People · China
Zhihan Liu (刘智涵)
3×3 · top 3.3% of 288,433 all-time · competing since December 2017 · 2017LIUZ21
Zhihan Liu (刘智涵) has been competing for 9 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.28, set at Chengdu Spring Open 2025, 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 7 competitions since December 2017, he has put 278 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 81% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 11.18 in December 2017 to 8.28, a 26% improvement. Zhihan has entered seven competitions, more competitions than 88% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8.28 | 10.75 | top 3.3% | 1,265 / 28,499 | |
| 4×4 | 36.23 | 41.11 | top 8.0% | 849 / 5,999 | |
| 5×5 | 1:05.58 | 1:13.17 | top 8.9% | 440 / 2,857 | |
| 2×2 | 2.56 | 4.14 | top 9.6% | 1,454 / 15,939 | |
| Megaminx | 59.76 | 1:09.72 | top 9.9% | 268 / 1,693 | |
| Pyraminx | 5.30 | 6.94 | top 15.1% | 1,799 / 10,269 | |
| 6×6 | 2:09.25 | 2:16.56 | top 15.1% | 343 / 1,363 | |
| 7×7 | 3:18.33 | 3:24.74 | top 15.8% | 334 / 1,274 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 19.23 | 21.90 | top 18.5% | 1,881 / 5,994 |
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
- 8 Feb 2025Seven personal bests in one day at Chengdu Spring Open 2025.
- 12 Jan 2025First sub-10 3×3: 9.74 at Chongqing New Year 2025.
- 24 Dec 2023Three personal bests in one day at Xi'an Open 2023.
- 13 Jul 2019Six personal bests in one day at Huzhou Open 2019.
- 30 Dec 2017First competition: Chongqing Open 2017. A 11.18 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Chengdu Spring Open 2025 · 8 Feb 2025 — 7 personal bests set
- Chongqing New Year 2025 · 12 Jan 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Xi'an Open 2023 · 24 Dec 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- Chongqing Open 2023 · 18 Nov 2023 — 1 personal best set
- China Championship 2019 · 26 Jul 2019 — 2 personal bests set
- Huzhou Open 2019 · 13 Jul 2019 — 6 personal bests set
- Chongqing Open 2017 · 30 Dec 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.
- Yifan Wang (王逸帆) — met in 37 rounds, finished ahead 30 times
- Zhiyuan Ma (马之元) — met in 37 rounds, finished ahead 10 times
- Jiazhou Li (李佳洲) — met in 36 rounds, finished ahead once
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 8,101 people have one; it is 0.28 away.
- A sub-30 4×4 single — 2,465 people have one; it is 6.23 away.
Targets move as he improves.