This Egyptian sumo king wants to conquer the Arab World with his “ugly sport”

The first professional sumo wrestler from the Arab world is hoping to use his meteoric rise up the ranks of the sport he once called “ugly” to spread it throughout Africa and the Middle East.

“Day by day, my fans in the Middle East are growing more and more,” said Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan, often called the first Muslim to enter the ring.

“At the beginning, they said ‘what’s sumo?’ and ‘why did you choose sumo?'” the 22-year-old Egyptian, who goes by the name of “Osunaarashi” (Great Sandstorm), said Wednesday.

“They say, ‘why you choose the sport in which you have to be naked.’ It’s strange for us as Arab people,” he told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

“I want to make sumo famous in my country. So I have to succeed here in Japan,” he said, adding his family and friends talk about his “super-star” status back home.

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This Egyptian sumo king wants to conquer the Arab World with his “ugly sport”

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