WC2019

WCA World Championship 2019

The WCA World Championship 2019 (WC2019) took place from July 11th – 14th 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. For the first time in WCA history, Oceania had the honor of hosting this prestigious, biennial event, with Speedcubing Australia as the main organizers alongside the sponsorship of Rubik’s.

Day 1

The Start

11th July 2019The excitement unfolds as WC2019 kicks off.

The Bid

How did it all begin?We take a look at the early stages of WC2019.

Day 2

The Hype

12th July 2019More world records shatter; the opening ceremony inspires.

Day 3

The Thrill

13th July 2019We welcome the return of the Nation's Cup.

Day 4

The Finale

14th July 2019The stage is set for the final of finals.

Epilogue

What happened after?We see the trials and tribulations of WC2019 as well as its impact.

Prologue

The End?

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The Bid for WC2019

Why Not?

When the call for applicants for WC2019 was announced in the previous year, Ethan Pride reached out to Tim McMahon, the main WCA delegate in Australia at the time, and took the first step of faith in the face of much skepticism.The bidding stage was riddled with challenges, with the event facing major concerns in December 2018 due to sponsorship issues. But with Rubik’s Brand secured as the primary sponsor, it was possible to market WC2019 to a non-cubing audience more effectively as “Rubik’s presents WCA World Championship 2019”.When announced on January 15th 2019, the news was met with great excitement from all over the globe. Expectations were huge as speedcubers braced themselves for the 10th installment of the WCA World Championship.

So at the start, I reached out to Tim, I said, “Looks like they're looking for applicants for worlds. Why don't we just do it?”. Seems like a good time to do it. Ended up in hindsight being an even better time to do it. I don't think there was much more motivation than just “Why not?”.

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How was the reaction like from the Australian cubing community and in general? I think when it was announced, people were quite happy that the chance to be able to compete down here was actually happening, and for the people down here to compete against the best in the world without spending $1000 to go. - Ethan Pride - "I also think from overseas, people were quite excited about traveling to Australia. And although the Australian cubing community had actually been small up until that point, it had an outside role in the global cubing community because of Feliks. So people felt they knew a lot about it. And so I think there was some excitement there." - Edward Hollingdale - Edward Hollingdale, WCA Delegate

The first day of WC2019 featured several side events including 3x3x3 Multi-Blind and 4x4x4 Blindfolded. Of note, WC2019 is the last world championship to include 3x3x3 with Feet as an event, with it being removed in January 2020. In an interview, some of the organizers noted that the event had received an unexpected amount of media coverage as it was the first event in the main room, joking that they should not have scheduled it for the first day.WC2019 would also be the first world championship in history to crown a pair of co-world champions for an event, with Firstian Fushada (Indonesia) and Christopher Chi (USA) both tied for first in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves on Day 1.

Starting Off on the Right Foot

The WCA World Championship had finally begun! The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center (MCEC) opened up its doors for staff arriving as early as 5.00am to set up and prepare the venue.At the main foyer, attendees could find the registration booth, a WC2019 merch store, a Rubik's booth and the WCA booth! As the first events started, competitors warmed up and spectators took their seats from the stands.

The Start

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Welcome to Worlds 2019

The view from the competing area in Plenary 1 of the MCEC.

One of the dedicated scrambling teams for WC2019 Day One!

Competitors on the Day 1 main stage competing in the 7x7x7 Cube event. Competitors submitting their puzzles at the red stage for the 6x6x6 Cube event. Competitors warming up at the waiting area during a round. Speedcubers get to hang out in a separate room to practice and also mingle with others! Dene Beardsley, the first WCA delegate of Oceania, posing with a cube mosaic of Chris Hemsworth at the Rubik's booth. An ongoing 3x3x3 Fewest Moves attempt in the side room. From a given scramble, competitors have one hour to submit the shortest solution they can find. One of the autograph sessions organized near the WCA Booth with notable all-rounders. From left to right: Firstian Fushada (Indonesia), Daniel Wallin (Sweden), Max Siauw (USA) and Carter Kucala (USA).

