11-year-old esports prodigy claims gold at Asian Games

Nagoya, Japan – Japan’s 11-year-old esports prodigy Yuki Kurihara said he was “embarrassed” after winning Asian Games gold on Saturday by thrashing a series of opponents up to three times his age.

The bespectacled elementary school student, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Aichi Nagoya Games, won the Puyo Puyo Champions final 10-2.

He is the youngest athlete in Japan’s Asian Games history.

Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle game where players try to clear their screen of colored blobs by lining them up and popping them.

Looking unruffled throughout, Kurihara waltzed into the gold medal match with a string of dazzling displays.

He crushed Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitkun — a relative veteran at 28 — 10-1 in the semifinals to ensure at least a silver medal.

He did not even smile after beating South Korea’s 24-year-old Kang Dongshin in the final, having gone down 1-0 early in the match.

“To be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t really show my expressions or change my face much,” he explained.

Standing on the podium, he bowed slightly as he received his gold medal and gave a small wave to the arena.

“I’m really happy,” he said. “The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy.

“Also, the plush toy is super cute, and it’s cool that it is gold-colored too.”

Kurihara started playing Puyo Puyo in his first year of elementary school and soon started competing and winning in tournaments.

He obtained his pro license in April and regularly beats adults.

“It’s hard having to balance it with school and cram school, but it’s really fun,” he said ahead of the Games.

There are no publicly available records of the youngest medalists in the history of the Asian Games, which were first contested in 1951.

But Indonesia’s Bunga Nyimas won bronze in women’s skateboarding at age 12 in Jakarta in 2018.

Cui Chenxi, 13, won Games gold when she triumphed in the women’s street skateboarding event three years ago in Hangzhou.