I must admit that I get absorbed and animated watching Japan’s sumo wrestling tournament on TV that normally lasts for 15 grueling days of slapping, pushing, lifting, heaving and outwitting each other just to get the opponent out of the “dohyo” ring or making anything touch the ground besides the soles of their feet.
In fact I always have come to favor one that every time he wins, I feel good and every time he loses I shout, “Shit!”
But there is one sumo wrestler, though not my favorite, who I will not be seeing again and surely will be missed a lot. He is exciting to sumo wrestling as Nadal is to tennis because of their intensity and tenacity.
The untimely announcement of his retirement by sumo grand champion Asashoryu has caught the Japanese by surprise and has become, even, bigger news than the fallout from Toyota and Honda’s global recall.
Asashoryu, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, is a 330 pound Mongolian who transcended the Japanese in their own national sports and rose to the top becoming yokozuna (grand champion).
Asashoryu’s forced exit came on the heels of allegations that he attacked a man in Tokyo last month and broke his nose.
“I feel heavy responsibility that I have caused trouble to so many people. Thank you for everything, I will retire,” Kyodo news agency quoted the 29-year-old Asashoryu as saying.
Asashoryu has been dogged by controversy during his colorful career, for everything from pulling an opponent’s hair to starting a soapy bathroom brawl during a post-bout soak, thus, earning him the moniker “bad boy” of sumo.
It did not help that in 2007 he was suspended – the first such move in the history of sumo wrestling – for missing a training tournament. Following the incident, he returned to Mongolia to seek treatment for a stress disorder.
Once a wrestler reaches the rank of yokozuna, he cannot lose this status but he will be expected to retire when his results begin to worsen.
But, in the case of the Mongolian sumo, he committed the serious breach of insulting and degrading the symbol of a role model and a true grand champion, thus, losing face.
He had no other recourse but to retire, sadly, in his prime and save the sports from being tainted.
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