Older cubers discussions

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (FEB 6-8)
Three SWRs this week in 40+ and 60+ age brackets…

Choi Goho (senior Kinch #1) improved one of his world records and made a senior PR at Ansan Favorites 2026: 5x5 average 1:20.00 is the roundest senior world record on the charts, beating his previous PR by just over a second; and Megaminx average senior PR 1:02.91 remains ranked 2nd, about half a second behind Akihiro Ishida's record.

Lars Vennike Nielsson (3OH SWRs) made a 3OH best PR 12.24 at DSF Generalforsamlingen 2026, improving his previous senior world record by exactly 1 second.

Also at DSF, Thor Muto Asmund (50+ Kinch #1) made a Clock best PR 8.72, remaining ranked 12th.

Kerry Go (60+ Kinch #3) made a PR, two double PRs and two 60+ PRs at Elmira Winter 2026: 4x4 best 1:01.74 is a new 60+ world record, taking him from 5th to top spot ahead of Maria Oey ,and average 1:16.92 from 4th to 2nd ahead of Ton Dennenbroek; 6x6 mean 4:27.32 and best 4:10.82 both remain ranked 2nd; Clock average 60+ PR 14.61 and best PR 11.80 both remain ranked 11th; and Skewb best 60+ PR 13.56 remains ranked 18th.

Kate Stuart (70+ 7x7 WR) made a 6x6 best PR 9:09.59 at Micro Minnesota 2026, entering the rankings at 2nd ahead of Rodney Topor, and entering the 60+ rankings at 10th ahead of Didier Limal.

Also in Minnesota, Lisa Kucala (60+ Kinch #2) made a 6x6 best PR 4:40.09, remaining ranked 3rd.

Steve Clarke (60+ 3BLD WR2) made double FMC PRs at Glasgow Winter SBO 2026: mean 46.67 remains ranked 5th and best 43 takes him from 7th to 6th ahead of Lisa Kucala.

AJ Nicholls (3x3, 6x6 top tens) made a 3BLD best PR 53.43, remaining ranked 18th.

A few top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Kazuhiko Kusano (40+) at Tokyo FMC Winter 2026 – FMC best 22 and mean 26.00 (both enter at 4th)
: Pablo Say (40+) at San Cristóbal 2026 – 3OH best 18.27 (10th to 8th)
: Seokyoon Yoo (50+) at Franconia Winter 2026 – 3x3 best 12.49 (enters at 7th) and average 15.13 (enters at 8th)
- 4x4 average 1:02.56 (enters at 8th)
: Michael Orger (50+) at AEO Moliceiro Open 2026 – Square-1 average 31.50 and best 24.67 (both enter at 8th)
: Morten Raknes Johansen (60+) at Sandnes Winter 2026 – 3x3 average 21.97 (7th to 6th) and best 19.94 (11th to 10th)
- 7x7 best 11:24.00 (enters at 6th)
- 3OH average 57.11 (8th to 6th) and best 49.57 (10th to 8th)
- 6x6 best 7:58.01 (enters at 9th)

This week I also followed Ulrich Spies, Dennis Rosero, and Chris Wright, who competed without making any new PRs. Chan Tak Chuen's results have not been posted yet so I'll report on results if notable next week.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Choi Goho's world record caused everyone to lose a fraction of a point, resulting in Christophe Grosjean rising from 21st to 20th ahead of Jia-Hong Lu.

Next week: Robert Ślesicki, AJ Nicholls, Ben Coppin, Steve Clarke, Dennis Rosero, Peter Hugosson-Miller, Gary Miller, Ming Chai, Rich Tayag, Ming Dao Ting, Rodney Topor, Shen Flindell, Helmut Heilig, and Michael Stocker, in 10 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 2 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 107 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (FEB 12-15)
A sensational 7x7 SWR, and possibly the most PRs without ranking changes ever…

Michael Stocker (40+ 7x7 SWR) made three PR bests at Erlangen Open III 2026, including a new senior world record: 7x7 best 3:36.33 takes him from 2nd to top place, beating Choi Goho's 2023 record by a massive 6.69s and completing the 7x7 double; 5x5 best 1:20.68 remains ranked 6th; and 4x4 best 42.40 remains 12th. He also made a Megaminx senior PR best 1:29.89, taking him from 24th to 23rd.

Rodney Topor (70+ five SWRs) made three PRs at Cubes Against Cancer Brisbane 2026, though no rankings changed: 4x4 best 2:48.55 (2nd); 3OH best 1:35.83 (2nd); and 3x3 best 44.73 (12th).

Also in Brisbane, Ming Dao Ting (3OH and 4x4 top fives) made two senior PRs: Square-1 best 22.27 (63rd to 25th); and Skewb average 9.62 (77th to 67th). I missed a couple of Ming's senior PRs at Melbourne Summer 2026 a few weeks ago: 3x3 average 12.50 takes him from 9th to 8th ahead of Michael Stocker; and 3BLD best 1:49.59 enters the rankings at 69th. Due to delays in posting 3x3 head-to-head final results, none of that competition's results have been published yet.

Still in Brisbane, Danielle Kay (Kinch female #3) made three PRs and two doubles: Megaminx average 2:07.11 (87th to 59th) and best 1:57.64 (83rd to 70th); Pyraminx average 10.36 (121st to 119th); 3OH best 32.54 (162nd to 120th); Square-1 best 1:45.68 (enters at 212th); and 3x3 average 21.52 (549th to 358th) and best 20.45 (552nd to 524th). I got to witness her 3OH and Megaminx times at close hand, being her OH judge and MM co-competitor. Beating the Megaminx cutoff was a very exciting moment.

I'm very happy to add Danielle to my watchlist this week, a bit overdue as she must have become the 3rd ranked senior Kinch female some time in the last few months. Danielle, Rodney and I regularly meet up for practice in the Brisbane Southside Speedcubing Club. Adding in Ming Dao Ting and Sam Gaffney (MM SWR5), Brisbane is surely the world's top regional city in senior cubing. (I guess that Amsterdam probably has top spot for all cities.)

Finally from Brisbane this week, yours truly Shen Flindell (50+ big cube SWRs) made a PR and a double, entering the rankings in two new events: Square-1 best 1:07.31 (64th); and 2x2 average 7.54 (64th) and best 6.40 (140th).

Steve Clarke (60+ 3BLD SWR2) made double PRs at FMC Cheltenham Winter 2026: mean 43.33 takes him from 5th to 4th ahead of Peter Hugosson-Miller, and best 42 remains ranked 6th.

Also in Cheltenham, Ben Coppins (40+ FMC SWR) made a 50+ PR mean 30.67, moving from 11th to 8th.

Gary Miller (80+ Kinch #1) made a 3x3 average PR 1:44.09 at UMBC Winter 2026, remaining ranked 9th.

Also at UMBC, Ming Chai (40+ Clock SWR) made a 5x5 best PR 3:13.30, moving from 287th to 275th.

Rich Tayag (40+ OH and MM SWR4) made a 3BLD best PR 1:29.64 at Love is Blind UMBC 2026, taking him from 51st to 50th.

