Japan's Yuki Kurihara, just 11 years old, won gold in the Puyo Puyo Champions esports final at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday, beating South Korea's Kang Dong-shin 10-2 after falling 1-0 down early in the match.
The final capped a run through the bracket in which Kurihara blew away a series of opponents, some three times his age, on his way to the gold-medal match. He was believed to be the youngest competitor at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, a distinction that made his composure under pressure all the more notable to those watching in the arena.
Kurihara, who says he eats eel to prepare for contests, bowed slightly and gave a small wave as he received his medal on the podium. "To be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn't really show my expressions or change my face much," he said afterward, reflecting on a run that saw him stay largely unruffled even as the scoreline tightened. "I'm really happy. The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy," he added.
His win lands in a year already stacked with standout individual performances across esports' biggest stages, from Norway's Magnus Carlsen lifting the chess trophy at the Esports World Cup to now an 11-year-old topping the podium in a puzzle title at a continental multi-sport event.
