Bottom-Ranked Sumo Wrestler Burst Into Tears After Winning First Championship

Tokushoryu, who had just moved up from the second division, fought his way to a 14-1 record at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday, earning the coveted Emperor Cup.

 

Standing 1.81 meters (5 feet and 9 inches) and weighing 188 kilograms (414 pounds), Tokushoryu beat ozeki (second-highest rank) Takakeisho (11-4) to win his first top-division championship in his 11-year career.

“This is amazing. What have I done,” the 33-year-old told Kyodo News. “I might have cried too much, but at that moment I felt relieved from all the pressure.”

For the first time in his career, Tokushoryu also won two of the three post-tournament prizes, namely the Outstanding Performance Prize and the Fighting Spirit Prize.

“It feels like a dream,” he said. “I don’t feel like myself. I feel I’m walking on clouds.”

Tokushoryu explained that his victory came largely as a result of intense focus — while keeping in mind that he had nothing to lose.

“Deep down I’m feeling like, ‘Is it okay for me to win the championship?’ I was the lowest-ranking fighter, I had nothing to fear. I just had to give it everything I had,” he told Kyodo News.

Aside from proving that he could make it, Tokushoryu had one important reason to clinch the cup: Katsuhito Ito, his mentor and coach at Kindai University’s sumo club, died at 55 just a week ago.

“I should do it for him,” he thought, according to Asahi Shimbun.

Tokushoryu’s victory marks the first time a bottom-ranked sumo wrestler won a top-division title since March 2000. That champion was Takatoriki, who finished 13–2 against Miyabiyama.

Fans celebrated Tokushoryu on Twitter:

Feature Image Screenshots via NHK General TV / Jason’s All-Sumo Channel