Osijek Open 2024

A blistering 24.00 single in 3x3x3 Blindfolded by Croatian competitor Jakov Srečković delivered the most electric performance of the weekend on home soil, securing the top step of the podium in front of the local assembly. Held at the Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku on February 24 and 25, the Osijek Open 2024 brought 59 competitors to Osijek, Croatia for an intense two days of speedcubing across 11 official events and 18 rounds. While Srečković delivered a memorable win for Croatia, the wider tournament saw fierce international battles across every format, with podium spots claimed across six different nations.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew 57 competitors over three competitive rounds. Alexey Tsvetkov demonstrated consistent execution throughout the bracket, taking the title with a winning average of 6.31 and posting a best single of 5.69. Ianis Costin Chele of Romania secured second place with an average of 7.28, while Hungary's Gábor Slezák earned third place averaging 8.16. The high standard of these 3x3 results set the tone for an exceptional weekend of classic Rubik's Cube solving in the Slavonia region in 2024.

Tsvetkov proved to be the weekend's most prolific speed cubing champion in the short-format puzzles. Alongside the classic 3x3x3 Cube, he captured victories in four other disciplines: 2x2x2 Cube with a winning average of 1.35 and best single of 1.21, 3x3x3 One-Handed with an average of 10.54, Skewb with an average of 3.16, and Clock with an average of 5.54. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, Chele finished runner-up with 1.70, while Szabolcs Szántai of Hungary rounded out the top three with 2.36.

Matching that dominance on the larger hardware, Hungary's Gergely Novotni assembled an extraordinary sweep of the big puzzles at Osijek Open 2024. Novotni claimed first place in 4x4x4 Cube with an average of 30.61, outlasting Chele's 31.06 and Róbert Maróti's 32.12. He continued his winning run across Megaminx with an average of 37.18, 5x5x5 Cube with 57.05, 6x6x6 Cube with 1:48.59, and 7x7x7 Cube with 2:50.99. In the 6x6x6 Cube final, local Croatian favorite David Vujasić earned silver with 1:56.82 ahead of Szántai, and Vujasić took bronze in the 5x5x5 Cube with a mark of 1:01.29.

Beyond the championship podiums, this WCA competition revealed massive strides across the field as competitors posted dramatic improvements. Erin Pernar achieved the sharpest cut of the tournament, taking down their 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 11.27, a 57.7 percent drop from 26.64, alongside a 2x2x2 Cube mark of 4.61. Tomislav Alaber dropped his 2x2x2 Cube single to 5.60, improving by 51.1 percent from 11.45, while cutting his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 17 percent down to 35.11. Aleksa Vujić tackled eight events, setting a 2x2x2 Cube best of 1.56, a 50.5 percent reduction from 3.15, while registering first-ever event attempts in Megaminx at 1:39.76 and 5x5x5 Cube at 2:27.23, also placing 23rd in 3x3x3 One-Handed. Marko Rajkovača sliced 40.4 percent off his 3x3x3 Cube mark to 25.32 and completed his first official attempts in 2x2x2 Cube with 6.25 and 4x4x4 Cube with 1:53.26.

The progress continued across various disciplines for other persistent competitors. Bartul Marušić took on seven events, achieving a 40.2 percent drop in Skewb down to 8.26 from 13.82, a 2x2x2 Cube single of 3.07, a 5x5x5 Cube time of 2:58.75, and a 30th-place finish in 5x5x5 Cube. Pavle Kontic recorded a 30.8 percent improvement in 3x3x3 One-Handed to 36.81, placing 30th, alongside personal bests of 2.55 in 2x2x2 Cube and 2:59.37 in Megaminx across six events. Tisa Megušar entered seven disciplines, earning a best finish of 26th in 5x5x5 Cube while dropping her Skewb best to 4.75, an improvement of 30.7 percent, and her 5x5x5 Cube mark to 2:10.16. Lili Mihalovics entered five events, cutting her Skewb best by 20.8 percent to 6.44 while recording debut attempts of 48.07 in 3x3x3 One-Handed to place 37th and 2:17.46 in Megaminx.

The blindfolded discipline, requiring memorisation before solving without sight, closed with Srečković's 24.00 single giving Croatia the victory over Szántai's 1:23.37 and Balázs Polyák's 1:50.86. Hungarian competitors collected a total of 13 podium places across the weekend, while Romanian solvers secured eight, Russia earned five, Croatia four, Slovenia two, and Serbia one.

With 18 rounds run across two packed days of competition, Osijek Open 2024 proved to be an outstanding showcase of regional speedcubing talent. From Srečković's home triumph to five-event sweeps by Novotni and Tsvetkov, the stage at Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku delivered great drama as the community looks ahead to the next stops on the circuit.

Samo dvadeset i četiri sekunde bile su dovoljne da Jakov Srečković riješi kocku bez gledanja i ostvari najupečatljiviji pojedinačni trenutak cijelog vikenda. Disciplina 3x3x3 Blindfolded traži potpunu smirenost uma, iznimnu memorizaciju i besprijekorno izvođenje pod povezom. Hrvatski natjecatelj zaustavio je štopericu na fantastičnih 24.00 sekundi, ostavivši iza sebe drugoplasiranog predstavnika Mađarske Szabolcsa Szántaija s vremenom 1:23.37 te trećeplasiranog Balázsa Polyáka s 1:50.86 u nadmetanju sedamnaest natjecatelja.

