Sumo’s only grand master Hoshoryu yesterday vowed not to “tarnish the title” after being officially promoted to the highest rank, 15 years after his uncle quit the sport in disgrace.
Mongolian-born Hoshoryu became the 74th yokozuna, or grand master, in the history of the ancient Japanese sport in a ceremony in Tokyo after winning the second tournament of his career on Sunday.
His promotion meant sumo avoided having no yokozuna for the first time in more than 30 years, after Terunofuji announced earlier this month that he would retire.
Photo: AFP
Hoshoryu is the nephew of former yokozuna Asashoryu, who was forced to retire in 2010 after breaking a man’s nose in a drunken brawl outside a nightclub.
The 25-year-old Hoshoryu said he would do his utmost to preserve the honor of the exalted rank.
“I will continue to work hard in a determined manner so that I do not tarnish the title of yokozuna,” he said after becoming sumo’s first new grand master since 2021.
Asashoryu became sumo’s first Mongolian-born yokozuna when he was promoted to the rank in 2003.
Known as the bad boy of sumo, Asashoryu frequently clashed with the sport’s authorities and was once punished for playing in a charity soccer game with former Japanese star soccer player Hidetoshi Nakata.
Fellow Mongolian yokozuna Harumafuji was also forced to retire in 2017 to atone for a brutal assault that left a rival wrestler with a fractured skull.
Hoshoryu, whose real name is Sugarragchaa Byambasuren, triumphed at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in a three-way playoff after finishing with a 12-3 record.
There are no set criteria for promotion from the second-highest rank of ozeki, but he was recommended for promotion by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council on Monday.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),