72 participants in Bahrain’s first speedcubing competition

Manama : The first Speedcubing Competition to take place in Bahrain, the Bahrain Open 2017, was inaugurated by Eman Hussain, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry and Juzer Rupawala, the Regional Director of the Lulu Hypermarket on Saturday. 

Held at the Ramli Mall, A’ali, the day-long event has attracted 72 participants who competed against each other to set a speed record in unscrambling the Rubik’s Cube, a twisty puzzle of different colours that have to be aligned colour-wise in the least possible time. The event is recognised by the World Cube Association (WCA), a non-profit organization that regulates all speedcubing competitions all over the world, 

Participants represented at least 16 nationalities:  Bahrain, India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Argentina, Egypt, USA, New Zealand, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories.

The competition has 5 events: Rubik’s Cube (3x3x3), 2x2x2, 4x4x4, 3x3x3 One-Handed, Pyraminx (a pyramid-shaped puzzle). Each competitor got 5 attempts to solve the puzzle. The average was then calculated by eliminating the fastest and slowest solve. Competitors are then ranked based on their average.

The contest was for three kinds of WCA-recognised records: National Records, Continental Records, and World Records for both single and average times. 

“Brain stimulation games such as this, is something Lulu Hypermarket always encourages. We are happy that this first Bahrain event was held in Ramli Mall.” said Regional Director Juzer Rupawala, “We invite other such organisations to join us and promote these mind-challenging games and activities throughout the Kingdom.” 

This Speedcubing event was organised by Aysha Jamsheer, the National Record holder for Bahrain in 4 events and Lester M. Santos, the WCA delegate for UAE. It is sponsored by Ramli Mall, Lulu Hypermarket, Bahrain Airport Services, Trass Group, Moyu Cubes, Rubik’s Brand and Emirates Cube Shop.