Kotooshu: Bekham Looks Like Me

Kotooshu devouring yogurt in a posh Japanese hotel. The Bulgarian sumo wrestler became the advertising face of the milk product Photo AFP/BGNES

By David Pilling in the Financial Times

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu, assured of promotion to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki, said Monday he is happy to have turned in a convincing performance in a pressure-packed situation at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.

Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu (center), who has been assured of promotion to ozeki, poses with Miyabiyama (left) and Tochinohana after winning the Outstanding Performance Prize at the conclusion of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament o­n Sunday at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

"It was a very long 15 days," Kotooshu said a day after finishing the tournament with an 11-4 record, which was convincing enough for sumo officials to make him the first European-born ozeki.

"I'm glad I was able to produce such a good result in the final tournament for stablemaster Sadogatake," Kotooshu said, referring to his mentor who reached the retirement age of 65 during the 15-day meet at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

Kotooshu's promotion is scheduled to be approved at a Japan Sumo Association executive committee meeting o­n Wednesday.

He has appeared in 19 tournaments since his debut in November 2002 -- the quickest to reach the ozeki rank since 1958 when sumo introduced the current system of having six tournaments a year.

Yokozuna Asashoryu held the previous record of 22 tournaments.

"I didn't even know the word 'ozeki' three years ago and I'll just go o­n with my sumo career," Kotooshu said in a packed news conference attended by about 70 reporters.

The 22-year-old added he has already thought about what he will say to a messenger who will convey the JSA's decision to him o­n Wednesday.

No wrestler has been denied promotion to ozeki after the executive committee was convened in similar cases.

JSA Chairman Kitanoumi had earlier suggested Kotooshu would need at least 10 wins in the Kyushu tournament to be considered for promotion after going 12-3 and 13-2 in the previous two tournaments while staying in contention for the Emperor's Cup until a very late stage both times.

Wrestling as a sekiwake, the third-highest rank o­n the sumo ladder, he lost his opening-day bout in the Kyushu meet and failed to keep pace with eventual winner Asashoryu.

But Kotooshu handed the Mongolian grand champion his o­nly loss of the tournament and went o­n to defeat ozeki Chiyotaikai o­n his way to meeting the JSA's loosely set promotion standard for ozeki candidates -- roughly 33 wins or more in three meets.

Kotooshu received the Outstanding Performance Prize and the Fighting Spirit Prize for his strong showing in Fukuoka.

The image of the silent but deadly giant whose hobby growing up in Bulgaria was baking cakes soaked in caramel fudge must be reconciled.

Ozeki Kotooshu is looking to end yokozuna Asashoryu's record winning streak of seven tournament titles when action gets under way at the New Year Basho in Tokyo.

The man has soared sumo's ladder faster than any wrestler in history. He is endowed with physical attributes unrivaled in the elite makuuchi division.

But the question of steely nerves and coolness under fire remains. When push comes to shove, can newly promoted ozeki Kotooshu actually win a championship with classroom bully Asashoryu lurking, o­nce again, ominously in the wings?

Unlike the fiery Mongolian grand champion, who will be aiming for an unprecedented eighth straight Emperor's Cup when the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament kicks off Sunday, Kotooshu seems to lack the o­ne critical element necessary to destine him for legendary status.

Killer instinct.

Taiho definitely had it. Chiyonofuji, Kitanoumi, Takanohana and all of the great yokozuna of yore possessed it.

If it exists somewhere beneath his fluffy surface, Kotooshu must let it out in its full fury at the Jan. 8-22 meet at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena.

Anything less would be an insult to the yokozuna, who despite losing twice to Kotooshu last year (and beating him five times), still views him as far from a finished product.

"I want to test my strength against the new ozeki," Asashoryu said with a cheeky laugh before kicking off training at the end of the year in December. "I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm not looking at a mountain far off in the distance but right at the rocks lying at my feet."

Kotooshu, who went 11-4 at the Kyushu meet in November, became the first European to reach ozeki status, and his meteoric rise to sumo's second-highest rank after just 19 meets is the fastest since 1958, when sumo switched to the current system of six tournaments in a year. Asashoryu held the previous record of 22.

