Gold medallist Yuki Kurihara, a main faculty scholar, is the youngest athlete in host nation Japan’s Asian Video games historical past.
Revealed On 26 Sep 2026
Japan’s 11-year-old e-sports prodigy Yuki Kurihara mentioned he was “embarrassed” after profitable Asian Video games gold on Saturday by thrashing a sequence of opponents as much as thrice his age.
The bespectacled main faculty scholar, believed to be the youngest competitor on the games in Aichi-Nagoya, gained the Puyo Puyo Champions remaining 10-2.
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He’s the youngest athlete within the host nation Japan’s Asian Video games historical past.
Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle sport the place gamers attempt to clear their display screen of colored blobs by lining them up and popping them.
Wanting unruffled all through, Kurihara waltzed into the gold medal match with a string of dazzling shows.
He crushed Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitkun – a relative veteran at 28 – 10-1 within the semifinals to make sure at the least a silver medal.
He didn’t even smile after beating South Korea’s 24-year-old Kang Dongshin within the remaining, having gone down 1-0 early on.
![TOKONAME, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 26: Yuki Kurihara of Japan reacts after winning the gold medal after competing in the Esports Puzzle [Puyo Puyo Champions] Gold Medal match against Dongshin Kang of South Korea on day seven of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya at Aichi Sky Expo on September 26, 2026 in Tokoname, Aichi, Japan. Kurihara becomes the youngest gold medalist at the Asian Games at the age of 11. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-2297181799-1790405267.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
“To be utterly trustworthy, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t actually present my expressions or change my face a lot,” he defined.
Standing on the rostrum, he bowed barely as he acquired his gold medal and gave a small wave to the sector.
“I’m actually joyful. The gold medal is basically lovely, shiny and heavy,” he mentioned.
“Additionally, the plush toy is tremendous cute, and it’s cool that it’s gold-coloured too.”
Kurihara began taking part in Puyo Puyo in his first yr of main faculty and shortly began competing and profitable in tournaments. He obtained his professional licence in April this yr and recurrently beats adults.
“It’s exhausting having to stability it with faculty and cram faculty, nevertheless it’s actually enjoyable,” he mentioned forward of the video games.
There aren’t any publicly obtainable information of the youngest medallists within the historical past of the Asian Video games, which had been first contested in 1951.
However Indonesia’s Bunga Nyimas gained bronze in girls’s skateboarding aged 12 in Jakarta in 2018.
Cui Chenxi, 13, gained video games gold when she triumphed within the girls’s avenue skateboarding occasion three years in the past in Hangzhou.