In a sports world where composure and respect are at the forefront, Egypt’s Abdelrahman Elsefy finish brought forth a drastic change of pace for the gold-medal sumo match of the men’s lightweight division of the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
Following his winning sequence against Ukraine’s Demid Karachenko, Elsefy completed a backflip inducing raucous applause from the Birmingham crowd. Due to the ancient sport and it’s composed, honorable history, the celebration was met with surprise by supporters and the ringside announcer as well as the ref and judges.
After some discussion over what was considered excessive celebration and unsportsmanlike conduct, the ref and judges decided to disqualify Elsefy. The decision was met with an aggressive outburst from Elsefy’s coach, Abdelrahman Shalan, screaming at what seemed like everyone in the arena. Long-respected ringside announcer, Katrina Watts, had never experienced anything like this in her 30 years of involvement with sumo.
“I’ve been involved with sumo for more than 30 years, and this is a first time for me…Really, I can’t tell you how exciting that was for a little old sumo announcer.”
Watts isn’t just a ringside announcer for the sport, she is an icon in the sumo community. She has traveled around the world for the last 30 years commentating. She speaks multiple languages and has an influence on the sport wherever she goes. As this ordeal was playing out, she could be heard on the microphone repeating, “Respect sumo. Respect sumo.” The sport is her passion, but even she couldn’t deny the excitement that was brought forth by Elsefy’s coach.
In his skull-emblazoned tank top, Shalan was met with five police officers as they tried to usher him off the dohyo. The outburst led the judges and ref to re-evaluate their decision and decided upon a rematch. Elsefy pulled off the win again by a literal toe as Karachenko’s left the ring first.
While Shalan is not known for coaching - he started the night before the match - he is known for his skills on the dohyo as the first African sumo wrestler. His ring name? Osuna-arashi Kintaro. The translation to English is “Great Sandstorm” and a storm he brought. In an interview with Joseph Goodman from Alabama.com, Shalan shared “he knew the chaos he caused was wrong, and against the sumo code, but also he knew he had to do what he felt was right.”
When the U.S. was announced to host the World Games this summer, it is quite easy to assume that sumo was not going to be what brought the spotlight to Birmingham, but with the fireworks that happened inside Boutwell Auditorium, eyes may be turning their attention to the remainder of the Games. And while Shalan’s outburst is likely to be criticized within the sumo world, the “negative” publicity the sport is receiving is still publicity.
Could the “Great Sandstorm” be the spark that sumo needs to get on the map in more areas of the world? Time will tell.
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