TOKYO, May 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING DETAILS, QUOTES)
Bulgarian yogurt is no longer the country's most well-known export to Japan.
That honor belongs to Kotooshu, who exorcised his own demons in defeating Mongolian Ama to claim the title with a 13-1 record at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday to enter the history books as the first European wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup.
The Bulgarian ozeki, whose real name is Kaloyan Mahlyanov, was a ball of nerves in falling to a first lost against Aminishiki with a chance to take home the spoils a day earlier but made no mistakes against his diminutive sekiwake opponent on the 14th day.
Kotooshu came flying out of the crouch, getting both arms wrapped around Ama's mawashi before tackling his opponent from behind at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Ama slipped to 9-5.
"I have no words to express. I am so happy. I finally did it," said Kotooshu, who took 34 tournaments from his sumo debut -- the seventh fastest -- to win the Emperor's Cup.
Kotooshu entered the 15-day meet with one goal in mind -- getting a majority of wins to maintain his ozeki status. But the 25-year-old has been on fire, conquering both yokozuna in en route to matching his previous best winning streak of 12-0 as a sekiwake at the 2005 autumn basho.
"I had to put yesterday behind me and just focused on the match. I was really moved," said Kotooshu, whose father Stefanov stood from the crowd and waved a Bulgarian flag after his son's victory.
Kotooshu became the seventh foreign wrestler to win a title, following in the footsteps of the likes of former Hawaiian yokozuna Akebono and Musashimaru and Mongolians Asashoryu and Hakuho.
"I still can't believe it. My mind is a blank. I am reminded of all of the hardship I've been through. I let so many chances before slip through my hands," said Kotooshu, who has struggled with "small-scale" sumo and injuries in recent years since gaining promotion to ozeki at the 2005 Kyushu meet.
In other key bouts, Asashoryu (10-4) made short work of Kotomitsuki (7-7), slamming down his ozeki opponent to put three straight defeats behind him while rival yokozuna Hakuho demolished ozeki Kaio (8-6) in a frontal assault to improve to 11-3.
Kisenosato squished Aminishiki like a grape, leaving both men at 9-5, while Russian youngster Wakanoho (7-7) could have won an academy award for his theatrics in pulling off a sneaky "henka" maneuver against Kotoshogiku (7-7).
Earlier, crowd favorite Takamisakari fell to a majority of losses when he was swatted down by Tamakasuga, who improved to 7-7.
Kakizoe (6-8) won a match by default against Russian wrestler Roho (8- 6), who pulled out of the Tokyo meet the same day, citing pain in his lower back.
Hokutoriki deployed an inventive leaping "ushiromotare" backward lean out maneuver on Homasho to improve to 10-4 while leaving his opponent on 8-6.
Original story here: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90RVIVG1&show_article=1
