Kaohsiung Winter Open 2024

The tables inside the Women Children and Youth Center of Kaohsiung City hummed with relentless activity as 79 competitors gathered for an intense weekend of puzzle solving. Timers flashed across multiple stations while judges scrutinized every turn and inspection interval. The air carried the familiar rhythm of speedcubing hardware clicking into place through 17 rounds of competition. Across two action-packed days on January 27 and January 28, the southern port city hosted a packed lineup of seven disciplines that brought regional contenders head to head for national supremacy.

The flagship 3x3x3 Cube division drew 76 entrants, turning every stage into a high-stakes test of execution. He-Ping Zheng emerged on top after navigating three rounds of pressure, capturing the title with a winning average of 7.34 seconds and a best single of 6.56. In the final, Zheng held off close regional challengers Gilbert Chen, who took second place with a 7.64 average, and Po-Hao Huang, who earned third with a mark of 7.85. The tight 3x3 results highlighted the razor-thin margins separating the top tier of solvers across the island.

Zheng extended his regional mastery into the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, securing another gold medal with an average of 11.64 seconds and a best single of 11.08 across two rounds. Ping-Yueh Huang captured the second spot on the podium with a 12.40 average, while Kai-Wen Wang took third with 12.63. Zheng's one-handed consistency proved impossible to match, giving him a sweep across the traditional Rubik's Cube variants at the gathering.

While Zheng dominated the standard size, Kai-Wen Wang established complete control over the larger mechanisms. Wang delivered a commanding performance in the 4x4x4 Cube, winning three rounds of play with a 25.49 average and a blistering 20.61 single. Cian-Jyun Yang claimed the silver medal with an average of 27.50, just edging out Wei-Ming Zeng, who posted 27.95 for third place in a fiercely contested final round.

Wang continued his sweep in the 5x5x5 Cube, where 52 competitors took to the tables across three rounds. His winning mark of 40.97 average and a 37.44 single paced the field by a comfortable margin over Wei-Ming Zeng, who recorded 48.70, and Ping-Yueh Huang, who finished third with 49.24. Wang completed a historic big-cube triple crown in the 6x6x6 Cube, taking the single-round contest with an average of 1:22.41 and a top single of 1:19.60, ahead of Zeng's 1:29.83 and Yang's 1:32.67.

Beyond the championship podiums, the cubing competition delivered extraordinary milestones for dedicated competitors throughout the order. Zhi-Chen Cai registered one of the most dramatic gains of the weekend, slashing his 6x6x6 Cube personal best by 44.6 percent down to 3:19.27 while earning 29th place, alongside big drops to 53.94 in 4x4x4 Cube and 1:45.39 in 5x5x5 Cube across six events. He-Qian Zhuang produced a massive breakthrough in the 5x5x5 Cube with a personal best of 2:02.48, which was 44.5 percent faster than his prior standard, plus a 35.9 percent drop to 47.73 in 4x4x4 Cube and a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed of 24.24.

Ching-Yuan Cheng brought down his Pyraminx personal record to 5.63 seconds, improving by 32.3 percent, while also logging first career attempts in both 4x4x4 Cube at 1:18.81 and 3x3x3 One-Handed at 29.16 across five events. Jaspar Liu tackled all seven events on the schedule, finishing 31st in the 6x6x6 Cube with a first official attempt of 6:10.37, while setting personal bests of 29.64 in 3x3x3 One-Handed and 2:00.02 in 5x5x5 Cube. Wu Li took on six events and logged first attempts in Pyraminx with an 8.16, 3x3x3 One-Handed with a 28.90, and 4x4x4 Cube with a 1:18.60. Hung-Chun Wang also expanded his repertoire, posting first official attempts of 5.02 in 2x2x2 Cube, 9.75 in Pyraminx, and 1:16.09 in 4x4x4 Cube.

The short-format events delivered fierce sprint finishes, with Cian-Jyun Yang winning the 2x2x2 Cube after three rounds of speed cubing. Yang posted a winning average of 1.93 seconds and a best single of 1.33, besting Yen-An Chen's 2.07 average and Bo-Yan Wu's 2.94. Wu bounced back in the Pyraminx final, taking the top spot on the podium with a 2.41 average to beat Wei-Ming Zeng at 2.49 and Jie-Yu Xie at 3.01.

