KUbing Nepal 2024

Forty competitors gathered at the Nepal Technology Innovation Center at Kathmandu University as the action commenced for KUbing Nepal 2024. Over two days from December 5 to December 6, 2024, the cubing competition staged fifteen rounds across eight disciplines, delivering intense head-to-head racing and breakthrough personal milestones. Dhulikhel, Nepal served as the battleground where solvers from four different nations vied for honours across traditional twisty puzzles, blindfolded challenges, and one-handed events, showcasing the steady growth of speed cubing in the region.

The opening phase of the meet saw preliminary action across major categories, with the 3x3x3 Cube drawing the largest field of thirty-five entrants. Bangladesh standout Taosif Amin Sahil set the benchmark early, executing crisp rotations and steady lookahead. Across the three rounds of the classic Rubik's Cube contest, Sahil held off strong international pressure to take the title with a winning average of 7.32 seconds and a best single of 6.85 seconds. Fellow countryman Md Tafsirul Islam followed in second place with an 8.16 average, while Nepal's Aarbid Bhattarai claimed third on the podium with an 8.89 average to solidify the final 3x3 results.

Sahil also stamped his authority across the other multidimensional events on the schedule. In the 4x4x4 Cube, sixteen competitors battled across two rounds, but Sahil took command by logging a winning average of 32.06 seconds and the weekend's best single of 28.95 seconds. China's Xinyun Chen secured the silver spot with a 35.25 average, while Nepal's Salon Ngakhushi earned third place with 37.88 seconds. Sahil then completed a hat-trick of titles in 3x3x3 One-Handed, claiming victory with a 13.11 average ahead of Md Tafsirul Islam's 15.20 and Ngakhushi's 16.76.

China's Xinyun Chen mounted a massive campaign of his own throughout KUbing Nepal 2024, collecting four gold medals across the weekend. In the fast-paced 2x2x2 Cube, twenty-six competitors pushed the pace over two rounds, but Chen secured the top spot with a 3.21 winning average, just ahead of Sahil's 3.31 and Islam's 3.57. Chen also dominated the specialty events, taking first place in Skewb with a 5.89 average, prevailing in Square-1 with a 16.17 average and a 10.01 single, and conquering the 3x3x3 Blindfolded round with a single time of 1:08.18, well clear of Italy's Vincenzo Maria Gammino.

The hosting nation celebrated a major victory in the Pyraminx event, where twenty-two entrants faced off over two rounds. Ronish Ghemosu delivered a dominant series of solves, registering a winning average of 5.09 seconds and a standout 3.87 single to lead an all-Nepal top two. Sujal Acharya took the silver medal with a 7.67 average, while Chen picked up the bronze with an 8.22 mark. Ghemosu also showed versatility by taking second place in the Skewb final with a 6.32 average, just ahead of Ngakhushi's 6.82.

Beyond the podium battles, KUbing Nepal 2024 brought massive leaps forward for competitors across the roster. Farhanul Haque Khan entered six disciplines and slashed his Skewb personal best by 67.2 percent to 9.61 seconds, while also trimming his 4x4x4 best to 56.87 seconds. Bijay Sapkota took on two events and dropped his 3x3x3 single to 38.10 seconds, representing a 54.4 percent improvement over his previous record. Reagan Ghimire tackled three events, making his first official 2x2x2 attempt with a 6.91 mark and cutting his 3x3x3 best down by 52.8 percent to 20.11 seconds. Krishal Tamang also excelled, recording a 6.53 personal best in Skewb to improve by 52.5 percent alongside a 6.41 single in 2x2x2.

The spirit of experimentation was evident as solvers expanded into unfamiliar formats throughout the WCA competition. Anubhav Gyawali took on seven events, registering his first official attempts in Skewb at 10.13 seconds and Square-1 at 53.03 seconds, while improving his one-handed best by 44.1 percent to 14.54 seconds. Sakas Adhikari improved his 2x2x2 personal best by 42.2 percent down to 5.21 seconds. Kabya Ratna Sthapit took on six events and completed his first official attempts at Square-1 with a 2:02.09 and Skewb with 16.63 seconds. Aashish Napit rounded out the breakthroughs by improving his one-handed mark by 20 percent to 34.77 seconds and earning fourth in Skewb.

By the time the final timers stopped, the host nation Nepal led the overall medal tally with ten total podium spots, followed by Bangladesh with seven, China with six, and Italy with one. The diverse mix of eight puzzle events, ranging from the intricate Square-1 to the memorisation-heavy blindfolded solve, highlighted the growing technical prowess across the South Asian speedcubing landscape. With fifteen rounds of intense competition wrapped up in Dhulikhel, the memorable weekend at KUbing Nepal 2024 set an inspiring standard for the upcoming competitive calendar.