Bulgarian sumo star Kotooshu pushes way up ranks of Japan's national sport
Mainichi Daily News, 11 April 2006

Kotooshu speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday. "Foreign people seem to think sumo is a simple sport. If they put on a 'mawashi' (loin cloth) and tried it for themselves, they would soon realise how hard it is," Kotooshu said on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters/Toshiyuki Aizawa)He is possibly sumo's brightest rising star, just one step away from the ancient sport's top rank. He's the first European ever to make it so far and -- at 204 centimeters tall and weighing a beefy 144 kilos -- he truly looks the part.

But Bulgarian sumo champion Kotooshu has a confession to make.

"It's true, as a child I did like baking cakes," he said Tuesday. "But now I am totally focused on my training."

Japan's homegrown wrestlers may wish he stayed by the oven.

Kotooshu is one of a growing number of foreign-born fighters who have put a stranglehold on Japan's national sport, dominating the top positions, winning virtually all of the yearly titles and shoving the local talent out of the spotlight.

The coveted rank of yokozuna, or grand champion, is now held by Mongolia's Asashoryu -- who has won eight of the past nine tournaments. Two of the five wrestlers in the sport's second-highest rank of ozeki, or champion, are also foreigners -- Kotooshu and newly promoted Hakuho, another Mongolian.

Though the foreign stars have devoted followings of fans and have energized the ring with their strength and speed, the failure of Japanese wrestlers to provide much competition has generated a good deal of hand-wringing in the Japan Sumo Association, which oversees the professional sport.

Ticket sales have been declining, it is becoming harder for sumo to find young recruits and TV ratings have fallen significantly compared with a decade or so ago, when Japanese were still more of a factor in the six annual tournaments.

Hopes of a Japanese revival were boosted before the most recent tournament, last month, but were then dashed when ozeki Tochiazuma placed third behind Asashoryu and Hakuho. Kotooshu, coming off an injury, finished the 15-day tournament with a mediocre 9-6 record.

"I think the popularity of sumo is recovering compared with a year or so ago," said Sadogatake, a former wrestler who runs the "stable" where Kotooshu trains. "But it will be hard without the rise of a strong Japanese wrestler."

Sadogatake added, however, that he believes the number of foreigners in the sport now is about right _ each stable is limited to having just one on its roster, for about 60 altogether.

"That rule was suggested by my predecessor, so I can't say anything about it," Sadogatake quipped during a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan.

Kotooshu -- born Mahlyanov Kaloyan Stefanov -- had no comment on the impact of foreigners like himself, saying only that he is happy to be competing.

The 24-year-old has risen up the sumo ranks faster than any wrestler before him, reaching champion status in just over three years. He is a sought-after personality on TV commercials and has been named a goodwill ambassador for the EU, which Bulgaria is to join next year.

He added, however, that sumo can be a very unforgiving sport.

"The matches are over very fast -- as soon as a bout starts it is over," he said. "You can't make any mistakes. I think that is the hardest thing to get used to about sumo." (By Eric Talmadge, AP)

Beckhams of sumo infuse foreign flavour
ZEENEWS.COM, 13 April 2006

Little did Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov know as he was growing up in Bulgaria that he would someday walk around Japanese temples dressed in a thick silk loin-cloth.

But it is all part of normal day in the life of the 23 year old sumo champion -- now called Kotooshu which uses the Chinese characters for "European harp" -- as he attended the annual prayer offerings at the holy Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo.

Kotooshu last year became the first European to rise to sumo's second-highest rank, in sign of the dominance of foreigners in the ancient Japanese sport.

The tallest grappler in the sport at 2.04 metres (6 ft 8 in), has become something of a national sensation in Japan, not only due to his performance in the ring but also because of his good looks, which have earned him the nickname "Beckham of sumo".

At a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday (April 12), Kotooshu and his stable master Sadagatake entertained foreign press, trying to clarify one of Japan's most traditional sports.

"The bout is very rapid that is the hard part. Its often over before you know whether you've won or not or made a mistake. That's the hardest bit," the Bulgarian said, comparing sumo to wrestling in a Japanese learned since his sumo debut in 2002.

Kotooshu was a Bulgarian wrestling champion aiming to compete in the Olympics, but had to give up his dream after rule changes limited the weight of wrestlers to under 120 kg (265 lb).

The sumo association limits sumo stables, where wrestlers live and train under a master, to only one foreign wrestler, saying the rule is necessary to maintain the traditions of Japan's national sport.

"I can't really comment about this rule because the person that decided to allocate one position for foreign wrestlers (per stable) is my predecessor," added Kotooshu's stable master Sadagatake.

"I am a foreigner so I can't comment on that," Kotooshu added with perfect traditional Japanese deferrence to his superior.

Despite his modesty, Kotooshu has been the quickest wrestler to reach the ozeki rank.

Sumo has been hit by waves of foreign invasions, first by the Hawaiians in the 1980s, then by the Mongolians in the 1990s and now by the Europeans.

The pioneer was American Jesse Kuhaulua, who entered the sumo world in 1964 and fought under the name Takamiyama.

The sport, which some historians say dates back 2,000 years, may even soon witness its first wrestler with a blond top knot.

Professional sumo now has 58 foreign-born wrestlers from 12 countries, ranging from nearby South Korea to as far away as Brazil. The latest additions are mostly from Eastern Europe.

While the participation of foreigners raised eyebrows in the conservative sumo world in the past, opposition has faded in recent years and the rivalry between Asashoryu and Kotooshu is being credited with a slight recovery in the sport's popularity.

"I am happy that foreigners are entering the ranks in the sumo world, but I wish to see the Japanese wrestlers do better and raise the level of the competition," one sumo fan told reporters at the annual Yasukuni shrine sumo tournament.

Many young Japanese are reluctant to enter the rigid world of sumo, and commentators say more Europeans, especially those from countries where wrestling is popular, are likely to test their skills in the sumo ring.

Asashoryu, who still reigns supreme at the top echelon of "yokozuna", has just made history by winning a recent tournament -- becoming the first wrestler to win seven Emperor's Cups in a row -- is Mongolian.