Maru Cube Day 2023

A total of 218 competitors gathered at the SiDing-SiDong Activity Center in Tainan, Taiwan, turning July 22 and July 23 into a celebration of community and high-caliber solving. Over 22 rounds and 10 events, the tournament hall was filled with the rhythmic click of plastic and the camaraderie of competitors sharing algorithms between heats. The two-day cubing competition served as a vital meeting ground for solvers across the region, where seasoned champions and eager newcomers mingled freely across tables packed with various twisty puzzles.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube contest stood out as the centerpiece of the weekend, drawing an enormous field of 214 entrants through four intense rounds. When the dust settled at the final table, Ao Nogami of Japan captured victory with a decisive winning average of 6.86 seconds, complemented by a sharp single of 6.07 seconds. Yi-Fan Wu of Taiwan earned the second-place spot on the podium with a 7.12 average, while Ivan Li Ka Leong of Hong Kong matched that exact 7.12 average to take third in the official 3x3 results.

Beyond the traditional Rubik's Cube, Kai-Wen Wang established complete control over the multi-layered puzzles. Wang secured three distinct gold trophies across the schedule, demonstrating unmatched consistency. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Wang posted a blistering 1.96 average in the final to take top honors ahead of Shao-Heng Hung's 2.29 and Ivan Li Ka Leong's 2.61. Wang continued this dominant form into the larger cubes, delivering a 24.45 average to win the 4x4x4 Cube and a 41.29 average to claim first place in the 5x5x5 Cube.

Specialty disciplines provided plenty of excitement for the crowd gathered in Tainan, Taiwan. He-Ping Zheng demonstrated remarkable coordination to win the 3x3x3 One-Handed final with an 11.04 average, outpacing Ao Nogami's 11.54 and Kai-Wen Wang's 11.76. In the Pyraminx, Bo-Yan Wu navigated two competitive rounds to take first place with a 2.46 average, finishing just ahead of Wei-Ming Zeng at 2.61 and Jun-Yu Liao at 2.71. Meanwhile, Cian-Jyun Yang topped the Skewb event with a 3.80 average, and Tang-Kai Huang conquered Square-1 with an 8.68 mark.

Single-round formats placed additional emphasis on precision and focus during the second afternoon. Shao-Heng Hung secured the top spot in Clock by recording a winning average of 5.19 seconds, leading a podium sweep for Taiwan alongside Zih-Siang Huang's 5.81 and Yen-An Chen's 6.30. In the dodecahedral Megaminx, Yun-Rui Chiang emerged victorious with a swift 36.08 average, outlasting Ivan Li Ka Leong who finished second with 43.15 and Yi-Ho Hsueh who took third with 45.30.

Away from the top of the podium, the true spirit of speedcubing showed through the personal milestones achieved across the venue floor. Che-Jui Hsu took on a massive slate of 10 events, earning a 55th-place finish in Megaminx while posting official debuts in Clock with a single of 23.26 and Megaminx with 2:54.42, alongside a massive 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best of 53.26 that was 64.4 percent faster than before. Tse Kei Lap entered eight events, achieving a best finish of 30th in Clock and making official debuts in 4x4x4 Cube with 59.68, Skewb with 8.67, and One-Handed with 37.75.

The drive to explore new puzzles continued with Shun-Yu Yu, who competed in all 10 events on the schedule and recorded official first attempts in 5x5x5 Cube at 2:31.82, Square-1 at 1:06.39, and Megaminx at 5:56.49, with a best finish of 58th in Clock. Sheng-Fan Tsai entered eight events, recording debut times in 5x5x5 Cube of 1:37.02, Clock of 14.13, and Skewb of 6.58, reaching 39th place in Clock. Ping-Yen Hsieh recorded first attempts in One-Handed at 21.75, Skewb at 8.50, and 4x4x4 Cube at 1:03.64 across five events, while Wei-Kai Lin also tackled five events with debuts in One-Handed at 23.83, Pyraminx at 12.35, and 4x4x4 Cube at 2:05.08.

