Kolla Summer Cup 2023

The tables at Kόλλα hummed with steady activity under the bright Mediterranean daylight as competitors adjusted their timers, inspected puzzle faces, and took their seats. Kolla Summer Cup 2023 brought 42 solvers together in Limassol, Cyprus, providing an intense one-day proving ground right in the heart of the July speedcubing schedule. With eight rounds staged across six diverse disciplines on July 8, the meeting offered a snapshot of midsummer form for contenders sharpening their routines before the second half of the 2023 competitive calendar takes shape.

Israeli standout Ben Baron established himself as the dominant force of the cubing competition, capturing four separate titles throughout the afternoon. Baron began his sweep by conquering the premier Rubik's Cube category, leading all three rounds of the classic puzzle. In the final round of the 3x3x3 Cube, Baron posted a winning average of 7.74 seconds, bolstered by a day-best single of 5.98 seconds. Glib Vedmid of Ukraine secured the second spot on the podium with a 9.60 average, while Israel's Roy Tamir earned third place with a mark of 9.70.

Baron continued his remarkable run across the larger and specialty formats. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Baron paced the field of 18 competitors with a winning average of 1:39.24 and a best single of 1:36.18, finishing well ahead of Tamir, who took second in 2:03.72, and Vedmid, who finished third in 2:23.94. Baron carried that momentum directly into Megaminx, taking the gold with an average of 43.00 seconds. Panayiotis Isaia captured silver for the host nation with a 54.85 average, while Tamir picked up another medal by taking bronze in 58.33.

The Square-1 contest also belonged entirely to Baron, who logged a winning average of 10.11 seconds along with an 8.40 single. Tamir secured another runner-up finish with a 15.10 average, and an Anonymous competitor from Israel completed the podium in 17.38. Across the entire weekend, Israel collected 12 podium spots, leading the medal count over Ukraine's four podium finishes, with Cyprus and the United Kingdom claiming one podium position each.

The remaining two categories highlighted different winners. In Clock, Patrick Drew Dwyer from the United Kingdom topped the 27-person roster with a 7.71 winning average, holding off Ukraine's Mykhailo Lagoida, who averaged 8.71, and Baron, who took bronze with 8.87. Lagoida bounced back with an emphatic performance in Skewb, claiming the gold with an average of 3.50 seconds and a single of 2.65 seconds. Tamir finished second in Skewb with a 5.06 average, narrowly edging Baron's 5.10.

Beyond the podium battles, Kolla Summer Cup 2023 served as a launchpad for significant personal progression across the roster. Mikhail Lavrentev generated one of the sharpest drops of the weekend in the 3x3x3 Cube, posting a personal best of 16.86 seconds to shave 37.3 percent off his prior benchmark, while also making his first ever attempts at Square-1 with a 25.39 and Megaminx with a 2:32.89. Marios Romanos also advanced his baseline significantly, lowering his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 32.5 percent down to 13.03 seconds and taking on his first attempts at Clock in 15.85 and Megaminx in 2:18.66. Michaella Georgiou reduced her 3x3x3 Cube best by 32.3 percent to 24.99 and completed her first official Skewb solve in 24.68.

Several other competitors broadened their competitive ranges across new disciplines. Eugene Maslennikov trimmed 27.2 percent off his Clock mark to reach 17.70 seconds, alongside his first attempts at Square-1 in 1:24.68 and 6x6x6 Cube in 5:49.22. Anastasis Papadopoulos improved his Megaminx mark by 26 percent down to 2:43.77 and recorded his first official Square-1 solve in 27.86. Michalis Papakyriakou secured a fourth-place finish in Square-1 behind a maiden attempt of 18.14 seconds, while also entering the 6x6x6 Cube for the first time with a 5:10.19. First-time WCA competition participants made their marks as well, with Ioannis Hadjiapostolou tackling five events including an 8.36 Skewb solve, and Aaron Wonsok Choi contesting five events featuring an 8.76 in Skewb.

The 3x3 results from Limassol also featured a flurry of strong performances throughout the preliminary and elimination rounds, as competitors traded low marks on the way to the final. Kolla Summer Cup 2023 demonstrated the depth of the regional speed cubing community, wrapping up a demanding schedule in a single productive day. As the season turns toward the late-summer calendar, the performances delivered at Kόλλα set an encouraging standard for all involved.