A few top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Ge Shi (40+) at Greenwoods Clock Clash 2026 – 4BLD mean 6:47.04 (19th to 7th)
: Thomas Schukraft (50+) at Erlangen Open III 2026 – 7x7 best 5:25.95 (remains 9th)
: André Romain (50+) at Cœur de Cube Charantonnay 2026 – Skewb average 7.36 (enters at 9th)
: Jens-Christian Albrecht (60+) at FMC Lovers Fürth 2026 – FMC best 54 (enters at 10th)

This week I also followed Robert Ślesicki, AJ Nicholls, Dennis Rosero, Peter Hugosson-Miller, and Helmut Heilig, who competed without making any new PRs.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

In 50+ Kinch rankings, Rainer Fürstenfeld is up from 22nd to 18th ahead of YongGeal Lee, having started his Megaminx career at Erlangen Open this week. Kerry Go has also entered the 50+ top page at 25th thanks to improved averages on 4x4 and 6x6 last week, pushing Gianluca Placenti to 26th.

In 60+, Jens-Christian Albrecht's FMC results have taken him from 24th to 22nd ahead of Steve Clarke.

Next week: Peter Hugosson-Miller, Bobby Mapp, Gary Miller, Akatsuki Kitamura, Kanako Eguchi, Kazuhiko Kusano, Yuji Suse, Ming Chai, Dennis Rosero, Olivier Wirz, Robert Ślesicki, AJ Nicholls, Choi Goho, Maria Oey, Ton Dennenbroek, Modest Podzolkin, Thor Muto Asmund, Helmut Heilig, Michael Stocker, Ron van Bruchem, in 15 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 2 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 107 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (FEB 18-23)
Senior cubing's top rivalry in action as multiple records tumble in 40+ and 80+…

I came into the senior cubing world with 7x7 senior world records, so imagine my pleasure in seeing both of the top senior big cubers producing incredible results on the same day this weekend.

Choi Goho (senior Kinch #1) made 2 PRs and a double, including 3 SWRs at Cube Camp in Jehu 2026: Megaminx best 49.61 reclaims the record by beating Akihiro Ishida's March 2025 time by over 3 seconds; 5x5 best 1:13.17 improves his 2024 record by almost a second; and 7x7 best 3:31.07 beats last week's record set by Michael Stocker by over 5 seconds, while mean 3:55.27 remains ranked 2nd a few seconds behind Michael's previous record.

Later that day, Michael Stocker (7x7 SWR) made 3 PRs and a double, including one improved SWR at Ulmgedreht 2026: 7x7 mean 3:48.00 improves his December record by 4 seconds, and best 3:33.33 would have improved his previous record if not already beaten by Choi Goho earlier that day, thus his ranking falls to 2nd; 4x4 average 44.26 takes him from 9th to 3rd ahead of Choi Goho; 5x5 best 1:17.78 takes him from 6th to 4th ahead of Daniel Houghton; and Square-1 best 27.52 from 60th to 54th. Michael let me know that he thought he'd improved the world record, only checking Choi's results later that day.

Gary Miller (80+ Kinch #1) improved two of his 80+ SWRs at Gobbler Cube Day Winter 2026: Clock best 28.64 and Skewb average 35.74.

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #4) made a PR and a senior PR at Pocos Cupos Bogotá XXII 2026: Square-1 best senior PR 13.10 remains ranked 2nd; and 3BLD best PR 3:10.92 takes him from 156th to 140th. He also earned a 2nd place podium with Square-1 average 18.58 in the final. Then at Unicentro Tunja IV 2026 he made a Skewb average senior PR 6.41, taking him from 18th to 7th ahead of Terence Brown.

Olivier Wirz (60+ 2x2 SWR) made a Clock best PR 8.21 at Belli in Zona 2026, taking him from 6th to 4th ahead of Santiago Serrano Cernadas.

Last month Chan Tak Chuen competed at Guangdong Open - Revival & Rival 2026, whose results were only posted this week. He made 3 senior PRs: 4x4 average 46.41 (remains 6th); 3x3 average 13.52 (24th to 20th); and 3BLD best 3:36.95 (enters at 157th).

Robert Ślesicki (50+ Skewb SWR) made a Square-1 best PR 21.94 at CF Goes Sideways Brzeziny 2026, moving from 10th to 6th ahead of Akatsuki Kitamura.

Thor Muto Asmund (50+ Kinch #1) made two PRs and a double at Megaminx Hvidovre 2026: 5x5 average 1:56.06 (8th to 7th ahead of Michael Johnson); 3OH best 28.43 (16th to 15th); Megaminx best 2:05.07 (21st to 20th) and average 2:26.72 (remains 22nd).

Ron van Bruchem (50+ 3x3-5x5 SWRs) made a 3OH average PR 28.10 at Amsterdam Open 2026, taking him from 9th to 7th ahead of Mauricio de Jesus Hernandez Grizalez.

Yuji Suse (4x4+ top tens) made double PRs with his first comp on Skewb at Kanto Winter 2026: average 10.66 (enters at 96th) and best 8.21 (163rd). He also equalled his 3x3 best senior PR 13.45 (remaining 18th).

Also in Kanto, Akatsuki Kitamura (50+ FMC SWR) made a Skewb best PR 6.34 (38th to 32nd).

Finally from Kanto, Kazuhiko Kusano (FMC #4) made 2 PRs and a double: 4x4 best 59.26 (242nd to 96th); Skewb average 8.96 (enters at 52nd) and best 6.29 (enters at 91st); and 3BLD best 3:00.51 (142nd to 132nd).

Ming Chai (Clock SWR) made 2 PRs at PBs in Palisades Open 2026: Skewb average 8.88 (56th to 51st); and Megaminx best 2:17.49 (122nd to 99th).

Quite a few top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Ge Shi (40+) at Singapore Championship 2026 – 4BLD mean 6:34.01 (7th to 6th)
- 5BLD mean 17:08.00 (11th to 7th)
: Makoto Asano (50+) at Kanto Winter 2026 - Skewb average 7.03 (10th to 6th)
: Takeshi Hino (50+) at Kanto Winter 2026 - 4x4 average 59.77 (enters at 7th)
: Michael Johnson (50+) at NxN Nonsense NC 2026 - 5x5 best 1:46.40 (9th to 8th)
: Klaus Diller (70+) at Amsterdam Open 2026 - 2x2 average 21.59 (14th to 9th)
: Yuichi Hamada (50+) at Kanto Winter 2026 – 3BLD mean 1:48.49 (12th to 10th)
: Nicole Hauser (50+) at Ulmgedreht 2026 – MM best 1:45.53 (11th to 10th)

This week I also followed Peter Hugosson-Miller, Bobby Mapp, Kanako Eguchi, AJ Nicholls, Maria Oey, Ton Dennenbroek, Modest Podzolkin, and Helmut Heilig, who competed without making any new PRs.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Choi and Michael's big cube SWRs over the last two weeks caused Dieter Amberger to slip from 14th to 15th behind Modest Podzolkin. Meanwhile Ming Dao Ting's Square-1 and Skewb PRs last week have brought him to the top page at 22nd ahead of Daniel Houghton, pushing Chris Wright to 27th behind yours truly Shen Flindell.

In 50+, YongGeal Lee is up from 19th to 12th ahead of Thomas Schukraft thanks to 5 PRs at his last comp.

In 60+, Rodney Topor has entered the top page at 25th, pushing Peter Douthwright to 26th.

In 70+, Klaus Diller's 2x2 PR has brought him from 10th to 8th ahead of David Salvia.

Next week: John Cook, Jochen Bauer, István Kocza, and Teller Coates, in 4 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 2 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 108 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (FEB 18-23)
My shortest report ever…

Robert Ślesicki (50+ Skewb WR) made two PRs at Cube4fun Lublin February 2026: Clock best 7.64 takes him from 10th to 6th ahead of Eric Dodson; and 2x2 average 6.69 from 45th to 36th (also ahead of Eric Dodson!).

