Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki yesterday won his second straight tournament to take his meteoric rise in the ancient Japanese sport to new heights.
The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, triumphed at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo for the second title of his fledgling career.
Aonishiki, the ring name of Danylo Yavhusishyn, became the first wrestler from Ukraine to win a competition when he came out on top at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November last year.
Photo: Kyodo via Reuters
That earned him promotion to sumo’s second-highest rank of ozeki in record time, having made his debut in July 2023.
His second title takes him a step closer to promotion to the exalted highest rank of yokozuna, a feat no European-born wrestler has ever achieved.
Aonishiki is only the fourth European to become an ozeki, following wrestlers from Estonia, Bulgaria and Georgia.
During the latest 15-day tournament to yesterday, he achieved a 12-3 win-loss record and tied with rival wrestler Atamifuji.
Then the two battled in a nail-biting playoff, which began with the Ukrainian on his back foot.
His heavier rival unleashed a powerful attack and quickly pressed Aonishiki to the edge of the ring, but Aonishiki unleashed a left-arm kubinage neck throw, forcing the Japanese wrestler on the sand ring.
“I was able to win, thanks to you,” Aonishiki said in a winner’s address to the roaring, sold-out crowd at the Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena.
He set his sights on climbing the sumo hierarchy, pledging to do ever better in the next tournament.
“I will do my best so that I will have better records than this tournament,” he said in fluent Japanese.
Aonishiki would have the chance to make it a hat-trick of titles when he competes in the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka in March.
Another win would likely put him in contention for promotion to the rank of grand champion, something only wrestlers from Japan, the US and Mongolia have achieved.
Aonishiki was born in central Ukraine and took up sumo at the age of seven, becoming a national champion at 17.
His age meant he narrowly avoided Ukraine’s military draft for men aged 18 and older after Russia invaded, and he sought refuge in Germany, before moving to Japan.
His parents stayed in Germany and he arrived in Japan knowing nothing of the language.
He became the second Ukraine-born professional sumo wrestler when he made his debut, following in the footsteps of Serhii Sokolovskyi, better known as Shishi.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS