People · China
Yiyan Yao (姚一言)
3×3 · top 3.3% of 288,433 all-time · competing since November 2025 · 2025YAOY04
Yiyan Yao (姚一言) has been competing for 11 months. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.28, set at Wuhu Open 2026, puts him in the top 3.3% of the 288,433 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,265th in China. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 2 competitions since November 2025, he has put 30 official solves on the record across two events. Yiyan has entered two competitions.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8.28 | 9.06 | top 3.3% | 1,265 / 28,499 | |
| 2×2 | 3.52 | 5.00 | top 20.5% | 3,407 / 15,939 |
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 Nov 2025First competition: Nanchang Winter 2025. A 8.92 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Wuhu Open 2026 · 25 Jul 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Nanchang Winter 2025 · 23 Nov 2025
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.
- Xinrui Liang (梁心惢) — met in 6 rounds, finished ahead 4 times
- Yutong Wang (王雨桐) — met in 6 rounds, finished ahead 4 times
- Jinyun Wang (王锦云) — met in 6 rounds, finished ahead twice
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 8,101 people have one; it is 0.28 away.
- A sub-3 2×2 single — 27,049 people have one; it is 0.52 away.
Targets move as he improves.