Pinjarra Puzzle Party 2023

A single slip in mean-of-three events can dismantle an entire podium charge, and the big cubes at Pinjarra Puzzle Party 2023 proved how punishing that format can be. With no counting solves discarded to cushion a bad run, every turn carried immense weight. Alevio Hamizan Ersha demonstrated supreme consistency under that intense pressure to capture the 6x6x6 Cube title with a winning average of 1:52.78, anchored by a best single of 1:49.36. The Indonesian competitor held off Jonathan Charlesworth, who took second in 1:56.92, while Jeann Valdez secured third with an average of 1:59.51 in a demanding discipline where any lockup proves fatal.

Held on July 16, 2023, at the Pinjarra Civic Centre in Pinjarra, Western Australia, Australia, the cubing competition brought together 29 competitors for a compact yet fiercely contested day of speedcubing. Across 8 events and 13 rounds, the tournament pushed participants through an array of larger puzzles, non-standard shapes, and memory-intensive blindfolded challenges. The big cubes were at the heart of the schedule, demanding sustained focus and physical stamina across every turn. Fans looking for high-level Rubik's Cube mastery found exceptional precision on the tables as athletes navigated the unforgiving formats.

The 7x7x7 Cube contest doubled down on the mean-of-three drama. Jeann Valdez rose to the top of the 19-competitor field, securing victory with a sharp 2:57.41 winning average and the best single of the event at 2:46.57. Tyler Williams claimed the silver spot with an average of 3:00.30, while 6x6x6 winner Alevio Hamizan Ersha stepped onto the podium again in third place with a 3:02.30 mean. With only a single round to decide the hardware, there was no room for recovery, making clean executions paramount throughout the marathon solves.

Jonathan Charlesworth proved to be one of the busiest and most successful athletes of the day. In the 5x5x5 Cube final, he edged out Jaxon Foster in a photo finish, taking gold with a winning average of 1:03.85 against Foster's 1:03.87, while Joshua Hounslow claimed third in 1:05.66. Charlesworth also commanded the Square-1 tables across two rounds, taking the title with a 10.26 winning average. Josephine Siburian finished runner-up in Square-1 with a 15.74 average, followed closely by Jay Calter in third at 15.94. Charlesworth added a third-place Megaminx finish to his haul, completing a dominant showing.

The Megaminx event saw James Holdsworth pace the 25-player field across two rounds, delivering a winning average of 45.62 alongside the day's best single of 43.82. Josephine Siburian earned another silver podium finish with a 51.26 average, while Jonathan Charlesworth logged 52.00 for bronze. The intricate dodecahedron puzzle tested pattern recognition and turning endurance, rounding out an intense slate of daytime events where consistency determined the final hierarchy across every bracket.

Beyond the top steps of the podium, several competitors delivered remarkable personal milestones across the schedule. Ethan Caalim produced a massive leap on Square-1, shaving 18.1 percent off his previous benchmark with a personal best of 10.43 on his way to a 5th-place finish, while also recording his first ever attempt at 6x6x6 Cube in 5:21.88. Lucius Leong took on 5 events and broke new ground with a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 1:40.92, a first ever attempt at Square-1 in 1:15.01, and a 3.9 percent improvement in 5x5x5 Cube with a 1:35.13 personal best. Sophia Dumergue entered Megaminx for the first time, logging 2:38.41.

Other athletes showed substantial progression across multiple disciplines throughout the gathering. Regan Roberts tackled 6 events, lowering his 7x7x7 Cube personal best by 7.9 percent to 4:02.66, cutting Square-1 by 7.9 percent to 16.58, and improving his Megaminx mark by 4.5 percent to 1:05.53. Xavier Hurst lowered his 6x6x6 Cube time by 7.3 percent to 3:22.44 and improved Megaminx by 4.5 percent to 1:49.87. Alan Siburian improved by 6.2 percent on 6x6x6 Cube with a 2:41.66 and took 6 percent off his Megaminx best at 1:07.43. Chris Sambrooks made his single entry count by improving his 3x3x3 Blindfolded mark by 6.3 percent to 1:53.57, while Jonathan Pang lowered his 7x7x7 Cube best by 5 percent down to 6:29.69.

Blindfolded solving brought the highest psychological stakes of the entire WCA competition. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded contest, Michael Tripodi captured the title with a 24.95 average and a best single of 23.37, followed on the podium by Joel Tan in 41.95 and Amy Smith in 47.63. The single-solve records were heavily populated throughout the event, with Tripodi recording a 22.51 single, Smith a 35.06, Tan a 35.28, Hounslow a 46.63, Foster a 1:14.37, Oscar Wong Jing Yee a 1:20.99, Zak Kenny a 1:27.62, David McLean a 1:29.00, Williams a 1:38.01, and Pang a 1:40.51.

The larger blindfolded categories highlighted just how brutal unassisted memory solves can be. Amy Smith took first place in 4x4x4 Blindfolded with a 5:39.26 single, as David McLean claimed second with 9:04.24 and five other entrants registered DNF marks. In the 5x5x5 Blindfolded event, Michael Tripodi secured his second gold of the meet with a 5:51.85 single, while Jaxon Foster completed a successful solve in 22:59.00 for silver against four DNF finishes. Whether in complex memory trials, speed cubing sprints, or mean-of-three big cubes, Pinjarra Puzzle Party 2023 offered a pure test of accuracy where success hung on every single execution.