Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu stayed alive yesterday in his fading quest to become the first European to reach sumo’s top rank.
The 25-year-old, who in May became the first European to clinch a major sumo tournament, pushed out Futeno to stand at two wins and two losses on the fourth day of a 15-day tournament in the central city of Nagoya.
Back-to-back convincing tournament wins are considered a minimum requirement for sumo’s governing authority to promote a wrestler to the rank of yokozuna.
Kotooshu lost his opener on Sunday and suffered another loss on Tuesday, leading observers to all but give up hope that he would become yokozuna in the current tournament.
Kitanoumi, a former yokozuna who now heads the Japan Sumo Association, said it was crucial for Kotooshu to contain further losses to keep his hopes of the top rank alive heading into the next tournament.
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