LONDON, July 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Feliks Zemdegs is reigning champion at Rubik's Cube World Championships

This weekend in São Paulo, Brazil, the global Speedcubing elite congregated for the Rubik's Cube World Championship (http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/) - the first time that the competition has ever been held in South America.

At Colégio Etapa, a school in the centre of São Paulo, Feliks Zemdegs of Australia retained his crown with an average time of 7.56 seconds, winning the championship trophy and a selection of Rubik's Cube prizes.  Feliks also performed the fastest Single Solve of the competition: 5.60 seconds.

(See him achieve this on the new Rubik's Cube film here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZm3y0sT4I&feature=youtu.be)

As ever, the event was incredibly tight and Feliks won by a margin of one second, narrowly beating Mats Valk of the Netherlands who finished with an average time of  8.56 seconds.

The UK was well represented in the 3 x 3 Cube (http://www.rubiks.com), with Breandan Vallance of Scotland and Robert Yau of England finishing strongly against a competitive field with times of 10.70 seconds and 10.01 seconds respectively.

Top five in 3 x 3 Rubik's Cube final: 

      

Feliks Zemdegs            Australia         7.56
Mats Valk                 Netherlands       8.56
Jakub Kipa                Poland            8.63
Michal Pleskowicz         Poland            8.82
Sayed Mohammad Hossein    Israel            8.82
Other notable results were:

• Kabyani Talukdar of India who won the 3 x 3 blindfolded category with a time of 24.86 seconds
• Feliks Zemdegs of Australia who won the 3 x 3 one-handed category with a time of 11.85 seconds
• Gabriel Pereira Campanha of Brazil who won the 3 x 3 with feet category with a time of 32.51 seconds

There were 18 different events at the 2015 Rubik's Cube World Championship including:

• 2x2 Rubik's Cube
• 3x3 Rubik's Cube
• 4x4 Rubik's Cube
• 5x5 Rubik's Cube
• One-handed 3x3 Rubik's Cube
• Blindfolded 3x3 Rubik's Cube
• 3x3 Rubik's Cube (fewest moves)
• 3x3 Rubik's Cube with feet
• 4x4 Rubik's Cube blindfolded
• 5x5 Rubik's Cube blindfolded
• 3x3 Rubik's Cube multiple blindfolded

Rubik's Cube World Champions
The Rubik's Cube World Championship was first held in Budapest in 1982 and was won by American Minh Thai with a time of 22.95 seconds.  Since then, huge improvements in technique, lubrication and participation have pushed the sport further than ever before.

   
    2015 São Paulo  Australia - Feliks Zemdegs 7.56
    2013 Las Vegas  Australia - Feliks Zemdegs 8.18
    2011 Bangkok    Poland - Michał Pleskowicz 8.65
    2009 Dusseldorf UK - Breandan Vallance     10.74
    2007 Budapest   Japan - Yu Nakajima        12.46
    2005 Orlando    France - Jean Pons         15.10
    2005 Toronto    USA -Dan Knights           20.00
    1982 Budapest   USA - Minh Thai            22.95

In total, over 423 people from 41 countries competed in the 2015 Rubik's Cube World Championship.

To see a full list of results, please go to the official website at http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/live.php .

To find out more about the Rubik's Cube, visit the website at http://www.rubiks.com, Twitter feed @RubiksOnline (https://twitter.com/rubiksonline) or official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Rubiksonline).

Links:

New film of 2015 championship:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZm3y0sT4I&feature=youtu.be

http://www.cuber.com.br/worlds/index.php?location=home

http://www.rubiks.com

https://twitter.com/rubiksonline

https://www.facebook.com/Rubiksonline 

Rubik's Cube: timeline

1974 - Erno Rubik, a young Professor of Architecture in Budapest, Hungary creates a seemingly impossible object: a solid Cube that twists and turns without breaking or falling apart.

1975 - Erno Rubik applies for a patent for the invention, calling it the 'Magic Cube'.

1977 - The patent is approved and the first Magic Cubes go on sale in a toyshop in Budapest.

1979 - Tom Kremer negotiates and signs the distribution licence from Erno Rubik at the International Toy Fair in Nuremburg.

1980 - The Magic Cube is renamed the 'Rubik Cube' and internationally launched.  Since the launch, an estimated 400 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold.

1981 - Twelve-year old British schoolboy Patrick Bossert publishes the book You Can do the Cube, which goes on to sell a staggering 1.5 million copies.

1982 - The first Rubik's Cube World Championship takes place in Budapest and is won by American Minh Thai in a world-record time of 22.95 seconds.

1995 - Fred Cueller of Diamond Cutters International creates the 'Masterpiece Cube' for the Rubik's Cube's fifteenth anniversary.  It is a fully functioning Rubik's Cube with a twist -it's made with 185 carats of gems set in 18-karat gold.  In its solved state, the Cube features a different type of gem on each side-including 22.5 karats of amethyst, 34 karats of rubies and 34 karats of emeralds. The Masterpiece Cube is estimated to be worth $1.5 million.

2007 - Erno Rubik awards the prizes to the winners at the Rubik's Cube World Championship in his home city, Budapest.

2009 - Scotland's Breandan Vallance wins the Rubik's Cube World Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany.

2013 - A new and improved Rubik's Cube is released, with an all-new, faster action mechanism and stronger durable tiles. The traditional colours of green, yellow, orange, red, white and blue still stand.

2015 - The Rubik's Cube World Championships is held in South America for the first time in São Paulo, Brazil.

Images and B-roll from the 2015 Rubik's Cube World Championship are available.

Footage of Feliks Zemdegs achieving his 5.60 second solve is available here from 1.55:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZm3y0sT4I&feature=youtu.be

Film is free for use for publishing, broadcast or social media purposes.

Please see image gallery at:  http://www.sourcewire.com/newsroom/RubiksCube/images/

Media information provided by Famous Publicity.  For more information please contact George Murdoch at +44-(0)7834-643-977 or george@famouspublicity.com or Tina Fotherby at +44-(0)7703-409-622 or tina@famouspublicity.com.

For USA and Latin America media contact, please get in touch with Nicole Agnello at +1-401-727-5947 or nicole.agnello@hasbro.com.

For Canada, please contact Grant Chapman at +1-416-752-4382 ext #209 or grant@kroegerinc.com.

Rubik's Cube® is a registered trademark of Rubik's Brand Ltd

SOURCE Rubik’s Brand Ltd