YOUNG blood Albert Ian Delos Santos made a grand entrance in his Asian Games debut, setting new junior World and Asian records to capture the bronze medal in the men’s 70-kilogram weightlifting event at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre in Japan.
As the youngest competitor in the nine-man field, the promising weightlifter lifted a total of 324 kg—154 kg in the snatch and 183 kg in the clean and jerk—to secure his spot on the podium.
Serving as Team Philippines’ flag-bearer, Delos Santos eclipsed his previous junior mark of 321 kg (141 kg snatch, 180 kg clean and jerk), which he set at the Asian Youth & Junior Championships in August.
While Delos Santos previously recorded a total lift of 326 kg in the 71 kg class at the IWF World Championships, the International Weightlifting Federation restructured its bodyweight categories in 2026, establishing 70 kg and 71 kg as separate divisions.
Coming from a proud lineage of weightlifters—his late father Alvin was a former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and coach, and his mother Diwa was a former national lifter—an emotional Delos Santos held up a photo of his father following his victory.
North Korea’s Won Ju Ri claimed the gold medal with a total lift of 349 kg (151 kg snatch, 198 kg clean and jerk), while Japan’s Masanori Miyamoto took silver with 342 kg (154 kg snatch, 188 kg clean and jerk).
Meanwhile, Japan’s 11-year-old eSports prodigy Yuki Kurihara won Asian Games gold on Saturday in style after thrashing a series of opponents up to three times his age.
The bespectacled primary school student, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, won the Puyo Puyo Champions final 10-2.
He is host country Japan’s youngest athlete in Asian Games history.
Puyo Puyo Champions is a puzzle game where players try to clear their screen of coloured blobs by lining them up and popping them.
Look unruffled throughout, Kurihara waltzed into the gold-medal match with a series of dazzling displays.
He crushed Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitkun -- a relative veteran at 28 -- 10-1 in the semi-finals to ensure at least a silver medal.