John Cook (60+ 2x2 SWR2) made two PRs at NZ North Island Championship2 2026: 3OH average 1:12.06 takes him from 12th to 9th ahead of Ulrich Spies; and Clock best 15.79 from 16th to 15th equal with Ton Dennenbroek. John tells me that his first solve in 2x2 round 2 could have been a new 60+ SWR 2.79, if not for a +2 due to incorrect AUF.

No top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I usually find via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page, and there haven't been any changes in the top pages of senior Kinch rankings.

This week I also followed Teller Coates, who competed without making any new PRs.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

My previous shortest report was from last year Oct 24-26, in which of the 7 people I followed, only Dennis Rosero made PRs (4 of them), as well as going up in the Kinch rankings, and there were two other top ten results. This week I expected to follow five people, but two of them withdrew from their comps. Next week should have more to offer...

Next week: AJ Nicholls, Dennis Rosero, Lisa Kucala, Peter Hugosson-Miller, István Kocza, Akatsuki Kitamura, Kanako Eguchi, Ming Chai, Chris Wright, Olivier Wirz, Maria Oey, Ron van Bruchem, Sander Kaspers, Ton Dennenbroek, Ulrich Spies, and Bobby Mapp, in 12 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 109 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[pglewis]

@shentabla Much appreciation for all the effort you put into these reports.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (MAR 3-8)
A new Senior European Record and two new watchlist members…

Pete Lee joins my watchlist this week with double Megaminx PRs at Wiltshire Spring 2026: average 1:16.25 is a new senior European record and takes him from 6th to 3rd ahead of Sander Kaspers, pushing Sam Gaffney out of my watchlist, while best 1:07.01 remains ranked 4th.

AJ Nicholls also got in on the Megaminx action in Wiltshire, with a best PR 1:48.20 taking him from 56th to 53rd. Earlier in the week AJ earned a first place podium in MBLD at Glasgow Favourites Evening V 2026 with 5/7 in 30:41.

Lisa Kucala (60+ OH, Clock WRs) made two double PRs at Very Awesome Mini-sota 2026: 5x5 average 2:44.97 takes her from 3rd to 2nd ahead of Kerry Go, while best 2:26.63 remains ranked 3rd; and Megaminx average 2:32.94 and best 2:21.39 both remain 5th.

Guttorm Syvertsen-Wiig is back in my watchlist with some awesome 7x7 times at Kalvskinnet Kubing 2026: best 4:05.02 takes him from 9th to 6th, and mean 4:22.61 from 16th to 7th, both ahead of Fumiki Koseki.

Olivier Wirz (60+ 2x2 WR) made a 4x4 average PR 1:57.30 at Bern Cubing Festival 2026, taking him from 14th to 10th ahead of Ulrich Spies.

Akatsuki Kitamura (50+ Kinch #1) made a MBLD PR 8/8 in 53:31 at Tokyo BLD Winter 2026, taking him from 22nd to 14th.

Also in Tokyo, Kanako Eguchi (40+ Clock WR) made two MBLD PRs: 11/12 in 45:48 in the first round, followed by 12/13 in 51:03 in the final, taking her from 36th to 18th.

Sander Kaspers (50+ MM WRs) made a 3x3 best 50+ PR 13.24 at Classic Cubing Capelle 2026, taking him from 18th to 17th.

Dennis Rosero (Senior Kinch #4) made a 7x7 PR mean 5:30.99 at Pocos Cupos Bogotá XXIII 2026, taking him from 30th to 29th. His 7x7 best time 5:16.01 was a senior PR, taking him from 40th to 38th. He also earned a first place podium in Square-1 with mean 19.11.

Ming Chai (40+ Clock WR) made two PRs at Empire State ALL11-Stars 2026: 4x4 average 1:15.87 (149th to 145th); and 5x5 best 2:32.56 (277th to 180th).

A few top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Robinson Semolini (50+) at Zoioff Campinas 2026 – 5BLD mean 30:43.00 (enters at 6th)
- 4BLD mean 13:44.00 (enters at 8th)
: Ivet Soler Espinalt (40+) at Amore Amorebieta Open 2026 – Skewb best 3.74 (11th to 8th)
: Heleen van der Ree (50+) at Hurlubik's Cube Mouscron 2026 – 2x2 best 2.82 (107th to 10th)

This week I also followed Peter Hugosson-Miller, Chris Wright, Maria Oey, Ron van Bruchem, Ton Dennenbroek, Ulrich Spies, and Bobby Mapp, who competed without making any new PRs.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Akatsuki Kitamura is up from 24th to 20th ahead of Christophe Grosjean thanks to his improved MBLD results.

In 50+ Lisa Kucala's 5x5 and Megaminx PRs have taken her up a place ahead of Chris Tabar to 15th.

Next week: AJ Nicholls, Robert Ślesicki, Dennis Rosero, Kate Stuart, Lisa Kucala, Chan Tak Chuen, Maria Oey, Ton Dennenbroek, Ulrich Spies, Thor Muto Asmund, Danielle Kay, John Cook, Rodney Topor, Shen Flindell, Michael Stocker, Kevin Gray, Martin Ernesto Melcop, Bobby Mapp, and Gary Miller, in 14 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 109 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

PLEASE BE FINISHED BRISBANE 2026

I turned 21 comps old this weekend, with my second comp as an organiser, Please Be Finished Brisbane 2026, named for all the blind events being held in the Finnish Hall. I've got lots to be happy about but as usual the words "woulda, coulda, shoulda" come up quite a bit. I got a PR and two double PRs, and a successful first Square-1 average takes me from 6th to 3rd in the world 50+ Kinch rankings, and 26th to 18th in 40+.

Day 1 started with 3 rounds of Fewest Moves. My main goal was to beat my PR mean 38.33 which I got at my first FMC comp a couple of years ago. In the subsequent two comps I always seem to make some error leading to a DNF, so this time I promised myself I would get started on insertions with half an hour to go. I almost missed it on the first scramble, in which I found a 30 move skeleton with 2 twisted corners. The first insertion went well, with an open search for cancellations involving any other corner, and I found a 5 move cancellation. Then I missed a move in transcribing the new skeleton and lost about 15 minutes panicking before finding it. With a minute to spare I threw in a zero move cancellation at the end to get a 40 move solution, which while not my usual standard at least didn't destroy my mean. On checking later I might have got 35 or 36 without that wasted time. Scramble 2 went much better with a nice 21 move 5C skeleton coming up pretty quickly, finishing in 30 at a much more relaxed pace. Then for scramble 3, although my skeletons didn't look great, I went with a 29 move 5C with ample time remaining, and managed to find really good cancellations finishing in 36 and securing a PR mean 35.67. This was 7th place at the comp and takes me from 20th to 16th for 50+ worldwide.

Next up was my second time competing in Square-1. The first time at CAC Brisbane last month was a bit embarrassing, as I didn't hold the puzzle right and lost time wondering why it wouldn't turn properly. "Pick up the puzzle properly first, Shen!" I was really happy with my results this time, solidly in the mid 30s with a mean of 34.61, a bit better than my recent form in practice, ranked 14th for 50+ worldwide and a new 50+ Oceanic record. My PR single 32.60 could have been faster by a +2, but I'm not too worried about that.

With the Kinch points from this Square-1 average I should rise from 6th to 3rd in the world in the 50+ rankings. There's a big gap to bridge to reach 2nd or 1st, but at my next comp in a month's time I'll be launching my WCA careers in Skewb, Pyraminx and Clock, which should do the job.

