Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The first European championship for the Rubik's cube was won at the weekend in Amsterdam after a contestant solved the puzzle in a record 16.19 seconds.

More than 60 competitors from 16 countries qualified for the event by completing the six-colored cube in less than 2 minutes 30 seconds. The cube, invented by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik in 1974, consists of nine squares on each face that can be shuffled, mixing up the colors. Users solve the puzzle by returning the cube to one color on each side.

``Rubik's appeal is that it is all about speed, dexterity and competition,'' Ray Hodges, a spokeswoman for Drumond Park, Rubik's U.K. distributor, said in an interview. ``Over-35's still enjoy it, university-age people get into it for the competitive aspect, and kids now are also taking to it in a big way.''

Belgian Lars Vandenbergh won the title for the standard size -- with nine squares per face -- with an average of 16.19 seconds over five attempts. He also won the larger five-by-five title and collected a 2,500 euro ($3,000) prize. English champion Dan Harris, a 19-year-old meteorology student, came eighth in the final by finishing four seconds later.

Drumond says U.S. and Canadian sales have doubled since 1998 and the cube's popularity in Europe has also increased. The company hopes U.K. sales will rise in the run-up to Christmas. The cube has sold about 300 million copies worldwide.

The youngest competitor in the tournament was seven-year-old Wiktoria Zborowska from Poland. She beat six older competitors in the first round of 3x3x3 by finishing the cube in 84.38 seconds, though she didn't make the final.

Trophies were also awarded for completing the puzzle while blindfolded, using only one hand and using just feet.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aidan Jones in London ajones26@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 9, 2004 11:40 EDT