The Weekend Wrap: July 24-26, 2026
Xuanyi Geng recorded the first pure sub-4 average in WCA history, Zhen Chen took one-handed below seven seconds, and Hawaii crowned its first state champions.
Xuanyi Geng and Zhen Chen broke major barriers in China, Max Park returned below five seconds, and Hawaii crowned its first state champions.
Welcome back to the Speedcuber’s Digest Weekend Wrap, where we look at the most significant results and storylines from this past weekend.
Xuanyi Geng Completes the First Pure Sub-4 Average
Xuanyi Geng did something at Jiajiang Open 2026 that no other competitor has managed in an official average: he finished all five solves below four seconds.
Geng won all four rounds before closing the competition with a 3.67 average:
(3.85), 3.70, (3.28), 3.78, 3.52 = 3.67
The result should rank second in the world behind Yiheng Wang’s 3.51 world record. What separated the result was the full set of five solves.
Geng’s slowest solve was a 3.85. Even the two discarded times were below four seconds, making this the first pure sub-4 average in WCA history.
His straight mean across the five solves was 3.626, compared with 3.708 for Wang’s world-record set. Wang still owns the faster official average because his three counting solves were quicker, but no one has previously completed five official solves at Geng’s pace.
Zhen Chen Takes One-Handed Below Seven Seconds
The one-handed average world record was tied and then broken on the same day at two different competitions.
Crimson Arradaza first recorded a 7.72 average at GAN Tarlac Speedcubing Open 2026, matching Luke Garrett’s world record exactly.
Later that day, Zhen Chen went even further at Wuhu Open 2026:
7.27, 7.07, (6.12), (9.48), 6.64 = 6.99
Chen entered the weekend with an 8.22 personal best. He lowered it to 7.99 in the opening round, then improved by another full second in the final to record the first official sub-7 OH average.
Since both results happened on July 25, Chen’s faster average will receive the world and Asian records. Arradaza’s 7.72 should instead become the Philippine national record.
More than a decade after Keaton Ellis lost a would-be 3x3 world record to Lucas Etter later on the same day, Arradaza received the OH version of getting “Keatoned.”
Max Park Returns Below Five Seconds
For the first time since setting the world record in 2022, Max Park has recorded an official WCA average below five seconds.
Park finished the 3x3 final at Temecula Valley Summer 2026 with a 4.99:
5.27, 4.84, 4.87, (4.77), (6.27) = 4.99
He entered the final solve with a chance to improve his 4.86 personal best. A 4.77 or faster would have given him a 4.83 average, but the 6.27 became his discarded high solve and left him just under five seconds.
The result is the fifth sub-5 average in North American history. Only Park, Luke Garrett and Matty Hiroto Inaba have officially reached the milestone.
Park won all three rounds at Temecula, recording averages of 5.48, 5.61 and 4.99.
Hawaii Crowns Its First State Champions
Hawaii Championship 2026 created the first official state championship titles for the islands’ speedcubing community.
Curtis Chai won the overall 3x3 final with a 6.43 average, followed by Ryan Roth at 7.14 and Jonathan Truchot at 7.40.
Travis Dumaran finished fourth with a 7.51 average, making him the highest-placing eligible Hawaii resident and the state’s first 3x3 champion.
Hawaii’s top-ranked 3x3 competitor, Matty Hiroto Inaba, did not attend. That left the local title open even as visiting competitors occupied the overall podium.
Chai won the competition, but Dumaran left with the Hawaii title. Competitors from anywhere could win an event overall, but only Hawaii residents were eligible to claim the state titles.
Ciarán Beahan Sweeps 3x3 and the Big Cubes
One week after Ireland finished second in the European Championship medal table, its leading competitors returned home for Rubik’s Irish Championship 2026.
Ciarán Beahan won the 3x3 title with a 7.03 average, finishing ahead of Cillian Hainbach at 7.21 and Prabhav Rajaram Nayak at 7.39.
Beahan then swept every big-cube event, winning 4x4, 5x5, 6x6 and 7x7. Hainbach finished second in all four, while Stephanie Rose Martin completed the same podium order with four bronze medals.
Martin added the Megaminx championship with a 26.21 average and finished second in one-handed, giving her six podium finishes across the weekend. Defending 3x3 champion CJ Furey missed the main-event podium but won OH with an 11.35 average.
Jack Corr added one of the championship’s strongest record performances, setting Irish Clock records with a 2.88 average and 2.47 single.
One week after Ireland collected six medals at Euros, many of the same competitors controlled the national championship. Beahan won five titles, while Martin reached six podiums.