Ottawa Mini Winter B 2025

A mere fourteen hundredths of a second decided the premier title at A.Y. Jackson S.S. on January 11, 2025. In the closing moments of the 3x3x3 Cube final, Ziad Alavi locked down victory with a winning average of 10.22 seconds, just narrowly edging Elijah De Groote who posted a 10.36 average. Ben Madison followed right behind to secure third place with a 10.65 mark, creating one of the tightest podium finishes of the season where less than half a second separated all three medallists.

The Ottawa Mini Winter B 2025 brought 28 competitors together in Kanata, Ontario, Canada for an action-packed single-day cubing competition. Across four intense rounds in two classic events, the regional talent delivered exceptional performances on the Rubik's Cube. The focused lineup gave solvers ample room to push their capabilities in both the standard puzzle and the compact 2x2x2 Cube, drawing participants from across the province and beyond for a day of relentless speedcubing.

The premier 3x3 results unfolded through three progressively faster rounds among a field of 27 competitors. Alavi commanded attention throughout the bracket, eventually dropping the single fastest solve of the event at 8.19 seconds en route to his gold-medal average. De Groote kept relentless pressure across all five solves of the final, while Madison completed an all-Canadian podium sweep, demonstrating the remarkable depth of speed cubing talent present at the Kanata venue.

In the 2x2x2 Cube event, Rémi Chrétien authored a dominant showing across the single-round showdown featuring 26 competitors. Chrétien claimed the gold medal with a winning average of 2.36 seconds and the fastest single of the entire event at 1.62 seconds. Ben Madison captured his second podium of the weekend by taking silver with an average of 2.77 and a single of 2.59, while Zackery Philippi earned bronze with an average of 3.53 and a single of 2.55.

The 2x2x2 event also featured strong marks right down the ranks, with Alavi recording a 3.01 single and 3.94 average, Lukas Léonard posting a 2.25 single and 4.32 average, and De Groote turning in a 2.79 single alongside a 4.61 average. Jonathan Proulx logged a 1.99 single and 4.81 average, Eris McElroy notched a 2.54 single and 5.10 average, Dirdh Modi of India achieved a 4.43 single and 5.78 average, and Mikaël Léveillé delivered a 5.42 single and 6.43 average.

Beyond the top steps of the podium, Ottawa Mini Winter B 2025 served as a proving ground for competitors setting massive personal milestones. Cédric Durand recorded major breakthroughs in both events, slashing his 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 23.85 seconds, an improvement of 42.8 percent over his previous 41.69 mark, while also taking his 2x2x2 mark down to 6.19 seconds for a 33.4 percent drop. Lukas Léonard took 5th place in 2x2x2 with a 2.25 personal best, 42.2 percent faster than his prior 3.89, and improved his 3x3x3 personal best to 11.64 seconds, a 23.8 percent reduction. John Whissel improved his 3x3x3 best by 31.7 percent to 23.41 seconds and lowered his 2x2x2 best by 20.3 percent to 7.93 seconds.

First-time appearances and new puzzle debuts also highlighted the weekend card. Yusuf Ziya Bulan tackled his first ever attempt at 2x2x2 Cube with a time of 6.23 seconds for a 12th-place finish, alongside a 3x3x3 personal best of 16.92 seconds that was 21.7 percent faster than before. Theodore Obagi cut 25.3 percent off his 3x3x3 mark to reach 26.09 seconds. Mikaël Léveillé stepped onto the floor for his first WCA competition, taking 10th in 2x2x2 with a 5.42 debut and logging a 35.53 first attempt in 3x3x3. Jacob Cardinal also made his debut appearance, posting initial marks of 13.41 in 2x2x2 and 23.57 in 3x3x3, while Laurie Desjardins navigated her initial tournament with an 8.63 in 2x2x2 and 37.70 in 3x3x3.

Every podium place across the competition went to Canadian contenders, capping off a clean sweep of the six medals awarded in Kanata. From the nail-biting fractions of a second in the headline 3x3x3 final to the flurry of new personal bests across the bracket, Ottawa Mini Winter B 2025 delivered a sharp, memorable opening chapter to the 2025 competitive calendar.