An 11-year-old from Japan stood on top of the podium in Aichi. Yuki Kurihara had just won gold in Puyo Puyo Champions. It was one of the best stories of the 2026 Asian Games. It was also a reminder of how young this sport can be. And it raised a question. Why does a moment like this get so little attention outside Asia?
Eleven events, thirteen games
Esports ran from 22 September to 2 October at the Aichi International Exhibition Center in Tokoname, Japan. A total of 537 players from 29 nations took part. There were 11 medal events, played across 13 games. This was only the second Games with esports as a full medal sport. The first time was in Hangzhou, at the Games held in 2023.
The list was a real mix. League of Legends, PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang were there. So were eFootball, Gran Turismo 7, Naraka: Bladepoint, Identity V and Pokémon Unite. The fighting games event used three titles in one team format. Those were Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and The King of Fighters XV.
Some of these games are huge around the world. Others are big mostly in one country or one region, and few people elsewhere have even heard of them. That gap will matter later in this story.
Who won big in Aichi
China topped the medal table with three golds. They won Honor of Kings, Identity V and Naraka: Bladepoint. Japan and South Korea each took two golds. Japan won Puyo Puyo and Pokémon Unite on home soil, which gave the local crowd two big nights to remember.
South Korea won League of Legends again. They beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the final, their second Asian Games title in a row. Korea also won the fighting games event, which says a lot about the depth of their talent.
The smaller nations had big days too. Malaysia won its first ever Asian Games esports gold in Gran Turismo 7. Thailand took PUBG Mobile with 128 points across 12 matches. Iran beat Malaysia in the eFootball final to take gold. Myanmar won Mobile Legends, a game that is close to a religion in Southeast Asia. Seven different nations won gold, which is a healthy sign.
Why esports still feels so regional
So why isn’t esports more international? The first reason is the games themselves. Honor of Kings is massive in China but barely known in Canada. Mobile Legends rules Southeast Asia, yet many North American gamers have never played it. A medal in a game you do not know is hard to get excited about. Fans need to understand what they are watching before they start to care.
The second reason is ownership. Football belongs to everyone. Esports games belong to companies. A publisher can change the rules, stop updates or close a game. That makes it hard to build a stable global sport around one title. Nobody knows if a game will still be popular in ten years.
The third reason is the lack of one strong governing body. Every game has its own leagues and its own world championship. The IOC also stepped back from its first plan for an Olympic Esports Games in 2025. Without a clear world stage, national teams matter less than pro clubs.
How Canadian fans can follow along
Canada cannot send a team to the Asian Games, of course. Here at home, though, the interest is clearly there. Lots of young Canadians watch League of Legends worlds or big Valorant events on Twitch. They are used to following clubs and streamers, not national teams. Events like the Asian Games are a good way to discover new games and players.
Some fans like to add a bit of extra interest to big tournaments. If that is you, it helps to know where esports markets are covered properly. A guide to Canada’s best betting sites shows which licensed options include esports. Keep the stakes small and treat it as part of the fun.
A young star and a bigger future
Back to Yuki Kurihara. An 11-year-old won a gold medal at a major multi-sport event. In most sports, that is impossible. Not here. In esports, it happened in front of a home crowd.
That is the strength of esports and also its puzzle. Anyone can play, from any country and at any age. But until the games are shared more widely, the sport will stay split by region. The next Asian Games will show if that gap is starting to close.