Ottawa Spring 2025

The competition hall at Algonquin College was filled with focused energy on May 3, 2025, as stacks of plastic puzzles and timing mats covered every station. Across the room, dozens of nervous hands inspected scrambled faces, warmed up their finger tricks, and stepped up to official tables for their first taste of tournament play. It was a day defined by a fresh wave of contenders, with newcomers making up a significant portion of the floor alongside seasoned hands, turning the single-day gathering into a busy showcase of emerging speedcubing potential in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

A total of 140 competitors gathered for Ottawa Spring 2025, taking on seven total rounds spread across five distinct events. The heavy turnout of new faces gave the cubing competition a unique vibrancy, as competitors tested their skills under standard World Cube Association regulations. Many participants were logging their earliest official entries across multiple disciplines, tackling everything from the classic Rubik's Cube to specialized, angled puzzles with sharp determination. The bustling schedule moved briskly, giving athletes of all experience levels a platform to measure their growth.

Beyond the final tables, the deeper story of the day belonged to athletes making major breakthroughs and broadening their competitive range. Behnoud Kheiri took on five disciplines and secured massive drops in time, cutting his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 56.5 percent to 6.20 seconds, lowering his Skewb mark by 67.7 percent to 6.74, and logging a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 2:04.65. Mario Fuentes Lopez achieved a 57.1 percent improvement on 2x2x2 with an 8.97 single, dropped his 3x3x3 Cube best by 38.3 percent down to 28.67, and completed his first 4x4x4 single in 2:25.48. Aarvin Anantha Prakash also made notable strides, slashing his 2x2x2 personal best by 54.6 percent down to 5.68 seconds while adding a debut 4x4x4 attempt of 1:16.32 to place 42nd.

First-time event entries provided some of the most rewarding moments on the floor. Freddie Van Jurec registered a 41.1 percent reduction on his 2x2x2 personal best with a 4.72, while also posting his first official attempts in Skewb at 8.52 to finish 30th and 4x4x4 Cube in 1:16.10. Evan Lalonde delivered an impressive 36.7 percent cut to his 3x3x3 mark with a 17.59 single, alongside debut attempts in Pyraminx at 13.00 and 4x4x4 at 2:33.67. Loucic Boucher tackled all five events, recording initial attempts in 2x2x2 at 4.91, Skewb at 6.52, and 4x4x4 at 1:26.80. Antony Guirguis marked his first attempts in Pyraminx at 9.57, 4x4x4 at 1:05.39, and Skewb at 10.79. Meanwhile, Ida Berensmeier recorded debut marks in three disciplines, logging 11.51 on Pyraminx, 12.74 on Skewb to place 34th, and 1:43.35 on 4x4x4.

When it came to the top steps of the podium, Darshan Bhavanasi delivered an extraordinary individual performance by claiming three titles across the five events. In the 4x4x4 Cube final, Bhavanasi locked down first place with a 31.12 average, complemented by the event's fastest single solve of 24.75 seconds. He was chased closely by Ukraine's Ivan Vynnyk, who took second with a 33.66 average, while Canada's Jonah Kolbe Sullivan rounded out the top three with an average of 41.48 in the 72-person field.

Bhavanasi continued his dominant form on the pyramid puzzle, capturing gold in Pyraminx with a stellar 1.80 winning average and an event-best 1.16 single solve among 82 competitors. Reid Robblee finished in second place with an average of 4.51, while William Lavoie took the bronze medal with a 4.71 mark. Bhavanasi followed that up with another commanding victory in Skewb, topping a field of 63 participants with a 4.12 average and a low single of 2.84, leading Breton MacDonald at 5.33 and Lavoie at 5.41.

The 2x2x2 Cube event saw some of the quickest turning of the entire gathering across two intense rounds. Rémi Chrétien emerged as the champion, putting together a winning average of 1.96 seconds and an event-low single of 1.43 to claim victory over 105 competitors. Bhavanasi collected another medal by securing second place with a 2.19 average, followed closely by Lavoie in third at 2.59, giving Lavoie his third podium appearance of the afternoon.

The headline 3x3x3 Cube contest brought 138 competitors to the tables across two full rounds of action. When the final 3x3 results were posted, Kian Mansour stood atop the leaderboard, capturing the title with an impressive winning average of 8.49 seconds and setting the fastest single of the event at 6.86. Ivan Vynnyk earned his second silver medal of the day with a 9.21 average, edging Darshan Bhavanasi, who capped off an exhaustive five-podium day by finishing third with a 9.26 average.

Across the entire medal table, host country Canada led the count with eight podium finishes, while India took five courtesy of Bhavanasi, and Ukraine claimed two through Vynnyk. For the large contingent of new solvers who stepped into the official arena for the first time, the tournament provided valuable stage experience and personal benchmarks. As the equipment was packed away at Algonquin College, Ottawa Spring 2025 concluded as a high-energy celebration of fast times, broad participation, and the continued momentum of speed cubing in the region.