NAGOYA - Ukrainian dynamo Aonishiki captured his third top-division title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday, winning a three-way championship playoff against fellow sekiwake Atamifuji and Mongolian-born ozeki Kirishima after the trio finished deadlocked at 12-3.
Aonishiki's gritty playoff victory capped off a remarkable performance by the 22-year-old, who secured automatic repromotion to ozeki by reaching the 10-win benchmark at the 15-day tournament while laboring with a painful foot condition.
Having started the final day at IG Arena with the outright lead, he was brought back to the pack with his loss to 187-centimeter, 197-kilogram Shizuoka Prefecture native Atamifuji, who bulldozed the young European star off the raised ring.
Kirishima, trying to strengthen his case for yokozuna promotion, then booked his place in the tiebreaker by forcing out fellow ozeki Kotozakura (8-7).
The three joint leaders drew lots for their starting order in the playoff, in which the first wrestler to win two consecutive bouts would be crowned winner.
Atamifuji forced out Kirishima in the first playoff match after delivering another devastating initial charge, but he was unable to repeat the performance in the second bout, giving up the momentum to Aonishiki and succumbing to a force out.
Having beaten Kirishima two days earlier, Aonishiki once again outmaneuvered the ozeki in the third playoff battle, getting a deep inside grip at the jump and forcing him over the straw bales.
Aonishiki fell to sekiwake after an ankle injury prompted his absence from the entire May tournament, for which he was ranked as a demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki following his 7-8 performance while dealing with foot trouble in March.
"I had spoken with my stablemaster (ahead of the meet) and we set the target of not just aiming for the 10 wins but the championship, so I'm really happy to have won the title," said Aonishiki, who also beat Atamifuji in a playoff to secure his second Emperor's Cup in January.
"I went down to sekiwake with the injury and was spiting myself, with all the bitterness and regrets, but I told myself it was not going to end here."
Injury-hampered yokozuna Onosato (9-6) wrapped up a disappointing tournament on a positive note by beating sekiwake Kotoshoho (6-9).
Having missed most of the March tourney and the entire May competition with left shoulder trouble, the five-time Emperor's Cup winner looked far from his imposing best in Nagoya.
Fellow grand champion Hoshoryu (7-7-1) withdrew from a second straight tournament, pulling out on Day 14 after aggravating the right hamstring injury that sidelined him in May.
Sekiwake Wakatakakage, champion of the May tournament, did not compete in Nagoya after undergoing emergency surgery for compartment syndrome stemming from a training injury suffered in the leadup to the meet.
