Ōsunaarashi Kintarō
| 大砂嵐 金崇郎 Ōsuna-arashi Kintarō |
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Ōsunaarashi after winning makushita division in May 2013
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Abdelrahman Alaa Eldin Mohamed Ahmed Shalan February 10, 1992 Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt |
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 158 kg (348 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Ōtake |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January, 2012 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 1 (November, 2015) |
| Championships | 1 (Jonokuchi) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jūryō) |
| Gold Stars | 3 Harumafuji (2) Kakuryū |
| * Up to date as of Jan 22, 2016. | |
Ōsunaarashi (大砂嵐金崇郎?) (born February 10, 1992 as Abdelrahman Shalan) is a sumo wrestler from Egypt. He is the first pro sumo wrestler from the African continent. Ōsunaarashi, whose chosen ring name translates into English as "great sandstorm", rose quickly through the unsalaried ranks, gaining the interest of Japanese media and popularity among sumo fans. Ōsunaarashi was promoted to the top tier makuuchi division for the November 2013 tournament. He emerged victorious from his first two matches against yokozuna ranked wrestlers in July 2014. He is the most senior ranked wrestler in his stable.
Shalan was born in the Dakahlia Governorate, near Cairo, Egypt. He was raised in the suburbs of Giza and as a youth showed an interest in bodybuilding. Through an acquaintance, he became involved in amateur sumo at the age of sixteen. In 2008, he won the silver medal in the sumo championships in Estonia, and the following year won the gold medal in an amateur championships in Bulgaria. In 2010 in earned a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Estonia. He entered university as an accounting major, but still felt drawn by his love for sumo. He decided to come to Japan in August 2011. He tried out at a number of sumo stables, and was eventually accepted by Ōtake stable. He accompanied the stable to tournaments and exhibitions as an observer while learning Japanese and procuring his visa.
Ōsunaarashi was allowed to participate in maezumō in the January 2012 tournament, and he debuted as a professional sumo wrestler in the following May tournament in Ōsaka at the rank of jonokuchi 5. He took the championship in this tournament with a perfect record of 7-0. He missed his first day of the next tournament in July 2012 due to a phlegmon inflammation, but was able to recover and return to the tournament to win all but one of his remaining bouts. From the September tournament onward he was very successful, never posting more than two losses in a tournament. In the May 2013 tournament he was promoted to a career best rank of makushita 7 and with a 7-0 perfect record took his second championship procuring his promotion to the salaried ranks of jūryō for the July tournament. Many sumo wrestlers struggle after reaching this professional ranks, but two consecutive 10-5 tournament records in this division earned him promotion to the highest ranked makuuchi division for the November 2013 tournament.
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