People · United States
Nikhil Apte
3×3 · top 1.5% of 284,439 all-time · competing since April 2019 · 2019APTE01
Nikhil Apte has been competing for 7 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.17, set at Cube Against Cancer - Orange County 2025, puts him in the top 1.5% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 930th in the United States. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 22 competitions since April 2019, he has put 508 official solves on the record across six events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 84% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 23.46 in April 2019 to 7.17, a 69% improvement. Nikhil has entered 22 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 | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 7.17 | 8.74 | top 1.5% | 930 / 59,724 | |
| 4×4 | 37.26 | 44.78 | top 9.0% | 1,345 / 19,072 | |
| 2×2 | 2.57 | 4.69 | top 9.6% | 3,790 / 40,951 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 15.84 | 18.82 | top 9.9% | 1,307 / 15,683 | |
| 5×5 | 1:52.54 | 2:08.55 | top 44.4% | 3,642 / 9,401 | |
| Pyraminx | 9.21 | 15.69 | top 46.7% | 13,430 / 28,708 |
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
- 21 May 2022Four personal bests in one day at Geffen Spring 2022.
- 16 Apr 2022First sub-10 3×3: 9.25 at San Diego Spring 2022.
- 11 Dec 2021First sub-20 3×3: 11.68 at Westview Winter B 2021.
- 11 Dec 2021First sub-15 3×3: 11.68 at Westview Winter B 2021.
- 28 Apr 2019First competition: VES Cube Open 2019. A 23.46 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Cube Against Cancer - Orange County 2025 · 30 Mar 2025 — 1 personal best set
- CubingUSA Western Championship 2024 · 2 Aug 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Catalina Cube Mixer 2024 · 17 Feb 2024 — 1 personal best set
- UCSD Winter 2024 · 7 Jan 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Nub Open Mission Viejo 2023 · 3 Dec 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Irvine Fall 2023 · 24 Sep 2023
- Corona Summer 2023 · 2 Sep 2023 — 1 personal best set
- UCSD Summer 2023 · 5 Aug 2023
- Poway Summer Cubing 2023 · 18 Jun 2023
- A Bruin Cube Day Spring 2023 · 25 Mar 2023
- Oak Valley Winter B 2023 · 25 Feb 2023
- Chula Vista Winter 2023 · 14 Jan 2023 — 1 personal best set
- San Diego's Final Cube-Down 2022 · 31 Dec 2022 — 1 personal best set
- WCC Western Championship 2022 · 7 Oct 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Marshall Cubing September 2022 · 24 Sep 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Irvine Summer 2022 · 28 Aug 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 34 - San Ramon 2022 · 3 Jul 2022
- Geffen Spring 2022 · 21 May 2022 — 4 personal bests set
- San Diego Spring 2022 · 16 Apr 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Westview Winter B 2021 · 11 Dec 2021 — 2 personal bests set
- DSK Pune Cube Open 2019 · 19 May 2019 — 1 personal best set
- VES Cube Open 2019 · 28 Apr 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.
- Shane Grogan — met in 66 rounds, finished ahead 13 times
- Ethan Yeh — met in 64 rounds, finished ahead 10 times
- Kyeongmin Choi (최경민) — met in 62 rounds, never finished ahead
Next targets
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 1.17 away.
- A sub-30 4×4 single — 2,388 people have one; it is 7.26 away.
Targets move as he improves.