Day 1 Final Round Results 3x3x3 With Feet Lim Hung (林弘) - Malaysia Best solve: 17.10 seconds Asian Record Average of 5 solves: 23.29 seconds Asian Record 4x4x4 Blindfolded Stanley Chapel - USA Best solve: 1:08.07 World Record Mean of 3 solves: 1:21.81 World Record 3x3x3 Fewest Moves Christopher Chi - USA Firstian Fushada (符逢城) - Indonesia Best solve: 24 movesMean of 3 solves: 25.33 moves Records African Records Timothy Lawrence - South Africa 3x3x3 Fewest Moves: 25 moves (single), 28.00 moves (mean of three)

On the second day of WC2019, the rest of the main stage was opened for the rest of the championship. With 48 solving stations across four sections as well as live streaming equipment set up, WC2019 went into high gear.Attendees also got to witness the filming of 'The Speed Cubers', a Netflix documentary featuring speedcubing which would premier in 2020.It was also very eventful day two as four world records were broken! As the final rounds of another six events concluded at the end of the day, the halfway point of WC2019 has been reached.

Are You Ready?

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The Hype

At 4.45pm, the opening ceremony took place and began with the viewing of the WC2019 opening ceremony film. (link below) Then, representatives from each country paraded through the main auditorium and onto the main stage, hoisting their nation’s flag. It was a magnificent spectacle to behold as speedcubers from across the world stood united and proud.The national anthem of Australia was then played followed by a special pre-recorded address by WCA Executive Director, Bob Burton. The ceremony ended with lead organizer and newly elected WCA board member, Ethan Pride, who gave a speech welcoming and thanking all who came.

A Moment to Be Proud

Philippe Virouleau, the staffing mastermind of WC2019. "Philippe was the scheduling god who created the different staff schedules. There was the main schedule that had all the events, with multiple stages and multiple staff teams...... They'd be various staff teams, some that were not staffing on Thursday because they were filled with people who were doing all Thursday events like staff teams that had Multi-Blinders in it. And teams that would be looking after one stage, with scramblers, judges and runners, each with a team leader...... There were more teams than there were stages to allow teams to have a break, to compete, etc. And there was the registration desk team as another example. The staff system worked very well and we really have Philippe to thank about that." -Edward Hollingdale

Keaton Ellis (left) and Erik Akkersdijk (right) in action as commentators for WC2019. A snapshot of the final round of Square-1. Max Park (right) breaking the 7x7x7 Cube world record single with a 1:44.02 solve on stream. Sitting next to him is WC2013 and WC2015 champion, Feliks Zemdegs of Australia.

Philippe Virouleau, the staffing mastermind behind WC2019. "Philippe was the scheduling god who created the different staff schedules. There was the main schedule that had all the events, with multiple stages and multiple staff teams...... There were various staff teams, like a team that were not staffing on Thursday because they were filled with people who were doing all Thursday events like Multi-Blind. And there were teams that were looking after one stage, with scramblers, judges and runners, each had a team leader...... There were more teams than there were stages to allow teams to have a break, to compete, etc. And there was the registration desk team as another example. The staff system worked very well and we really have Philippe to thank about that." - Edward Hollingdale -

First page of the WC2019 brochure. Each stage at worlds had its own cube cover with a designated colour and animal! A merchandise shop sold limited edition WC2019 apparel as well. The WCA Booth featured a board with a new question daily where people can 'post' their answers. WCA stickers distributed at the WCA Booth.

Core organizers, Kerrie Jarman and Edward Hollingdale (left and right) joined by Ron van Bruchem, one of the WCA founders, before the opening ceremony. Flag bearers representating their nations parade through the main auditorium onto the main stage. Flag procession during the opening ceremony. Ethan Pride giving his opening speech.

Day 2 Final Rounds 3x3x3 Multi-Blind Graham Siggins - USA Best single attempt: 51/54 cubes in 59:06 5x5x5 Blindfolded Stanley Chapel - USA Best single solve: 2:38.77 World Record Mean of 3 solves: Did Not Finish (DNF) 6x6x6 Cube Max Park - USA Best single solve: 1:17.49Mean of 3 solves: 1:20.40 Clock Yunhao Lou (娄云皓) - China Best single solve: 4.42Average of 5 solves: 4.73 seconds Square-1 Aidan Bartlett - USA Best single solve: 6.82Average of 5 solves: 7.60 seconds 7x7x7 Cube Max Park - USA Best single solve: 1:44.02 World Record Mean of 3 solves: 1:50.10 World Record Records World Records Andrew Huang - Australia Skewb: 0.93 seconds (single) Asian Records Makoto Takaoka (高岡誠) - Japan Square-1: 7.50 seconds (average of 5) Seung Hyuk Nahm (남승혁) - Republic of Korea 6x6x6 Cube: 1:24.61 (single) Oceanic Records David Epstein - Australia Square-1: 8.68 seconds (average of 5) Tom Nelson - New Zealand 3x3x3 Multi-Blind: 29/31 cubes in 57:09 (single) European Records Ciarán Beahan - Ireland 6x6x6 Cube: 1:27.23 (mean of 3) South American Records Manuel Gutman - Argentina 5x5x5 Blindfolded: 6:13.53 (single)

The WC2019 opening ceremony film, produced by Ming Dao Ting.

