Akebono brings weight to bear on first tournament
HAWAII-BORN Akebono justified his recent promotion to yokozuna (grand champion) with a convincing triumph in the first of two sumo tournaments at the Hongkong Coliseum last night.
None of Akebono's first four opponents - Kyokudozan, Mitoizumi, Tamakairiki and Takamisugi - lasted more than three seconds in the ring as he bulldozed his way to the final.
Only the highly promising Takanohana, recently promoted ozeki (champion), offered the towering 2.04-metre Akebono any resistance before he was thrown to the ground within 10 seconds in the final.
Wakahanada caused the only first-round upset when he pushed sekiwake (junior champion proper) Musashimaru out of the ring. The maegashira (top division player), however, was defeated in his next match by Tamakairiki.
But it was ''pint sized'' Mainoumi, the lightest of the 40 rikishis (sumo wrestlers), who captured the hearts of the fans.
The 95-kilogram Mainoumi thrusted the gigantic 201-kilogram Toyonoumi out of the ring in his opening bout and followed it up by beating Naminohana before he bowed out to eventual finalist Takanohana after a relatively long half-minute match.
Tochinowaka turned out to be the ''giantkiller'' of the tournament with a second-round win over Daishoho, a komusubi (junior champion, second grade). He then went on to score a stunning upset over the colossal Konishiki, a 263-kilogram ozeki who was seeded to meet Akebono in the final.
But Takanohana, the youngest ever ozeki at only 20, stopped Tochinowaka in the semi-final.
The action continues today with a second tournament at the Hongkong Coliseum and again a near-capacity crowd is expected at the 12,000-seat stadium in Hung Hom.
