Puerto Rico Open 2023

Evan Brown completed an extraordinary clean sweep across all five formats at Casa Comunitaria de Medios, taking the top spot in every discipline on the schedule. Held on September 2, 2023, the Puerto Rico Open 2023 brought together 28 competitors in Salinas, Puerto Rico, USA, for an intense day of twisting challenges. Across 11 total rounds of competition, the lineup showcased an immense spread of dexterity, demanding everything from the rapid turns of two-layer cubes and pyramid shapes to one-handed execution and big cube edge pairing.

The range of events required participants to shift gears instantly between dramatically different puzzle geometries. In the standard 3x3x3 Cube, where competitors tackled three rounds of classic Rubik's Cube solving, Evan Brown secured the win with an 8.75 average and a tournament best single of 8.08. Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni followed in second place with an 11.00 average, narrowly edging out Felix J. Santiago Melendez, who recorded an 11.07 average to step onto the third step of the podium in the premier event.

Shifting down in mechanical complexity but soaring in speed, the 2x2x2 Cube event challenged 22 entrants across three rounds of lightning-fast turns. Evan Brown once again led the way, producing a winning average of 3.90 alongside a best single of 2.70. The battle behind him was intensely tight, as Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni took the second spot with an average of 3.95 and Felix J. Santiago Melendez finished third with a 4.00 mark. The discipline also saw a record average of 2.61 and single of 2.28 from Brown during the competition.

The geometric variety expanded further with the Pyraminx, where competitors navigated tetrahedral turns across two rounds. Evan Brown captured his third title with a 5.63 winning average and a 4.27 single. Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni earned another runner-up finish with a 6.87 average, while Julián Ramírez-Hermida placed third with a mark of 7.63. The discipline tested mechanical precision and quick visual orientation, emphasizing how diverse skill sets must be at a modern WCA competition.

Physical dexterity took center stage in the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, requiring participants to solve the classic puzzle using only five fingers. Evan Brown took first place across two rounds with an average of 16.61 and a single of 14.72. Felix J. Santiago Melendez claimed second place with a 17.62 average, while Jonathan A. Cruz secured third with 27.36. In the 4x4x4 Cube, which requires additional reduction stages to align center pieces and edge pairs, Brown won in 36.96, ahead of Gonzalez-Napoleoni at 40.48 and Melendez at 45.34.

Beyond the podium battles, the floor buzzed with athletes achieving major milestones and conquering new event formats. Veteran solver Ricky Martin tackled five events and delivered a 4x4x4 Cube personal best of 47.05, placing fourth, while dropping his 2x2x2 Cube mark to 3.91, which was 5.1 percent faster than his previous best of 4.12. First-time competitor Renato Andrés Dominicci Maldonado took on five separate events, achieving a fifth-place finish in Pyraminx along with initial official marks of 13.05 on the 3x3x3 Cube, 41.66 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and 1:12.95 on the 4x4x4 Cube. Junoel Rosario Santana also made a competition debut, finishing seventh in the 4x4x4 Cube with a first attempt of 1:30.43, alongside initial times of 6.05 on 2x2x2 and 4:25.32 in One-Handed.

Several other debutants took their first steps into competitive speed cubing on the day. Adrián Zapata Colón placed fourth in the main 3x3 results with an opening mark of 12.36, while also logging initial attempts of 5.41 in 2x2x2 and 31.88 in One-Handed. Mauro Ocasio Bonilla finished fourth in Pyraminx with a first official solve of 4.43, adding debut single times of 3.72 on 2x2x2 and 21.96 on 3x3x3. Gabriel J. Colon registered initial official times across three formats, including a 41.30 on 3x3x3, a 10.73 on Pyraminx, and an 8.24 on 2x2x2. Marcelo Andrés Dominicci Maldonado successfully posted debut singles of 33.40 in 3x3x3, 11.20 in Pyraminx, and 11.14 in 2x2x2, while José J. Miró notched times of 52.82, 15.21, and 15.81 across the same three disciplines.

The broad range of hardware and solving methods made the Puerto Rico Open 2023 a complete celebration of modern speedcubing. From one-handed coordination to large-cube logic and triangular geometries, the 28 participants demonstrated high levels of technical mastery throughout the gathering in Salinas. The final standings showed all 15 podium places earned by USA competitors, sealing an unforgettable single-day festival of speed and mechanical problem solving that sets an exciting tone for the community heading into the next competitive season.