World Rubik's Cube Championship 2011
World Rubik's Cube Championship 2011 (usually called World Championship 2011, abbreviated to WC2011 or WC11) was a speedcubing World Championship held at the Baiyoke Sky hotel in Bangkok, Thailand on Oct 14-16, 2011.
Events
3x3 Speedsolve
Through 2010 and 2011, Feliks Zemdegs had been considered the favorite by far to win. Although Feliks outperformed other competitors as expected in all other rounds, the final round saw a major upset, with Michał Pleskowicz placing first with a PB official average of 8.65, Rowe Hessler second with 9.56, and Feliks a close third at 9.58. videos reconstructions
5x5 Speedsolve
5x5 was expected from the outset to be highly competitive, with Yu Nakajima's comeback and recent average world record holders Dan Cohen (defending champion) and Kevin Hays competing against Feliks. Feliks set the tone event with a world record single in the first round, the first ever sub-1 single at 59.27. This was followed in the second round by WR-NAR-AsR top 3 in the second round by Feliks (1:04.08), Dan (1:08.12), and Nakajima (1:08.17), closely followed by Kevin (1:08.72).
After another sub-1 (59.59) and a new world record single of 58.41 by Feliks on the first two solves, Nakajima broke the AsR single on the fourth solve at 58.53, the first sub-1 AsR. Not to be outdone, Dan breaks Feliks's record with 57.44 on the last solve. With all pressure on him, Feliks then yet again improved the world record single with 56.22, demoting Dan's single to a NAR, and ending with a 59.44 world record average, the first official sub-1 average only weeks after his unofficial sub-1 average video. Although Dan and Nakajima both had a better average in the second round, the sub-1 single and world record battle, so soon after the first ever official sub-1 single, has led a number of cubers to declare the final round the most epic round in the history of competitive cubing. Full results.
Winners
- 3x3: Michał Pleskowicz
- 2x2: Feliks Zemdegs
- 4x4: Feliks Zemdegs
- 5x5: Feliks Zemdegs
- 6x6: Feliks Zemdegs
- 7x7: Bence Barát
- Pyraminx: Jules Desjardin
- Megaminx: Simon Westlund
- Square-1: Dan Cohen
- Clock: Daniel Sheppard
- Rubik's Magic: Bálint Bodor
- Master Magic: Máté Horváth
- 3x3 One-Handed: Arifumi Fushimi
- 3x3 Feet: Henrik Buus Aagaard
- 3x3 Blindfolded Zane Carney
- 4x4 Blindfolded: Aldo Feandri
- 5x5 Blindfolded: Chris Hardwick
- Multi-BLD: Marcell Endrey
- 3x3 Fewest Moves: Sébastien Auroux
World Records Set
- 3x3 OH average 13.57 by Michał Pleskowicz
- 4x4 average 35.33 by Feliks Zemdegs (Giovanni Contardi was also under the old WR time(35.51)) (Semi Final)
- 4x4 average 35.22 by Feliks Zemdegs (Final)
- 5x5 speedsolve single 59.27 by Feliks Zemdegs (First Round)
- 5x5 speedsolve single 58.41 by Feliks Zemdegs (Final)
- 5x5 speedsolve single 57.44 by Dan Cohen (Final)
- 5x5 speedsolve single 56.22 by Feliks Zemdegs (Final)
- 5x5 average 1:04.08 by Feliks Zemdegs (Semi Final)
- 5x5 average 59.94 by Feliks Zemdegs (Final)
- Multi-BLD 19/19 by Marcell Endrey
- Rubik's Clock Single 5.83 by Javier Tirado Ortiz
Trivia
- Many competitors were advised to be vaccinated before their trip to Thailand.
- In the weekend before the competition, Thailand experienced its worst flood in 50 years, which killed at least 350 and affected nearly 2.5 million residents. There was, however, no effect on the competition.
- Arnaud van Galen acted as the lead MC. This concluded his 1.5-year trip in Asia. [1]
- Competitors wore pink shirts to support Thailand's ruler who had fallen ill. [2]
- 275 competitors participated in the first round of 3x3 speedsolve, less than the number in World Championship 2009.
- Jihan won the lucky draw for the second time in a row (after the Asian Championship 2010).
- Itsaya Jaruwattanakun was the youngest competitor with an age of only 4 years. She is the daughter of an Indonesian delegate. (name?)
External Links
- WC2011 full results on WCA Database
- Live Results
- Speedsolving.com: World Championships 2011 Bangkok
