Please Be Quiet Waterloo 2025

The competition hall at the University of Waterloo carried an unusual stillness on October 11, 2025. Competitors sat hunched over tables under soft indoor lighting, tracing complex sequences on paper or closing their eyes behind blindfolds as stopwatches started with a light touch. Free of the usual clamour of turning plastic and rapid applause, the atmosphere reflected the distinct focus required for specialized disciplines. Every participant in the room understood that success across the tables depended on prolonged concentration, sharp memory retention, and meticulous planning across each turn.

Arriving midway through the autumn calendar of the 2025 speedcubing circuit, Please Be Quiet Waterloo 2025 offered a critical late-season proving ground for specialists in quiet events. As the international campaign heads toward its closing months, these dedicated gatherings allow competitors to consolidate form and claim decisive regional rankings away from standard speed events. The single-day WCA competition brought 28 competitors to Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, staging 5 rounds across 4 distinct disciplines designed to test memory, efficiency, and mental endurance.

In 3x3x3 Blindfolded, Elliott Kobelansky claimed victory across two competitive rounds, setting the gold standard with a blistering single of 17.16 seconds. The event requires participants to memorize the layout of a scrambled puzzle before pulling on a blindfold to complete the solve entirely from memory. Alvin Hiu Yeung Cheng took second place with a time of 22.14 seconds, while Steven Phang rounded out the podium positions with a mark of 49.08 seconds. Kobelansky’s top time stood unmatched across the entire day of blindfolded solves.

The 3x3x3 Fewest Moves contest tested analytical problem solving, requiring participants to find the shortest possible solution route for a classic Rubik's Cube within a fixed time limit. Ibrahim Quraishi earned top honours for Canada with an average of 24.00 moves, powered by a tournament-best single solve of 21 moves. Alvin Hiu Yeung Cheng claimed the runner-up position with an average of 24.67 moves, narrowly edging Benjamin Kyle, who secured third place with a 25.33 average among a deep field of 25 competitors.

Alvin Hiu Yeung Cheng delivered standout performances in the larger blindfolded categories, capturing victories in both big-cube disciplines. In 4x4x4 Blindfolded, Cheng navigated the complex piece layout to win with a decisive single time of 1:59.09. Kobelansky followed in second place with 2:11.78, while Abdullah Gulab secured third in 10:00.00. Cheng repeated his success in 5x5x5 Blindfolded, recording a winning solve of 4:39.53, finishing ahead of Kobelansky at 5:33.58 and Marco Yang at 38:28.00.

Behind the headline wins, the tournament yielded notable breakthroughs for competitors exploring new disciplines and setting fresh benchmarks. Joshua Wright tackled four events and delivered a 29.6 percent improvement on his 3x3x3 Blindfolded personal best with a time of 1:29.74, while also logging his first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Blindfolded at 12:33.00 to place fourth, alongside a first 3x3x3 Fewest Moves mark of 34. Matthew Liu lowered his 3x3x3 Fewest Moves best by 17.1 percent to 29 moves, finishing seventh. Jonah Hinkson secured a Trinidad and Tobago national record single in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a personal best of 3:15.67, an improvement of 10.8 percent.

The spirit of expanding skill sets continued with James Magraken, who made a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded to register a time of 1:24.10 and take fourth place overall. Silvia Zheng stepped into 3x3x3 Fewest Moves for the first time, logging a mark of 44 to finish 12th. Maharshi Patel made an initial entry into the same event to post a 38, while Jason Wang completed a first attempt at 49 moves. Timofei Generalov marked a career debut cubing competition by taking on 3x3x3 Blindfolded, successfully posting a 6:56.10 on a first ever attempt to take ninth position.

Across the day, competitors showcased the mental fortitude and versatility central to speed cubing at its highest levels. In total, Canadian entrants collected 7 podium spots, while representatives from Hong Kong earned 4 and Pakistan secured 1. With the 3x3 results verified and recorded in the international logs, Please Be Quiet Waterloo 2025 concluded as an impactful checkpoint in the 2025 schedule, setting clear performance marks for these complex disciplines as athletes begin looking ahead to subsequent stages in the competitive calendar.