Japanese boy wins Rubik cube championship

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Japanese teen Yu Nakajima, who twisted the cube to its correct position in an average of 12.46 seconds, won the Rubik's Cube World Championships.

Nakajima, 16, solved the six-sided multicolor puzzle in the fastest average time, followed by Andrew Kang of the United States and Mitsuki Gunji of Japan, Serbian radio-television RTS said Monday. The championships were contested in Hungary.

The world record of 9.86 seconds, set by Thibaut Jacquinot of France this year, remained unchallenged, RTS said.

Nearly 300 competitors from 33 countries participated at the three-day championship.

The puzzle was invented by Erno Rubik of Hungary and set off a worldwide craze in the early 1980s.