Finally multi-blind: every time before starting MBLD I wonder what kind of crazy person puts themselves through this hellish experience. I hoped to beat my PR of 7/9 (5 points) and went for 12 cubes, which I'm relatively comfortable with these days. Memorisation started out pretty stodgily but by the end of the first group of 4 I was in gear. I finished with 8/12 in 56:08. I twisted a single corner on one of them, which was the most disappointing part - that twisted corner cost me a PR. Another cube was wrong by a corner rotation, and the other two by getting edges out of order.

Day 2 was heavy on blindfold with some Megaminx to break things up. In 3BLD this was my first competition under the new best of 5 system. (Prior to this year it was best of 3.) I've really been enjoying the extra two solves in the SCW fortnightly comp. It didn't make a huge difference for me this time, as any decent success would ensure progression to the next round. After a DNF and a relatively slow 1:45.79 in the second solve I pushed the speed and managed 1:12.18 in the third solve.

Things have started to click a bit for me on Megaminx, with some thanks to my cubing coach Yibo Wang, and I was thrilled to see the first scramble: the red/green/white block was ready made, and the rest of the white star easy to create. Things kept going well and I opened the round with a PR best 1:28.56. I think it's the 3rd or 4th time ever I've solved under 1:30. The next solve showed the other end of my current scale, not being able to see anything and taking over 2 minutes. Solve three was genuinely typical in the 1:50s. Solve 4 was a counting 1:30.16, and solve 5 a pretty good 1:46.15, finishing with PR average 1:44.26, almost 10 seconds better than my previous PR from November. This was my day 2 highlight, and felt pretty good.

After lunch it was round 2 of 3BLD. In my opening solve I did the first two pairs correctly, started the third word, thought I'd got pair 2 and 3 the wrong way, undid what I did, and started doing the other way, realised I'd been right the first time, did a bit more undoing and then went ahead. After 1:38.51 I was really surprised to see I'd done it successfully! It was a good thing too, because I DNFed the next four solves. There was a bit of pushing for speed once the chance of an average was gone.

Then the big event: combined 4BLD and 5BLD. Woulda shoulda coulda comes up a lot in big blind. I had vague hopes of achieving means (3 out of 3 successful solves) in one or both events. I started with 5BLD and took ages to memorise it, thought I'd executed successfully but had made a mess. I took similar ages on my first 4BLD attempt but at least succeeded with a really slow 9:38.10. Then in solve two I misplaced two face pieces. Back to 5BLD, I memoed quite quickly, and my time in the 12 minutes was excellent, but it was a slight mess. I thought I'd succeeded on the third attempt but had two edge pairs in the wrong order. Back to 4BLD for one last solve. During execution I realised I'd misplanned because the Q came up twice when it shouldn't have. I had a feeling the second one should have been R, but mental exhaustion and bad judgement led me to give up. It was R, and if I'd continued I would have got 2nd place at the comp (just as with my small 5BLD error). Woulda should coulda. 4th place in both events is still pretty good in a really tough event.

I thought I'd missed the 3BLD finals but it turned out there were more places than I'd thought. What a nice surprise. It was a nice feeling to just start without any anticipation. I got some pretty good times with a best of 1:13.36 giving me 7th place at the comp.

I have to give special mention to my talented fellow seniors at the comp: Rodney Topor, John Cook, and Danielle Kay, who all got PRs which I'll report about in detail in this week's senior comp roundup, because all 4 of us are in my watchlist. Rodney, Danielle and I have formed the regular core of the Brisbane Southside Cubing Club and I encouraged them to take up FMC for this comp. Rodney became the world's first person over 70 to achieve official results in FMC. Danielle made double PRs in all three of her events, and the addition of FMC to her profile makes her the world's 2nd senior Kinch ranked female competitor. Congratulations to the seniors of PBF Bris 2026!

At the end of the awards presentation I took organiser privilege and slightly embarrassed myself in the way elders can among youth by attempting a little song adaptation:

I've learnt my algs
Full PLL
I've missed the cutoff
But should have done well
And DNFS
I've made a few
I've had my share of popped pieces and mismoves
But I've come through...

We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on solving till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for DNFs
Cause we are the champions
Of Please Be Finished Brisbane 2026...

It didn't quite get the enthusiastic uptake I'd been imagining, but it was a bit of a laugh.

My next comp is in about a month in Hervey Bay: Wide Bay Cubing 2026. As mentioned above it will be the launch of my WCA records in Pyraminx, Skewb and Clock, and I have hopes to reach world 50+ Kinch rank 1 or 2. Then at the end of May we'll be back at the Finnish Hall for Big Cubes Time Brisbane 2026.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (MAR 11-15)
An epic week with loads of PRs including a double 70+ first and an improved 60+ SWR…

Rodney Topor (70+ several WRs) added a couple of 70+ WRs to his tally as part of two double PRs at Please Be Finished Brisbane 2026: FMC mean 59.33 and best 52 are firsts for anyone over 70, and his mean also enters the 60+ rankings at 9th ahead of Ulrich Spies; and Square-1 average 1:47.88 and best 1:15.78 both enter the 70+ rankings at 2nd ahead of Mike Stone, as well as entering the 60+ rankings at 10th ahead of Mike Stone and Thierry Megard respectively.

Also in Brisbane, yours truly Shen Flindell (50+ big cube WRs) made a PR and two doubles: Megaminx best 1:28.56 takes me from 7th to 4th ahead of Jochen Bauer, while average 1:44.26 remains ranked 6th; Square-1 average 34.61 enters the 50+ rankings at 14th, while best 32.60 takes me from 63rd to 19th; and FMC mean 35.67 takes me from 20th to 16th. I've calculated that the new Square-1 mean will take my 50+ Kinch ranking from 6th to 3rd, and 40+ from 26th to 18th.

John Cook (60+ FMC SWR2) was also in Brisbane and made a Square-1 average PR 1:22.39, taking him from 8th to 7th ahead of Mats Bergsten.

Finally from Brisbane, Danielle Kay (40+ Kinch top 3 female) made double PRs in all three of her events: Megaminx best 1:40.76 takes her from 70th to 41st, and average 2:06.44 from 59th to 57th; FMC mean 57.67 enters at 129th and best 52 at 178th; and Square-1 average 1:47.01 enters at 158th, and best 1:25.04 from 215th to 205th. I had previously reported that Danielle was the 3rd senior Kinch ranked female solver, but she pointed out to me that I had missed top female solver Enrymar Cisneros (apologies Enrymar!). With these new results in FMC and Square-1 Danielle will overtake Tiffany Soh to take 3rd place.

Ulrich Spies (60+ MM WR) improved his Megaminx SWR at No Rush Hasselt 2026 with a PR average 1:56.39, also taking him from 10th to 8th ahead of Ciro Vignotto in the 50+ rankings.

Also in Hasselt, Maria Oey (60+ 3x3, 4x4 top fives) made a Clock best PR 21.22, remaining ranked 18th.

Kate Stuart (70+ 7x7 WR) made 3 PRs and a double at Eau Clock Wisconsin 2026: Clock best 30.48 remains ranked 4th; Pyraminx best 16.98 takes her from 6th to 5th ahead of Rodney Topor; 2x2 average 21.35 takes her from 11th to 9th ahead of Klaus Diller; and 3x3 average 1:02.54 takes her from 16th to 15th, and best 55.78 from 18th to 16th.

Also in Wisconsin, Lisa Kucala (60+ OH, Clock SWRs) made double Megaminx PRs: average 2:32.20 and best 2:19.61 both remain ranked 5th.

