Rubik's Irish Championship 2024

Inside the spacious SETU Arena, the usual rhythmic clatter of plastic pieces routinely gave way to absolute stillness. Competitors sat motionless before scrambled puzzles, eyes fixed on complex patterns during memorisation phases before lowering their blindfolds to solve entirely from memory. Across three intense days from July 5 to July 7, the venue in Waterford, Ireland, welcomed 202 speedcubers taking on 16 separate events and 36 rounds of action. The Rubik's Irish Championship 2024 tested every facet of spatial discipline, but none required more mental stamina than the blindfolded disciplines.

Ryan Eckersley of the United Kingdom produced a remarkable display in the memory categories, sweeping all four blindfolded events staged during the weekend. Eckersley captured the 3x3x3 Blindfolded title with a winning average of 30.11 seconds, flanked on the podium by Ireland's Colm McCarthy at 37.57 seconds and Cham J. Chambers of the United Kingdom at 38.44 seconds. In the demanding 3x3x3 Multi-Blind discipline, Eckersley secured victory by solving 31 out of 37 cubes within the strict one-hour time cap, finishing ahead of Irish competitors Simon Kelly, who scored 16 of 18 in 47:08, and Enda Loftus, who registered 13 of 14 in 56:16.

Eckersley expanded his blindfolded mastery into the larger cubes as well. He topped the 4x4x4 Blindfolded podium with a winning single time of 1:33.03, leading McCarthy, who took second in 5:44.98, and Ireland's Adam Bermingham in 6:18.46. In the 5x5x5 Blindfolded event, Eckersley claimed first place courtesy of a 2:50.28 single. To complete an exceptional individual weekend at the Rubik's Irish Championship 2024, Eckersley also secured the Square-1 title, averaging 8.63 seconds to prevail over an 81-competitor field.

The standard 3x3 results brought world-class speed cubing into sharp focus during Sunday's final round. New Zealand's Chris Mills captured top honours on the classic Rubik's Cube with a decisive 6.73 average across the five solves, including a best single of 5.79. Ireland's Ciarán Beahan took second on the podium with a 7.18 average, while Jaime Botello García of Spain earned third place with a 7.48 mark. Mills doubled his individual tally by claiming the 3x3x3 One-Handed title with an 11.42 average, holding off Ireland's Richard Madden at 12.47 and Beahan at 12.48.

Ciarán Beahan enjoyed a prolific run across the big cubes at this cubing competition, capturing four gold finishes for the home nation. Beahan took first in the 4x4x4 Cube with a 25.87 average ahead of Dean David of the United Kingdom and Daniel Rush of South Africa. The same trio formed the 5x5x5 Cube podium, where Beahan won with an average of 45.04. Beahan completed his sweep of the larger puzzles by winning the 6x6x6 Cube with a 1:23.23 average and the 7x7x7 Cube with a 1:59.35 mark.

Beyond the championship podiums, the WCA competition served as a proving ground for dozens of competitors achieving major milestones in Waterford. Luke Gill entered nine events and took huge strides by logging a Pyraminx personal best of 6.56 seconds, cutting 58.7 percent from his prior mark, while also recording his first ever official attempts in Square-1 at 50.85 seconds and 3x3x3 One-Handed at 1:22.29. Khusel-Erdene Unur-Erdene posted a Pyraminx personal best of 5.80 seconds, an improvement of 51 percent, alongside maiden official solves in the 4x4x4 Cube at 1:23.18 and One-Handed at 49.81. Diarmuid O'Donovan cut his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 47.6 percent down to 2.80 seconds, improved his 4x4x4 Cube best to 1:37.99, and made his first Clock appearance with 52.15 seconds.

Other competitors similarly seized the moment across expansive schedules at the Rubik's Irish Championship 2024. Connell Quinlan took on four events, slashing his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 46.7 percent to 13.20 seconds, improving his 3x3x3 Cube best to 37.87, and recording his first Pyraminx attempt at 14.79. Jack Smyth entered 12 disciplines, delivering a 2x2x2 Cube personal best of 1.87 seconds for a 32.7 percent improvement, while tackling the 7x7x7 Cube for the first time in 7:00.77. Sam O'Reilly took on 10 events, cutting his One-Handed personal best by 30.2 percent to 44.04 and posting initial marks in the 5x5x5 Cube and Megaminx. Chloe O'Loughlin completed eight events, logging first-time results in One-Handed, 4x4x4 Cube, and Clock, while Oli Sweeney tackled nine events with maiden efforts in One-Handed, 5x5x5 Cube, and Clock.

Short-format puzzles delivered additional rapid drama in Waterford. Luke Burns of the United Kingdom took the 2x2x2 Cube title with an average of 1.96 seconds, finishing ahead of Lucas Patrick Dowling at 2.19 and Enda Loftus at 2.28. Loftus claimed his own gold in the Pyraminx with a 2.24 average, while Mattheo de Wit of the Netherlands won the Skewb event with a 2.86 average. Jack Corr secured the Clock title with a 3.85 mark, and Sean Moran posted an average of 33.87 to win Megaminx.

Across three days of speedcubing excellence, the event demonstrated the remarkable breadth of the sport, from high-speed turn executions to the silent concentration of multi-blind solves. Host competitors from Ireland collected 19 podium finishes, supported by 16 for the United Kingdom, four for South Africa, two each for New Zealand and India, and one for the Netherlands. As the mats packed away at SETU Arena, the Rubik's Irish Championship 2024 left a lasting mark on the 2024 season.