This unofficial event involves the top 32 registered teams of three from the same country, pitting teams against each another in a knockout tournament. Members of each team were required to solve a special edition Rubik’s brand 3x3x3 cube in a relay and the team with the fastest combined time will then progress to the next round.This year, reigning champions Team Germany (Phillipp Weyer, Sebastian Weyer and Cornelius Dieckmann) once again made it to the finals, where they were up against Team USA 1 (Lucas Etter, Patrick Ponce and Max Park). With a total time of 22.55 seconds, Team Germany emerged victorious yet again, winning by 1.59 seconds and defending their title as the Nations Cup champions!

Battle of the Nations

Day 3 kicked off spectacularly with the first round some of the more popular events, including 2x2x2, 3x3x3 and 3x3x3 One-Handed. The venue was bustling as wave after wave of competitors did their solves, delegates and staff were busy ensuring everything was running smoothly and on schedule.Towards the end of Day 3, many were excited to feast their eyes on yet another highly anticipated event at WC2019 - The Rubik’s Nations Cup. Flags were waved and chants were heard as attendees proudly cheered.

The Thrill

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The Excitement Continues

Lights, camera and action!: The front of the main stage with live stream cameras set up.

Moments before the final match-up between Team Germany and Team USA 1 in the Rubik's Nation's Cup.

Competitors on the red stage in action during a round of 3x3x3 Cube. One of the scrambling teams for the green stage led by delegate, Sebastian Robbins. Runners are responsible for transporting competitors' puzzles from scrambling stations to solving stations and vice versa, ensuring smooth competition flow. A judge inspecting a competitors puzzle for a potential penalty due to misalignment. Overview of the main stage, with current and subsequent groupings projected on a large screen. One of the youngest competitors at WC2019 had the honor of cutting a jumbo-sized cube cake, commemorating the 45th anniversary of the invention of the Rubik's Cube.

Asian Records Seung Hyuk Nahm (남승혁) - Republic of Korea 5x5x5 Cube: 45.75 seconds (average of 5) European Records Martin Vædele Egdal - Denmark 3x3x3 Blindfolded: 21.52 seconds (mean of 3)

The Rubik's Nation's Cup at WC2019, produced by LaZer0MonKey (Phillip Lewicki).

As the final day of WC2019 took place, those present were looking forward to the final rounds of the nine remaining events. With the 3x3x3 Cube Semi Final concluding right before lunch, the finalists for the main event were set in stone. These top-16 cubers would face each other head-to-head to determine who would take the title of world champion.The afternoon was particularly exciting and equally as tense, with spectators enjoying two and half hours' worth of final rounds. After crowning another 8 world champions in their respectful events, the penultimate round of 3x3x3 drew near. Finalists were ushered into a special waiting room as staff prepared the main stage for the final showdown in Melbourne.Finalists made their entrance to their personal solving station accompanied by their national flag. Ethan Pride and Edward Hollingdale were responsible as dedicated judges for this final of finals.

After an intense hour of solving, all eyes were fixed on Max Park as the 3x3x3 Cube podium all came down to his final solve. When the dust settled, the crowd erupted into cheers as Philipp Weyer of Germany was crowned the WC2019 champion.With a 6.74-second average, he inched ahead of runner up, Sean Patrick Villanueva (Philippines) by a mere 0.04 seconds. Philipp’s very own twin brother, Sebastian Weyer, secured bronze with an average of 6.81 seconds. Alongside Max Park, Feliks Zemdegs and Seung Hyuk Nahm who finished 4th to 6th place respectively, the top six average times were within 0.11 seconds from each other. This makes it the closest world championship finals in WCA history.MCEC continued to be filled with applause as those who secured podiums went on stage to receive their prizes during the awards ceremony. Group photos were taken and farewells were exchanged as WC2019 drew to a close.

