11-Year-Old Esports star makes Asian Games history
In the tournament which just keeps on giving this is one of the most incredible stories
Dubai: The Asian Games have already given us plenty of incredible stories.
Teenagers have been rewriting the record books in the swimming pool, with China’s 13-year-old sensation Yu Zidi collecting two individual gold medals, while Japan’s 17-year-old Yumeki Kojima has broken a world junior record. Afghanistan have also celebrated a landmark moment, with Fariba Hashimi claiming a historic medal in women’s cycling.
But there is another story emerging from Nagoya that might just top them all.
Meet Yuki Kurihara.
He is 11 years old, still a primary school student and, the youngest athlete competing at the Games.
Kurihara is an eSports player representing Japan in Puyo Puyo Champions, the fast-paced puzzle game developed in his home country. Think Tetris, but with coloured blobs, chain reactions and plenty of pressure.
On Thursday, the youngster showed exactly why he has earned his place on the biggest stage.
Kurihara won all four of his Group A matches, including a 3-0 victory over Hong Kong’s 28-year-old Yu Wing Lim, to finish top of the group.
That means the schoolboy now has a chance to do something even more incredible on Saturday, win an Asian Games gold medal.
And if he manages it, he could also become the youngest medallist in Asian Games history.
The current record belongs to Indonesia’s Bunga Nyamas, who won bronze in women’s skateboarding at the 2018 Games aged 12.
Kurihara has already made history simply by being here. He became Japan’s youngest-ever Asian Games athlete after earning his place on the team at just 10 years old.
Earlier this year, he defeated an adult professional to win the Puyo Puyo Grand Prix Final before officially turning professional in April, two months before his 11th birthday.
Away from the screen, his preparation is perhaps even more unexpected.
Kurihara says he eats eel before competitions, while his life outside eSports remains remarkably similar to that of any other schoolboy. He goes to cram school, plays football and watches YouTube, with his gaming time strictly limited.
But when he sits down in front of the screen, the youngster becomes one of Japan’s most exciting young sporting talents.
“I hope to win a gold medal for Japan,” he said.
And after everything we have already seen at these Asian Games, it would be some story if the Games' most historic one belongs to an 11-year-old armed with a controller, a screen and a talent for making coloured blobs disappear.
