Enraged Sumo Coach Osunaarashi Kintaro Protests After Egyptian Wrestler’s Backflip Prompts World Games DQ
On a hot Saturday night in Birmingham, a 23-year-old Egyptian sumo wrestler forced his opponent out of a circle. After winning the gold medal, he shouted in victory and performed an upside down move, to the delight of the audience – and the astonishment of the match officials, who quickly eliminated him for unsportsmanlike behavior.
The call, made this weekend at Alabama’s Boutwell Auditorium, angered wrestler, Abdelrahman Elsefy, who refused to leave the ring. But no one was angrier than his coach, former wrestler Ōsunaarashi Kintarō, who spent the next two minutes expressing his frustration.
“It’s not an act, but the guy is the same character,” said Joseph Goodman, a AL.com The columnist said he watched the melee from 20 feet away. “He even took off his shirt.”
Kintarō, a 30-year-old Egyptian, even stepped into the ring, or dohyō, at one point, causing the female announcer to be harshly rebuked. Footage of the episode shows at least five law enforcement officers surrounding and kicking him off the rug as he continues to scream.
The crowd at the Boutwell Auditorium loudly reacted to the disqualification, which was called “the harshest unsportsmanlike conduct punishment I’ve ever seen” by a staff writer for The Ringer that included members of the team. game. According to Goodman, the audience began cheering in support of Kintarō and his wrestler: “E-gypt! E-gypt! E-gypt! “
The World Games, which include a range of non-Olympic sports (along with sumo, also inline skating, tug of war and korfball), kicked off on Thursday in Birmingham. Saturday night’s light sumo championship match pitted Elsefy against Demid Karachenko, a Ukrainian wrestler.
Karachenko was declared the match winner after Elsefy was disqualified. But the ruling was overturned, according to Goodman, after Kintarō and the crowd protested.
“How much more interesting could it be?” the female announcer asked.
Elsefy and Karachenko heavily equipped each other in the dohyō, prompting the referees to initially declare the Ukrainian the winner of the rematch, according to a journalist for 1819 News. But a replay of the final seconds of the match, which showed Karachenko’s toes touching the carpet outside the first ring, reversed their decision.
Elsefy told Goodman: “I knew I was going to win again.
Karachenko was awarded the silver medal along with his Ukrainian teammate, Sviatoslav Semykras, who was declared the bronze medal winner. When Elsefy stepped onto the podium to accept the gold medal, he was noticeably more reserved, only raising his fist to acknowledge victory.
“He is my son,” Kintarō explained to Goodman. The serious coach added that he has been coaching the 23-year-old for less than a day.
