Most of the esports lineup at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is familiar to regular viewers: League of Legends, PUBG Mobile, eFootball. One title is new to many fans. Puyo Puyo Champions, a falling-block puzzle game from SEGA, is making its Asian Games debut as a medal event, and its group stage wrapped up on Thursday, September 24.
This guide covers what Puyo Puyo Champions is, how a match works, the tournament format, the group stage results, and how to watch the medal rounds.
Puyo Puyo Champions at the Asian Games 2026: quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Game | Puyo Puyo Champions (Puyo Puyo eSports in Japan) |
| Developer and publisher | SEGA |
| Platform at the Games | PC |
| Event type | Individual (1 player per nation) |
| Venue | Aichi Sky Expo (Aichi International Exhibition Center), Tokoname |
| Match length | Best of five (first to three wins) |
| Group stage | September 24 |
| Knockout rounds and medals | September 26 |
The wider esports program runs from 23 September to 2 October 2026 at the Aichi International Exhibition Center, with 13 video game titles spread across 11 events. Puyo Puyo Champions is played on PC with one player per entry. You can see the full list of titles in our [INTERNAL LINK: Asian Games 2026 esports schedule and titles guide].
What is Puyo Puyo Champions?
Puyo Puyo Champions is a competitive puzzle game built around the long-running Puyo Puyo series. The series was created by Compile, and SEGA has owned the franchise since 1998. The first game came out in 1991 on the MSX2 and the Family Computer Disk System.
Champions itself is built for tournament play. It launched in Japan as Puyo Puyo eSports on October 25, 2018, for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, and reached a worldwide audience on May 7, 2019, with a Windows version on Steam also released in 2019. The game is still available on the Puyo Puyo Champions Steam page.
How Puyo Puyo Champions is played
Two players face off on separate boards. Pairs of coloured blobs, called Puyo, fall from the top. When four or more Puyo of the same colour touch, they pop and disappear.
The real skill is in chains. When one group pops, the Puyo above it drop down and can form new groups that pop in turn. Each step in the chain adds to the attack.
Attacks come in the form of Nuisance Puyo. These clear, grey pieces are sent to the opponent’s board, and the number sent grows with the length of the chain. Players can also use their own chains to cancel out incoming Nuisance Puyo, which is called offsetting. A player loses when a piece lands in the third column from the left in the top row.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Puyo | The coloured blobs that fall in pairs |
| Pop | Four or more same-colour Puyo connecting and clearing |
| Chain | A series of pops triggered one after another |
| Nuisance Puyo | Garbage blocks sent to the opponent’s board |
| Offset | Cancelling incoming Nuisance Puyo with your own chain |
The game has two competitive rulesets. SEGA’s multiplayer modes use rules taken from Puyo Puyo 2 and Puyo Puyo Fever. In the Fever ruleset, a player who offsets seven times enters Fever mode and has to clear preset chains.
Asian Games 2026 Puyo Puyo Champions format
The preliminary round is a round robin with players split into two groups. Each match is best of five, so the first player to three game wins takes it. The finals are set for September 26 at Aichi Sky Expo and use a single-elimination bracket.
After the group stage, the event moves through a first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.
Group stage results
Group A was led by Japan’s Yuki Kurihara. He won all four of his matches to finish top, closing his morning with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong’s Yu Wing Lim.
The Philippines’ Karl Gonzalvo placed third in the same group. He lost 0-3 to Kurihara, beat Lim 3-2 and Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Pivovarov 3-0, then fell 2-3 to South Korea’s Kang Dongshin. He meets the second-placed player from Group B in the quarter-finals on Saturday at 9 a.m.
India’s Paritosh also went through from Group B. He finished third with two wins and two losses, beating Mongolia’s Munkhzorig Ganbold 3-0 and Singapore’s Mun June Justin Koh 3-2, then losing 3-0 to Chinese Taipei’s Tzu-ang Kuo and 3-2 to Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitikun.
| Player | Nation | Group | Record | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuki Kurihara | Japan | A | 4-0 | 1st, advanced |
| Karl Gonzalvo | Philippines | A | 2-2 | 3rd, advanced to quarter-finals |
| Paritosh | India | B | 2-2 | 3rd, advanced |
Full standings for every player had not been published at the time of writing. This table will be updated after the knockout draw.
Yuki Kurihara: Japan’s 11-year-old contender
Kurihara is the name most viewers will know by the end of the week. He is an 11-year-old fifth-grader and the youngest athlete Japan has ever selected for the Asian Games.
He earned his spot against adult professionals. In February this year, he won a tournament by beating professional player Tomo-kun, someone he looked up to. He got his pro licence in April and has said he wants to beat the record of Indonesia’s Bunga Nyimas, who won skateboarding bronze at the 2018 Games aged 12.
India at the Puyo Puyo Champions event
India sent a 15-member esports squad to Aichi-Nagoya, entering eFootball, Puyo Puyo Champions, Pokémon UNITE and League of Legends. Paritosh is the country’s only player in the Puyo Puyo event. For India’s other esports fixtures, see our [INTERNAL LINK: India esports squad at Asian Games 2026] coverage.
Where to watch Puyo Puyo Champions at the Asian Games 2026
An English stream is available through Asian Games TV, and a Japanese broadcast runs on TBS Sports’ YouTube channel. Viewers in India can watch on the Sony LIV app and Sony Sports channels.
| Region | Platform | Language |
|---|---|---|
| International | Asian Games TV | English |
| Japan | TBS Sports (YouTube) | Japanese |
| India | Sony LIV, Sony Sports Network | English/Hindi |
The live medal table for esports is on the Olympics.com Asian Games esports results page.
Why Puyo Puyo Champions is at the Asian Games
Esports first appeared at the Asian Games as a demonstration sport in Jakarta in 2018 and became a medal sport at Hangzhou 2023. Eleven of the 13 titles at Aichi-Nagoya are new to the Games, and several come from Japanese publishers, including Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Gran Turismo 7 and Pokémon Unite. The Olympic Council of Asia’s title announcement lists the final lineup.
Frequently asked questions
What is Puyo Puyo Champions? It is a competitive puzzle game from SEGA where players pop groups of four or more same-coloured blobs to build chains and send garbage blocks to their opponent.
Is Puyo Puyo Champions a medal event at the Asian Games 2026? Yes. It is one of 11 esports medal events at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 and is played as an individual event.
When is the Puyo Puyo Champions final? The knockout rounds and gold medal match take place on Saturday, September 26, at Aichi Sky Expo.
Who is Yuki Kurihara? He is an 11-year-old Japanese player and the youngest athlete Japan has ever sent to the Asian Games. He won all four of his group stage matches.