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The Finale

Down to the Wire

Glory on the Horizon

Kerri Jarman was part of the core organizing team and was heavily involved with the competitor experience side of WC2019. Her tasks include being in charge of personalized certificates, name tags, and merchandise distributed and sold at the championship. The goodie bags given out also came with an event booklet, stickers and even a custom-made water bottle. As a parent of a cuber herself, Kerrie hopes that parents are able to have a good experience when supporting their children as well. By supporting WC2019 in this way, she is able to give back to the speedcubing community and has gone the extra mile in building the local cuber parent community. What are you most proud of? Personally, I am incredibly proud that we made it! We had a very small core team (too small) and that meant there was a lot to do. I am proud of the certificates I created. This came as a suggestion from one of our involved parents. I took on the challenge to design and produce individualised certificates for all competitors. I thought this a worthwhile exercise as the average age was under 18 and for many just competing at a World Championships was a big deal. I wanted to give some something they would treasure, even if they didn't get to stand on the podium. I am proud that they worked out well and people liked them. Similar for the name tags and accompanying staffing and competition schedules. I am especially proud that for volunteer non-professional event managers, who hadn't been to a major cubing event previously, we did a great job of organising a world class event!

View from the very back of the blue stage. Online viewers can still witness 3x3x3 finals via the livestream. Lineup of WC2019 trophies.

Philipp Weyer at the commentary booth for a short interview after becoming WC2019 champion. WC2019 3x3x3 Podium WC2019 would also be the Australian national championship for 2019, so the fastest local speedcubers also stand a chance to be on the podium! Australian 3x3x3 Podium: Feliks Zemdegs in 1st (center), Tommy Kiprillis in 2nd (left) and Jayden McNeill in 3rd (right). Group photo of everyone who podiumed at WC2019.

Day 4 Finals 3x3x3 Cube Philipp Weyer - Germany Best single solve: 5.97 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 6.74 seconds Megaminx Juan Pablo Huanqui - Peru Best single solve: 28.20 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 33.81 seconds Skewb Noriyuki Okada (岡田典之) - Japan Best single solve: 2.38 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 3.00 seconds 3x3x3 One-Handed Max Park - USA Best single solve: 9.69 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 10.48 seconds Pyraminx Tymon Kolasiński - Poland Best single solve: 1.98 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 2.40 seconds 5x5x5 Cube Max Park - USA Best single solve: 40.79 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 41.43 seconds 3x3x3 Blindfolded Manuel Gutman - Argentina Best single solve: 18.44 secondsMean of 3 solves: 20.81 seconds South American Record 4x4x4 Cube Max Park - USA Best single solve: 19.08 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 21.58 seconds 2x2x2 Cube Jiazhou Li (李佳洲) - China Best single solve: 1.34 secondsAverage of 5 solves: 1.49 seconds Records Asian Records Seung Hyuk Nahm (남승혁) - Republic of Korea 4x4x4 Cube: 19.87 seconds (single), 23.57 seconds (average of 5) 5x5x5 Cube: 40.66 seconds (single), 44.78 seconds (average of 5) European Records Ciarán Beahan - Ireland 5x5x5 Cube: 38.96 seconds (single) Martin Vædele Egdal - Denmark 3x3x3 Blindfolded: 19.94 seconds (mean of 3) Amos Nordman - Finland Megaminx: 34.50 seconds (average of 5) North American Records Max Hilliard - USA 3x3x3 Blindfolded: 16.23 seconds (single)

The WC2019 organizing team, though comprised of a relatively small team had banded together to pull off the largest world championship in WCA history at the time. The team also wished that competitors can have a more memorable trip in Melbourne beyond competing. Jeff Hobbs contacted various places to feature them in a booklet that introduces places of interest that competitors could check out outside of cubing. A local aquarium even offered a dive with sharks, to gain more publicity and promote WC2019.

All's Well That Ends Well

Hope turned into reality as WC2019 ignited the passion of many Australian speedcubers, which led to an explosive demand in local competitions. In just 4 years since WC2019, the number of Australian competitions in total have more than doubled. We congratulate Speedcubing Australia for their remarkable achievements, wishing them further success!

Although there were many things that the organizing team felt could have been improved such as better flow for the Nations Cup and the limited merchandise supply, they were really pleased that WC2019 ended on a positive note. With the success of WC2019, the organizing team hope to host more consistent competitions within the region and that speedcubing in Australia will continue to achieve greater heights.

The End?

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The staff team group photo!

The final round of 3x3x3 at WC2019, produced by fellow WC2019 3x3x3 finalist, Phillip Lewicki also known as LaZer0MonKey.