Side Events Rīga 2024

Nineteen competitors gathered at the NVO nams venue as Side Events Rīga 2024 brought a dedicated specialty focus to the speedcubing calendar. Held on May 25, 2024, the one-day gathering offered a deep dive into discipline-heavy formats beyond the traditional 3x3 results. With ten rounds scheduled across seven events, the meet allowed seasoned participants and curious contenders to put their preparation to the test in Rīga, Latvia during an intense stretch of the spring campaign.

Roberts Dreijers set the competitive tone for the home nation by putting on a clinic across multiple categories. In the 5x5x5 Cube, Dreijers secured victory with a composed winning average of 1:12.50 after setting the best single of the event at 1:07.56. Dreijers held off Italian challenger Vincenzo Maria Gammino, who posted 1:14.31, and Simone Cantarelli, who took third in 1:14.39. It was a sharp demonstration of technical efficiency at a high-stakes WCA competition.

Gammino soon shifted the balance of power during the heaviest big cube rounds on the schedule. In the 6x6x6 Cube, the Italian speed cubing standout took first place with an impressive 1:57.76 average, paced by a best single of 1:52.85. Gammino finished comfortably ahead of Latvia's Vladislavs Baranovs, who registered 2:12.54, while Cantarelli rounded out the podium in 2:20.26. Gammino carried that momentum immediately into the 7x7x7 Cube final, taking another gold with a 2:50.30 average, while Baranovs and Dreijers finished second and third respectively.

The tactical demands of Square-1 saw Roberts Dreijers collect his second victory of the meet. Navigating two rounds among fourteen competitors, Dreijers posted a winning average of 12.46 alongside a best single of 12.01 to lead a clean sweep of the podium for Latvia. Krišjānis Nurža pushed hard to take second place with a 13.28 average, while Kristiāns Pietkuns earned third place with a mark of 16.13, reinforcing the country's depth in shape-shifting puzzles.

Kristiāns Pietkuns claimed a title of his own in Megaminx, commanding a 16-competitor field across two rounds. Pietkuns put together a 51.32 winning average and recorded the best single of 47.99 to capture first place over Lithuania's Viltė Klioštoraitytė, who averaged 57.06, and Dreijers, who took bronze in 1:02.51. Klioštoraitytė found redemption in the Clock event, executing a crisp 6.84 winning average to edge Latvia's Toms Edvards Vucens at 6.94 and Oskars Kaminskis at 7.56 in a tightly contested final.

Away from the top of the podium, personal milestones shaped the character of this cubing competition. Matīss Maksis Podinskis produced massive breakthroughs across three events, lowering his Megaminx personal best by 15.5 percent to 1:09.63, trimming his Square-1 best by 12.3 percent to 39.87, and cutting his 7x7x7 Cube mark by 10.8 percent down to 5:37.85. Marks Fridmans shaved 29.1 percent off his previous Square-1 best to register a 19.39 while taking fourth in 3x3x3 Blindfolded. Mihails Teļkijevs took on three debut events in a single afternoon, logging a first attempt in Square-1 at 50.01, a 3:15.00 in 5x5x5 Cube, and a 20.29 in Clock.

Other competitors took on broad slates to push their limits across the board. Roman Sokolovskyi tackled seven disciplines, recording a Clock personal best of 5.24 that was 10.1 percent faster than his prior standard, alongside a 1:41.44 personal best in 5x5x5 Cube. Jānis Zirnis also contested seven events, slicing 22.1 percent off his Clock mark to reach 7.45. Chiara Marcucci entered six events, claiming a highest placement of sixth in blindfolded solving. Pauls Kušners took on three events with a fourteenth-place finish in 5x5x5 Cube, while Gints Mazurs completed his first career tournament with a twelfth-place effort in 6x6x6 Cube.

The blindfolded discipline closed out the lineup with tension and precision. Solving without sight requires complete mental mapping, and Aleksejs Oglobļins handled the pressure to win 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a 1:17.74 single. Roberts Dreijers placed second with a time of 1:49.07, and Jordan Crippa took third in 3:23.70. With Latvia claiming thirteen total podium spots alongside six for Italy and two for Lithuania, Side Events Rīga 2024 proved that specialty disciplines and classic Rubik's Cube mastery offer a compelling window into the competitive season.