Yokozuna Asashoryu retires 横綱朝青龍の引退
After Asashoryu won the January sumo tournament, I predicted it would be his last time being grand champion, never imagining that it would be due to his retirement. I should have put some money down on that guess as he retired today.
Since the tournament he has been under fire for hitting someone in the early morning during the tournament. Then it turned out he lied about who the person was. Now it looks like the Japan Sumo Association may have told Asashoryu that if he didn’t retire, in order to stop making them look bad, they would take some strict actions against him.
Ironically, some may have thought, including myself, that the final day of the tournament may be Kaio’s last bout. Camera flashes were going crazy to capture what were his possible final moments in the ring. As it turns out, we were witness to Asashoryu’s final match, a defeat to Hakuho. Here are some more scenes from Asashoryu’s last tournament day as a professional sumo yokozuna.
Asashoryu’s final yokozuna ring-entrance ceremony (土俵入り) in three parts…
The final stare down between Yokozuna Asashoryu and Yokozuna Hakuho…
The last picture I took of the day… Yokozuna Asashoryu waving the Mongolian flag as he rides away from Ryogoku Kokugikan for the last time as Grand Champion.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:34 am
what a pitty he was great fighter no one can beat him
February 6th, 2010 at 6:02 am
The best Yokozuna in a long time……
He was forced out. The sumo association was just waiting for an opportunity. I saw this coming months ago. Whatever he did, they didn’t like it and just kept attacking him. If he were a Japanese, everything would be tolerated.
February 6th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Actually, other Japanese yokozuna have been forced to retire for lesser infractions and with fewer warnings. Maedayama Eigoro and Koji Kitao are two of them.
He was exciting to watch, but he did things inside the ring too that were uncalled for (late and cheap hits for instance).