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The Middle Three
People → China → Zhihui Yan (闫智慧)

People · China

Zhihui Yan (闫智慧)

3×3 · top 4.3% of 284,439 all-time · competing since August 2017 · 2017YANZ06

Zhihui Yan (闫智慧) has been competing for 9 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.75, set at Lanzhou Spring 2019, puts him in the top 4.3% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,634th in China. Until May 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 6 competitions since August 2017, he has put 136 official solves on the record across six events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 70% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 10.98 in August 2017 to 8.75, a 20% improvement. Zhihui has entered six competitions, more competitions than 86% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 4.3% of 284,439 all-time
8.75
signature single · Lanzhou Spring 2019
136
official solves on the record
14%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 70% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingChina
3×38.759.51
top 4.3%1,634 / 28,153
2×22.877.32
top 12.8%2,002 / 15,796
3×3 one-handed17.3133.08
top 13.4%1,331 / 5,922
4×447.1052.97
top 20.9%2,257 / 5,926
5×51:26.821:40.80
top 24.8%1,161 / 2,816
Megaminx2:31.70
top 61.9%1,467 / 1,678

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

Inner Mongolia Summer 2017: 10.98Inner Mongolia Winter 2018: 9.58Lanzhou Autumn 2018: 9.60Inner Mongolia Winter 2019: 9.69Lanzhou Spring 2019: 8.75Lanzhou Autumn 2019: 9.758.7510.985 Aug 201727 Oct 2019

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-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 0.75 away.
  • A sub-2 2×2 single — 8,848 people have one; it is 0.87 away.

Targets move as he improves.