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that are regarded as top academic institutions almost never achieving success athletically.
Tokyo University has had the current sumo club for about 30 years and is run by a Mr. Nitta. When I asked if any former rikishi had entered professional sumo, there was some scratching of heads before one member of the club told me that, as far as he knew, the only person ever to make it to Ozumo from a public university (which Tokyo University is) was Ichinoya, who came from Ryukyu University in Okinawa. Even that was a special case as Ichinoya had to start up the sumo club in the university himself and he had set his mind on becoming a rikishi even before he entered third level education. Fast forward to the word championships in Osaka on Sunday, the 16th of October and I again meet Petr where he is psyching himself up before his first bout. He is still friendly and, as always, gives a cheery hello – but as I mentioned appears quite tense. After he lost to his Bulgarian opponent in the first round, I showed Petr ![]() |
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a picture of the tachiai I had taken on my digital camera. In it you could see that Petr’s hands were high, and with his opponent appearing to have a wrestling background, he was able to come in low and grab the legs for a takedown. When the two faced off the second time, Petr kept his hands low and managed to get both inside, but as he reached for the full double
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inside grip, the Bulgarian pivoted around and using his impressive strength, threw Petr down.
The day, however, was not all doom and gloom as Petr managed impressive wins over opponents from Finland and New Zealand, driving both out Next Home ![]() |
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![]() Petr at the World Championships |
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