“Two Ukrainian sumo wrestlers will compete in Tokyo”, — write: sport.ua
Hatsu Basho was preceded by a pre-tournament soken (overview) – an open training with the participation of leading wrestlers, after which Aonishiki Arata was criticized by the president of the Japan Sumo Association, the 61st yokozuna in history Hakkaku Oyakata. Danylo spent 24 minutes in ten consecutive fights with yokozuna Tomokatsu Hosoryu from Mongolia and lost the final four because he was simply weakened. Hakkaku assessed what he saw as harshly as possible, saying that it would be difficult to become a yokozuna in such a state. “We need to fight more,” the leader stressed.
Yavgusyshyn assured that everything is fine with him, but he was tired, because only a few days before that he started sparring in full. In addition, he did not yet have the experience of similar serial sparring with opponents of the most serious level, and even under the strict gaze of the most refined public. This is both a physical and a moral test of strength for the 21-year-old boy, who a year ago played in Djuryo, the second strongest division.
Also, take a look at this graphic from one of the Japanese sumo portals. Yes, in Japanese, but the given numbers do not need any further explanation. Compare the anthropometry of each of the representatives of the top 8 Makuuchi division – anthropometry, age, years of professional sumo debuts and the number of tournaments held. According to all these indicators, Aonishiki is inferior to his opponents. However, this did not prevent him from winning the first Emperor’s Cup in his career two months ago in Fukuoka.
Of course, in Japan, the prospects of the Ukrainian winning the second yusho in a row are treated cautiously. The main favorite for Hatsu Basho is the winner of three out of six tournaments in 2025 yokozuna Daiki Onosato. With the proviso that the Japanese may be hampered by an injury to his left shoulder, which prevented Daiki from holding the final fight in Fukuoka. Given the tight competition schedule, there was no time for a full recovery in Onosato. There was a risk that Daiki might miss the Hatsu Basho, but in the end he decided to fight. Let’s note that all three fights of Onosato Aonishiki Arata have been lost so far.
With perhaps even more serious damage, another yokozuna, Hosoryu, approaches the first yusho in 2026. Tomokatsu spent the aforementioned training bouts with a bandage on his left knee, in which fluid had accumulated, causing swelling. Tatsunami Oyakata, manager of the stable representing Hosoryu, comments: “He has a torn meniscus. When it moves, fluid builds up, causing a little pain. He’s been training hard so far, so he’ll be fine. It’s not perfect, but I don’t want him to rest in January.”
We will remind you that last year Aonishiki won all four fights in Hosoryu, including the additional one that decided the fate of the Emperor’s Cup in Fukuoka. However, even the Mongol’s enthusiasm for recent training sparring showed that he is motivated to fight against Danylo in a special way.
On the eve of Hatsu Basho, Danylo Yavgusyshyn took part in two iconic ceremonies. At the first, he received a new kesho-mavashi (ceremonial clothes) with one of the symbols of Ukraine, a stork. On the second, traditional portraits were presented in honor of the winners of last year’s September and November tournaments – Onosato and Aonishiki. A Ukrainian gets used to maximum publicity.
Yavgusyshyn will have his first fight at Hatsu Basho against komusubi (fourth rank) Kazuki Ura. Danylo fought the 33-year-old Japanese at the official level once – he won in November in Fukuoka. In addition, there was an exhibition match in London. The spectacular technique with which Aonishiki won at that time became viral on social networks.
Hatsu Basho Match Day 1 Match List 
Another Ukrainian, Shishi Masaru (real name – Serhiy Sokolovskyi), continues to perform in Makuuch. He matches Hatsu Basho in the rank of maegashira #14. Serhii will play the starting match against another M14, former Ozeki Hisashi Mitakeumi.