Martin Ernesto Melcop (60+ Skewb WR) made two double PRs at Click Clock 3 Brasília 2026: Megaminx average 3:59.87 and best 3:18.51 both remain 6th; and 4x4 average 2:34.51 enters at 16th while best 2:26.80 takes him from 22nd to 21st. He also got a third place podium in Clock with average 10.76, and has risen from 11th to 10th in the 60+ Kinch rankings.

Thor Muto Asmund (50+ Kinch #1) made 3 PRs at Pi Cubing Hvidovre 2026: 3BLD average 1:11.98 takes him from 6th to 5th ahead of Mats Bergsten; and 3OH average 39.56 in the first round then 38.48 in the final takes him from 28th to 23rd. These averages take him from 8th to 7th in the 40+ Kinch rankings.

Catching up on last week, Joël van Noort (40+) joins my watchlist having entered the top ten for 3x3 average at Classic Cubing Capelle 2026 with senior PR 13.03 equalling Gilles Roux at 10th. I suspect Joël is a new senior because all of his results were senior PRs, and his previous comp was in 2018. In addition to that top ten 3x3 average, he made double 4x4 PRs: average 59.35 entered at 43rd, and best 52.66 at 52nd. He had two more senior PRs: 3x3 best 10.72 entered at 22nd; and 5x5 best 2:03.46 at 76th.

Peter Hugosson-Miller (60+ Kinch #4) made a Pyraminx average PR 11.53 at Solvermalm 2026, remaining ranked 11th.

Dennis Rosero (Senior Kinch #4) made a Clock average PR 8.55 at Avenida Chile XXXII 2026, taking him from 21st to 15th. The day before at Bojacá Cundinamarca 2026 he made double OH senior PRs: average 26.94 takes him from 24th to 23rd, and best 23.34 from 40th to 36th. He also earned a 2nd place podium in Pyraminx with average 6.39.

Chan Tak Chuen (40+ OH, SQ-1 top fives) made a 3x3 senior PR average 13.44 at Zhuhai Pi Day 2026, taking him from 20th to 18th.

Kevin Gray (50+ Pyraminx WRs) made a Clock average PR 11.79 at Stevenage March 2026, taking him from 45th to 20th.

Also in Stevenage, AJ Nicholls (40+ 3x3 top five, 6x6 top ten) made a Pyraminx best PR 6.77, taking him from 219th to 141st.

Bobby Mapp (40+ 3OH SWR2) made a 2x2 best PR 3.55 at TJHSST Winter 2026, taking him from 145th to 84th.

One top ten result from outside my watchlist has come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Kristina Lim (50+) at Mid March Singapore 2026 – Skewb average 6.62 (remains 3rd in 50+, 9th to 8th in 40+)

This week I also followed Robert Ślesicki, Ton Dennenbroek, and Gary Miller, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Thor Muto Asmund's 3BLD average PR has taken him from 8th to 7th ahead of fellow Dane Lars Vennike Nielsson. A new MBLD PR by António Gomes has taken him from 16th to 14th ahead of Modest Podzolkin.

In 50+, four PR averages have brought Rainer Fürstenfeld from 19th to 14th ahead of Chad Harris.

In 60+, Martin Ernesto Melcop's PRs have lifted him from 11th to 10th place ahead of Maria Oey, and a Skewb PR has brought Jens-Christan Albrecht from 22nd to 19th ahead of Lennart Aspelin.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

Next week: AJ Nicholls,Pe ter Hugosson-Miller, Ming Chai, Dennis Rosero, Kerry Go, Igor Aipkin, Akatsuki Kitamura, Shinji Mochizuki, Yi-Wei Chen, Mike Hughey (The Return of the King!), Petr Kundera, Daniel Houghton, and Choi Goho, in 14 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 110 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (MAR 17-22)
No SWRs this week, as top Aussies charge up the Kinch rankings…

Choi Goho (40+ big cube, MM WRs) made a PR and a senior PR at Seoul Spring 2026: Megaminx average 1:02.89 beat his previous senior PR by 0.02s and remains ranked 2nd, 0.47s behind Akihiro Ishida; and Clock average PR 8.86 remains ranked 21st.

John Cook (60+ FMC SWR3) made double PRs at FMCanton Haizhu 2026: FMC mean 37.33 takes him from 4th to 3rd, and best 32 from 6th to 4th, both ahead of recent registrant Gerard Vrieze.

Shinji Mochizuki (Pyra SWR2) made a Pyraminx best PR 3.07 at Katano Spring 2026, taking him from 7th to 5th ahead of Dennis Rosero and Kevin Gray on 3.08.

Also in Katano, Yi-Wei Chen (6x6 top ten) made two PRs: 5x5 best 1:34.24 remains 28th; and 3x3 best 13.51 takes him from 176th to 107th.

Petr Kundera (50+ Skewb WR) made a Pyraminx best PR 3.90 at Ružomberok Open 2026, remaining ranked 6th.

Mike Hughey (60+ numerous WRs) made a Clock average PR 13.14 at Ohio State Madness 2026, remaining ranked 10th. He also made a 2x2 best 60+ PR 4.36, taking him from 11th to 10th ahead of Ton Dennenbroek. It was his first comp in over 2 years. Let's hope for more results soon from the king of senior cubing.

Kerry Go (60+ 4x4 WR) made a Clock average 60+ PR 14.54 at Manhattan Megaminx Mayhem 2026, remaining ranked 11th.

AJ Nicholls (3x3, 6x6 top tens) made a Square-1 average PR 31.40 at Crewe Spring 2026, taking him from 44th to 33rd.

Igor Aipkin (senior Kinch #5) made two PRs at Happy Navro'z in Tashkent 2026: Megaminx average 2:00.69 (remains 52nd); and Clock best 9.08 (97th to 58th).

Ming Chai (Clock SWR) made a 4x4 best PR 1:04.42 at Cube Against Cancer Boston 2026, taking him from 153rd to 141st.

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #4) earned a 2nd place podium at IMDRI Ibagué 2026 with average 4.92.

A couple of top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Min Wu (40+) at FMCanton Haizhu 2026 – FMC mean 27.67 (18th to 9th)
: Brendan Burgess (50+) at Crewe Spring 2026 – Pyraminx average 8.00 (32nd to 10th)

This week I also followed Peter Hugosson-Miller, Akatsuki Kitamura, and Daniel Houghton, and, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 40+ Kinch rankings, yours truly Shen Flindell is up from 26th to 18th ahead of Javier Tirado Ortiz, having recorded my first Square-1 average last week. Danielle Kay's rise to 73rd puts her ahead of Tiffany Soh as the world's 3rd ranked female senior solver. (Lisa Kucala is at 64th and Enrymar Cisneros at 35th.)

In 50+, I'm up from 6th to 3rd ahead of Fumiki Koseki. A Pyraminx PR has taken Yuichi Hamada up from 18th to 15th ahead of Chad Harris.

