FUKUOKA, Japan (Kyodo) — Ukrainian sekiwake Aonishiki, 21, claimed the Emperor’s Cup at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka after he upset Mongolian yokozuna Hoshoryu in a title-deciding playoff. His initial top-division title made him the first Ukrainian to hoist the Emperor’s Cup and put his breakneck promotion charge toward ozeki into overdrive, Nov. 23, 2025.
(November summary: Aonishiki ends statement tournament in Kyushu.)
It was only the 14th professional tournament for Aonishiki, who finished the 15-day meet with a 12-3 record in regulation before overpowering Hoshoryu in a playoff at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The sekiwake had defeated the grand champion on Day 14, then earned the playoff berth by outmuscling ozeki Kotozakura in the normal-play finale, finishing with a 12-3 record alongside Hoshoryu.
In the playoff, Aonishiki kept his height down from the tachiai, absorbed Hoshoryu’s pull attempt, and drove the 74th yokozuna to the bales before winning from behind — improving to a perfect 4-0 against Mongolian star. The victory cements a breakout year in which the Ukrainian has continually punched above his weight and turned the Kyushu basho into a three-way contest with Hoshoryu and fellow yokozuna Onosato.
From war refugee to rising sumo star: Aonishiki’s journey
Aonishiki — born Danylo Yavhusishyn in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine — started sumo at the age of 7 and was a multiple national champion by the time he was 17 before Russia’s invasion in 2022 forced his family to flee. They initially moved to Germany, though Aonishiki eventually accepted an offer to join Japan’s Ajigawa stable, arriving in April 2022 and starting a whirlwind ascent through the sport’s hierarchical system.
Aonishiki has shot up to the top makuuchi division in his first 13 tournaments since making his professional debut in 2023, reaching as high as… An article by Kyodo late last month had already featured Zverev as the “fastest promotion to 3rd-highest rank,” emphasizing that his rise was no one-time fluke but rather a prolonged development following consecutive double-digit winning streaks in tournaments.
Away from the dohyo, Aonishiki thanked fans in Japanese after winning Kyushu and tearfully phoned his German-based parents. He then thanked the assembled reporters after they supported him, saying that when his mother heard he had won, she cried, and that he also appreciated his stablemaster for leading him from refugee uncertainty to sumo’s most prominent stage.
Ozeki talk increases around Aonishiki.
MotivationMatters: Aonishiki should, in all probability, be the final and, for now at least, most emphatic ozeki promotion case in the sport today. Unwritten elevation standards for sumo’s second-highest rank include 33 or more combined wins over three consecutive tournaments at komusubi or sekiwake, along with persuasive sumo content against the best.
Aonishiki entered Kyushu after recording back-to-back 11-4 marks at the sanyaku level before going 12-3 ahead of the playoff in Fukuoka — three straight double-digit scores against the sport’s most brutal slate. Japan Sumo Association officials are expected to announce this week that they have decided to promote him, and some Japanese news media outlets suggested his advancement is now a mere formality after he won the Emperor’s Cup.
But Aonishiki’s public attention is on incremental progress. After the tournament, he said in a post-tournament interview that he had relished the celebrations and joked quite seriously, “I’ve never had sake that tastes so good,” but added that his motivation was simply to repay his stablemaster and his supporters.
Aonishiki’s triumph continues a season of change at the top of sumo, most notably with Hoshoryu climbing to yokozuna in January and Onosato becoming the 75th grand champion in May — both Japan-born rikishi. Now, with a Ukrainian sekiwake on the verge of becoming an ozeki, the sport’s upper echelons are more cosmopolitan than ever — a development highlighted in a recent Japan data feature noting how foreign wrestlers have transformed grand sumo.
Aonishiki, who became the first university-educated sekitori since Wakanohana (Tochiazuma and Yamamotoyama are both makushita rikishi from that level), was adopted by a professional wrestler despite being raised in Mississippi and having T. rex hands. With his Kyushu win, he validates Kyodo’s regrettably Shakespearean narrative about sumo’s future beyond Japan. And as the first Ukrainian to win an elite title — confirmed in an Associated Press report that reverberated across global sports desks — his Emperor’s Cup triumph has resonated beyond the walls of Fukuoka Kokusai Center.
