CHENNAI: Everyone in the room held their breath as the two contenders standing at the table moved the squares of the Rubik’s Cube.
Blurry fingers swept and flicked the cube until it was solved. Once the cube hit the table, the room let out a breath, only to gasp again at the time on the metre, which read 5.92 seconds.
This was the scene at the second edition of the RedBull Rubik’s Cube World Cup National Finals, which was held at Club Crest, Phoenix MarketCity, on Sunday. Nearly 140 participants across the country took part in the event.
The winners of the four categories will represent their country at the RedBull Rubik’s Cube World Cup which will be held in Moscow, Russia, in November, and compete alongside cubers from Spain, Mexico and China.
In the fastest hand category, which involved solving the Rubik’s in the fastest time using only one hand, the female category saw a comeback from Chennai-based Lakshimi Rajaram, who beat Chennai-based Priya Dharshini after a heated tie.
“Speedcubing is all about living in the moment. Every second counts. Once you prove it to yourself, there’s no opponent you cannot beat,” she said.
The male category was won by Bhargav Narasimhan from Bengaluru. “I’ve been cubing for nine years now, and the most important quality for speedcubing is dexterity. I am hoping to take my experiences from other international tournaments to Moscow,” said the 26-year-old, who has represented India in WCA World Championships in 2015 in Brazil and 2017 in Paris.
In the speedcubing category, Chennai-based Vijay Kishore emerged victorious after breaking the tie with a difference of just 1 second. The rescramble category was won by Bengaluru-based Aniketh Arya.
The four winners’ trip will be fully sponsored by RedBull. They have two months to the World Cup in Moscow, and all eyes and fingers are trained on the Cube.