{"id":3081,"date":"2025-11-23T13:34:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3081"},"modified":"2025-11-23T13:34:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:34:45","slug":"war-refugee-aonishiki-becomes-first-ukrainian-to-win-top-sumo-championship-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3081","title":{"rendered":"War refugee Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win top sumo championship | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Ukraine-born wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn, also known as Aonishiki Arata, is the first from his country to win an elite-level sumo championship in Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 23 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">23 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn on Sunday became the first from his nation to win a tournament of the traditional Japanese sport.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, won the Kyushu tournament after a tie-breaking victory over grand champion Hoshoryu from Mongolia.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Known by his ring name Aonishiki Arata and speaking fluent Japanese, he told fans at Fukuoka Kokusai Center in his televised victory interview that he was glad he was able to show his usual performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am happy that I am able to achieve a goal of mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Yavhusishyn, who arrived in Japan three years ago after fleeing Ukraine, has climbed the sumo ranks at record speed.<\/p>\n<p>The Japan Sumo Association will soon hold a special meeting to promote him to \u201cozeki\u201d, the second-highest ranking after \u201cyokozuna\u201d, or grand champion, national broadcaster NHK said.<\/p>\n<p>Yavhusishyn competed in the world junior sumo championships as a teenager but left Ukraine after Russia\u2019s February 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived in Japan two months later and made a blistering start to his career, reaching sumo\u2019s upper divisions in only a year and winning promotion to the fourth-highest rank.<\/p>\n<p>Yavhusishyn was born in central Ukraine and took up sumo at the age of seven, becoming a national champion at 17.<\/p>\n<p>His age meant he narrowly avoided Ukraine\u2019s military draft for men aged 18 and older when war broke out, and he sought refuge in Germany before moving to Japan.<\/p>\n<p>His parents stayed in Germany, and he arrived in Japan knowing nothing of the language.<\/p>\n<p>Yavhusishyn became the second Ukraine-born professional sumo wrestler when he made his debut in July 2023, following in the footsteps of compatriot Serhii Sokolovskyi, better known as Shishi.<\/p>\n<p>Yavhusishyn\u2019s promotion to sumo\u2019s upper divisions was the fifth fastest since the current system of six tournaments a year was introduced in 1958.<\/p>\n<p>The ambitious wrestler said he now has his sights on reaching the top of the sumo hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am happy (now) but there is one higher status. I want to work toward that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4125060\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4125060\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4125060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AFP__20251123__84W36ZR__v2__HighRes__SumoJpnUkr-1763900336.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Danylo Yavhusishyn, aka Aonishiki Arata, in action.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4125060\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn, left, wins the championship match by defeating Hoshoryu during the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka on November 23, 2025 [Jiji Press\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine-born wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn, also known as Aonishiki Arata, is the first from his country to win an elite-level sumo championship in Japan. Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn on Sunday became the first from his nation to win a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}