The Weekend Preview: July 3-5, 2026
Highlighting competitions from around the world of speedcubing.
The North American Championship arrives in Raleigh, Slovakia crowns its national champions, and Weihai brings another deep Chinese 3x3 field.
Welcome back to the Speedcuber’s Digest Weekend Preview, where we look ahead at the potential storylines going into the weekend.
Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2026
Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2026 takes place July 2-5 in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The competition will serve as both the North American Championship and the United States National Championship, making it the clear centerpiece of the weekend.
The biggest 3x3 question is who takes the North American title.
At NAC 2024, Tymon Kolasiński won the overall 3x3 event with a 4.94 average, but because he represents Poland, the North American title went to Max Park, who finished with a 5.69 average.
Park also enters as the reigning U.S. national champion. At CubingUSA All-Stars 2025, Matty Hiroto Inaba set the North American record average with a 4.72 in the semifinal, but Park won the final with a 5.65 average to claim the title.
The last North American Championship before 2024 was held in Toronto in 2022, where Inaba won the 3x3 title with a 5.62 average. Park did not compete at that event, making this year another chance to see several recent North American and U.S. title storylines collide.
This year’s North American race also includes Canada’s top contenders, led by Kyle Santucci and Brennen Lin. While much of the field is U.S.-based, Santucci and Lin give the final an important Canadian presence and could make the continental title race more than a U.S. championship rematch.
Park remains one of the central names to watch, but the field is far from automatic. Inaba, Luke Garrett, Luke Griesser, Dylan Miller, Caleb Chen, and several other top North American solvers give the final enough depth that the title could be decided by small margins.
NAC will also feature all 17 official WCA events, giving the championship added significance after the WCA’s announcement that Clock will be retired following the 2027 World Championship.
That gives this year’s Clock final added historical weight. The event will crown the final North American Clock champion before Clock’s final year as an official WCA event.
Brendyn Dunagan won the North American Clock title in 2024 with a 3.20 average, while Fiona Bao enters as the reigning U.S. national champion after winning at CubingUSA All-Stars 2025 with a 2.92 average.
Slovak Championship 2026
Slovak Championship 2026 takes place July 2-5 in Ladce, Slovakia, at Kultúrny dom Ladce.
The competition is Slovakia’s national championship for 2026, but the overall 3x3 field includes several strong international names. Dávid Szabó of Hungary enters as the top-ranked competitor by average at 6.07, followed by Michael Liubarets of Ukraine at 6.36 and David Nesiba of the Czech Republic at 6.44.
That means the overall 3x3 podium and the Slovak national title could become separate storylines.
The top Slovak contender on paper is Tomáš Zatroch, who enters with a 6.96 average and ranks fourth overall in the field. Alexander Pastirčák, Jakub Drobný, and Oliver Kugler also give Slovakia multiple contenders inside the top 10 by average.
Last year’s 3x3 final was won overall by Jonas Pilhöfer with a 6.99 average. Matěj Grohmann finished second with a 7.95, while Zatroch finished third with an 8.01.
This year, Zatroch enters as the leading Slovak name and one of the most important competitors to watch. If the international field controls the overall podium, the national title race behind it could still become one of the weekend’s strongest storylines.
Weihai Open 2026
Weihai Open 2026 takes place July 5 in Weihai, Shandong, China, at Luyuan Jinshangyi International Hotel.
The event is only one day, but the 3x3 field may be one of the deepest of the weekend. The top of the registration list includes seven Chinese competitors with 3x3 averages under 4.75: Yiheng Wang, Xuanyi Geng, Zhaokun Li, Yufang Du, Qixian Cao, Yi Shen, and Yize Dong.
Wang enters as the reigning 3x3 world champion and current world record average holder after recording a 3.51 at Hefei Cubing League 3x3 III 2026. Geng previously held the world record with a 3.71 average, while Li, Du, Cao, Shen, and Dong give the field depth behind the two headline names.
Even making the final could require world-class solving. With Wang, Geng, Li, Du, Cao, Shen, and Dong all registered, Weihai should be one of the weekend’s clearest 3x3 record-watch competitions.