Taiwanese wins e-sports bronze

Taiwan’s Kuo Tzu-ang won bronze in Puyo Puyo Champions at the Asian Games yesterday, a result he hopes would bring more attention to Taiwanese players.

Kuo lost 10-3 to South Korea’s Kang Dongshin in the semi-finals. Kang went on to take silver after losing 10-2 to Japan’s Yuki Kurihara in the gold-medal match.

It was Taiwan’s second e-sports bronze at this year’s Games.

Puyo Puyo Champions e-sports medalists, from left, Kang Dong-shin of South Korea, Yuki Kurihara of Japan, Kuo Tzu-ang of Taiwan and Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitikun celebrate with their medals after the final.

Photo: AP

The 32-year-old said he had never imagined becoming an Asian Games athlete, although he had long hoped players would recognize Taiwanese competitors’ skills at the puzzle game.

Kuo holds a master’s degree in mathematics from National Taiwan University (NTU) and worked as a software engineer for four to five years before leaving the job four years ago to pursue other goals.

He is enrolled in courses in NTU’s Department of Physics and the philosophy department at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

With an Asian Games medal to his name, Kuo said he hopes to continue promoting Puyo Puyo Champions and help expand Taiwan’s player community.

He also defended e-sports’ place at the Asian Games.

Competitive games, Kuo said, require considerable skill and can inspire spectators in much the same way as traditional sports.

As of press time, Taiwan had won two gold, five silver and 17 bronze medals at the Games.