Kang Dong-shin wins silver in Puyo Puyo at Asian Games as Japan's 11-year-old Kurihara claims gold

South Korea's Kang Dong-shin, 24, claimed a silver medal in the Puyo Puyo Champions esports event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after falling to Japan's prodigy Kurihara Yuki, 11, in the final.

Kang lost to Kurihara by a game score of 2-10 in the final held Saturday at Aichi Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Kang took the opening game by catching Kurihara off guard with a surprise chain while the young Japanese player was stacking pieces in preparation for one of his signature large chain combos.

Kurihara responded immediately in the second game, however, unleashing a 15-chain combo, then countered Kang's offensive in the third game with a 10-chain sequence to seize control of the match.

Kang mounted a comeback in game six, building a large chain that pushed Kurihara into a corner, but Kurihara calmly neutralized the attack before switching to offense and taking the game.

Kurihara continued to press his advantage in the games that followed, repeatedly detonating the large chain combos that define his playing style.

After pushing Kang to a match score of 9-2, Kurihara closed out the final game quickly to win 10-2, becoming the youngest gold medalist in Asian Games history.

Earlier in the tournament, Kang defeated India's Paritosh 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Taiwan's Guo Ziang 10-3 in the semifinals.

Puyo Puyo Champions is a competitive puzzle game in which players stack colored "puyo" blobs and clear groups of four or more to send attacks to their opponent's board.

Chaining multiple clears in succession sends "nuisance puyo" to the opponent's side, while players can also use chains to neutralize incoming attacks or launch counteroffensives, creating intense back-and-forth exchanges.