People · South Africa
Joshua Christian Marais
3×3 one-handed · top 0.62% of 74,621 all-time · competing since May 2019 · 2019MARA05
Joshua Christian Marais has been competing for 7 years. His best event is the 3×3 one-handed: a personal-best single of 9.21, set at Rubik's WCA African Championship 2024, puts him in the top 0.62% of the 74,621 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 2nd in South Africa. Until November 2013, no official 3×3 one-handed solve in the world had been that fast. Across 21 competitions since May 2019, he has put 1,218 official solves on the record across 15 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 71% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 20.71 in May 2019 to 7.48, a 64% improvement. Joshua has entered 21 competitions, more competitions than 97% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 one-handed | 9.21 | 11.14 | top 0.62% | 2 / 473 | |
| 3×3 | 7.48 | 9.27 | top 2.0% | 19 / 2,187 | |
| Pyraminx | 3.12 | 9.18 | top 4.1% | 20 / 958 | |
| Megaminx | 50.13 | 56.55 | top 5.2% | 9 / 268 | |
| Skewb | 3.42 | 7.02 | top 7.3% | 31 / 444 | |
| 2×2 | 2.34 | 3.38 | top 7.4% | 69 / 1,525 | |
| 5×5 | 1:10.79 | 1:21.47 | top 12.2% | 17 / 225 | |
| 3×3 Fewest Moves | 29 moves | 34.33 | top 12.2% | 6 / 54 | |
| Clock | 7.37 | 10.34 | top 12.4% | 16 / 153 | |
| 4×4 | 42.78 | 47.25 | top 15.5% | 43 / 495 | |
| Square-1 | 23.31 | 27.90 | top 35.5% | 38 / 121 | |
| 6×6 | 3:29.94 | 3:53.42 | top 54.8% | 35 / 87 | |
| 3×3 blindfolded | 3:22.59 | — | top 58.9% | 25 / 54 | |
| 7×7 | 5:38.50 | 6:06.08 | top 62.3% | 30 / 73 | |
| 3×3 Multi-Blind | 2 of 2 cubes · 18:11 | — | early days — 1 solve | 19 / 28 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 9 Dec 2023Four personal bests in one day at CubingZA Cape Cubes Challenge 2023.
- 25 Nov 2023Four personal bests in one day at Mimosa Mall Master Cubers 2023.
- 16 Jun 2023Five personal bests in one day at CubingZA National Championship 2023.
- 7 Oct 2022Seven personal bests in one day at Rubik's WCA African Championship 2022.
- 30 Jul 2022Five personal bests in one day at CubeCo Durban Winter Warmup 2022.
- 3 Jun 2022Six personal bests in one day at Arnold Classic Africa 2022.
Competitions
- GAN WCA African Championship 2026 · 24 Sep 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Farrarmere Full Speed 2026 · 22 Aug 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Cubestuff Challenge Centurion Q3 2026 · 1 Aug 2026
- Cubestuff Centurion Q1 2026 · 31 Jan 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubestuff Centurion Q3 2025 · 6 Sep 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Rubik's WCA African Championship 2024 · 21 Sep 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Cubestuff Challenge Centurion Q3 2024 · 20 Jul 2024 — 1 personal best set
- FMC 2024 · 1 Jun 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Cubestuff Challenge Q2 2024 · 20 Apr 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Puzzlin' Polokwane 2024 · 15 Mar 2024 — 1 personal best set
- CubingZA Cape Cubes Challenge 2023 · 9 Dec 2023 — 4 personal bests set
- Mimosa Mall Master Cubers 2023 · 25 Nov 2023 — 4 personal bests set
- CubingZA Cape Cubes Spring 2023 · 30 Sep 2023
- CubingZA National Championship 2023 · 16 Jun 2023 — 5 personal bests set
- Rubik's WCA African Championship 2022 · 7 Oct 2022 — 7 personal bests set
- Limpopo 2022 · 6 Aug 2022 — 2 personal bests set
- CubeCo Durban Winter Warmup 2022 · 30 Jul 2022 — 5 personal bests set
- Arnold Classic Africa 2022 · 3 Jun 2022 — 6 personal bests set
- Gauteng Autumn 2022 · 15 May 2022 — 3 personal bests set
- Cape Town Summer 2022 · 6 Mar 2022 — 6 personal bests set
- Arnold Classic Africa 2019 · 17 May 2019
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.
- Marike Faught — met in 198 rounds, finished ahead 121 times
- Ruben Grobler — met in 196 rounds, finished ahead 36 times
- Osman Badroodin — met in 188 rounds, finished ahead 59 times
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 one-handed single — 155 people have one; it is 1.21 away.
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,419 people have one; it is 1.48 away.
Targets move as he improves.