Beginner & Blind Johannesburg 2025


Date
May 17 - 18, 2025
City
Johannesburg, South Africa
Venue

Waverley Girls High School

Address
89 Athol Street, Waverley, Johannesburg
Details

School hall

Contact
Organization team
Organizers
Marike Faught, Noah Levin, and Yusuf Talha Sayed Karim
WCA Delegates
Marike Faught and Yusuf Talha Sayed Karim
Download all the competition's details as PDF here.
Information

Welcome to Beginner & Blind Joburg 2025!

This competition focuses on blindfolded events on day 1 and the beginner friendly events on day 2. If you are only coming for the beginner friendly events, you don't have to be there on day 1, come join us for a weekend of cubing fun!

All competitors are expected to help out with volunteering - judging, running, and scrambling - please see the Competitor Information and FAQ tabs.

A huge thanks to Cubestuff for sponsoring this competition! Please support the shop at the competition and check out their website for all your cubing needs.

Events
Main event
Competitors
55
Registration period

Online registration opened and closed .

Registration requirements
This competition is over, click here to display the registration requirements it used.
Create a WCA account here if you don't have one.
If this is not your first competition, associate your WCA ID to your WCA account here.
Register for this competition here.
There is a competitor limit of 80 competitors.
The base registration fee for this competition is R150 (South African Rand).
If your registration is cancelled before you will be refunded 90% of your registration fee.
Registrants on the waiting list may be accepted onto the competitor list until .
We encourage everyone to register for the events they want to compete in via your online registration, however you may add events to your registration up until the event has started.
On the spot registrations will be accepted if there are remaining spots available, with a base registration fee of R150 (South African Rand).
Any spectator can attend for free.

Ticket Prices and Registration

R150 for one day.
R200 for both days.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Please note that there are THREE steps you need to take to be entered into this competition:

1) The competitor must create a WCA account if they do not already have one (or their parent/guardian must create one for them).
2) The competitor must register for the competition using their WCA account, specifying which events they want to participate in.
3) The competitor must pay the entry fee by purchasing a ticket here on the CubingZA website.

If you haven't both registered for the competition (Step 2) and paid for a ticket (Step 3), you will not be able to compete. Please note we cannot accept your registration until you have paid.

After registering for the competition on the WCA website, your registration will be pending. Once the payment through the CubingZA payment portal has been confirmed, your registration will be approved. (Allow up to 48 hours for the organizers to confirm the payment.)

ON-THE-SPOT REGISTRATION

On-the-spot registration will be accepted but we do urge competitors to register and pay online before the online registration closes on 15 May 2025.

Spectators

Competitors are welcome to bring up to two spectators with them. If you need to bring more, please contact the organizing team.

Volunteering

Please note that competitors are required to assist with volunteering during the competition - either in the role of "runner", "judge" or "scrambler". These roles will be explained as part of the "New competitor tutorial".
If anyone is willing to help scramble and judge for the blindfolded events on Saturday even though you are not competing on Saturday, please reach out to the organisers.

Highlights
Click here to display the highlights of the competition.

Amahle Nyembe won with an average of 9.20 seconds in the 3x3x3 Cube event. Osman Badroodin finished second (9.74) and Juandré Jacobs finished third (10.83).

African records: Marike Faught‎ 5x5x5 Blindfolded 11:40.00 (single).

Event Name Best Average Representing Solves
3x3x3 Cube Amahle Nyembe 8.87 9.20 South Africa 13.278.879.279.418.91
2x2x2 Cube Rhynard Steyn 3.06 3.61 South Africa 3.673.843.643.063.51
4x4x4 Cube Osman Badroodin 31.79 33.91 South Africa 34.3631.7933.4535.3233.91
3x3x3 Blindfolded Yusuf Talha Sayed Karim 42.52 DNF South Africa DNF42.52DNF
Clock Marike Faught 12.05 12.86 South Africa 12.2614.0712.0512.24DNF
Pyraminx Noah Levin 3.31 4.88 South Africa 5.073.315.105.234.48
Skewb Noah Levin 3.27 4.77 South Africa 6.425.023.623.275.67
4x4x4 Blindfolded Marike Faught 4:15.00 NR DNF South Africa 4:15.00DNF4:20.16
5x5x5 Blindfolded Marike Faught 11:40.00 AfR DNF South Africa DNFDNF11:40.00
3x3x3 Multi-Blind Marike Faught 16/19 50:28 South Africa 16/19 50:2813/19 52:55

If you're a first-time competitor, we would love to have you! It doesn't matter how quickly you can solve the cube - everyone is there to have fun, make new friends, and do their best. The speedcubing community is a healthy environment for cubers of all ages!

New competitors must bring some form of ID to show at the competition to confirm the name, the country they wish to compete for, and the date of birth registered with.
The usual items of ID that people bring are Passports, Birth Certificates, Driver's Licenses, etc. As long as it has your name, date of birth, and country, then it will be fine.

