The two finalists from Bengaluru for the Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup 2019 are as different as chalk and cheese, but there is one thing they have in common — a passion for cubing.
It is amazing to watch their fingers fly, getting all the little squares to align (or not) and all in a matter of seconds. Talking to them is an eye-opener into the intricacies of the sport. At 19, Aniketh Arya is rather taciturn, but his face lights up every time he has a nugget of information to share. Like when he talks about Re-scrambling, the category he excels in. “In Re-scrambling, we are given a solved cube and an unsolved one. The challenge is to change the sequence on the solved cube to match the unsolved one,” says Aniketh, who began cubing in 2014.
Bhargav who has been cubing for the past nine years, picked it up after his class XII exams. Now a 26-year-old, he is a doctor with a pharmaceutical company, and specialises in the Fastest Hand category. Which means he uses just one hand to get those coloured squares in order.
Aniketh and Bhargav will join Vijay Kishore and Lakshmi Rajaram from Chennai to represent India at the Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup in Moscow on November 17. Vijay specialises in speed cubing, while Lakshmi is our country’s female speed cubing finalist. Like in any other sport, all four of them had to clear regional, state and national levels to qualify for the international circuit. “Age is the only criteria — it is open for those above 16,” smiles Aniketh shyly.
Needless to say, speed is of the essence in this sport. “Sometimes the difference between the top ranker and one who places 16th is just a few seconds,” says Bhargav.
Speed and presence of mind. While cubers may not have roaring crowds cheering or booing their name, ‘choking’ is a very real fear.
“There is no reason why a person freezes mid-step while cubing,” says Bhargav.
“And there is nothing you can do to prep against it,” chips in Aniketh.
Both are self-taught when it comes to cubing and despite techniques and turning styles, each player approaches cube solving in their own way.
Aniketh who can solve the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded (yes, that is a thing too), says cubing helped him sharpen his memorisation skills, while Bhargav feels it has honed his ability to analyse multiple solutions to life situations. Apart from solving the Cube blindfolded, one of the Championship categories includes a ‘multiple blindfold’ challenge, where participants look at more than one unsolved cube, put on a blindfold and solve each of them in order. “All said and done, there is no substitute for practice to better your time,” says Bhargav.
For the World Cup on November 17, Aniketh brings his timings of 28.934 seconds for Rescrambing, while Bhargav with 12.580 seconds has to beat competitors in the Best Hand category. Both Vijay and Lakshmi have to best their timings of 6.350 and 12.768 seconds, respectively.
