Mayo Cubing 2024

Inside the spacious hall of Foxford Sport and Leisure Centre, the weekend of September 21 to September 22 brought a steady rhythm of spinning plastic and stopwatch clicks. Foxford, Ireland served as the vibrant backdrop for Mayo Cubing 2024, welcoming 81 competitors across 13 events and 23 total rounds. The large sports floor offered plenty of room for staging, warm-ups, and intense head-to-head racing, creating an ideal setting for both seasoned podium contenders and newcomers traveling across the region.

The 2024 edition of this cubing competition proved to be a showcase of versatility across standard puzzles and complex disciplines. Headlining the weekend, Ciarán Beahan delivered a standout series of performances across multiple finals. In the classic Rubik's Cube main event, Beahan took first place among 76 entrants, securing a winning average of 7.05 seconds over three rounds of 3x3x3 Cube solving, backed by a best single time of 6.65. CJ Furey earned second place with an average of 7.39, while Cillian Hainbach matched that mark at 7.39 to claim third in the final 3x3 results.

Beahan maintained his commanding presence across the larger puzzles and specialty events throughout the competition. He topped the podium in 4x4x4 Cube with an average of 25.72 seconds, finishing ahead of Cillian Hainbach at 30.33 and Stephanie Rose Martin at 35.17. Beahan continued his run by capturing gold in 5x5x5 Cube with a 44.42 average, followed again by Hainbach at 53.41 and CJ Furey at 1:04.22. In 6x6x6 Cube, Beahan clocked a winning mark of 1:21.99, leading Hainbach at 1:50.64 and Elliott Laurent at 1:56.90. Rounding out his five event victories, Beahan won 3x3x3 One-Handed with an average of 13.90.

Short-format puzzles brought rapid turnarounds and narrow margins across every stage of the WCA competition. In 2x2x2 Cube, Cillian Hainbach secured first place with an average of 2.41 seconds, edging out William Carey at 2.94 and Lucas Patrick Dowling at 3.04. The event generated substantial depth, with twenty individual single and average record times recorded across the three rounds. Enda Loftus produced an exceptional display in Pyraminx, winning the 64-competitor field with a 1.92 average, while Cathal Burke clinched the Skewb title with an average of 2.66 seconds, closely pursued by Carey at 2.71 and Rían Burke at 3.30.

Beyond the traditional twisty puzzles, the weekend schedule featured specialized technical events. In Clock, Jasper Wolfe-Tham of the USA captured victory with a 3.68 average, holding off Rían Burke at 5.32 and William Carey at 5.75. Burke rebounded by taking the Square-1 title with an average of 11.52 seconds. Prabhav Rajaram Nayak demonstrated mastery in Megaminx, winning the event in 35.65 seconds. The blindfolded disciplines highlighted memory and concentration, as Colm McCarthy solved 3x3x3 Blindfolded in a winning single of 22.12 seconds, ahead of Simon Kelly at 36.85, and Ben Timmons secured the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind victory by solving 11 of 12 cubes in exactly one hour.

Away from the top of the podiums, the heart of Mayo Cubing 2024 belonged to competitors pushing their personal limits and expanding their repertoires. Łukasz Siara delivered one of the weekend highlights by trimming his Clock personal best to 9.64 seconds, a massive 60.3 percent improvement over his previous 24.27 mark, while also setting personal bests of 10.00 in Skewb and 24.14 in the Rubik's Cube. Benas Navickas entered nine events and slashed his Skewb best to 4.87, representing a 53.9 percent leap from his earlier 10.56, alongside personal bests in Square-1 and 5x5x5 Cube. Mairéad Togher dropped her 2x2x2 Cube personal best to 16.44 seconds, an improvement of 41.4 percent, and established fresh marks in Skewb and 3x3x3 Cube.

Several competitors marked significant milestones by tackling events for the very first time on the official stage. Clíona Curran competed in nine disciplines, recording debut times of 3:06.00 in Megaminx, 39.85 in Square-1, and 8.02 in Pyraminx. Zayd Vawda took on ten events, registering his first official marks in Megaminx at 3:01.61 and 5x5x5 Cube at 3:15.88, while lowering his 4x4x4 Cube personal best to 1:14.19. Vihaan Srivastava logged nine events, posting first-time results in 3x3x3 One-Handed with 54.34 and Clock with 1:07.11, while improving his 2x2x2 Cube best to 2.45. Aniketh Cuttackam made his speed cubing debut at his first official tournament across six events, posting debut marks including 2:04.20 in Megaminx, and Liam Butler likewise completed his first appearance with debuts in 2x2x2 Cube, Skewb, and Clock.

With 37 podium places going to host-nation competitors from Ireland alongside international podium finishes from the USA and India, the two-day gathering highlighted the steady growth of speedcubing in the west of Ireland. The Foxford Sport and Leisure Centre provided an energetic, welcoming venue where seasoned champions and first-time solvers shared the same tables. As equipment was packed away on Sunday evening, the achievements logged across all thirteen events left a lasting mark on the regional calendar.