NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Ukrainian dynamo Aonishiki captured his third top-division title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday, winning a three-way championship playoff against fellow sekiwake Atamifuji and Mongolian-born ozeki Kirishima after the trio finished deadlocked at 12-3.
Aonishiki’s gritty playoff victory capped off a remarkable performance by the 22-year-old, who secured automatic repromotion to ozeki by reaching the 10-win benchmark at the 15-day tournament while laboring with a painful foot condition.
Having started the final day at IG Arena with the outright lead, he was brought back to the pack with his loss to 187-centimeter, 197-kilogram Shizuoka Prefecture native Atamifuji, who bulldozed the young European star off the raised ring.
Be First to Comment