An 11-year-old Japanese elementary school student also defeated Korea! Three consecutive wins in the Puyo Puyo group stage, topping Group A → Youngest gold medalist in sight [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

The youngest athlete ever to represent Japan at the Asian Games, an 11-year-old elementary school student, is on course to claim the youngest medalist in Asian Games history.

Yuki Kurihara (11, Tokyo Verdy) secured first place in Group A of the Puyo Puyo e-sports tournament at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held on the 24th at the International Exhibition Center in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, with three consecutive victories.

From the very first match, Kurihara was unstoppable. He decisively defeated Philippines' Karl Owen Gonzalbo with a 3-0 scoreline to start strong. He then followed up with another 3-0 shutout victory against Kazakhstan's Alexandro Pivovaroff before facing South Korea's Kang Dong-shin (25) in his third match.

Kang Dong-shin performed relatively well. However, Kurihara defeated him 3-1, securing three consecutive wins and clinching top spot in Group A.

If Kurihara wins a medal at this tournament, he will surpass Indonesia's Nyimas Bagas (then 12 years old), who won a bronze medal in women's street skateboarding at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, to become the youngest medalist in Asian Games history.

As the youngest athlete on Japan's entire delegation, Kurihara has been repeatedly defeating adult competitors, drawing intense local attention. Nikkan Sports reported online reactions from locals such as "calm," "doesn't seem like he'll lose," "Kurihara's massive chain reaction," and "unmatched."

Puyo Puyo is a puzzle-type e-sport where players eliminate connected 'Puyos' of the same color while competing against opponents. The core skill lies not in finishing quickly, but in the ability to remove blocks in chains to pressure the opponent. Kurihara excels particularly at this "massive chain reaction," reportedly achieving up to 19 consecutive chains—the theoretical maximum.

Meanwhile, although Kang Dong-shin lost to Kurihara, he defeated Pivovaroff 3-0, Yuying Lin 3-0, and Gonzalbo 3-2, securing second place in Group A and advancing to the final tournament.

Kurihara and Kang Dong-shin, both having passed the group stage, will challenge for medals in the tournament on the 26th. The main bracket consists of best-of-five matches (first to five wins) in rounds 1–3, while semi-finals and finals are played as first-to-ten-wins formats.

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*This content was translated by AI.