UTN Ibarra Open 2023

Inside the Universidad Técnica del Norte, the competition tables were set for a concentrated day of speedcubing. On July 15, 2023, seventy-nine competitors gathered in Ibarra, Ecuador, ready to test their preparation across eight separate disciplines. The atmosphere across eleven rounds of play was focused and competitive, with timers resetting constantly across the venue as personal benchmarks and national honours were placed on the line.

The fiercest contest of the weekend came down to a mere eight hundredths of a second in the 2x2x2 Cube final. Raúl Gómez clinched the event title with a winning average of 2.67 seconds, holding off Anthony Gerard Álvarez Ludeña, who finished right on his heels at 2.75 seconds. Steven Daniel Dueñas Anisete completed the podium in third place with a 3.67 average. Despite missing the top step in the final, Álvarez Ludeña left his mark on the event by setting Ecuadorian national records with a 1.37 single and a 2.16 average.

Beyond that razor-thin 2x2x2 battle, Anthony Gerard Álvarez Ludeña put together a commanding performance across the board at UTN Ibarra Open 2023. In the premier 3x3x3 Cube event, which drew a tournament-high seventy-two entrants across three rounds, Álvarez Ludeña secured victory with a winning average of 10.13 and a best single of 8.78. Luis Fernando Aldás Cuestas took second place with a 12.21 average, while Steven Daniel Dueñas Anisete earned third with 12.98, locking in the headline 3x3 results.

Álvarez Ludeña added four more victories to his tally across a broad mix of puzzle formats. He dominated the 4x4x4 Cube with a 34.85 average ahead of Luis Fernando Aldás Cuestas at 47.07 and Jhonatan Caicedo at 51.85. In 3x3x3 One-Handed, Álvarez Ludeña topped the field with a 16.08 average, followed by Santiago David Ulcuango Romero at 25.04 and Ivan Alexander Bonilla Morales at 26.99. He also took first place in Megaminx with a 56.55 mark and won 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a 1:12.07 average, where competitor James Montero placed third in 5:35.83.

The remaining events crowned their own champions on the regional stage. In Pyraminx, Ivan Alexander Bonilla Morales secured first place with an average of 5.73 seconds, leading Jhonatan Caicedo at 6.70 and María José Ortega Andrade at 7.02. In Skewb, Steven Daniel Dueñas Anisete claimed the top spot with a 5.76 average and a 3.94 single, narrowly edging Luis Fernando Aldás Cuestas at 7.14 and Caicedo at 7.22.

Away from the top of the podium, several competitors delivered massive personal breakthroughs at the competition. Jean Carlos Echeverría Jácome cut his Skewb personal best down to 12.12 seconds, an improvement of 57.7 percent from his prior 28.67 mark, while also finishing fourth in 3x3x3 Blindfolded. Eduardo Gael Alvarez Arévalo dropped his 2x2x2 Cube best to 7.18 seconds, shaving 51.6 percent off his earlier 14.85 standard, and entered his first official Skewb round with a 12.62 result. Viviana Alexandra Cuaspa Benavides reduced her Pyraminx personal best to 17.38 seconds, which was 43.4 percent faster than her prior 30.71 best, and Tito Córdova logged a 3x3x3 Cube best of 41.81 seconds, improving by 42.8 percent over his former 1:13.08 mark.

First-time events and expanding puzzle portfolios defined the weekend for many others. Andres Sebastian Paredes contested seven different events, securing a 2x2x2 Cube personal best of 2.64 seconds along with his first attempts in Skewb at 11.25 and Megaminx at 2:20.43. Marcelo Gabriel Torres Garrido improved his Megaminx mark by 24.8 percent to 2:18.15 and recorded his first official 4x4x4 Cube time of 1:38.66. Pablo Daniel Rivera Tulcán logged his first official Pyraminx solve with a 12.14, while lowering his classic Rubik's Cube best by 33.3 percent to 30.02. Anthony Cusin completed five events, putting up his first official marks in 3x3x3 One-Handed at 35.22, 2x2x2 Cube at 6.02, and 4x4x4 Cube at 1:30.36.

Debut appearances also brought fresh talent to this official WCA competition. Martín Sebastián Chanalata Escobar made his career debut by tackling four disciplines, highlighted by a tenth-place Skewb finish with a 21.67 single. Elias Rafael Astudillo Rubio also made his first tournament start, reaching fourteenth in Pyraminx with a 9.72 single while recording first attempts in the 2x2x2 and 3x3x3 categories.

The one-day meet closed with all twenty-four podium positions going to Ecuadorian competitors, underscoring the depth of local talent. The UTN Ibarra Open 2023 demonstrated the intensity of modern speed cubing, where margins are measured in fractions of a second and every round offers new milestones for contenders and newcomers alike as they look ahead to the upcoming season.