Japanese prodigy: 11-year-old wins esports gold at Asian Games

Yuki Kurihara, the 11-year-old Japanese esports prodigy, won the gold medal in the puzzle competition and received high praise from his opponent at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday.

The bespectacled teenager made short work of defeating South Korea’s Kang Dong-shin 10-2 in the Puyo Puyo event at the Aichi Sky Expo hall, appearing no different from an ordinary child only after securing his victory.

“I played in the final against the opponent I most wanted to face, who was also extremely strong,” he said.

Kurihara breezed through his preliminary matches to top Group 1 and maintained that momentum in the knockout rounds, where he defeated Singapore’s Justin Koh Mun Jun 5-0 and Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitkun 10-1 to reach the final.

Silver medalist Kang said, “I feel some frustration when I think about the match.”

He added, “It’s clear that my opponent was skilled and above my level, but in the end, I didn’t get the colors I needed in the game, which led to the loss, so I feel a bit sorry about that part.” “I was cautious because Kurihara is very good at creating large chain reactions. His technical skills and precision are amazing. I’m going to eat something delicious today.”