Osunaarashi's win against two yokozuna at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament last July generated a lot of excitement and boosted the Egyptian's hopes that with the victory, he was one step closer to attaining the professional sport's highest rank.
The 22-year-old maegashira — the lowest of the five ranks in the makuuchi top division of the six divisions of professional sumo — said, however, that just a few years ago he "was not very serious" about becoming a pro sumo wrestler.
When Osunaarashi, Japan's first sumo wrestler from the African continent, made his initial overseas foray into the ring as a youth, he assumed brawn alone was the only and undeniable weapon a wrestler needed to force his opponent out.