Ukrainian Refugee Aonishiki Makes History with First Grand Sumo Tournament Victory
Danylo Yavhusishyn, a 21-year-old Ukrainian sumo wrestler competing under the ring name Aonishiki Arata, won the Emperor’s Cup at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center during the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on November 23, 2025. The victory marks the first time a Ukrainian wrestler has won an elite-level sumo tournament. Yavhusishyn finished with a record of 12 wins and three losses, forcing a playoff against Yokozuna Hoshoryu Tomokatsu, a top-ranked Mongolian competitor. In their head-to-head playoff match, Aonishiki defeated Hoshoryu with a rear throw down.
Aonishiki
The path to victory came with some drama. Entering the final day of the 15-day tournament, Hoshoryu held a tied lead with fellow Yokozuna Onosato and Aonishiki himself. Onosato withdrew from his scheduled bout with Hoshoryu due to a shoulder injury, granting Hoshoryu a walkover victory. This maneuver would have secured Hoshoryu his third top-division championship if Aonishiki lost his next match. Instead, Aonishiki defeated Kotozakura with an uchimuso, a specific sumo throwing technique, to force the playoff.
Speaking after the tournament, he said: “This was my first playoff, so I just wanted to make sure I got it right and finish with no regret. I’m always a little nervous, but I was able to focus on my style of sumo.” Yavhusishyn received the Prime Minister’s Cup from Takahiro Inoue, an adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Ukrainian Refugee
Yavhusishyn‘s journey to this championship began in 2022 when he left Ukraine as a teenager after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. He had struck up a friendship with a Japanese wrestler at a tournament in 2019, which prompted his decision to relocate to Japan following the invasion. In a news conference last month, he expressed hope that his success would inspire people in his home country, saying: “I hope that people from Ukraine will be able to see my sumo, and have some kind of encouragement from that.”
Looking ahead, Aonishiki has set his sights higher. When asked about his future during his victory ceremony interview, he stated: “There’s one more rank above ozeki, and I’ll be doing my best to get there.” Achieving yokozuna status would require either two wins in consecutive tournaments or a performance deemed equivalent by the sport’s governing body. No European wrestler has ever reached the rank of yokozuna, though three Europeans have achieved ozeki status: Kotoshu Katsunori from Bulgaria, Baruto Kaito from Estonia, and Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi from Georgia.