In 60+, John Cook's FMC and Square-1 PRs have taken up from 7th to 6th ahead of Ulrich Spies. Fellow Aussie Rodney Topor is up from 25th to 19th after his world first 70+ FMC results last week.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

Next week: AJ Nicholls, Pete Lee, Dennis Rosero, Thor Muto Asmund, Bobby Mapp, Gary Miller, Teller Coates, István Kocza, Robert Ślesicki, Guus Razoux Schultz, John Cook, Igor Aipkin, Akatsuki Kitamura, Kazuhiko Kusano, and Daniel Houghton, in 13 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 110 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[OtaMota]

A few months ago, former WR holder for 3x3 Leyan Lo turned 40. A month after, he went to a comp and got a sub-10 single, very good for the 40+ category. Anyone gonna tell him he can register on the senior rankings and instantly be the top 10? He is not on it yet

 

[Mike Hughey]

We're about to hit the point where a lot of these people are going to start qualifying for the senior rankings. It will be fun to watch.
I remember watching and sort of meeting Leyan Lo at my very first official competition, the US Open 2007. He won several events there. I was excited to be doing 3BLD there, and it was so inspirational watching him do a sub-1:30 solve, which back then was absolutely world class.

 

[OtaMota]

We're about to hit the point where a lot of these people are going to start qualifying for the senior rankings. It will be fun to watch.
I remember watching and sort of meeting Leyan Lo at my very first official competition, the US Open 2007. He won several events there. I was excited to be doing 3BLD there, and it was so inspirational watching him do a sub-1:30 solve, which back then was absolutely world class.

Assuming that the following competitors actually want to come back and all that,
The following can get in as soon as
Edouard this year
Tomasz 2028
Erik 2029
Shotaro Makisumi 2030
Yu Nakajima 2031
Rowe 2031

All within the next 5 years.

Rowe and Erik are the most likely to stay till 40 and compete, Tomasz might, though I don’t have too much hope for the others that they will stick around.

 

[OtaMota]

I have found Layan’s email from his personal website. I have sent an email informing him of his eligibility

 

[pglewis]

I have found Layan’s email from his personal website. I have sent an email informing him of his eligibility

You probably already know, but the registration page is here: https://wca-seniors.org/Registration.html

 

[OtaMota]

You probably already know, but the registration page is here: https://wca-seniors.org/Registration.html

Forgot to share that link specifically (only shared general website link) but did inform him the process can be found in the FAQ which is technically correct

 

[pglewis]

Forgot to share that link specifically (only shared general website link) but did inform him the process can be found in the FAQ which is technically correct

Here's hoping they get the message and opt in!

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (MAR 27-29)
A new Clock SWR, a few more 80+ SWRs, and 7 podiums, perhaps the most ever in a weekly report…

Greg Simmons joins my watchlist this week having set a new Clock SWR as part of two PRs at Bolton Spring 2026 this weekend: Clock best 5.40 takes him from 11th to 1st, beating Ming Chai's record by 0.06s, and average 6.58 takes him from 5th to 3rd ahead of Ryuji Hamano. His 2x2 average 5.85 was a senior PR, taking him from 58th to 56th.

Also in Bolton, Pete Lee (40+ MM SWR3) equalled his Megaminx average PR 1:16.25, remaining ranked 3rd.

Gary Miller (80+ seven WRs) made a new 80+ WR and improved two others with 3 PRs at Willamsburg Open Spring 2026: Square-1 average 2:26.04 is a first for 80+, while both Square-1 best 1:26.15 and 3OH best 2:22.14 are almost twice as fast as his previous records.

Yongtao Sun (40+ 5x5 top fives) made four senior PRs and an all-time PR at Beijing Spring Open 2026: Skewb average 6.80 takes him from 25th to 10th ahead of Kevin Gray; 3OH average 31.56 enters at 49th while best 29.09 takes him from 103rd to 86th; Pyraminx average 8.72 takes him from 92nd to 72nd; and Clock PR best 9.55 from 110th to 75th.

John Cook (60+ FMC SWR3) made a 3x3 average PR 26.06 at NxNjoyable Sydney Gathering 2026, remaining ranked 16th.

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #4) made an FMC best PR 28 at Fewest Moves Bogotá XI 2026, taking him from 47th to 36th, and getting a 2nd place podium in the process. Then at Los Heroes Bogotá II 2026, he made a 3BLD average PR 4:11.93, taking him from 88th to 86th. The FMC PR takes him to 3rd in the senior Kinch rankings.

Thor Muto Asmund (50+ Kinch #1) made a 3x3 average PR 20.25 at Roskilde by Night 2026, taking him from 65th to 59th. He also earned a 3rd place podium in 5BLD with best 11:27.

István Kocza (50+ all BLD top fives) made a senior PR and an all-time PR at Budapest Open 2026: Skewb best senior PR 13.64 (120th to 111th); and Pyraminx average PR 17.15 (155th to 149th). He also earned a 3rd place podium in MBLD with 13/15 in 51:35.

Igor Aipkin (senior Kinch #5) earned 3 podiums at PBQ in Tashkent 2026: 1st in MBLD with 13/14 in 52:00; 2nd in 4BLD with best 5:28.08; and 3rd in 3BLD with best 57.05.

Peter Hugosson-Miller (60+ Kinch #4) earned a 3rd place podium in MBLD with 2/4 in 39:10 at Kalmar Cubing 2026.

One top ten result from outside my watchlist has come in, which I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Doyle Cline (60+) at Wyominx 2026 - Pyraminx average 10.30 (remains 10th)

This week I also followed AJ Nicholls, Bobby Mapp, Teller Coates, Robert Ślesicki, Guus Razoux Schultz, Akatsuki Kitamura, Kazuhiko Kusano, and Daniel Houghton, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Dennis Rosero's FMC PR has taken him from 4th to 3rd ahead of Jens Grieme.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

Next week: Dennis Rosero, Kerry Go, Daniel Houghton, Olivier Wirz, Yongtao Sun, Thierry Megard, Fumiki Koseki, Junya Tomita, Kazuhiko Kusano, and Yuji Suse, in 8 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 110 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (APR 4-5)
New SWRs in 5BLD and two age brackets of 2x2 average…

Jia-Hong Lu (nine SWRs in NxN and BLD) improved one of his SWRs at Please Don't DNF Kaohsiung 2026 this weekend: 5BLD best 4:25.72 is 16.8s faster than his record from last year, is also a Taiwanese national record.

Junya Tomita (50+ 2x2 WR) improved his world record with a senior PR at Tokyo Spring 2026: 2x2 average 3.56 improves his 2024 record by 0.17s. Junya has also held the 40+ record since 2014 with 3.26s.

Also in Tokyo, Yuji Suse (big cubes top tens) made a senior PR, an all-ages PR and a double PR: 2x2 average 5.38 (44th to 33rd) and senior PR best 4.75 (319th to 246th); Pyraminx average 9.83 (enters at 103rd) and best 8.28 (enters at 244th).

Finally from Tokyo, Kazuhiko Kusano (FMC SWR4) made two PRs: 3x3 average 17.10 (160th to 143rd); and 2x2 best 5.64 (397th to 378th). He also competed in Pyraminx for the first time as a senior, making double senior PRs with average 12.13 (enters at 216th) and best 8.39 (261st).

Olivier Wirz (60+ 2x2 WR) improved his world record with a 2x2 PR average 5.16 at Bursins Goes Fast 2026, improving his previous record by 0.2s.

Kerry Go (60+ 4x4 WR) made a double PR and a senior PR at Side Events in Palisades 2026: 7x7 mean 7:37.19 and best 7:13.63 both remain ranked 2nd; and Megaminx senior PR best 1:50.45 remains 3rd.

Yongtao Sun (4x4, 5x5 top tens) made 3 PRs and 6 senior PRs at Xi'an Cherry Blossom 2026: Square-1 PR average 18.72 takes him from 9th to 4th ahead of Dan Smith; Skewb average 6.09 takes him from 10th to 4th ahead of Chad Harris; 4x4 average 48.30 remains 10th and best 45.20 remains 16th; Megaminx PR average 1:34.52 enters at 17th while PR best 1:28.55 takes him from 33rd to 20th; 3x3 best 11.04 takes him from 67th to 29th; 3OH best 23.63 takes him from 86th to 40th and average 30.04 from 49th to 44th; and Pyraminx average 8.53 takes him from 71st to 65th.

