A golden Buddha in Japan has attracted new — and unexpected — attention from rugby fanatics who are thronging to the statue to witness in person the hand gesture it shares with beloved World Cup hero Ayumu Goromaru.
The number of visitors to the religious-turned-sports shrine in central Japan has soared five-fold as eager fans descend on the Dainichi Nyorai statue, which has clasped hands with upward pointing index fingers touching each other — just like Goromaru’s trademark pre-kick pose.
“At weekends, more than 1,000 people pay homage a day,” the chief priest of Seki-Zenkoji temple, Shunkai Sato, said on Tuesday.
Photo: AFP
Goromaru, 29, propelled Japan to shock victory over South Africa in September, scoring 24 points in what is described as the biggest upset in the history of the World Cup.
Goromaru always assumes the iconic pose when preparing for penalty and conversion kicks and it has come to be widely mimicked by children and rugby fans alike.
Sato said that he never expected the 3m-high statue, located in the Gifu Prefecture, would come to be linked with the popular athlete.
Still, he welcomes the attention at the temple, the origins of which date to the late 18th century.
“I think it is a good thing because more people feel close to Buddhism and the Buddha here,” he said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but