The successful conclusion of the Kaohsiung Winter Open 2024 saw all 21 podium positions claimed by Taiwanese solvers, proving the incredible depth of talent in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Every round reinforced the fierce regional rivalries that drive personal breakthroughs and championship standard solves. As this WCA competition chapter of the 2024 season closes, the stage is already set for these rivals to meet again at the next major tournament.

79位魔術方塊好手在2024年1月27日至28日齊聚Kaohsiung, Taiwan，於高雄市婦幼青少年活動中心展開為期兩天的激烈角逐。這場WCA competition共設有7個項目與17輪賽事，選手們在緊湊的錦標賽賽制中面臨層層淘汰與極限考驗，唯有在多輪交鋒中保持絕對穩定的發揮，才能站上頒獎台的最高位置。

在競爭最激烈的三階魔術方塊項目中，共有76位選手經過三輪高強度對抗。He-Ping Zheng (鄭和平)展現出極具統治力的節奏掌控，在決賽繳出平均7.34秒的成績摘下桂冠，同時創下該項目最佳單次6.56秒。Gilbert Chen (陳牧灼)以7.64秒平均獲得亞軍，Po-Hao Huang (黃博晧)則以7.85秒平均名列季軍。

He-Ping Zheng (鄭和平)的亮眼表現不僅限於雙手速解。在47人參賽的三階單手項目中，他再度主宰賽場，於兩輪對決後以平均11.64秒、最佳單次11.08秒奪得本屆賽事個人第二座冠軍。Ping-Yueh Huang (黃品越)以12.40秒平均位居次席，Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)則以12.63秒平均收穫季軍。

Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)無疑是這場魔術方塊賽事的另一大焦點，他一人包辦了三座大方塊項目的冠軍頭銜。在四階項目中，他以25.49秒平均與20.61秒單次力壓群雄封王；五階項目中，他再以40.97秒平均成績掄元；隨後在34人參與的六階單輪決賽中，他以1:22.41的平均成績完成三冠壯舉，成為全場收穫最豐的選手。

二階魔術方塊同樣迎來61位選手的激烈較量，Cian-Jyun Yang (楊謙君)以平均1.93秒、最佳單次1.33秒的出色發揮勇奪金牌，Yen-An Chen (陳彥安)以2.07秒平均緊追在後拿下亞軍，Bo-Yan Wu (吳柏彥)則以2.94秒平均位居第三。Bo-Yan Wu (吳柏彥)隨後在金字塔項目中反彈登頂，以2.41秒平均拿下冠軍。

在獎牌爭奪戰背後，Kaohsiung Winter Open 2024見證了眾多選手突破自我的精彩瞬間。Yen-Lei Jen (任晏磊)在五階項目大幅縮短成績，繳出1:27.01個人最佳，進步幅度達50%，同時在二階與四階也分別創下2.25秒與38.86秒的新紀錄。Chi-Jen Yin (尹啟任)在金字塔項目飆出4.01秒個人最佳，提速35.4%並取得第6名佳績，在單手項目亦寫下19.35秒新猷。Cong-Yu Huang (黃琮煜)出戰全部7個項目，金字塔成績進步33.6%來到4.08秒，四階亦創下37.57秒新佳績。

挑戰新項目的勇氣同樣閃耀賽場。Tian-Sin Yang (楊天心)在本屆賽事首次嘗試六階項目並繳出2:35.69，四階與五階也分別刷新個人最佳至33.16秒與1:09.65。Yu-Chun Yeh (葉昱均)迎來四階與單手的首次正式挑戰，分別記錄下1:09.95與16.15秒，並在二階以2.62秒刷新最佳成績獲得第11名。De-Yuan Meng (孟德元)完成了單手首秀成績23.77秒，三階進步20.5%達到11.25秒，金字塔也刷新為7.37秒。

在長達兩天的高強度賽事中，21個頒獎台席位全部由在地選手包辦，體現出深厚的競賽實力。隨著各項目的名次底定與多項個人紀錄的刷新，Kaohsiung Winter Open 2024在高雄圓滿落幕，79位選手帶着寶貴的對抗經驗與嶄新成績，為未來的速解賽季奠定堅實基礎。