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #3) made a PR and a senior PR at Pocos Cupos Bogotá X: 7x7 mean PR 5:28.74 remains ranked 29th, while senior PR best 5:05.12 takes him from 38th to 31st. He also earned a first place podium in Square-1 with average 19.54.

No top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I usually find via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page.

This week I also followed Daniel Houghton, Thierry Megard, Hung-Tsang Chen, and Chan Tak Chuen, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 50+ Kinch rankings, a new 6x6 mean has lifted Gianluca Placenti to 21st ahead of Javier Tirado Ortiz, pushing Kerry Go out of the top 25.

Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

Next week: Kate Stuart, Lisa Kucala, Peter Hugosson-Miller, Dennis Rosero, Akatsuki Kitamura, Ryuji Hamano, Shinji Mochizuki, Jochen Bauer, Michael Stocker, Lars Vennike Nielsson, Thor Muto Asmund, AJ Nicholls, Greg Simmons, Timothy La wrance, Olivier Wirz, Robert Ślesicki, John Cook, Enrymar Cisneros, in 13 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 110 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (APR 11-12)
Skewb and Clock WRs and numerous PRs especially in Clock…

Catching up on a new SWR last week, André Romain joins my watchlist having set double Skewb 50+ world records at French Championship 2026. Average 4.80 takes André from 9th to 1st, beating Petr Kundera's 2023 record by 0.73s, and remains 2nd in 40+. Best 2.62 takes him from 5th to 1st, beating Robert Ślesicki's 2025 record by 0.30s, and also takes him from 6th to 2nd in 40+. Both Petr and Robert are now off my watchlist.

Ryuji Hamano (50+ Clock WRs) improved both of his Clock WRs with double PRs at Otsu Biwako Spring 2026 this weekend: average 6.64 improves on his 2023 record by 0.47s, and his lifetime PR by 0.01s, and best 5.74 improves on his 2024 PR by 0.13s. His best time takes him from 6th to 4th ahead of Chad Harris in 40+, while his average remains ranked 4th.

Also in Otsu, Akatsuki Kitamura (50+ FMC WR) also made a Clock PR: best 11.59 takes him from 39th to 36th. He then headed to Tokyo FMC Spring 2026 where he made an FMC mean PR 28.67, taking him from 10th to 3rd, equal with Guus Razoux Shultz.

Kate Stuart (70+ 7x7 WR) made a double Skewb PR at Cube Against Cancer MN 2026: average 26.26 remains ranked 2nd and best 14.41 takes her from 5th to 2nd.

Thor Muto Asmund (50+ Kinch #1) made two PRs and a double at Ishøj NxN Countdown 2026: 6x6 mean 3:46.98 remains ranked 6th; 4x4 average 1:02.08 takes him from 8th to 7th ahead of Gianluca Placenti; 7x7 mean 5:43.21 remains 6th and best 5:18.88 remains 7th.

John Cook (60+ FMC WR3) made a PR and a double at Orange 2026: 3OH average 1:08.88 remains ranked 9th; and Clock average 18.83 and best 15.30 both take him from 15th to 14th.

Jochen Bauer (50+ big cubes and MM top fives) made 3 PRs at BLD Open Fürth 2026: 5BLD best 29:10 (enters at 14th); 4BLD best 9.32.82 (15th to 14th); and 3BLD best 1:53.32 (26th to 25th). This was the first competition to use the new dual round format, and as his 3BLD and 4BLD results came in the second round I would say the format worked well for Jochen.

(I'm looking forward to the dual round format in my next comp as an organiser if all goes well: Big Cube Time Brisbane 2026 at the end of next month. Double the chances on all the big cubes!)

Greg Simmons (Clock SWR) made a PR, a double and a senior PR at Leeds Spring 2026: 3x3 average PR 14.66 (64th to 44th) and senior PR best 12.80 (115th to 78th); and 3OH best 32.05 (enters at 115th) and average 57.70 (enters at 239th).

Also in Leeds, AJ Nicholls (3x3 SWR4) made two PRs: Megaminx average 2:01.39 (60th to 53rd); Clock best 8.72 (66th to 49th).

Finally from Leeds, Timothy Lawrance (4BLD SWR2) made a Clock PR average 11.52 (94th to 88th).

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #3) earned two 2nd place podiums at Nova Plaza Facatativá V 2026: 2x2 with average 4.09 and Pyraminx with average 5.67.

Several ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, most of which* I found via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page:
: Christian Sachgau* (60+) at BLD Open Fürth 2026 - MBLD 8/10 in 53:25 (enters at 4th)
- 4BLD best 11:25 (enters at 4th)
- 3BLD best 2:25.23 (enters at 7th)
: Masayuki Iwasa (60+) at Tokyo FMC Spring 2026 – FMC average 51.33 (enters at 7th)
- FMC best 49 (enters at 9th)
: Kazumasa Tsutsui (40+) at Otsu Biwako Spring 2026 – Clock best 6.10 (15th to 8th)
: Keisuke Yaosaka (40+) at Tokyo Spring 2026 - 3x3 best 10.00 (36th to 8th)
: Anne S. Squadron (80+) at NYU Spring 2026 – 3x3 best 1:32.33 (11th to 10th)

* Thanks to Thomas Schukraft for informing me that this comp was Christian Sachgau's first as a 60+ competitor, so I could report on these results before they propagate to the senior rankings pages. Being the first comp with dual rounds, it may take some time to be published officially.

This week I also followed Lisa Kucala, Peter Hugosson-Miller, Shinji Mochizuki, Lars Vennike Nielsson, and Enrymar Cisneros, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 40+ Kinch rankings, Jia-Hong Lu's 5BLD SWR last week has caused some shuffling as different people lost differing fractions of points. Lars Vennike Nielsson is up from 7th ahead of Thor Muto Asmund, Modest Podzolkin is up from 15th to 14th ahead of António Gomes, and Akatsuki Kitamura has fallen from 21st to 22nd behind Christophe Grosjean. Meanwhile Jochen Bauer's blind PRs mean he is up from 20th to 19th ahead of Javier Tirado Ortiz.

In 50+, Jochen Bauer is up from 6th to 4th ahead of Fumiki Koseki. Two 50+ WRs have caused Eric Dodson to fall from 11th to 12th behind YongGeal Lee. PRs in FMC, Clock and Pyraminx have taken Yuichi Hamada from 15th to 13th ahead of Thomas Schukraft.

In 60+, Doyle Cline is up from 17th to 15th ahead of Olivier Wirz thanks to an improved Square-1 average PR last weekend.
Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

Next week: Peter Hugosson-Miller, Dennis Rosero, Michael Stocker, Kerry Go, Ming Chai, Teller Coates, Choi Goho, Lisa Kucala, Ron van Bruchem, Sander Kaspers, Ulrich Spies, Jochen Bauer, AJ Nicholls, Maria Oey, Timothy Lawrance, Ton Dennenbroek, Danielle Kay, Rodney Topor, Shen Flindell, István Kocza, and Daniel Houghton, in 18 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female

This has resulted in a list of 111 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.

