Student's Outlet

A week ago, the night before my brother, Durben, and my father went off to Germany.. Durben declared to me that he will definitely win in the Revenge Cube event. To be honest, I think our parents, Jun and Josie Sulla/ Virtucio were far more nervous and excited than him in competing, entering, and gaining experience in the world stage. He’s our youngest sibling! We can’t believe that aside from being a very studious kid, he also has talent lying on his cute, little fingers. He has proven himself to us that with his practice and determination, he could produce result! Well, he actually won 2nd place, in the recently concluded World Rubik’s Cube Championship 2009, in the category that he was really good at. 4x4x4 Cube is Durben’s forte.

Really, hats off to this boy! For now, this is just an experience for him. Let’s just wait until the next World Cube Championship.

Too bad, I can’t find a video streaming in the Internet so I’ve only relied in forums, and via the text messages we received from our father. Tomorrow, I’ll post the actual videos and photos taken by my father during the actual competition.

This is an image taken after the first round of the said event:

He is the youngest finalist and he has also beaten his personal record, average of 5 solves, from 52.50 seconds to 47.75 seconds. His world ranking also went up and still the reigning National Record Holder in the Philippines.

And here is the final result:

*You could view the complete results of all the events here.

From Reuter:

From YouTube:

From ABS-CBN:

MANILA — A 12-year-old Filipino represented the Philippines in the recently concluded 5th World Rubik’s Cube Championship held in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Durben Joun Virtucio was the youngest participant from the Philippines to join the event.

“I’m very nervous because I want to beat the record, not only in my country but also in the world,” Virtucio said in a report by Umagang Kay Ganda.

More than a hundred participants from all over 40 countries played at the speed cubing tournament.

Mornings@ANC reported that Virtucio had an impressive time of 8.78 seconds in the classic variety. The classic variety is a Rubik’s Cube with 9 squares on each side.

Virtucio’s older brother, Kenan Biel, wrote in his blog that Durben Joun started solving the multi-colored cube about a year ago. He brought home a friend’s Rubik’s Cube and the boy easily solved it in just 30 minutes.

After that, Virtucio joined the Cebu Open and Philippines Open and the latest, the world championship in Germany.

He may not have won the other events, but still we’re proud of you! You are only 12 years old and has only more than a year worth of experience, there is still a next time! I would like to thank the Lord, our God.. for guiding Durben everywhere he goes, for giving him the chance to participate and showcase his talent in the world stage, and giving us a very wonderful brother; our parents, family, relatives, and friends for supporting him in every way possible, and to our sponsors: iRemit (Sir Bansan Choa) and National Bookstore (Mrs. Socorro Cancio-Ramos) for making it possible to travel to Germany.