Two Pinoys set Asian Records at National Cubing Championship

Two talented Filipino speedcubers from different parts of the country have successfully registered continental records during the Philippine Championship 2017, a World Cube Association (WCA) sanctioned competition, at SM City Marikina last September 15-17.

Edgar Elevado, Jr.,a native of Davao City and runner-up during last year's national cubing championship, successfully set a new Asian Record for Rubik's Cube with Feet average after posting a score of 30.23 seconds. His fastest solve during the final round (27.20 seconds) is also the new national record.

He broke the former record of China's Xiaojie Jiang (31.78 seconds). Elevado's record-breaking average in Rubik's Cube with Feet Category is currently ranked 3rd in the world.

Meanwhile, former world record holder Mharr Justhinne Ampong made a splash in his comeback to the speedcubing scene as he clocked in a 1.63 seconds single solve for the Skewb Category during the elimination round to tie with the current continental record.

Ampong, an engineering major at the University of the Philippines - Diliman, previously set the Skewb single solve world record in 2014.

The grand champion of this year's Philippine Championship was Bacolod City's Jay Benedict Alfaras who averaged 9.28 seconds during the head-to-head finals of the Rubik's Cube Main event. Completing the podium are Ampong (9.92 seconds) and Cavite's Nathaniel Ortega (9.96 seconds)

Here are other new Philippine records set during the tournament: Alfaras for 5x5x5 Single Solve Category (51.73 seconds), Ortega for Rubik's Cube One-Handed Average Category (14.18 seconds), and Renz Alexander Lumban of Cagayan de Oro City for Rubik's Cube One-Handed Single Solve Category (11.05 seconds).

Philippine Championship 2017 is the biggest-ever speedcubing competition in the country participated by 231 cubing enthusiasts from different islands and provinces in the Philippines, with some participants coming from China and Singapore.

The event was organized by the Philippine Cubers Association.

Full results can be viewed on Cubecomps.com and Worldcubeassociation.com. — LA, GMA News