Speedcuber from Alappuzha aims to popularise game

ALAPPUZHA

Midhun Raj made his first real tryst with Rubik’s Cube at 16 when he started solving puzzles to beat the boredom during vacation after his Class X examinations.

The speedcuber from Kalavoor in Alappuzha earned three Guinness World Records (GWR) titles in the next six years. Now 23, Mr. Raj first entered the GWR on February 17, 2019 when he solved most Rubik’s Cubes (38) while being suspended upside down for 26 minutes. He followed it up with two more GWR certificates last year.

Mr. Raj solved 153 rotating puzzle tetrahedrons (pyramid cubes) in 33 minutes while being suspended upside down on September 4, 2022. On the same day, he bagged his third GWR title for solving the most rotating puzzle tetrahedrons (250) on a bicycle in 90 minutes. The official confirmation of the last two records came recently.

“I was lured to the Rubik’s Cube sport after seeing my friends solve puzzles very often in classrooms and ahead of exams. It took me several months to master the techniques and the combinations. Participating in a competition organised by the World Cube Association in Kannur helped boost my confidence. Apart from GWR attempts, I have organised several Rubik’s Cube competitions in schools in Alappuzha in order to popularise the game,” says Mr. Raj, who holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature.

The youngster is not yet ready to rest on his laurels. He has started planning to set new records, including solving Rubik’s Cube while skydiving. “My initial aim was to achieve at least five GWR titles. I could not complete it for various reasons, including a lack of sponsorships. Now with the pandemic having subsided, I hope to achieve my goals in the near future,” he says.

His love for the game led him to start an e-commerce platform that primarily sells Cubes. He is supported by his parents A.R. Rajeev and Bobby Rajeev.