Ukrainian Aonishiki made history by becoming the first wrestler from Ukraine to win a top-level tournament in professional sumo. In the decisive match at the prestigious Kyushu tournament, he defeated one of the strongest modern sumo wrestlers – Hoshoryu from Mongolia. This was reported by Associated Press, writes UNN.
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21-year-old Danylo Yavhusyshyn, who performs under the name Aonishiki Arata, moved to Japan more than three and a half years ago – shortly after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. There, he rapidly rose through the ranks, reaching the elite level in Japan's extremely conservative national sport.
Hoshoryu, a famous Mongolian sumo master, was the favorite of the tournament, as was local talent Onosato, but it was the Ukrainian who became the main sensation of the competition.
Aonishiki's success adds Ukraine to the list of countries whose athletes have achieved significant victories in Japanese sumo – alongside Mongolians and Hawaiians, who dominated at various times.
Aonishiki admitted that he decided to train in Japan after meeting a Japanese wrestler at an international tournament in 2019.