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| Tokushoryu win: Underdog sumo wrestler celebrates unexpected win with tears | Tokushoryu win: Underdog sumo wrestler celebrates unexpected win with tears |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| No-one could have predicted the victory of sumo wrestler Tokushoryu - the lowest ranked competitor at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. | No-one could have predicted the victory of sumo wrestler Tokushoryu - the lowest ranked competitor at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. |
| But win he did and burst into tears after beating his opponent in a rare public display of emotion. | But win he did and burst into tears after beating his opponent in a rare public display of emotion. |
| He ended the 15-day contest on Sunday with 14 wins and one defeat. | He ended the 15-day contest on Sunday with 14 wins and one defeat. |
| His victory means Tokushoryu is the first bottom-ranked sumo wrestler to win a top-division title since March 2000. | |
| The wrestler - who weighs 188kg (414lb) and is 1.81m (5ft93) tall - beat his opponent Takakeisho, a champion wrestler, out of the dohyo ring at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan stadium. | The wrestler - who weighs 188kg (414lb) and is 1.81m (5ft93) tall - beat his opponent Takakeisho, a champion wrestler, out of the dohyo ring at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan stadium. |
| After his victory, some spectators described how he was crying one minute, laughing the next. | After his victory, some spectators described how he was crying one minute, laughing the next. |
| In a post-win interview, the 33-year-old said: "I might have cried too much, but at that moment I felt relieved from all the pressure," Kyodo news agency quotes him as saying. | |
| "Deep down I'm feeling like: 'Is it ok for me to win the championship?' I was the lowest-ranking fighter, so I had nothing to fear. I just had to give it everything I had." | "Deep down I'm feeling like: 'Is it ok for me to win the championship?' I was the lowest-ranking fighter, so I had nothing to fear. I just had to give it everything I had." |
| After seizing the tournament's lead on Saturday, he said he had recited the sumo mantra to himself: "I'm not focused on the championship." | After seizing the tournament's lead on Saturday, he said he had recited the sumo mantra to himself: "I'm not focused on the championship." |
| He also said the death of his coach - which he learnt of halfway through the tournament - was another thing that spurred him on to victory. | He also said the death of his coach - which he learnt of halfway through the tournament - was another thing that spurred him on to victory. |
| He then decided he should win the tournament "for him", he said. | He then decided he should win the tournament "for him", he said. |
| He had previously spent 12 of sumo's previous 13 grand tournaments in the second-tier juryo division, Kyodo reports. | |
| "Since the start [of the tournament], I'd been thinking if I give it all I have, that will be plenty," he said. | "Since the start [of the tournament], I'd been thinking if I give it all I have, that will be plenty," he said. |
| "If I do my best on the opening charge, I can live with the results that follow. I'd done it my way all along, and the final day was the same." | "If I do my best on the opening charge, I can live with the results that follow. I'd done it my way all along, and the final day was the same." |
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