13-Year-Old Filipino Defeats 2 of the World’s Fastest Rubik’s Cube Speed Solvers

The competition, Monkey League Season 2, was organized by YouTuber LaZer0MonKey, according to the tournament’s official schedule. It kicked off on Aug. 27 and the grand finals were held on Oct. 4.

 

Borromeo faced off with two of the world’s best speedcubers: Tymon Kolasiński from Poland, who is regarded as number one in Europe, and Feliks Zemdegs, who is currently the world’s greatest speedcuber, according to SunStar Cebu.

Borromeo first faced off against Kolasiński during the second round of the competition but was beaten by the Polish speedcuber with the final score of 3-1.

The young competitor then fought Zemdegs in the grand finals and won 5-0 against the Australian Rubik’s Cube speed solver. In a Facebook post, Borromeo said his average during that match was 5.39 seconds.

Borromeo was only 7 years old when he became interested in Rubik’s Cubes after watching a video of Zemdegs in 2014. He then taught himself how to solve the cube and started competing in the tournaments organized by the World Cube Association (WCA) in 2015.

Borromeo set a record for the fastest in the competition when he solved a cube in 5.96 seconds in 2017.

 

Borromeo said his unforgettable competition was in 2018 when he beat Zemdegs in a 3x3x3 event at the 2018 Asian Championship in Taipei, Taiwan. He then competed in the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia a year after that.

Borromeo’s fastest solve was at 5.12 seconds while his fastest average was at 6.31 seconds, as listed in his WCA profile. He also holds 36 gold medals under his belt. The young speedcuber said he tries to solve 100 cubes per day to practice.

Borromeo projected he would still be solving cubes three years from now and hopes to have more records under his name.

His father expressed how proud he is and gives his son reminders to have fun.

“My hope is that he applies (in life) what he learns in Rubik’s Cube. I want him to be analytical, a problem solver, to think fast. Maybe he can be a programmer or scientist,” he said. “He can be serious and competitive but I want him to be reminded that he is still a kid.”

Featured Image Screenshot via Leo Borromeo – Speedcuber