Leo Borromeo (center) was again recognized as the Philippines’ fastest speedcuber. | Photo from Carlo Borromeo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Rubik’s Speedcubing Ambassador and Cebuano prodigy Leo Borromeo successfully recovered his title as the Philippines’ fastest speedcuber in his first face-to-face competition since February 2020.
Borromeo, who turns 15 this August, set national records in both single (4.77 seconds) and average (5.92 seconds) in a competition held in Pangasinan on Saturday, May 21, 2022.
Borromeo competed in the Summer Warm Up Mangaldan 2022 held in Mangaldan National High School in Mangaldan, Pangasinan, his first competition after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It feels nice to compete again. It feels cool to win as added bonus,” he told CDN Digital.
Fifty Rubik’s cubers in the country joined the Summer Warm Up in Mangaldan, competing in events such as the 3x3x3 Cube (3 rounds), 2x2x2 Cube (2 rounds), pyraminx (2 rounds), 4x4x4 Cube (one round), and 3x3x3 one-handed (1 round).
With an average of 6.17 seconds, Borromeo won in the 3x3x3 cube event. Sean Patrick Villanueva and Brenton Wong, both from Manila, rounded out the top three.
Borromeo also emerged winner in the 3x3x3 one-handed event with an average of 3.40.
Speedcubing is a competition of events for people who can solve the Rubik’s Cube, a 3D combination puzzle developed in 1974.
Carlo Borromeo, Leo’s father, said Leo may have competitions this June and July in Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao.
He is also set to compete in an international event in Australia this December.
Leo, at the age 10, became the first Filipino to solve a Rubik’s cube in under six seconds in a competition in 2017.
He also defeated two older opponents and world renowned speedcubers Tymon Kolasiski of Poland, who is the number one speedcuber in Europe, and Feliks Zemdegs, the current world’s greatest speed cuber, in an unofficial online speedcubing competitions.
In 2018, he joined Asian Championship held in Taipei, Taiwan where he was runner-up and beat Zemdegs in a 3x3x3 event. He also competed in the 2019 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
READ: Cebuano speedcuber in Melbourne for world championship
/ dcb