Ovaj izvanredan nastup postavio je ton za događaj održan od 24. do 25. veljače na lokaciji Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku. Dvodnevno natjecanje Osijek Open 2024 privuklo je ukupno pedeset i devet natjecatelja koji su odmjerili snage kroz osamnaest rundi u jedanaest različitih disciplina. U dvorani u gradu Osijek, Croatia, speedcubing entuzijasti pokazali su visoku razinu vještine na klasičnim i specijaliziranim slagalicama u organizaciji prema standardima World Cube Association.

Najprestižnija kategorija, klasična Rubikova kocka formata 3x3x3, ponudila je iznimnu razinu brzine kroz tri uzbudljive runde među pedeset i sedam prijavljenih sudionika. Pobjedu je odnio Alexey Tsvetkov s impresivnim pobjedničkim prosjekom od 6.31 sekundi, uz najbolji pojedinačni pokušaj od 5.69 sekundi. Drugo mjesto na postolju osvojio je Ianis Costin Chele iz Rumunjske s prosjekom 7.28, dok je treće mjesto pripalo Gáboru Slezáku iz Mađarske s 8.16 sekundi.

Alexey Tsvetkov ostvario je apsolutnu dominaciju u nizu brzih disciplina, osiguravši čak pet pojedinačnih trijumfa. U formatu 2x2x2 slavio je s prosjekom 1.35 sekundi, dok je u jednoručnom slaganju 3x3x3 One-Handed uzeo zlato s prosjekom 10.54 i pojedinačnim rezultatom 8.47. Njegov pobjednički niz nastavljen je i u disciplini Skewb s prosjekom 3.16 sekundi te na slagalici Clock gdje je pobijedio s prosjekom 5.54 sekundi.

S druge strane, veće slagalice bile su u znaku Gergelyja Novotnija koji je osvojio čak pet naslova. Mađarski natjecatelj dominirao je na 4x4x4 kocki s prosjekom 30.61 sekundi ispred Chelea s 31.06, te na Megaminxu s prosjekom 37.18 ispred Chelea s 39.48. Novotni je briljirao i na velikim formatima uzevši pobjede na 5x5x5 s prosjekom 57.05, 6x6x6 s vremenom 1:48.59 te 7x7x7 s vremenom 2:50.99. Domaći predstavnik David Vujasić osvojio je dva vrijedna postolja, zauzevši drugo mjesto na 6x6x6 s 1:56.82 i treće na 5x5x5 s 1:01.29.

Iza borbi za medalje, Osijek Open 2024 ponudio je sjajne priče o osobnom napretku i predanom radu natjecatelja. Albert Erdelez nastupio je u osam disciplina i ostvario ogroman skok na 3x3x3 kocki, spustivši osobni rekord na 13.56 sekundi što je čak 28.6 posto brže od prijašnjih 18.98, uz poboljšanja na 5x5x5 s 2:34.29 i na 2x2x2 s 4.72. Marin Grgić nastupio je u četiri discipline i popravio jednoručni rezultat na 22.44 sekunde, što je 25.5 posto brže u odnosu na ranijih 30.14, a popravio je i vremena na 4x4x4 s 1:23.45 te 3x3x3 s 14.08. Filip Bečić natjecao se u deset disciplina i popravio jednoručno slaganje na 32.96 sekundi, odnosno 27.6 posto brže od prijašnjih 45.54, dok je Clock spustio na 24.25 a Megaminx na 3:31.95. Pavel Čička poboljšao je svoj rezultat na 3x3x3 na 14.54 sekunde, što je 25.3 posto brže od prethodnih 19.47, te 2x2x2 na 6.44 sekunde.

Vikend je bio posebno važan i za natjecatelje kojima je ovo bilo prvo službeno WCA natjecanje u karijeri. David Maršić okušao se u šest disciplina, upisavši svoj prvi službeni pokušaj u 3x3x3 Blindfolded od 3:26.69 koji mu je donio deseto mjesto, uz prvi 3x3x3 One-Handed rezultat od 23.81 i 2x2x2 od 3.89 sekundi. Patrik Hostić također je zabilježio svoj debi nastupivši u šest disciplina, zabilježivši prvi pokušaj na 3x3x3 od 30.17, na 4x4x4 od 2:12.92 te na Clocku od 23.13 sekundi. Roko Peršić nastupio je u tri discipline i upisao svoje prve rezultate s 1:47.17 na 4x4x4, 19.26 na 3x3x3 i 4.46 na 2x2x2. Dániel Biró zabilježio je svoje prve službene pokušaje kroz tri discipline, ostvarivši 17.15 na 3x3x3, 5.92 na 2x2x2 i 2:04.21 na 4x4x4 kocki.

Kada su se zbrojili svi plasmani na postoljima, Mađarska je predvodila ljestvicu s ukupno trinaest medalja, ispred Rumunjske s osam, Rusije s pet, Hrvatske s četiri, Slovenije s dvije i Srbije s jednim plasmanom na postolje. Uzbudljivo natjecanje u slaganju kocke donijelo je mnoštvo vrhunskih trenutaka i demonstraciju zavidne brzine prstiju, čime je uspješno zaključeno nezaboravno sportsko poglavlje u Osijeku.