Southern Ontario Summer - Newmarket 2023

54 competitors gathered at the Optimist Youth Center on June 24, 2023, for a fast-paced day of speedcubing across seven rounds of action. Hosted in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, Southern Ontario Summer - Newmarket 2023 offered a compact yet demanding lineup of six distinct disciplines. From seasoned contenders fighting for narrow podium margins to newcomers logging their initial times on the official stage, the tournament served as an ideal platform for competitors seeking significant personal milestones across every tier of play.

The showcase 3x3x3 Cube event drew the full roster of 54 entrants into a fierce two-round battle. When the final 3x3 results were tallied, Matthew Lee took top honors for Canada with an average of 7.50 seconds and a best single of 6.53. The contest went down to fractions of a second, as Burno Li Chak Kwan secured second place with an average of 7.59. Arhaan Sareen rounded out the podium in third place with a 7.96 average, capping a high-standard final round for the classic Rubik's Cube.

Beyond the traditional cube, Burno Li Chak Kwan put together a remarkable multi-event campaign across the schedule. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Li Chak Kwan claimed victory with a 26.24 average and a 22.04 single, finishing ahead of Sareen's 28.69 and Lee's 31.25. Li Chak Kwan doubled his gold tally in the Megaminx, taking first place with an impressive 35.67 average. Lee captured silver in Megaminx at 44.74, while Sareen collected another bronze podium finish with an average of 46.40.

One-handed solving provided another tight contest between the top performers in Newmarket. Alan Jia earned the 3x3x3 One-Handed title with a 13.07 average, narrowly holding off Lee, who finished second with a 13.16 average. Li Chak Kwan picked up third place with a 14.45 mark. The event demonstrated the intense dexterity demanded by single-hand speed cubing, with less than a tenth of a second deciding the champion.

In the Clock event, Lucas Nieuwland delivered a dominant performance to top the field with a 5.49 winning average, backed by a quick 4.32 single. Li Chak Kwan took second on Clock with a 7.43 average, while Roan Paone claimed third in 7.77. Meanwhile, solving blindfolded brought its unique test of memorisation and execution. Kai Wen Yang won the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division with an average of 1:00.99 and a best single of 44.52, leading Serena Meng and Prosper Huang on the podium.

Away from the top steps of the podium, significant personal progress defined the experience for dozens of solvers across the gym floor. Jerry Han achieved a massive 35.1 percent drop on his 3x3x3 Cube best single, lowering it from 18.65 to 12.10 while also recording a first official attempt at the 4x4x4 Cube in 1:24.83. Loxley Grewal improved his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 31.1 percent down to 16.70 and tackled the 4x4x4 Cube for the first time. Fergus Chow took on four separate events, lowering his 4x4x4 Cube best by 28.3 percent to 58.17, recording a first Clock attempt of 7.47 to finish fourth, and making a first blindfolded attempt of 4:30.10. Brandon Chu lowered his Clock mark by 26.2 percent to 8.44 and reached sixth place in 4x4x4 Cube.

Other competitors expanded their repertoires into new puzzles while dropping notable time off their previous marks. Andrew Poon improved his 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best by 21.5 percent to 19.19 while attempting Megaminx for the first time to finish fifth overall. Nikias Reddecopp shaved 15.7 percent off his 3x3x3 Cube best with a 14.82 single while making first attempts in Megaminx and One-Handed. James Chen dropped 9 percent on 4x4x4 Cube to reach 53.78 while entering Megaminx and One-Handed for the first time. For Santiago Gaudon, this cubing competition marked an official debut, delivering a 23.53 single on 3x3x3 Cube.

Altogether, Canada claimed 13 podium positions while Hong Kong earned five across the six events. Southern Ontario Summer - Newmarket 2023 demonstrated the strength of the regional community, providing both elite battles and broad personal triumphs. As the single-day WCA competition concluded in Newmarket, the large number of personal bests recorded across the field set a strong benchmark for all participants heading into future events.