Last September, Kotooshu blew his chance for a championship title when he squandered a two-lead cushion before he was handed an emphatic defeat by the yokozuna in a playoff.

Critics argue that Kotooshu lacks real guts, owing much of his success to his towering 204-cm frame and a well-developed overarm technique that he relies o­n heavily, especially when pushed to the ring's edge.

Although he beat Asashoryu in July by the slimmest of margins, Kotooshu finally showed something resembling fierceness when he defeated the yokozuna with a solid victory o­n the 13th day in November.

But Asashoryu, who became the first man to win all six titles in a year and posted a record 84 wins with just six losses in 2005, manhandled the newly crowned ozeki in a pre-tournament training, slamming his opponent to the clay in several warmup matches.

"I don't feel any pressure at this basho. I felt tons of pressure last meet," said Kotooshu, referring to his run at ozeki, adding, "The basho itself is more important than my practices."

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) The Japan Sumo Association approved the promotion of Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu to ozeki o­n Wednesday, making him the first European to reach the sport's second-highest rank.

Bulgarian Kotooshu celebrates becoming the first-ever European to gain promotion to the sumo rank of ozeki with some young wrestlers from his Sadogatake stable.

Kotooshu's promotion was endorsed unanimously by the JSA executives and officials who worked o­n the rankings for the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in January. The 22-year-old is the fifth foreign-born ozeki and the first wrestler to earn ozeki promotion since Asashoryu in July 2002.

"I am pleased to accept (the promotion). I will train vigorously to live up to my position as ozeki," Kotooshu said to the officials the JSA sent to his Sadogatake stable in Fukuoka to convey the decision.

"I'm relieved to be released from all the pressure," he told reporters afterward. "I'll do my best to be a strong ozeki looking to move up o­ne more notch in the rankings. The yokozuna and everybody else are all my rivals and I don't want to lose to any of them."

Kotooshu, whose real name is Kaloyan Mahlyanov, has appeared in 19 tournaments since his debut in November 2002, making him the quickest to reach the rank of ozeki since 1958, when sumo switched to the current system of having six tournaments a year.

Mongolian Asashoryu, currently wrestling at the highest rank of yokozuna, held the previous record of 22 tournaments.

"Moving up the rankings at such a quick pace shows he has great talent and hopefully he will try harder in order to meet everyone's expectations and become a yokozuna," JSA Chairman Kitanoumi said.

Kotooshu was virtually assured of ozeki rank after finishing the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament o­n Sunday with an 11-4 record following his impressive showings of 12-3 and 13-2 in the previous two tournaments.

The combined 36 wins over the three meets surpassed the JSA's loosely set promotion standard for ozeki candidates -- roughly 33 wins or more in three meets. In the process, Kotooshu stayed in title contention until a very late stage in July and September.

His performance was particularly convincing in the autumn meet in September, when he looked set to become the first wrestler from Europe to capture the Emperor's Cup before surrendering a two-win lead and losing to Asashoryu in a championship playoff.

In the Kyushu meet, he wrestled as a sekiwake, the third-highest rank o­n the sumo ladder, for the second time in a row and lost his first-day bout and failed to keep pace with eventual winner Asashoryu.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso o­n Wednesday presented popular Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu with a collection of sumo loin clothes and sumo equipment that Japan is donating to the Bulgarian Sumo Federation to upgrade the country's sumo infrastructure.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso hands Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu a list of gifts, worth 6.3 million yen, that Japan is donating to the Bulgarian Sumo Federation to upgrade the country's sumo equipment.

The gift, worth 6.3 million yen, includes 150 pieces of loin clothes, seven sumo rings and a sumo mat, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Aso thanked the Bulgarian ozeki during the presentation ceremony held at his office for his efforts in "internationalizing sumo."

Kotooshu, who received the donation o­n behalf of the Bulgarian Sumo Federation, expressed his thanks for the gift and said, "Please come to Bulgaria and see the sumo rings."

The Bulgarian Sumo Federation has 512 sumo wresters, many of whom have been successful in European and world sumo championships.

Bulgarian Ambassador to Japan Blagovest Sendov, who also attended the presentation ceremony, joked that he was actually the No. 2 ambassador next to Kotooshu, alluding to the wrestler's fame in Japan, which has raised the profile of their country.