By MARK REY MONTEJO
TAGAYTAY CITY – Filipino ace Brenton Wong and Crimson Arradaza shared the limelight in the first-ever Philippine National Speed Cubing Open by coming off with world record-breaking performances at the Tagaytay City Combat Sports Center on Thursday, May 28.
Arradaza belatedly gifted himself a nice birthday present just a day after his 15th birthday when he clocked a mind-boggling 5.335 seconds in the preliminary round of the 3x3x3 one-handed event.
That shattered the two-year-old world mark of 5.66 seconds set by Switzerland’s Dhruva Sai Meruva.
The Baguio City native eventually dominated the event’s final with a best time of 8.50 seconds and an average of 8.92 seconds – the accumulated time from five attempts, excluding the fastest and slowest runs – to beat Wong (11.62sec) and Juan Miguel Magallanes (12.39sec).
“Actually, wala masyadong nag-change. Nervous pa rin ako, during this whole round… I’ve been better lately. I would say I overcame it… just focus on something else, do it for something,” said Arradaza, a grade 9 student whose idol is speedcuber Sean Patrick Villanueva.
“Just get your mind somewhere and just enjoy the process… That was my goal na mag-world record sana, pero, especially before I put a lot of pressure on myself… but now I’m just trying to handle it, strive,” added Arradaza, a Roux Method practitioner.
Apart from his 3x3x3 one-handed triumph, Arradaza, who is aspiring to become a member of a rock band, clinched a silver in the 3x3x3 – the inaugural meet’s main event which featured the eight of fastest cubers here in the country – as he posted an average time of 6.46sec.
In that event, Wong, 19, proved he’s the best of them all.
He listed a superb time of 5.84sec – highlighted by his 5.43sec – to outshine Arradaza who had 4.66sec.
Arradaza’s bid for a double gold was ruined after a fumble resulting in a mediocre 13-second time.
“Actually, ‘yong first two rounds… na-mess up ko talaga. I don’t know why, I think I was [under] pressure. Tyaka, I just want to focus on getting the win, trying to focus really, breath, and pray about. I’m just very happy I got the spin,” said Wong, a Business Management at Ateneo.
“Actually, this is my goal, talaga, so I’ve been practicing for this… like yesterday I practiced like four hours, [because] I really want to focus… just happy to get the win, especially ‘to ‘yong first win in this inaugural event,” he added.
Aside from Arradaza and Wong, James Certeza also dazzled after winning the 2x2x2 category with a time of 1.68 seconds, while Aragon Martin (2.75) and John Axel Gordo (18.51) reigned supreme in the Pyraminx and 3x3x3 Blindfolded, respectively.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino and his son Tagaytay City Mayor Brent graced the opening and awarding ceremonies alongside Asian Mind Sports Association general director Jim Yu.
“We’re surprised too na-break natin ‘yong world record… ‘yong top five nito, papadala natin sa world championship… ‘yong mga hindi makarating from [other provinces] we will have a second round. [Hopefully] this September,” said Tolentino.
