Top 15 at the 2015 Rubik's Cube World Championship

Top 15 at the 2015 Rubik’s Cube World Championship Submitted by: Rubik’s Cube Wednesday, 15 July 2015

As the Rubik’s Cube World Championship (http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/index.php?location=home) approaches (Friday July 17 – Sunday July 19) Rubik’s Cube (http://www.rubiks.com) experts around the world will be preparing themselves for the competition ahead. The global speedcubing elite is an extremely competitive group – between Aintone Cantin (third fastest) and Kabyanil Talukdar (fourteenth in the world) there is a difference of less than a second. See below a list of contenders to watch at this year’s event and their personal best times: 1Australia - Feliks Zemdegs6.54 2Netherlands - Mats Valk 7.45 3Canada - Antoine Cantin 8.01 4Poland - Micha Pleskowicz8.11 5USA - Anthony Brooks 8.17 6UK - Robert Yau 8.21 7UK - Breandan Vallance 8.32 8USA - Kevin Hays 8.38 9Brazil - Pedro Henrique da Silva Roque8.43 10Poland - Jakub Kipa 8.46 11USA - Justin Mallari 8.61 12Australia - Jayden McNeill8.70 13Brazil - Gabriel Dechichi Barbar8.80 14India - Kabyanil Talukdar8.90 15Slovenia - Staš Zupanc 9.04 Australia’s Feliks Zemdegs, who stunned the competition with a winning average time of 8.18 seconds at the 2013 Rubik’s Cube World Championship, and will be looking to defend his title in São Paulo. The UK is also very well represented on the world Speedcubing stage: in 2009 Breandan Vallance won the Rubik’s Cube World Championship in Dusseldorf with an average time of 10.74 seconds, and achieved a new best average time of 8.32 at the 2013 Edinburgh Open, placing himself comfortably among the global Speedcubing elite. Robert Yau’s personal best average time of 8.21 seconds, fractionally faster than Breandan’s, means that he also ranks within the sport’s top ten. Chrisi Trussell of Rubik’s Brand Ltd, who will be in attendance said, “The standard of competition has increased dramatically over the last ten years and it’s clear to see that these young people are pushing each other to go faster than ever before. “That’s the unique thing about the Speedcubing community – they’re in direct competition but they are all so supportive of one another.”

Page 1 Not only is the sport incredibly tight, it is also extremely fast-moving – huge improvements in technique, lubrication and participation have pushed the sport further than ever before. Looking at the winning times from the seven Rubik’s Cube World Championships – the first of which took place in 1982 – there is a strong pattern of progression: Las Vegas 2013Australia – Feliks Zemdegs 8.18 Bangkok 2011Poland - Micha Pleskowicz 8.65 Dusseldorf 2009UK – Breandan Vallance 10.74 Budapest 2007Japan - Yu Nakajima 12.46 Orlando 2005France – Jean Pons 15.10 Toronto 2005USA –Dan Knights 20.00 Budapest 1982USA – Minh Thai 22.95 Rubik’s Cube World Championship The Rubik’s Cube World Championship was first held in Budapest in 1982 and was won by American Minh Thai with a time of 22.95 seconds. In each of the six Rubik’s Cube World Championships since then, the winning time has been faster than the one preceding it. In total, over 400 people will contest the Rubik’s Cube World Championship. The highlight of the competition is the 3 x 3 x 3 final, which starts at 4.15PM (São Paulo local time) on Sunday July 19. The championship will be streamed live from the start of the competition and can be viewed via http://cubovelocidade.com.br/worlds/ To find out more about the Rubik’s Cube, visit the website at www.rubiks.com, Twitter feed @RubiksOnline (https://twitter.com/rubiksonline) or official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Rubiksonline) . Alternatively, join the conversation at #RubiksCube Links: http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/index.php?location=home www.rubiks.com https://twitter.com/rubiksonline https://www.facebook.com/Rubiksonline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTHdJn9npO4 ENDS Images and B-roll from the 2013 Rubik’s Cube World Championship are available on request. We would be delighted to organise interviews with Chrisi Trussell from Rubik’s Brand Ltd.

Page 2 Images and B-roll from the 2015 Rubik’s Cube World Championship will be available to journalists when the event is under way. Media information provided by Famous Publicity. For more information please contact George Murdoch at 07834 643 977 or [email protected] or Tina Fotherby at 07703 409 622 or [email protected]. WHAT: Rubik’s Cube World Championship 2015 WHO: 426 competitors from across the world (full list of competitors (http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/index.php?location=heats)) WHEN: July 17-19 2015 WHERE: Colégio Etapa, Rua Vergueiro, Vila Mariana, São Paulo Rubik’s Cube® is a registered trademark of Rubik’s Brand Ltd

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