The 2023 edition of this major speed cubing gathering concluded with Taiwan claiming 23 total podium positions, alongside five for Hong Kong and two for Japan. Beyond the medals and official times, Maru Cube Day 2023 highlighted the shared passion of an expansive community where competitors constantly supported one another through every solve. As the tables cleared and attendees parted ways, this memorable WCA competition left solvers with newly minted personal records and lasting friendships to carry into future seasons.

在台南市西定四東里聯合活動中心內，計時器的蜂鳴聲與方塊轉動的節奏交織在一起。2023年7月22日至23日，為期兩天的Maru Cube Day 2023在此舉行，吸引了218名選手齊聚這場WCA官方魔術方塊認證賽事，在盛夏展開高強度的極限速度對決。

高階魔術方塊項目一向考驗選手的指力耐受度、深層觀察力與持久專注力。在競爭激烈的5x5x5項目中，Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)展現了穩健的長盤解題節奏，決賽以41.29秒的平均成績拿下冠軍，並在該項目做出全場最佳的36.75秒單次成績。來自香港的Ivan Li Ka Leong (李嘉亮)以45.48秒獲得亞軍，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)以47.77秒收獲季軍。

Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)的長局統治力同時延續到了4x4x4賽場。他在4x4x4項目決賽繳出24.45秒的奪冠平均成績，最快單次達到21.18秒。Ivan Li Ka Leong (李嘉亮)以26.14秒位列第二，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)則以26.18秒緊隨其後站上頒獎台第三位。

短途項目中，Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)在2x2x2項目以1.96秒的平均成績斬獲個人本屆第三冠，Shao-Heng Hung (洪紹恆)與Ivan Li Ka Leong (李嘉亮)分獲二、三名。壓軸的3x3x3三階魔術方塊決賽中，Ao Nogami (野上碧)以6.86秒平均成績奪冠，Yi-Fan Wu (吳亦凡)與Ivan Li Ka Leong (李嘉亮)同以7.12秒平均成績分列亞軍與季軍。

賽程榜單深處，許多選手在多個項目中寫下自我突破。Shang-Hong You (游尚閎)在四階迎來首次嘗試繳出1:51.10，他的二階成績更大幅進步69.3%來到3.38秒；Yi-Ting Wu (吳羿霆)參加了6個項目，在魔錶拿下個人最佳第61名，首次挑戰魔錶和Square-1分別錄得22.72秒與1:15.59，二階個人最佳提升62.2%至3.38秒。

同樣展現全面挑戰精神的Han-Rui Ting (丁翰睿)迎來四階與魔錶的生涯首秀，成績分別為1:12.35與16.78秒，二階個人最佳提升39.2%至2.91秒；You-An Chen (陳祐安)首次挑戰四階與斜轉，並將二階個人最佳推至2.93秒，進步幅度達38.8%；Tsai-Ying Lee (李采盈)完成魔錶與金字塔初嘗試，二階成績進步33.4%來到2.71秒；Chi-Chien Kao (高齊謙)出戰7個項目，首次嘗試Square-1與單手，斜轉個人最佳進步32%至2.64秒。

單手項目中，He-Ping Zheng (鄭和平)以11.04秒奪冠，Ao Nogami (野上碧)與Kai-Wen Wang (王楷文)分獲二、三名。金字塔冠軍由Bo-Yan Wu (吳柏彥)以2.46秒摘得，斜轉冠軍為Cian-Jyun Yang (楊謙君)的3.80秒，魔錶冠軍由Shao-Heng Hung (洪紹恆)以5.19秒奪得，Square-1項目Tang-Kai Huang (黃堂愷)以8.68秒封王，十二面體項目則由Yun-Rui Chiang (江昀叡)以36.08秒奪冠。

經過22輪緊張激烈的角逐，Maru Cube Day 2023在各項目頒獎儀式中圓滿落幕。這場在Tainan, Taiwan舉辦的極速魔術方塊盛會，不僅記錄了頂尖選手在高階耐力與短階爆發上的精彩表現，也見證了廣大選手在各個項目中刷新自我的珍貴時刻。