Kazakh esports player Alexander Pivovarov opened his campaign in the esports program at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, suffering four straight losses in the Puyo Puyo Champions tournament, infohub.kz reports.
Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle game. In Group A, the Kazakh played four matches and lost all of them 0-3 — his opponents were representatives from South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
Despite finishing last in the group, the Kazakh kept his chances alive: on September 26, he will fight for a quarterfinal spot against a player from Singapore.
The best result in Group A was posted by 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara, who won all four of his matches. He is the youngest participant in Asian Games history for the Japanese national team.
In Group B, Kuo Tsuan of Chinese Taipei won all his matches. A total of ten esports athletes are competing in the Puyo Puyo Champions tournament.
In another discipline, the Kazakh team ended its run. Roman Dozortsev, Ayan Valeyev, and Askar Shukanov lost both of their matches in Group D of the Fighting Games tournament. This category includes three fighting video games — Street Fighter, TEKKEN 8, and THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV.