Word: wakanohana
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...DIED. MITSURU HANADA, 55, slight but skillful grappler hailed as the "Prince of Sumo" for his courageous style and good looks; from oral cancer; in Tokyo. A trim 100 kg, Hanada?who fought as Ozeki Takanohana I?followed his grand-champion elder brother Wakanohana I into the dohyo (ring), reaching the sport's ?lite division at age 18 and attracting a spirited fan base over his 16-year career. After retiring in 1981, Hanada became director of the Japan Sumo Association; he is the father of two grand champions of the 1990s, Wakanohana III and Takanohana...
...wrestling in his father's stable, Takanohana quickly grew to dominate sumo, winning his first championship at the record age of 19 and earning the coveted title of yokozuna at 22. When he wasn't shoving overmatched opponents around like a human bulldozer, Takanohana?together with his older brother, Wakanohana?charmed the nation with his good looks and pop-star persona. "Taka" had the bluest of sumo blood (both his father and his uncle were high-level wrestlers), but it was his superstar celebrity outside the ring?the magazine covers, the celebrated love affairs, the lurid tabloid details?that humanized...
...century about the two-sport athlete. Bo Jackson. Deion Sanders. Michael Jordan. Perhaps it was '90s irrational exuberance that caused American jocks to ask themselves: Why excel at just one sport when you could be mediocre at two? That had economists wondering if 30-year-old retired sumo wrestler WAKANOHANA's hankering to play in the NFL could be a harbinger of impending Japanese prosperity. The former grand champion has said he's been more attracted to the gridiron than the dojo since boyhood. It would definitely be a career boost; since retiring last year, Waka has shilled for pain...
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