Estonian Baruto wants to become sumo’s first grand champion from Europe. At 1.98m and 186kg, few are betting against him.
Baruto, whose real name is Kaido Hoovelson, was promoted to sumo’s second-highest rank of ozeki on March 31 and is hoping to reach the ultimate rank of grand champion in the near future.
“I know my next step is to become a grand champion and I will try to do that this year,” Baruto said yesterday.
PHOTO: AFP
Mongolian Hakuho is the only wrestler currently competing at sumo’s top rank. Other than Mongolians, the only other non-Japanese grand champions were Hawaiian Akebono and Samoan Musashimaru.
The 25-year-old Baruto knows that promotion to grand champion will require winning multiple titles at the rank of ozeki.
Bulgarian Kotooshu won the championship once, in 2008, but his career seems stalled at ozeki.
The transition to Japan’s ancient sport, with its rigid seniority system, was not easy for Baruto.
“When I first came to Japan, I faced many challenges,” Baruto said. “In Europe, everyone is more or less equal regardless of age.”
Baruto’s family owned a cattle ranch and he became accustomed to hard physical labor as a child. He also worked as a nightclub bouncer.
After winning a national judo championship in Estonia, Baruto was introduced to amateur sumo through his judo coach.
In his first tournament in sumo’s top division, Baruto had 11 wins and four losses and won the Fighting Spirit Prize.
On the seventh day of the New Year tournament in January, Baruto defeated Hakuho for his first win over a grand champion in 19 attempts.
He posted a 14-1 record at the March tournament in Osaka to secure his promotion to ozeki.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS