Royal Albert Hall to host Grand Sumo Tournament
The Grand Sumo Tournament has landed at London’s Royal Albert Hall, marking only the second time in history that a full sumo competition has taken place outside Japan.
Forty of Japan’s top wrestlers — a combined six tons of elite athletes — are competing in the five-day event, forcing organizers to make unusual preparations, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“We had to buy new chairs that hold up to 200kg and even reinforce the toilets,” said Matthew Todd, the venue’s programming director. “Don’t even ask about the rice bill.”
The Royal Albert Hall has been transformed into a traditional sumo dohyo, complete with a five-meter clay ring and a six-ton wooden roof flown in from Japan. The event, first staged in London in 1991, was revived after years of planning by British promoter Martin Campbell-White and Hakkaku Rijicho, the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association — and the winner of that 1991 tournament.
Sumo rarely ventures beyond Japan, but this London edition features the sport’s biggest stars, including Hoshoryu Tomokatsu and Onosato Daiki, the newly crowned yokozuna (grand champion). Despite describing London as “chilly,” Onosato said he’s thrilled to be there — especially as a Harry Potter fan.
Tickets for the event sold out quickly, with a special banner already hung in the Hall to thank fans for the full house — proof that even in London, sumo is a heavyweight attraction.
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