Anon12/24/25, 05:11No.251467
After fighting mostly on mats rather than sand in Ukraine, even in sumo, Aonishiki said he also had to "get used to" the fierce, head-on crashes at the start of bouts, as well as facing opponents with big weight differences on a daily basis in professional sumo.But that did not derail the Vinnytsia native's formidable rise as he broke Bulgarian-born Kotooshu's record for the fastest rise to ozeki by five meets. He also tied former yokozuna Azumafuji and current grand champion Onosato for the fewest meets needed to reach ozeki after the top-tier makuuchi division entrance, at five.Inspired by his countryman and heavyweight pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk for his "devotion" to boxing, Aonishiki also said former European ozeki of Kotooshu, Estonian Baruto and Georgian Tochinoshin, as well as legendary yokozuna Taiho who had a Ukrainian father, are all on his mind as he surges his way up."I certainly know about them. It's an important part of sumo history, and I've studied them since I was in Ukraine," he said.Motivated to follow in the footsteps of Sergey Bubka and Andriy Shevchenko as one of Ukraine's leading sporting figures, Aonishiki said he is "ready to help in any way possible" if more talent from his country follows him into the sumo world.His stablemaster Ajigawa, former sekiwake Aminishiki, acknowledged the burden that comes with battling in the second-highest rank as being a "role model on and off the dohyo," and Aonishiki was up for the challenge."I'm learning from him how to wrestle without stopping, (always) applying subtle technique and not giving opponents time to think," said Aonishiki, a courteous character who was still in the second-tier juryo this time last year."Having entered the world of sumo, there's no point if I don't aim for the very top. It's not a place everyone can reach, but I want to do everything I can to get there."
