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The story
At the Asian Games underway in Aichi/Nagoya, 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara (Tokyo Verdy), competing in the esports event “Puyo Puyo Esports,” won all three of his group-stage matches on September 24 against players from the Philippines, Kazakhstan, and South Korea, securing first place in Group A and a spot in the finals. The final takes place on the 26th, with a South Korean player considered the likely opponent. On 5channel, users expressed shock at skill far beyond what you’d expect from an elementary schooler, while also debating whether esports should really be called a “sport,” and discussing the South Korean player said to have quit his job to focus on competing.
Thu, Sep 24, 3:38 PM
At the Asian Games in Aichi/Nagoya, Yuki Kurihara (Tokyo Verdy), the youngest member of Team Japan at age 11, competed in the group stage of the esports puzzle game “Puyo Puyo” on the 24th, winning all three matches to top Group A and advance to the final. Attention now turns to whether an “elementary-school gold medalist” will be crowned at the final on the 26th.
In Group A, contested among five players, Kurihara opened with a 3-0 win over a Filipino player, then cruised past a Kazakh player in his second match. In his third match, he beat a South Korean player 3-1 to lock in his finals berth. The final will be held on the 26th.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Looks like a kid (like you), brain of an adult.
Even if he quit his job, can you actually make a lifetime's income off Puyo Puyo? If he were younger there'd still be a shot at winning and earning for years, but at 25… Puyo Puyo seems like a reflex-driven teens' game, so he probably can't stay on top that long. And even leveraging his record to become a streamer, I doubt Puyo Puyo draws that many viewers…
But Kang Dong-shin has flat out said "Puyo Puyo is my life" — he's been sorting packages at a delivery job on the side while going all-in on Puyo Puyo 😭
Balancing exam prep with esports — surprisingly (?) tough kid.
Huh? It's not a sport — it's an ESPORT.
Wow, people still say this?
He's a kid from a well-off family taking middle school entrance exams, so probably not.
Someone this good at it is usually plenty sharp and quick-thinking in general, so I don't think that's an issue.
Oh, so he's not a "god" prodigy after all, just a "new" one, huh.
Same with FPS and TPS — you just can't keep up with younger players' reflexes and processing speed… Fighting games are relatively more forgiving with age, though.
It's not that they get bored — they just stop being able to beat the young guys. This kid became Japan's champion by beating the older former champion he used to idolize.
If we're talking about fan behavior, soccer fans are pretty rough too lol
Regular sports fans aren't exactly saints either, honestly.
Read the article properly.
Did. Didn't realize Gran Turismo was still a thing.
Same here — had to look up who even makes it these days.
Arcade Winning Eleven 2006 — under the rule where a win let you keep playing, I racked up something like 75 wins in a row. Played from 3pm to 9pm for just 100 yen.
Don't cheese it with the opening long shot, though.
27-Hour Television once ran a Puyo Puyo showdown segment for like 2-3 hours. As a Puyo Puyo fan, I was thrilled.
Street Fighter 6
Tekken 8
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV
Pokémon Unite
PUBG Mobile
Identity V
Gran Turismo 7
eFootball
Puyo Puyo Esports
and more
Nice — times sure have changed.
It's not just falling-block puzzles — teens dominate plenty of games. Fortnite's FPS scene and LoL's MOBA scene both have teenage top players. Fast risers like this kid break out before age 15 — even earlier than figure skating.
Sounds like the Fujii Sota crowd (the shogi prodigy famous for having a modest, kid-like dream despite his dominance).
Though honestly, how seriously is any other country even taking Puyo Puyo these days?
Background and Talking Points
Esports have become an official category at the Asian Games, with a wide range of titles adopted, from fighting games to racing games to mobile titles. On 5channel, the recurring debate over “whether esports counts as a sport” flared up again in this thread, as it always does. It’s also not unusual for teenagers to reach the top of the world in falling-block puzzle games and shooters, where reflexes matter most — the rise of young players like Kurihara is seen as a trend shared with other competitive games. The thread also contained posts making ethnically derogatory remarks about the South Korean player expected to be his final opponent; those have been excluded from this article.
※This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[Asian Games] Team Japan’s youngest member, 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara, advances to the final — Esports “Puyo Puyo”“.
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