Mentallinn 2026

Sixteen competitors assembled on March 15, 2026, inside the Tallinn University of Applied Sciences for a packed single-day challenge. The venue halls in Tallinn, Estonia provided an organized and quiet setting built specifically for intense concentration across nine separate disciplines. With ten rounds of play scheduled across the day, the Estonian venue gave solvers the room needed to navigate technical setups and high-pressure blindfolded events. The focused environment set the tone for a full day of speedcubing at Mentallinn 2026.

The competition schedule placed special emphasis on complex puzzles and memory disciplines alongside traditional speed cubing formats. Contestants tackled large cubes, twisting mechanisms, and multiple memory trials that tested endurance and precision. The dedicated setup inside the university facilities allowed runners, judges, and solvers to move efficiently between rounds. Throughout the day, the quiet hum of turns and the click of stopwatches marked a rigorous WCA competition that brought together contenders from across the Baltic region and beyond.

In the blindfolded events, Mikus Lembergs from Latvia established an impressive mark by taking top honors in three distinct memory disciplines. Solving blindfolded requires total memorisation before placing on the blindfold and executing turns entirely without sight. Lembergs won the 3x3x3 Blindfolded final with an average time of 59.92 seconds and a single of 50.43. Lithuania's Vilius Ribinskas followed in second place with an average of 1:13.79, while Latvia's Jānis Zirnis earned third place with a single solve of 1:10.95. Spectators tracking memory events also looked closely at standard 3x3 results across the community.

Lembergs continued his strong showing in the extended blindfolded categories. In the 4x4x4 Blindfolded event, Lembergs secured first place with a single solve of 6:33.72, while Ribinskas took second in 10:08.00 and Zirnis earned third in 10:43.00. The 5x5x5 Blindfolded event saw the same three competitors take the top three spots, with Lembergs winning on an 11:28.00 single solve, ahead of Ribinskas at 21:49.00 and Zirnis at 22:54.00. Meanwhile, Ribinskas claimed victory in the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event by successfully resolving 9 out of 11 puzzles in 53:51, besting Lembergs who registered 10 out of 15 in 56:21, and Estonia's Ken-Erik Aus who posted 3 out of 4 in 31:29.

The big-cube events featured commanding performances from Estonia's Remo Pihel. On the 6x6x6 Cube, Pihel captured first place with a winning average of 1:53.36, flanked by Lembergs in second at 1:59.61 and Ribinskas in third at 2:00.31. Pihel also secured the top position in the 7x7x7 Cube, posting a winning average of 3:01.74 with a round-best single of 2:55.49. Pihel completed a strong multi-event showcase by winning the Square-1 event with an average of 15.68 seconds, edging out Estonia's Maksim Zemtšihhin who finished second in 16.35 seconds, and Ribinskas in third at 19.01 seconds.

Beyond the title deciders, the tournament offered notable milestones for solvers across the roster. Karl Robert Pruul attended his first WCA competition at Mentallinn 2026 and took on three events, completing his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 2:17.96 to finish fifth, along with a first Clock attempt of 13.32 seconds and a first 5x5x5 Cube solve of 3:04.89. Kevin Maalman tackled three events, making a first career attempt at Square-1 with a time of 40.04 to place 11th, a first 5x5x5 Cube attempt of 3:07.23, and taking his Clock personal best down to 19.67 seconds, an improvement of 22.7 percent over his previous 25.43 mark. Roy Sjöström entered five events, logging a first 6x6x6 Cube attempt of 5:15.19 for tenth place, a first Square-1 solve of 1:04.52, and a 15.3 percent reduction on his 5x5x5 Cube personal best to 2:48.25.

Other dedicated solvers also maximized their day on the competition floor. Gints Mazurs entered four events, posting a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 8:06.01 and lowering his Clock personal best by 3.6 percent to 7.94 seconds. Mike Vidrik Rätsep contested seven events and set three personal bests: a 9.5 percent improvement in the 6x6x6 Cube to 2:57.22, a 5.5 percent trim in the 7x7x7 Cube to 5:53.77, and a 5.1 percent drop in the 5x5x5 Cube to 1:18.59, while finishing fourth in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind. Jan Erik Soosaar took on three events, achieving a 7x7x7 Cube personal best of 5:16.67 to place seventh. Oliver Pällo took on seven events and earned a fourth-place finish in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind, while Hedi Liis Timmusk entered five events and recorded a best finish of fifth place in Clock.

The remaining podium honors reflected competitive depth in the regional field. The 5x5x5 Cube went to Ribinskas with a winning average of 1:03.10 and a fastest single of 56.67 seconds, followed by Lembergs at 1:06.87 and Zemtšihhin at 1:16.59. In the Clock event, Mihails Teļkijevs of Latvia took the title across two rounds, finishing with a winning average of 6.09 seconds after setting a best single of 4.37 seconds, while Ukraine's Ivan Berestovoi finished second at 7.01 and Ribinskas took third at 7.06. Across the podium tallies, Latvia secured eleven podium places, Lithuania collected nine, Estonia earned six, and Ukraine claimed one.

When the final timers reset at the Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, the event concluded as a comprehensive showcase of modern puzzle disciplines. The gathering highlighted how specialized variants of the Rubik's Cube continue to challenge competitors on memory and manual dexterity. With demanding brackets wrapped up in a single day, the cubing competition demonstrated the regional talent driving the sport forward into the 2026 season.