Stories
11-Year-Old Japanese eSports Prodigy Wins Asian Games Gold, Feels 'Embarrassed'

F
Firstpost•26-09-2026, 11:44
11-Year-Old Japanese eSports Prodigy Wins Asian Games Gold, Feels 'Embarrassed'
- •Yuki Kurihara, an 11-year-old eSports prodigy from Japan, secured a gold medal at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
- •Kurihara, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Games, dominated the Puyo Puyo Champions final with a 10-2 victory.
- •He is the youngest athlete in host country Japan's Asian Games history to win a gold medal.
- •Despite his impressive win, Kurihara expressed feeling "embarrassed" and couldn't show much emotion after defeating opponents significantly older than him.
- •Kurihara, who started playing Puyo Puyo in primary school, obtained his pro license in April and regularly beats adult competitors.
Key Questions Answered
Yuki Kurihara, an 11-year-old primary school student from Japan, won the gold medal in the Puyo Puyo Champions final at the Asian Games.
He won the gold medal playing Puyo Puyo Champions, a puzzle game where players clear their screens of colored blobs by lining them up and popping them.
Yuki Kurihara defeated opponents up to three times his age, including a 28-year-old from Thailand in the semi-finals and a 24-year-old from South Korea in the final.





