MHNNoella384131: done - done

2026-02-16T19:18:55Z

done - done

New page

{{Short description|Indian puzzle and sudoku solver}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rohan Rao
|image=RohanRao.JPG
|birth_place=Mumbai, India
|years_active=2007–present
}}

'''Rohan Rao''', who goes by the name '''vopani''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/view-profile.asp?action=view&uid=39|title=Rohan Rao's profile at Logic Masters India|website=logicmastersindia.com|access-date=2019-08-12}}</ref> is an Indian [[sudoku]] and [[puzzle]] solver, widely considered as the best sudoku solver of India.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hindustantimes Brunch 05 August 2012|url=https://issuu.com/brunch/docs/brunch-05-august-2012|access-date=2021-06-24|website=Issuu|language=en}}</ref> He is the reigning Indian Sudoku Champion and Times of India Sudoku Champion. Rao has won 18 national championships, an all-time record, and has been one of the best Indians at the [[World Sudoku Championship]] (WSC), [[World Puzzle Championship]] (WPC) and [[Asian Sudoku Championship]] (ASC). He won the [[Indian Sudoku Championship]] nine times, in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021;<ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=ISC2010 Indian Sudoku Championship 2010]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/default.asp?test=isc2011 Indian Sudoku Championship 2011]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TSC2012 Indian Sudoku Championship 2012]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/SM/2015-16sm.asp Indian Sudoku Championship 2016]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Indian Sudoku Championship - 2017|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/2017/ISC/|access-date=2017-08-08|website=logicmastersindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Thread - Sudoku Mahabharat - 2018|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?pid=25435|access-date=2018-08-19|website=logicmastersindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Thread - Sudoku Mahabharat - 2019|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?pid=27171|access-date=2019-07-22|website=logicmastersindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Thread - Sudoku Mahabharat - 2020|url=https://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?pid=28604|access-date=2021-01-22|website=logicmastersindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Results of Indian Sudoku Championship 2020|url=https://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/ISC%202020%20Final.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thread - Indian Sudoku Championship 2021 - 12th December |url=https://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?pid=30135 |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=logicmastersindia.com}}</ref> the Indian Puzzle Championship five times, in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017;<ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=IPC2010 Indian Puzzle Championship 2010]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/default.asp?test=ipc2011 Indian Puzzle Championship 2011]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=IPC2012 Indian Puzzle Championship 2012]</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=IPC2015 Indian Puzzle Championship 2015]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/2017/IPC/|title=Indian Puzzle Championship - 2017|website=logicmastersindia.com|access-date=2017-08-08}}</ref> and the Times National Sudoku Championship four times, in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2019.<ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/?test=TSC2012 Times Sudoku Championship 2012]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Su-doku Championship: India's Fantastic 4 now set sights on Croatia|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Su-doku-Championship-Indias-Fantastic-4-now-set-sights-on-Croatia/articleshow/15133593.cms|website = The Times of India|accessdate = 2015-11-16}}</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/2015/TSC/ Times Sudoku Championship 2015]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = The Times Sudoku national winners will represent India at the World Sudoku Championships in Bulgaria in October|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/The-Times-Sudoku-national-winners-will-represent-India-at-the-World-Sudoku-Championships-in-Bulgaria-in-October/articleshow/48340355.cms|website = The Times of India|accessdate = 2015-11-16}}</ref><ref>[http://logicmastersindia.com/2016/TSC/ Times Sudoku Championship 2016]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Times Sudoku national winners to battle it out in Slovakia|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Times-Su-doku-Championship-national-winners-to-battle-it-out-in-Slovakia/articleshow/53598245.cms|website = The Times of India|accessdate = 2016-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://logicmastersindia.com/2019/TSC/|title=Times Sudoku Championship - 2019|website=logicmastersindia.com|access-date=2019-08-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/times-sudoku-winners-to-represent-india-at-world-championship-in-germany/articleshow/70643471.cms|title=Times Sudoku winners to represent India at World Championship in Germany|date=13 August 2019|first=Abhimanyu|last=Mathur|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref>

