{"id":5681,"date":"2026-09-26T07:50:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T07:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5681"},"modified":"2026-09-26T07:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T07:50:58","slug":"yuki-kurihara-japans-11-year-old-e-sports-prodigy-wins-asian-games-gold-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5681","title":{"rendered":"Yuki Kurihara, Japan\u2019s 11-year-old e-sports prodigy, wins Asian Games gold | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gold medallist Yuki Kurihara, a primary school student, is the youngest athlete in host country Japan\u2019s Asian Games history.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 26 Sep 2026<\/span>26 Sep 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Japan\u2019s 11-year-old e-sports prodigy Yuki Kurihara said he was \u201cembarrassed\u201d after winning Asian Games gold on Saturday by thrashing a series of opponents up to three times his age.<\/p>\n

The bespectacled primary school student, believed to be the youngest competitor at the games in Aichi-Nagoya<\/a>, won the Puyo Puyo Champions final 10-2.<\/p>\n

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He is the youngest athlete in the host country Japan\u2019s Asian Games history.<\/p>\n

Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle game where players try to clear their screen of coloured blobs by lining them up and popping them.<\/p>\n

Looking unruffled throughout, Kurihara waltzed into the gold medal match with a string of dazzling displays.<\/p>\n

He crushed Thailand\u2019s Tanarak Wongkitkun \u2013 a relative veteran at 28 \u2013 10-1 in the semifinals to ensure at least a silver medal.<\/p>\n

He did not even smile after beating South Korea\u2019s 24-year-old Kang Dongshin in the final, having gone down 1-0 early on.<\/p>\n

\"TOKONAME,
Yuki Kurihara of Japan reacts after winning the gold medal after competing in the e-sports puzzle [Puyo Puyo Champions] gold medal match against Dongshin Kang of South Korea [Toru Hanai\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn\u2019t really show my expressions or change my face much,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Standing on the podium, he bowed slightly as he received his gold medal and gave a small wave to the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy. The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, the plush toy is super cute, and it\u2019s cool that it is gold-coloured too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurihara started playing Puyo Puyo in his first year of primary school and soon started competing and winning in tournaments. He obtained his pro licence in April this year and regularly beats adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard having to balance it with school and cram school, but it\u2019s really fun,\u201d he said ahead of the games.<\/p>\n

There are no publicly available records of the youngest medallists in the history of the Asian Games, which were first contested in 1951.<\/p>\n

But Indonesia\u2019s Bunga Nyimas won bronze in women\u2019s skateboarding aged 12 in Jakarta in 2018.<\/p>\n

Cui Chenxi, 13, won games gold when she triumphed in the women\u2019s street skateboarding event three years ago in Hangzhou.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Gold medallist Yuki Kurihara, a primary school student, is the youngest athlete in host country Japan\u2019s Asian Games history. Published On 26 Sep 202626 Sep 2026 Japan\u2019s 11-year-old e-sports prodigy Yuki Kurihara said he was \u201cembarrassed\u201d after winning Asian Games gold on Saturday by thrashing a series of opponents up to three times his age….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t