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People → China → Zhihai Liu (刘之海)

People · China

Zhihai Liu (刘之海)

3×3 · top 2.7% of 284,439 all-time · competing since June 2018 · 2018LIUZ10

Zhihai Liu (刘之海) has been competing for 8 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.96, set at Hefei Winter Open 2023, puts him in the top 2.7% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 981st in China. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 28 competitions since June 2018, he has put 777 official solves on the record across eleven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 76% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 12.43 in June 2018 to 7.96, a 36% improvement. Zhihai has entered 28 competitions, more competitions than 98% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 2.7% of 284,439 all-time
7.96
signature single · Hefei Winter Open 2023
777
official solves on the record
12%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 76% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingChina
3×37.969.50
top 2.7%981 / 28,153
3×3 one-handed13.2616.99
top 4.8%434 / 5,922
2×22.053.74
top 5.1%705 / 15,796
4×434.1537.97
top 6.0%598 / 5,926
Megaminx53.301:05.38
top 6.6%154 / 1,678
5×51:03.811:12.54
top 7.7%364 / 2,816
Skewb3.645.25
top 8.6%491 / 5,004
Pyraminx4.287.82
top 9.1%1,083 / 10,224
6×62:30.762:40.43
top 26.0%563 / 1,349
7×73:47.063:59.82
top 26.1%526 / 1,261
Clock11.7815.49
top 33.9%809 / 1,843

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

Guilin Open 2018: 12.43Nanchang Dragon-boat Open 2018: 12.06Nanchang Medium & Small Cubes 2018: 11.38Wuhan Open 2019: 10.95China Championship 2019: 10.49Changsha Autumn 2019: 10.64Nanchang Winter 2019: 10.62Nanchang Good Afternoon 2021: 9.44Guangdong Open 2021: 8.91Hong Kong Cube Day 2023: 9.06Hong Kong Small Cube Day 2023: 9.68Rubik's WCA World Championship 2023: 8.32Hong Kong Championship 2023: 9.46Hefei Winter Open 2023: 7.96Changsha Open 2023: 8.18Shenzhen Open 2023: 9.85Nanchang Spring 2024: 8.86Shenzhen Nanshan Open 2024: 8.28Rubik's WCA Asian Championship 2024: 9.63Zhengzhou Open 2024: 8.54Nanchang Spring 2025: 10.26Zhuhai Open 2025: 8.47Nanchang Winter 2025: 8.40Nanchang Summer 2026: 9.617.9612.4310 Jun 201818 Jul 2026

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

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.

Next targets

  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 1.96 away.
  • A sub-12 3×3 one-handed single — 2,187 people have one; it is 1.26 away.

Targets move as he improves.