Japan’s 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara wins Puyo Puyo gold at Asian Games
Japan’s Yuki Kurihara, aged just 11, has won gold in the Puyo Puyo Champions esports event at the Asian Games in Nagoya, defeating South Korea’s Kang Dong-shin 10-2 in Saturday’s final. The young player fell 1-0 behind early in the match before rallying to take the title in commanding fashion.
Kurihara’s run to the gold-medal match saw him overcome a series of opponents in the bracket, several of whom were reportedly around three times his age. He is believed to have been the youngest competitor at the entire Games in Aichi-Nagoya, a fact that made his calm performance under pressure all the more striking to those watching in the arena.
Kurihara has said he eats eel as part of his preparation for competitions. On the podium, he bowed slightly and gave a small wave as he received his medal, having stayed largely composed throughout the final even as the scoreline tightened.
“To be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t really show my expressions or change my face much,” he said afterward. “I’m really happy. The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy,” he added.
Puyo Puyo Champions, the competitive version of Sega’s long-running falling-block puzzle series, has featured as an esports discipline at the Asian Games, sitting alongside other titles as the event continues to embrace competitive gaming as part of its programme.
Kurihara’s victory adds to a year already notable for standout individual performances on esports’ biggest stages, following Norway’s Magnus Carlsen lifting the chess trophy at the Esports World Cup. An 11-year-old topping the podium in a puzzle title at a major continental multi-sport event underlines how competitive gaming continues to produce headline-grabbing storylines outside the usual major franchises.
The result cements Kurihara’s status as one of the standout young talents to emerge from this year’s Asian Games, with his composed performance against considerably older rivals likely to draw further attention to the Puyo Puyo Champions scene going forward.