SIBOL’s Karl Gonzalvo advanced to the quarterfinals of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Puyo Puyo Champions tournament after finishing third in Group A on Thursday at Aichi Sky Expo.

Gonzalvo endured a rough start against 11-year-old Japanese star Yuki Kurihara, but quickly found his footing in the succeeding games, battling back to finish with a 2-2 record and punch his ticket directly to the next round.

Following a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Kurihara, the content creator-turned-national athlete bounced back with a narrow 3-2 win over Yu Wing Lim of Hong Kong before cruising to a 3-0 victory over Alexandr Pivovarov of Kazakhstan to put himself in contention for the second seed.

However, Gonzalvo stumbled against South Korea’s Kang Dongshin, 2-3, in his final group-stage match.

Still, Gonzalvo held on to third place.

Gonzalvo will face the second-ranked player from Pool B in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the same venue.