Aonishiki's new mawashi

[Moti Dichne]

Until day 11, Aonishiki had been wearing a blue mawashi, as per his shikona (Ao is blue in Japanese). He suddenly changed his mawashi from today. His new mawashi is black. He had actually inherited this mawashi which was worn by his Oyakata, Ajigawa toward the end of his career, four days ago, and began wearing it on the dohyo from today onward. Today he got his fourth consecutive win. While some sekitori change their mawashi to change bad luck, it's extremely rare for someone to do so while on a winning streak. After the match, Aonishiki immediately replied, "There's no particular reason." He also calmly stated, "I don't care about that sort of thing," even when he is on a winning streak.  "Since I had the opportunity to wear it, I wanted to wear it. It would be a waste not to wear it." Since receiving it from his respected Oyakata, he had been wearing it every morning during keiko, getting used to it. The length was slightly off, but "it wasn't enough to cut (his mawashi)," and it fit perfectly. Above all, he said, "We've been doing this together," and there was a strange sense of familiarity between the two of them, as they have a master-disciple relationship after all. For the second tournament in a row, he is in the sole lead in his quest for back to back yushos and the first yusho as a new Ozeki in 20 years. But nothing seems to have changed. "I'm not particularly worried. I have three more matches. I'll concentrate hard." He already knows how to win. Aonishiki has emerged as the favorite to win it all. [Takada Bunta]