An unsuspecting mall crowd watched in rapt attention as 13-year-old Sri Oviyasena gracefully twirled five hula hoops while deftly solving a randomly scrambled Rubik’s cube, all within the span of a minute. Many stopped in their tracks to see the two-time Guinness World Record holder’s unique showcase: her world records comprised a maximum of 288 gyrations in hula hoops and successfully solving a 3x3 cube, while simultaneously spinning five hoops in under one minute.
At the Indian Cube Challenge 2024 conducted by Speedcubing India, which took place recently at Phoenix MarketCity, over 180 participants competed in different categories for ages eight to 14, apart from a special open category.
Cube challenges are a kind of competitive puzzle-solving where Rubik’s cube enthusiasts like Oviya challenge themselves in terms of speed and skill. These challenges also encourage the creativity of cubers, while also fostering a sense of community.
Participants at the Indian Cube Challenge at Phoenix MarketCity | Photo Credit: Ravindran R
Speedcubing India has been conducting cubing competitions in Hyderabad and Bengaluru since 2014. The organisation has seen participants from across age groups, ranging from five-year-olds to even octogenarians. Pavan Kumar Akula and Vivek Prasad Mada, founders of the organisation say that this is their first challenge in Chennai.
“We understand that there is a lot of potential in Chennai, and many cubers are coming out to participate now,” says Pavan adding that they were very happy with the turnout, and saw many registrations especially in the last two days leading up to the event. Around 100 participants were expected. “We were pleasantly surprised by the turn out of over 180 people and we expect around 400 registrations in the next edition,” Pavan adds.
The competition in Chennai had a 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4 cube solving as its main event. The special events comprised a pre-memorised solve, where the competitors were given a scramble a day before, to prepare and solve, on the day of the event. Apart from the regular cubes, there were special cubes with different axes of rotation called mirror cubes and pyramid-shaped puzzles called pyraminx.
Ayush, a Class IX cube says, “My grandmother taught me how to solve the cube.” Anirudh, a 11-year-old student from Hosur who was a first-time competitor says, “Other kids in my block would learn about the cube and naturally I was curious too. My dad then got me a cube and I learnt how to solve the 3x3 cube from him. I later went online and learned about various types of cubes and how to solve them.”
Oviya’s journey in cubing was sparked by a simple observation of her brother’s online practice sessions. It wasn’t until 2022 that Oviya, already deeply committed to honing her skills in both hooping and cubing, decided to challenge herself to excel in both disciplines. “Each practise session has brought me one step closer to success,” she says. Beyond her current feats, Oviya also aims for the 2032 Olympics in archery, and is currently receiving coaching to achieve this goal.
Vivek says that the organisation is planning to organise a challenge in Delhi in the coming months. The next edition in Chennai will be in September. Throwing light on the community, Pavan says, “The cubing community of India can be said to have grown since 2010.” There are a few active cubing hubs in India, which include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. Bengaluru and Chennai have seen the largest competitions, and are actively growing their respective cubing communities through such events.
