NAGOYA, Japan: Japan’s 11-year-old eSports player Yuki Kurihara has won a gold medal at the Asian Games after defeating opponents up to three times his age in the Puyo Puyo Champions competition.
The primary school student, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, secured the title with a dominant 10-2 victory in the final.
Kurihara became the youngest athlete in Japan’s Asian Games history after delivering a series of impressive performances throughout the tournament.
In the semi-finals, he defeated Thailand’s 28-year-old Tanarak Wongkitkun 10-1 to guarantee at least a silver medal before facing South Korea’s 24-year-old Kang Dongshin in the final.
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Despite falling behind early in the championship match, Kurihara recovered to secure the gold medal without showing visible emotion during the victory.
“I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t really show my expressions or change my face much,” Kurihara said after the win.
Rising star of competitive gaming
Kurihara began playing Puyo Puyo during his first year of primary school and soon started competing in tournaments.
He received his professional licence in April this year and has regularly defeated adult players in competitions.
Balancing eSports with school and extra studies has been challenging, but Kurihara said the experience remains enjoyable.
Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle game where players clear their screens by arranging and matching coloured blobs.
Asian Games eSports milestones
There are no official records for the youngest medal winners in Asian Games history, which began in 1951.
However, Indonesia’s Bunga Nyimas won a bronze medal in women’s skateboarding at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games at the age of 12.
China’s Cui Chenxi, aged 13, won gold in the women’s street skateboarding event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
