People · China
Tianyuan Li (李天元)
4×4 · top 2.9% of 85,040 all-time · competing since September 2017 · 2017LITI01
Tianyuan Li (李天元) has been competing for 9 years. His best event is the 4×4: a personal-best single of 30.00, set at Cubing Days Neuburg 2025, puts him in the top 2.9% of the 85,040 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 286th in China. Until April 2012, no official 4×4 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 9 competitions since September 2017, he has put 346 official solves on the record across 13 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 77% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 13.62 in September 2017 to 8.84, a 35% improvement. Tianyuan has entered nine competitions, more competitions than 91% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4×4 | 30.00 | 35.84 | top 2.9% | 286 / 5,999 | |
| 5×5 | 54.12 | 1:05.60 | top 3.1% | 146 / 2,857 | |
| 3×3 | 8.84 | 11.36 | top 4.5% | 1,751 / 28,499 | |
| 6×6 | 2:02.69 | 2:17.43 | top 12.1% | 267 / 1,363 | |
| 2×2 | 3.09 | 4.76 | top 15.4% | 2,486 / 15,939 | |
| 7×7 | 3:36.24 | 3:40.12 | top 22.0% | 452 / 1,274 | |
| 3×3 Fewest Moves | 33 moves | — | early days — 2 solves | 248 / 1,071 | |
| Megaminx | 1:26.00 | 1:44.64 | top 25.7% | 806 / 1,693 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 24.79 | 28.40 | top 33.8% | 3,273 / 5,994 | |
| Pyraminx | 7.95 | 11.94 | top 35.8% | 3,935 / 10,269 | |
| Square-1 | 39.14 | 45.02 | top 64.3% | 1,081 / 1,373 | |
| Skewb | 14.53 | 27.16 | top 76.7% | 3,975 / 5,030 | |
| Clock | 1:46.28 | — | early days — 1 solve | 1,888 / 1,887 |
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 Feb 2026Five personal bests in one day at Ulmgedreht 2026.
- 6 Sep 2025Five personal bests in one day at Cubing Days Neuburg 2025.
- 23 Aug 2025Three personal bests in one day at Geselliges Gewürfel Göttingen 2025.
- 24 May 2025Four personal bests in one day at Erlangen Open 2025.
- 20 Dec 2024First sub-10 3×3: 9.88 at Franconia Christmas A 2024.
- 20 Dec 2024Six personal bests in one day at Franconia Christmas A 2024.
Competitions
- Swift Cubing in Swabia 2026 · 17 Apr 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Wiler Newcomer 2026 · 28 Mar 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Ulmgedreht 2026 · 21 Feb 2026 — 5 personal bests set
- Dreht's Eich in Ergolding 2025 · 22 Nov 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubing Days Neuburg 2025 · 6 Sep 2025 — 5 personal bests set
- Geselliges Gewürfel Göttingen 2025 · 23 Aug 2025 — 3 personal bests set
- Erlangen Open 2025 · 24 May 2025 — 4 personal bests set
- Franconia Christmas A 2024 · 20 Dec 2024 — 6 personal bests set
- Beijing Ten Years Open 2017 · 17 Sep 2017 — 1 personal best set
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.
- Leon Schmidtchen — met in 55 rounds, finished ahead 12 times
- Noah Kraft — met in 55 rounds, finished ahead 10 times
- Martin Reinisch — met in 50 rounds, finished ahead 32 times
Next targets
- A sub-25 4×4 single — 614 people have one; it is 5.00 away.
- A sub-50 5×5 single — 733 people have one; it is 4.12 away.
Targets move as he improves.