'Puyo Puyo' Silver Medalist Kang Dong-shin: "Playing Against an Elementary School Student Wasn't a Big Burden"

Kang Dong-shin (24), who won the silver medal in the eSports Puyo Puyo Champions event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after losing to Japanese elementary school student Yuki Kurihara, shared his thoughts, saying, "Going up against an elementary school student was not a huge burden."

He missed out on the gold medal after being defeated 2-10 by Kurihara in the final of the eSports Puyo Puyo Champions event held on the 26th at the Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Meeting reporters in the mixed zone after the match, Kang said, "Kurihara is a player who became a national representative after defeating players with tremendous experience in Japan." He added, "I figured he would possess incredible skills, and he was amazing just as I expected. He truly lives up to his reputation as the world's best player."

He continued, "My condition was fine and I didn't feel nervous," adding, "I just feel a bit disappointed that luck didn't quite seem to be on my side."

Kang posted 4 wins and 1 loss in Group A of the group stage, then advanced to the final by defeating Paritosh of India 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Kuo Tzu-ang of Chinese Taipei 10-3 in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Kurihara said in the mixed zone, "I met the strong opponent I wanted to face the most in the final. I approached the match thinking I would be truly happy if I won here, and I am really glad that I secured a proper victory."

When asked about why his expression didn't change much after confirming the gold medal, he made reporters laugh by answering, "To be honest, I was a little shy."

Born on June 18, 2015, Kurihara became the youngest medalist in Asian Games history with this victory, surpassing Indonesia's Nimas Bungah Cinta (then 12 years old), who won a bronze medal in the women's skateboard street event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

eSports was adopted as an official medal event starting from the 2022 Hangzhou Games, and Puyo Puyo is a game where players stack blocks like Tetris and connect four or more jelly characters of the same color to burst them.

The more same-colored characters you create, the more nuisance characters you can send to attack your opponent.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.