<p>Nine-year-old Atharva Bhat was fascinated by the Rubik’s cube since he was a toddler. “I tried solving the cube with my father and also learnt from YouTube videos. He taught me to solve the first two layers and I figured out how to solve the third one for the first time in 2016,” he says.</p>.<p>He discovered competitive ‘cubing’ in 2017. He registered with the World Cube Association (WCA) and entered the IIA Summer Open in April of that year. “Then I took one minute and 10 seconds to solve 3x3x3 puzzle. Today my best is 10.89 seconds in the official competition,” he says. </p>.<p>WCA has 18 different categories of puzzles which introduced Atharv to a variety of challenges. “I was interested in exploring it all and improving my solve timing,” he says. </p>.<p>His favourite category was an official event with the WCA until 2019 — the feet solve. “I was at the sixth position in the country and 75th worldwide and was working my way to number one when they removed it,” he says. </p>.<p>This motivated him to make a mark in the field through a different medium, a world record.</p>.<p>“I decided to try and solve it with my feet and both hands simultaneously to make it more challenging. I practised for close to nine months during the lockdown period,” he says. </p>.<p>The current Guinness World Record (GWR), held by a Chinese teenager stands at one minute and 36.39 seconds. </p>.<p>Atharva recorded his attempt on December 9 and beat the time by 6.68 seconds. </p>.<p>“In my first attempt I broke the existing record by five seconds. I got the best time in my third attempt,” he<br />says. </p>.<p>When asked if he was nervous, he says he was was relaxed and confident, “Even during practice at home I was consistently getting world record times.”</p>.<p>The video and the new record has been submitted to GWR team and is awaiting approval. </p>
<p>Nine-year-old Atharva Bhat was fascinated by the Rubik’s cube since he was a toddler. “I tried solving the cube with my father and also learnt from YouTube videos. He taught me to solve the first two layers and I figured out how to solve the third one for the first time in 2016,” he says.</p>.<p>He discovered competitive ‘cubing’ in 2017. He registered with the World Cube Association (WCA) and entered the IIA Summer Open in April of that year. “Then I took one minute and 10 seconds to solve 3x3x3 puzzle. Today my best is 10.89 seconds in the official competition,” he says. </p>.<p>WCA has 18 different categories of puzzles which introduced Atharv to a variety of challenges. “I was interested in exploring it all and improving my solve timing,” he says. </p>.<p>His favourite category was an official event with the WCA until 2019 — the feet solve. “I was at the sixth position in the country and 75th worldwide and was working my way to number one when they removed it,” he says. </p>.<p>This motivated him to make a mark in the field through a different medium, a world record.</p>.<p>“I decided to try and solve it with my feet and both hands simultaneously to make it more challenging. I practised for close to nine months during the lockdown period,” he says. </p>.<p>The current Guinness World Record (GWR), held by a Chinese teenager stands at one minute and 36.39 seconds. </p>.<p>Atharva recorded his attempt on December 9 and beat the time by 6.68 seconds. </p>.<p>“In my first attempt I broke the existing record by five seconds. I got the best time in my third attempt,” he<br />says. </p>.<p>When asked if he was nervous, he says he was was relaxed and confident, “Even during practice at home I was consistently getting world record times.”</p>.<p>The video and the new record has been submitted to GWR team and is awaiting approval. </p>