Rao was ranked 3rd in ASC 2021, 23rd in WSC 2019 and 39th in WPC 2019. He stood 8th in the World Sudoku Championship 2012 to become the first Indian to be ranked in the top 10 in the world in Sudoku. He stood 3rd at the Asian Sudoku Championship 2018<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldpuzzle.org/championships/championshipsasc/asc2018-korea-jeju/|title=World Puzzle Federation|website=www.worldpuzzle.org|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> to become the first Indian to finish on the podium of an international WPF Sudoku Championship. He finished 3rd again at ASC 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1017735|title=PH bags 45 medals at 2019 Asia Sudoku Championship|date=29 January 2019|website=pia.gov.ph|language=en|access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref> and improved his performance with a 2nd-place finish at ASC 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asc2020.sudokumaniacs.com/results.asp|title=Asian Sudoku Championship 2020|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>

He was the director of the World Sudoku Championship 2017 and core organizer of World Sudoku and Puzzle Championship 2017 held in October, 2017 in Bengaluru, India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wspc2017.logicmastersindia.com/?g=Organizers2017|title=WSPC 2017 - Logic Masters India|website=wspc2017.logicmastersindia.com|language=en|access-date=2017-05-09}}</ref> As part of his puzzling career, Rao has authored and organized various puzzle and sudoku championships, events and workshops across India and the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://delhibraingames.in/contributor.html|title=Delhi Brain Games - April 2013|website=delhibraingames.in|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref>

== Championships ==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}

=== Indian Sudoku Championship ===
Rao won his first Indian Sudoku championship title in 2010, beating veteran solvers Ritesh Gupta (three-time and defending champion), Rishi Puri and Gaurav Korde in the finals to become the youngest ever national champion at the age of 19 years, 9 days. Since then he has won eight more times, making him the most successful player in the tournament.

He finished on the podium for 12 consecutive years (2010–2021). No other player has finished on the podium for more than four consecutive years.

=== Indian Puzzle Championship ===
Rao won his first Indian Puzzle Championship title in 2010, pipping veteran solver Rajesh Kumar to become the youngest ever national champion at the age of 19 years, 240 days. Since then he has won four more times, matching Kumar's tally of five titles.

=== Asian Sudoku Championship ===
The Asian Sudoku Championship was first held in 2018, where Rao stood third. He finished on the podium for four consecutive years with his 3rd place in 2019, 2nd place in 2020 and 3rd place in 2021.

== Career statistics ==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}

=== National Championships ===
'''18 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze'''

The following are ranks in the Indian Sudoku Championship, Indian Puzzle Championship, and Times Sudoku Championship.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan="2" width="45" | Year
!colspan="3" width="240" | National Championships
|-
| '''ISC'''
| '''IPC'''
| '''TSC'''
|-
|2021
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
|-
|2020
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
|2019
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
|2018
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
| 2017
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2016
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2015
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2014
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
| 2013
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
| 4th
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
| 2012
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2011
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2010
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
!style="background:gold;" width="80" | 1st
|-
| 2009
| 4th
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
|-
| 2008
| 11th
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
|}

=== Asian Championships ===
'''4 ASC appearances'''

The following are ranks in the Asian Sudoku Championship (ASC).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" width="45" | Year
! width="170" | Asian Championships
|-
| '''ASC'''
|-
|2021
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
|2020
!style="background:silver;" width="80" | 2nd
|-
|2019
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
| 2018
!style="background:#cc9966;" width="80" | 3rd
|-
|}

=== World Championships ===
'''11 WSC appearances, 11 WPC appearances'''

The following are ranks in the World Sudoku Championship (WSC) and World Puzzle Championship (WPC).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" width="45" | Year
! colspan="2" width="160" | World Championships
|-
! width="80" | '''WSC'''
! width="80" | '''WPC'''
|-
|2019
|23rd
|39th
|-
|2018
|17th
|44th
|-
| 2017
| '''''Director'''''
| '''''Organizer'''''
|-
| 2016
| 18th
| '''28th'''
|-
| 2015
| 14th
| 42nd
|-
| 2014
| 14th
| 36th
|-
| 2013
| 16th
| 45th
|-
| 2012
| '''8th'''
| 38th
|-
| 2011
| 12th
| 34th
|-
| 2010
| 15th
| 41st
|-
| 2009
| 25th
|
|-
| 2008
|
| 68th
|-
|}

== See also ==
* [[Asian Sudoku Championship]]
* [[Indian Sudoku Championship]]
* [[World Sudoku Championship]]

== References ==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Rohan}}
[[Category:IIT Bombay alumni]]
[[Category:Sudoku solvers]]
[[Category:Indian sportsmen]]
[[Category:Living people]]
__FORCETOC__
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Rohan Rao - Revision history

MHNNoella384131: done - done