A teenager has become a British champion after solving a Rubik’s Cube puzzle – in just 9.21 seconds.
Fast-fingered Breandan Vallance, 18, from Beith, Ayrshire in Scotland beat around 50 other hopefuls to be crowned king of the cube in Bristol.
He was one of 58 people who squared up on Saturday to battle it out and be crowned master of the Rubik’s cube at the national speedcubing championships.
Competitors came from across the globe descended on Armada House, Bristol as they went head to head in the annual event, which included 10 different categories.
The two-day event included category’s including junior and veteran events, solving dodecahedrons and pyramid cubes and even completing the traditional 54 square puzzle – while BLINDFOLDED.
Breandan Vallance is also the current world champion after he was crowned king of the cube last October by completing the puzzle in a staggering 10 seconds flat.
The fast-fingered teen, of Beith in Ayrshire, Scotland, beat over 400 competitors at the international Speedcubing championships in Dusseldorf, Germany last October.
And on Saturday, he brushed aside the competition as he added British champion to his trophy haul, but said he was disappointed with his 10.6 second average time – despite clocking up one completion in just 9.21 seconds.
”’I thought I could have gone quicker,” he said.
”It’s great to be British champion as well as world champion but hopefully next time it will be faster.”
Completing a puzzle in his right hand as he speaks, Breandan added: ”I can’t really explain how I can do it so fast.
”It’s a really hard thing to put in the words but I see it more in pieces rather than colours, if that makes sense.
”It takes hours of practice and I don’t really know why I got into it but it’s something that has become an obsession of mine.”
Rowan Kinneavy, 19, from Aberdeen, Scotland, smashed the world record in the traditional event by completing the puzzle in an astonishing 7.71 seconds, beating the previous record of 9.28 seconds.
”It feels great,” he said. ”I’ve done it in five seconds in my bedroom before, but this is different.”
Among the other particpants was Charloote Cooper, 22, one of the only women in the contest, and Ryder Stringer, seven, from Ilfracombe, Devon – this year’s youngest competitor.
The puzzle was invented by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik 30 years ago. It is the world’s biggest selling toy with about 350 million sold to date.
A standard 21 piece Rubik’s cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 – or over 43 quintillion – configurations.
rowan smashed no records. Do some research!