Aonishiki made history on Monday, becoming the fastest ever sumo wrestler to reach the third-highest rank of sekiwake after starting from the bottom of the sport’s six divisions. The 21-year-old Ukrainian sensation needed just 13 tournaments to reach the milestone. Konishiki, the first non-Japanese wrestler to reach the second-highest rank of ozeki, was the previous record-holder. He reached the rank of sekiwake after 14 tournaments. The question now is, can Aonishiki go one step further than Konishiki and reach the rank of yokozuna?
Requirements for Promotion to Yokozuna
The 182-centimeter wrestler still has a long way to go. First, he needs to reach the rank of ozeki, then either win two consecutive tournaments or achieve what is considered an “equivalent performance,” such as winning one tournament, placing second in another, while also having maintained a consistently high record in the preceding three tournaments. It’s a huge challenge, but Aonishiki certainly has the potential, having defeated Yokozuna Hoshoryu at both the Nagoya and Autumn Grand Tournaments. He’s agile, has a good sense of balance and a diverse range of techniques.
Speaking at the FCCJ earlier this month, Aonishiki spoke about how he became interested in sumo when he was in elementary school after starting out doing judo. “To be very honest with you, it (judo) wasn’t actually really that much fun,” he said. “And one day after practice, my mother was a little bit late in coming to pick me up. Even though my own practice had finished, some of the sempai, the older people within the ring, started to do sumo.”
At first, he didn’t know what sport it was, but he liked how quickly it finished and the fact that the rules were so easy to understand. “And it really gained my interest from there,” he said. “So, when my mother came, I said, ‘Oh, not judo anymore. This sumo, this is the sport for me.'” The Ukrainian, whose real name is Danylo Yavhusishyn, went on to finish third at the 2019 World Junior Sumo Championships in Osaka. During the tournament, he formed a close bond with Arata Yamanaka, the sumo club captain of Kansai University.
The Rise of Aonishiki
After Aonishiki fled his country in 2022 following the Russian invasion, Yamanaka let him stay at his house in Kobe. The following year, he made his official sumo debut. Out of respect for his close friend, he chose the shikona (ring name) Aonishiki Arata. In his first professional tournament, Aonishiki won the jonokuchi division. He was officially promoted to the top division in 2025 after just nine tournaments, which tied him for the joint record for the fastest promotion from professional sumo debut to the top Makuuchi division.
