Vilniaus Ruduo 2025

Mantas Urbanavičius delivered a commanding masterclass across four separate disciplines to headline an intense weekend of competition in the Lithuanian capital. Across September 27 to September 28, 2025, the Faculty of Medicine Vilnius University hosted Vilniaus Ruduo 2025, bringing together 48 competitors for 15 rounds spanning 11 official events. While traditional speed cubing prizes rapid turns and instinctive execution, the tournament showcased the full spectrum of modern cubing disciplines, from deep memorisation tests to lightning-fast sprints. Urbanavičius anchored the weekend with a standard-setting victory in the premier event, capturing the 3x3x3 Cube title with a 6.06 winning average and an event-best single of 5.44.

The 3x3 results formed the centerpiece of a dominant multi-event campaign for Urbanavičius on home soil. Beyond the main Rubik's Cube category, which drew a tournament-high 47 competitors across three elimination rounds, he also captured first place in the 2x2x2 Cube with a 2.51 average and a 1.91 single. Taking on the larger NxN puzzles with equal precision, Urbanavičius secured victory in the 4x4x4 Cube with an average of 27.11 and topped the 5x5x5 Cube table with a 54.51 mark, completing a remarkable four-event sweep in Vilnius, Lithuania.

International challengers ensured that the remaining podium spots remained fiercely contested throughout the speedcubing weekend. In the main event, Finland's Vincent von Schantz claimed second place with a 7.14 average, followed by Lithuania's Žygimantas Pilipas in third at 9.41. Von Schantz answered back decisively in 3x3x3 One-Handed, winning the single-handed event with an 11.86 average and a 9.53 single. Tomas Jankauskas took second in one-handed solving with 15.80, while Latvia's Vladislavs Baranovs finished third at 16.72 to add to the international medal haul.

The big cubes featured dramatic head-to-head battles between Italian and Latvian speedcubers. In the 6x6x6 Cube final, Vladislavs Baranovs captured top honors with a 2:08.63 average, edging Italy's Vincenzo Maria Gammino by just two tenths of a second as Gammino finished at 2:08.84. Gammino turned the tables in the 7x7x7 Cube, seizing first place with a 2:58.31 winning average ahead of Baranovs at 3:40.09. Austria's Fabian Staber claimed third place in both the 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 events, posting marks of 2:26.18 and 4:03.07 respectively.

Memory-intensive events brought a distinct mental discipline to the floor, requiring pure spatial recall rather than pure physical speed. Fabian Staber enjoyed an exceptional weekend in the blindfolded disciplines, claiming victory in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a single of 1:41.45 to lead Latvia's Toms Edvards Vucens and Lithuania's Mantas Sidabras. Staber repeated his winning form in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind, securing first place by solving 8 out of 9 cubes in 56:26. Vucens placed second in multi-blind with 3 out of 4 cubes in 28:26, rounding out a demanding test of memorisation under strict time constraints.

The side events delivered equally compelling narratives across the board. In Clock, Ugnius Lesnik claimed victory with a 6.46 winning average and a 5.14 single across two rounds, holding off a Latvian contingent led by Toms Edvards Vucens in second at 6.72 and Mihails Teļkijevs in third at 7.13. Megaminx saw Lithuanian competitor Viltė Klioštoraitytė rise to the top of a 20-person field with a 55.64 winning average and a 44.59 single, finishing clear of Danielius Riuka at 1:07.06 and Sweden's Filip Åström at 1:12.21.

Behind the top steps of the podium, several competitors logged monumental breakthroughs across the weekend program. Edvinas Narbutas made his debut in Megaminx with a time of 1:43.56 and unleashed a massive personal best of 7.26 in Clock, improving by an astounding 81.5 percent from his previous standard of 39.22. Steponas Matulevičius registered a 58.3 percent improvement in the 3x3x3 Cube with a 19.21 single alongside his first ever attempt at 2x2x2 Cube at 6.51. Bernardas Bakėjus slashed 38.8 percent off his 5x5x5 Cube mark with a 3:37.55 and tackled 3x3x3 One-Handed for the first time at 1:38.39, while Domas Raudys cut 34.4 percent off his 4x4x4 Cube best to reach 1:01.35 and took 5th place in 3x3x3 Blindfolded.

The surge of personal achievements continued with Vytis Aleksandravičius, who improved his 5x5x5 Cube personal best by 29.7 percent to 2:45.37 while taking on his first career attempts in Megaminx and 6x6x6 Cube across seven total events. Jokūbas Levanavičius dropped his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 29.3 percent to 4.37 and recorded his first official one-handed single of 1:18.24. Kasparas Norvila achieved a 20.9 percent drop in 5x5x5 Cube with a 1:24.64 personal best and entered six events, while Marta Szcześniak took on seven categories in Vilnius, earning 10th place in Clock and logging maiden attempts in Megaminx, One-Handed, and 5x5x5 Cube.

First-time entrants also made their mark on the WCA competition floor, with Denis Gasparavičius and Dovydas Kirbutas each launching their careers with debuts across multiple events. In the overall medal distribution, host nation Lithuania led the rankings with 12 podium placements, followed closely by Latvia with 10, Austria with 5, and Finland with 4. As Vilniaus Ruduo 2025 concluded its 15 rounds of competition, the weekend established a high benchmark for regional speedcubing heading into the upcoming season.