Ateneo de Manila University 6th grader Sean Patrick Villanueva has set a new Asian Record in Speedcubing as he emerged in first place at the World Cube Association (WCA)-sanctioned Marikina City Open II held Sunday.
The 11-year-old speedcuber achieved multiple feats on October 27 – breaking the Asian record, being only the 3rd in the world to register a sub-6 seconds-average, and as the first Asian to join the elite group of current and former world record holders.
Sean Villanueva solved his Rubik’s Cube 3x3x3 puzzle with Time list: (7.67), 5.72, 5.99, (5.52), 6.23 for a 5.98 average, besting the current Asian record of 6.37 established at the Bonifacio Memorial in 2018 held by fellow Filipino player Leo Borromeo of Cebu.
The World Top 3 speedcubing Filipino champion is only the third speedcuber to achieve the under-6 seconds’ puzzle-solving time, following Feliks Zemdegs of Australia with 5.69 seconds average and Max Park of the United States with 5.83 seconds average.
Villanueva completed his record-breaking games at the WCA event held October 26-27 at the Cinco Hermanos Clubhouse in Marikina City where 94 people from 4 countries namely, the Philippines, Singapore, United States, and Nigeria, participated.
Sean Villanueva celebrated his achievement with a post on social media saying, “Finally! I have been going for AsR for a while now, and I got it!”
Sean Villanueva first achieved his Top 3 World Ranking after his silver medal finish at the WCA World Championship in July,
Prior to Villanueva’s feats, two Filipino Rubik’s Cube speedcubers made Asian Records in their events in 2017. Davao’s Edgar Elevado Jr. set the Asian record for Rubik’s Cube 3x3x3 With Feet Finals while University of the Philippines engineering student Mharr Justhinne Ampong tied the Asian record in the Skewb event elimination round.
WATCH as Sean Villanueva breaks the Rubik’s Cube speedcubing Asian Record in this video and SEND him congratulations in the comments below!
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