Pinoy teen wins Asian Rubik’s cube crown

A 15-year-old Filipino student, Richard Jay Apagar, placed first in the Rubik’s cube challenge at the Asian Rubik’s Cube Championship 2012 in Hong Kong from October 5 to 7. According to a report on GMA Network’s “News to Go” program, Apagar also placed second in the Megaminx category of the contest. The report said Apagar brought home HK$6,000 (roughly PHP30,000) as a cash prize after completing the Rubik’s cube challenge at 9.45 seconds. Thailand’s Nipat Charoenpholphant placed second, finishing in 9.47 seconds, and Weixing Zhang of China won third place in 10.21 seconds. A third-year high-school student in Manila, Apagar competed with 130 contestants from 14 countries in Asia and Oceania, which are Australia, China, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Thailand. Two other Filipinos, Kevin Zerzes Sapo and Simon Lim, competed in the same event. According to Lester Santos, co-founder of the Philippine Cubers Association, Apagar had previously won a local speedcubing competition, which qualified him for the Asian championship. Apagar’s trip was sponsored by Toys R’ Us Philippines, a toy store. Great memory In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Santos said even though Apagar is fairly new at the speedcubing game, he has great memory when it comes to patterns, and he has “excellent finger tricks.” In the Philippines, Apagar holds the record in speedcubing at 7.53 seconds. While Apagar is happy to win the competition, Santos said he is busy catching up on the lessons he missed while away and preparing for another speedcubing event in Pangasinan this weekend. The Asian Championship is a yearly competition approved by the international organization World Cube Association. The records made in the Asian competition are accepted as official by the WCA. - VVP/HS, GMA News