11-year-old Yuki Kurihara wins Asian Games esports gold for Japan

Japan’s 11-year-old esports prodigy Yuki Kurihara has won the Puyo Puyo Champions gold medal at the Asian Games 2026, defeating South Korea’s Kang Dongshin 10-2 in the final and securing Japan’s first esports gold at the competition.

Kurihara’s gold-medal run was particularly impressive because his final opponent was already familiar. The Japanese youngster had faced Kang earlier in the group stage, where he won 3-1 despite dropping one set to the South Korean player. Kang was the only player to take a set from Kurihara during the group stage in Puyo Puyo Champions.