatile performances made him one of the central figures of Irbid Winter 2026.

Zakarya Otair matched that commanding presence with multiple victories of his own. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Otair claimed first place among 24 entrants with a winning average of 35.79 seconds and a fastest single of 33.73 seconds. He followed that performance with a masterclass in the 3x3x3 Blindfolded event, where memorisation and flawless execution yielded a gold-medal average of 27.92 seconds and a single of 22.96 seconds. Otair also captured second place in Megaminx, third in the 3x3x3 Cube, and third in Clock.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors delivered massive improvements across multiple puzzle disciplines. Abdalrahman Jawdat Abughazaleh cut his 2x2x2 Cube personal best down to 7.38 seconds, making it 73.9 percent faster than his previous mark of 28.23, while lowering his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 55.6 percent to 47.24 seconds and recording a first ever attempt of 4:43.84 in 3x3x3 One-Handed. Mohammad Saleh Habbab dropped his Skewb best to 6.11 seconds, improving by 47.7 percent, and made his first official attempts in both Megaminx at 2:55.12 and 3x3x3 One-Handed at 46.83. Yanal Abukhait took on five events, improving his Skewb mark by 40.8 percent to 10.57 seconds, cutting his Megaminx best to 3:33.95, and recording a first attempt of 2:16.47 in 4x4x4 Cube. Aws Bushnaq took on three events, knocking 37.8 percent off his 4x4x4 Cube best with a time of 2:19.84 alongside a 28 percent improvement on 2x2x2 Cube at 5.97 seconds.

Other solvers expanded their event repertoires significantly throughout the day. David Samuel Surls tackled eight events at the competition, recording his first official attempts in Megaminx with a 1:31.52 to finish fourth and in 4x4x4 Cube with 1:52.25, while lowering his 2x2x2 Cube personal best to 3.04 seconds. Ibrahim Zaid Alnabulsi entered four events, posting an eighth-place finish in 4x4x4 Cube with a personal best of 1:15.05 that improved on his previous mark by 26.8 percent, while also setting a 3x3x3 Cube best of 14.78 seconds and making his first attempt in 3x3x3 One-Handed at 47.63. First-time competitor Micah Davis took on six events in their debut, earning a fifth-place finish in Megaminx with an initial time of 2:46.00 and recording opening marks of 22.07 in 3x3x3 Cube and 6.11 in 2x2x2 Cube. Fellow debutant Joaquin Chureo completed three events, logging a 23.43 in 3x3x3 Cube, a 9.82 in 2x2x2 Cube, and a 6:08.84 in Megaminx.

The remaining podiums highlighted the broad range of speed cubing skills on display at the meet. Othman Saleh topped the 20-person field in 3x3x3 One-Handed, averaging 16.68 seconds to take gold. Abdallah Almaharmeh earned the Skewb title with an average of 5.23 seconds while securing four additional podium finishes across the meet. In Megaminx, Adam Zeidan led the 14-competitor lineup with a 53.19 winning average, and Abbad Otallah Rashed Alshboul won Clock with a mark of 6.91 seconds.

When the final solves concluded, competitors from Jordan had swept all 24 podium positions across the eight events. Irbid Winter 2026 proved to be an eventful day of personal records, multi-event debuts, and sharp early-season form. As the cubing competition schedule moves forward into the year, the times logged in Irbid provide a strong baseline for the months ahead.