Zeke Sirju set a new T&T record for the 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube at the World Cube Association (WCA) competition that took place in Stevenage, England this past weekend. The 13-year-old achieved a time of 14.55 seconds for an average of five solves, and a best time of 11.48 seconds.
With an average solve time of 14.55 seconds, the form four student placed 67th out of 174 competitors in the second round of the 3×3 Cube competition, making it to the semi-finals in only his second competition.
Cubing first became a hobby for him just over three years ago during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he began solving the Rubik’s Cube and he was getting faster and faster. He thought it was a good way to pass the time. However, the speed at which he was solving the Rubik’s Cube made significant progress at first, descending from two-and-a-half minutes to 35 seconds. After the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic was over and he continued with school, Sirju steadily improved going from 35 seconds to 14 seconds.
In 2022, he debuted at the WCA Stevenage Spring 2022 competition where he entered five categories (3x3x3 cube; 2x2x2 cube; 4x4x4 cube; Pyraminx; and Skewb). This year, he bettered his previous times in all categories and reclaimed the national record in the 3x3x3. He also competed in two additional categories, the 3x3x3 one-handed solve and the Square-1.Sirju hopes to improve his times to consistently be under 10 seconds, or even lower if possible. As of July 2023, the world record 3×3 solve is 3.13 seconds, set by Max Park at a WCA competition in the United States.