 

[shentabla]

WEEKEND COMP ROUNDUP (APR 14-19)
Improved 70+ WRs, a most unusual podium, and Kinch ranking thrills…

Rodney Topor (70+ seven WRs) improved three of his world records as part of two PRs and two doubles at Wide Bay Cubing 2026 this weekend: Clock average 22.88 is a 3.37s improvement and best 19.22 is 0.29s faster than his previous record in the top spot; Skewb best 10.16 is 3.15s faster than his previous WR; Pyraminx average 22.43 remains ranked 4th; and 3x3 average 50.79 remains 10th while best 44.41 takes him from 12th to 11th. This takes Rodney's SWR tally for 2026 to ten, the most for any senior solver so far this year.

Also in Wide Bay, yours truly Shen Flindell (50+ 6x6 & 7x7 WRs) made four PRs and four doubles, including three new events: 4x4 average 53.57 takes me from 3rd to 2nd ahead of Chris Wright; 3OH best 19.75 remains ranked 3rd; 3BLD best 1:04.75 remains 9th; 3x3 best 13.31 takes me from 20th to 18th; Skewb average 10.74 enters at 32nd, and best 9.39 at 59th; Clock average 13.09 enters at 33rd, and best 12.06 at 44th; Pyraminx average 10.04 enters at 33rd, and best 9.20 at 108th; and 2x2 average 7.10 takes me from 65th to 49th, and best 5.01 from 143rd to 79th. The PRs in 4x4, 3OH and 3BLD are also improvements on my previous 50+ Oceanic records. I also earned a second place podium in 3BLD with best 1:19.43. All these new events and PRs significantly improved my Kinch rankings – see below for details.

Finally from Wide Bay, Danielle Kay (Senior Kinch #3 female) made three PRs: Clock best 7.76 takes her from 32nd to 29th and is an improvement on her previous 40+ Oceanic record; 3OH average 39.70 takes her from 151st to 111th; and 5x5 best 2:27.29 takes her from 182nd to 163rd.

I missed one result from last week which brings a new watchlist member on board: Christian Sachgau became the 2nd person over 60 to record a 4BLD mean at BLD Open Fürth 2026 last week, with a time of 13:07 entering the rankings at 2nd place.

Jochen Bauer (50+ Kinch #4) made two PRs at Langenstein City Blind Open 2026: Square-1 best 20.48 takes him from 12th to 3rd ahead of Thor Muto Asmund; and 4BLD best 9:30.31 remains ranked 14th.

Michael Stocker (7x7 SWR) made a 2x2 average PR 4.20 at Swift Cubing in Swabia 2026, remaining ranked 5th.

Lisa Kucala (60+ four WRs) made a 4x4 average PR 1:25.23 at St. Angsar 2026, remaining ranked 5th.

Ulrich Spies (60+ MM WR) made a Clock best PR 8.81 at German Open 2026, taking him from 7th to 6th ahead of Martin Ernesto Melcop. He also made a 3OH 60+ PR best 55.95, remaining ranked 11th.

AJ Nicholls (3x3 top 5) made a 4BLD best PR 6:21.59 at Liverpool Spring 2026, taking him from 24th to 17th.

Teller Coates (50+ OH WRs) made a 4x4 best PR 59.31 at Grand Central Cubing WV 2026, taking him from 23rd to 20th.

Also at Grand Central, Ming Chai (Clock SWR2) made three PRs and a double: Pyraminx average 7.76 (47th to 39th); 2x2 average 5.58 (77th to 45th); 4x4 best 59.45 (141st to 101st) and average 1:09.76 (150th to 107th); and 3x3 best 14.60 (222nd to 177th).

Choi Goho (Senior Kinch #1) made a PR and a double at Seoul Silent Shhpring 2026: FMC best 26 takes him from 36th to 21st, and mean 33.33 from 45th to 33rd; and 5BLD best 25:01 remains ranked 27th.

Dennis Rosero (senior Kinch #3) equalled his 6x6 best senior PR 3:15.08 at Unicentro Tunja V 2026, thus remaining ranked 25th. He also earned a third place podium in Square-1 with average 23.69. The next day at Puro 3x3 Bulevar Niza Bogotá 2026 he earned a third place podium in FMC with best 41.

Daniel Houghton (5x5-7x7 top tens) made two PRs at Le Speedcube De Morteau 2026: 2x2 average 5.11 (64th to 26th); and 3BLD best 1:17.42 (41st to 38th).

Sander Kaspers (50+ MM WR) made a Pyraminx best 50+ PR 10.46 at Breda Open 2026, taking him from 168th to 136th.

István Kocza (50+ 3BLD & MBLD SWR2s) earned several podiums at Hungarian All-Rounder 3 2026: first place in MBLD with 14/15 in 57:44, second place in 4BLD with best 8:17.79, second place in 5BLD with best 13:53, and third place in 3BLD with best 59.06.

Peter Hugosson-Miller (60+ Kinch #4) earned a second place podium in FMC at Ugnsbakad Falukord Open 2026 with mean 78.33. This is the worst FMC result ever to get a podium!

No other top ten results from outside my watchlist have come in, which I usually find via Phil Lewis' Recent Senior Records page.

This week I also followed Kerry Go, Ron van Bruchem, Dieter Amberger, Maria Oey, Timothy Lawrance, and Ton Dennenbroek, who competed without making any new PRs.

In 40+ Kinch rankings, yours truly Shen Flindell is up from 18th to 9th ahead of the late great François Courtès, having completed 3 new events and made 3 other PRs this weekend. While several names below 9th slipped down the rankings, AJ Nicholls maintained 12th place ahead of Aaron Soley thanks to his 4BLD PR. Yongtao Sun has entered the top page at 18th place ahead of Pablo Say, after numerous PRs over the last few weeks, resulting in Ming Dao Ting slipping off the top page to 26th. Daniel Houghton's 2x2 and 3BLD PRs take him from 25th to 22nd ahead of Christophe Grosjean.

In 50+, all of those new events and PRs mean Shen Flindell is up from 3rd to 2nd ahead of Mike Hughey. Less than a point now separates #1 Thor Muto Asmund and #2, the closest gap at the top of any age bracket. Rainer Fürstenfeld's new blindfold PRs have brought him from 15th to 13th ahead of Yuichi Hamada. Lisa Kucala's 4x4 results lift her a place from 17th to 16th ahead of Chad Harris.

Next week: Ge Shi, John Cook, Doug Li, Peter Hugosson-Miller, Igor Aipkin, Dennis Rosero, AJ Nicholls, Ben Coppin, Steve Clarke, Bobby Mapp, Gary Miller, Thor Muto Asmund, Jochen Bauer, Michael Stocker, Christian Sachgau, Choi Goho, Chan Tak Chuen, in 14 competitions around the world.

My watchlist consists of the following:
: Cubes 3x3-7x7 - top 10 average, top 5 single 40+, top 5 average and top 2 single in older age groups
: 2x2, FMC, MM - top 5 average, top 2 single 40+, top 3 average and top single in older age groups
: BLD - top 5 average and single 40+, top 3 average and single in older age groups
: Other events - top 2 average, top single 40+, top average and top single in older age groups
: Kinch rankings – top 10 in 40+, top 5 in older age groups (minimum score 10), top 3 female
: Fastest to complete profile

This has resulted in a list of 113 "top ranked seniors". Please don't ask me to follow you as well, unless you fit the above criteria and I've missed something.

Please let me know if you know of anyone moving to a new age group who might be a candidate to join the top ranks.

Many thanks to Michael George for creating and maintaining the Senior Cubing Rankings website, and to Phil Lewis for creating the Senior Cubing Tracker site, which can be found via the Useful Links section of the SCR site.