Sumo Fukuoka Basho: Aonishiki defeats Hoshoryu to become Ukraine's 1st tournament winner

Today was the final day of the Fukuoka Basho, and it ended in a dramatic playoff:

Aonishiki capped a wild Kyūshū basho with the biggest win of his career, taking his first Emperor's Cup and all but securing promotion to ōzeki. The 21-year-old Ukrainian sekiwake came into senshūraku needing a win over ōzeki Kotozakura to stay in the race, and he got it, finishing 12–3. That put him level with the lone active yokozuna, Hoshōryū, whose tally included a forfeit after Onosatō pulled out injured. Had Aonishiki slipped in that last scheduled bout, Hoshōryū would have taken the title without even stepping on the dohyō.

Instead, the day ended with a playoff, and Aonishiki kept his perfect record against Hoshōryū intact. He beat him the previous day and did it again when it mattered, sticking to his forward, no-nonsense sumō. It was his first top-division yūshō, achieved in just his fourteenth tournament, and the first ever by a Ukrainian. After the match, he admitted he'd been nervous, but said he tried to rely on the sumō that had brought him this far—a dramatic finish to a chaotic tournament.






It was most exciting to see the young Ukrainian rikishi beat an ōzeki and a yokozuna and win his first Emperor's Cup!

While stern in the dohyō, he's a really friendly chap, watch this interview from September:

We watched this--wife is a serious sumo follower. And she likes both Hoshoryu and Aonishiki. Maybe a little regret that Hoshoryu was not able to win after his promotion?

And that was unusual, since it ended uncharacteristically low, which Hoshoryu apparently couldn't handle. We weren't sure (and still not) but did Aonishiki kick Hoshoryu's knee? The commentary, at least initially seemed to suggest that, but during the multiple replays I didn't see it at all.

I don't think Aonishiki made contact with Hoshoryu's knee. He pulled Hoshoryu down, holding the back of his mawashi with his left and pulling Hoshoryu's right front thigh with his right. Quite remarkable, I don't even know what this technique is called. Hoshoryu had no answer.

His technique was an okurinage (送り投げ, rear throwdown).

Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn, who wrestles under the ring name Aonishiki, said Monday that he had surprised even himself by becoming the first from his country to win a tournament in the ancient Japanese sport. The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, is set to be promoted to sumo's second-highest rank this week after winning the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. The victory earned Aonishiki his first title in only his 14th tournament. He did it by beating Mongolian yokozuna Hoshoryu on Sunday. "To be quite honest I wanted to win the tournament but I didn't really think that I could," he told reporters in Fukuoka.

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If he knew he'd be stuck with a giant dead fish at the end he may have been less motivated to win.

mdchachi said:

If he knew he'd be stuck with a giant dead fish at the end he may have been less motivated to win.

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Well, winning the Emperor's Cup, he's also stuck with 150,000,000 yen prize money (a large portion of which probably goes to his heya), tons of rice and wagyu beef (again for the heya), feeding the stable for most of the year, a year of free petrol (sponsored by UAE), Hungarian porcelain, a year of free Pilsner (Czech Republic), etc, etc. The entire list of prizes is simply mind-boggling.

The seabream above has already been turned into sashimi and gulped down with some top-end premium nihonshu.


Fascinating story of how Aonishiki came to Japan and to sumo:

Another big fish is due: Aonishiki was promoted to Ozeki today. Now there are two yokozuna (Hoshoryu and Onosato) and two Ozeki (Kotozakura and Aonishiki).

Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki has won promotion to the second-highest rank of Ozeki. The Japan Sumo Association decided at an extraordinary board of directors meeting on Wednesday. Aonishiki earned his first grand sumo tournament title in the Kyushu tourney that ended on Sunday. He has notched 34 wins over the past three tournaments, surpassing the promotion benchmark. Aonishiki is the first Ukrainian wrestler to reach the rank of Ozeki. He also achieved the feat at record speed, earning the promotion in just 14 tournaments since his debut in 2023.

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