Newly crowned Spring Grand Sumo Tournament champion Takerufuji said Monday that a flood of good wishes from friends and family brought home the reality of his historic victory at Edion Arena Osaka.
The bottom-ranked No. 17 maegashira on Sunday became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a championship in his top-division debut, finishing the 15-day tournament with a 13-2 record.
"While being contacted by so many different people, I realized I really did win," Takerufuji said at a news conference in Osaka.