This competition runs over the whole day but you don't need to be there in the morning unless you are competing in the blind events.

If you're on the fence about going, take a look at this video giving a bit of insight into what a cube competition is like. If you would like some more information about what to expect, take a look at:

* this tutorial on how you'll complete your solves
* this video on what to expect at your first competition If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the organisers - we would be happy to help!

Information for all competitors:

  • Please help judge! These competitions need lots of volunteers to run smoothly and on time, judges are the main roles that require the most help. It is also very easy to do, even non-cubers and parents can do it! If you are unsure of the procedure we will explain it as a part of the new competitor tutorial which will take place at the start of each day. If you still don't quite understand we are happy to show you anytime throughout the rest or the competition. And you may judge in any round you like throughout the competition.
  • However if you are competing in an event then you are expected to also help out. We understand if you need time to warm-up so we would really appreciate it if you could judge in the group immediately following yours. For example if you are competing in group 2, please help judge in group 3 etc. If there are only 2 groups, we expect you to help out in the other group.
  • No flash photography under any circumstance within the venue. It is extremely destracting to competitors while they are competing. You are more than welcome to record or take pictures as long as your flash is off.
  • Keep quiet during all blindfolded events. These events require lots of focus and any noise can be very distracting. We will announce when the silence will begin and when you make speak again.
  • Make sure to keep your space clean and tidy. Please put all your rubbish into the bins or take it home with you when you leave.
  • There are hundreds of puzzles within the venue at all times. Make sure to keep your cubes together to ensure that you don't lose any!

MultiBlind Competitors
All puzzles for multiblind are to be submitted early to allow time for scrambling. Please see the schedule for details.

Q. How old do I have to be to compete?
Anyone can compete at any age! We encourage anyone considering to compete to register as it will be a great experience regardless of age.

Q. How fast do I have to be to compete?
You only need to know how to solve the 3x3 cube in under 5 minutes to compete! Refer to the Events tab to see specific Time limits and Cutoffs for other events.

Q. How can I change my events?
You can change your events via the competition registration page.

Q. How can I prepare before the competition day?
Before attending you should have read and understood the WCA regulations. Here is a condensed version of the competitor tutorial.

Q. What do I need to bring?
You need to bring a puzzle for each event you are signed up to compete in - make sure they are allowed per the WCA regulations. To summarise, your cube should NOT have physical damage, such as very scratched up stickers, dents, or visibly broken pieces; it should only have ONE logo (unless you are using it for Blindfolded events - in which case, NO logos are allowed for 4bld, 5bld and multi-blind); it should not have any textures or patterns (so NO "carbon-fiber" cubes); and it must not have transparent pieces. If you are unsure whether your puzzle is competition-legal, please get in touch with a delegate to check. Many competitors also bring a 'warm up cube' to use between submitting their puzzle for scrambling and starting their official solve. All timing equipment is provided.

Q. How do I find out if I've progressed to the second round?
Times will be uploaded through the day onto WCA Live. Please allow up to an hour from finishing your solves to them being uploaded. After all the times of a round have been entered, you can see if you are in the following round.

Q. Who can I ask for help on the day?
Your Delegates for this competition are Marike Faught and Yusuf Talha Sayed Karim. Feel free to ask any questions you may have on the day about the rules and regulations. The competition organisers are Marike, Yusuf and Noah Levin. Ask them if you have any queries about the competition schedule, cutoffs, time limits, and advancement to subsequent rounds.

Q. Can I help on the day?
Definitely! Throughout the day we will always need judges and runners so please see our Delegates to ask how you can best assist.

Q. How can I find out about upcoming competitions in South Africa?
You can find out about upcoming competitions in South Africa by signing up on CubingZA or checking the WCA Competitions page.

Q: How do I get a WCA ID?
After official results are posted after the competitions you will receive an email with information on your WCA ID.

Please also refer to the WCA's FAQ.

This competition's results can be viewed live on WCA Live!

Please note that there may sometimes be a delay in entering data. However, we will try our best to keep results updated as much as possible throughout the competition.

CubingZA is a volunteer organisation made up of delegates and community members who have come together to try and ensure that we can sustainably run regular competitions all across the country.

If you'd be interested in helping out in CubingZA's mission to improve competitive speedcubing in the country, please get in touch.

Time limit

If you reach the time limit during your solve, the judge will stop you and your result will be DNF (see Regulation A1a4).
A cumulative time limit may be enforced across rounds (see Regulation A1a2).

Cutoff

The result to beat to proceed to the second phase of a cutoff round (see Regulation 9g).

Format

The format describes how to determine the ranking of competitors based on their results. The list of allowed formats per event is described in Regulation 9b. See Regulation 9f for a description of each format.

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