People · India
Nikhil Lal
Skewb · top 0.98% of 74,164 all-time · competing since April 2019 · 2019LALN01
Nikhil Lal has been competing for 8 years. His best event is the Skewb: a personal-best single of 1.83, set at SpeedCubing Delhi Open 2023, puts him in the top 0.98% of the 74,164 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 18th in India. Until December 2014, no official Skewb solve in the world had been that fast. Across 15 competitions since April 2019, he has put 529 official solves on the record across eleven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one; 53% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 18.44 in April 2019 to 7.31, a 60% improvement. Nikhil has entered 15 competitions, more competitions than 95% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | India | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skewb | 1.83 | 3.49 | top 0.98% | 18 / 3,548 | |
| 3×3 | 7.31 | 8.88 | top 1.7% | 158 / 20,146 | |
| 5×5 | 58.95 | 1:11.71 | top 5.1% | 53 / 1,537 | |
| 4×4 | 33.52 | 39.52 | top 5.5% | 138 / 4,220 | |
| Pyraminx | 3.63 | 5.63 | top 6.0% | 343 / 8,971 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 15.88 | 18.60 | top 10.0% | 328 / 4,534 | |
| Megaminx | 1:00.96 | 1:10.22 | top 10.6% | 89 / 1,458 | |
| Square-1 | 13.72 | 24.26 | top 13.6% | 87 / 813 | |
| 2×2 | 3.01 | 4.10 | top 14.4% | 1,195 / 12,225 | |
| 7×7 | 3:33.22 | 3:41.64 | top 20.9% | 64 / 365 | |
| 6×6 | 2:23.44 | 2:29.46 | top 22.4% | 94 / 537 |
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
- 23 May 2026Four personal bests in one day at Esplanade Cube Open 2026.
- 7 Oct 2023Three personal bests in one day at Gurugram Cube Open 2023.
- 25 Mar 2023First sub-10 3×3: 9.09 at Moksha Cubing 2023.
- 25 Mar 2023Three personal bests in one day at Moksha Cubing 2023.
- 30 Dec 2019Three personal bests in one day at PB Smashathon Delhi 2019.
- 2 Nov 2019First sub-15 3×3: 14.43 at Shri Ram Cubing Challenge 2019.
Competitions
- Indian Elite Championship 2026 · 2 Oct 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Delhi Summer Showdown 2026 · 19 Jul 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Noida Summer Cube Open 2026 · 20 Jun 2026
- Esplanade Cube Open 2026 · 23 May 2026 — 4 personal bests set
- Shri Ram Cubing Challenge 2026 · 28 Mar 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Delhi Cube Open 2026 · 28 Feb 2026
- Don't Pause in Delhi 2026 · 4 Jan 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Gurugram Cube Open 2023 · 7 Oct 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- SpeedCubing Delhi Open 2023 · 2 Sep 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Moksha Cubing 2023 · 25 Mar 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- MathSoc Delhi Open 2020 · 15 Feb 2020 — 2 personal bests set
- PB Smashathon Delhi 2019 · 30 Dec 2019 — 3 personal bests set
- Shri Ram Cubing Challenge 2019 · 2 Nov 2019 — 5 personal bests set
- Speedcubing ESYA 2019 · 24 Aug 2019 — 1 personal best set
- Indian Nationals 2019 · 11 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.
- Kunal Oak — met in 66 rounds, finished ahead twice
- Veenayak Bhola — met in 63 rounds, finished ahead 32 times
- Kaarnik Jain — met in 63 rounds, finished ahead 31 times
Next targets
- A sub-1 Skewb single — 35 people have one; it is 0.83 away.
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,419 people have one; it is 1.31 away.
Targets move as he improves.