“Sandstorm” Oosunaarashi takes home victory in Club Sumo event in New Jersey
In the second edition of Club Sumo, âSandstormâ Oosunaarashi took home first place as he bested a field of 12 competitors in tournament action Thursday night from White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, N.J. and streamed live on TrillerTV.
After a second-place finish at Club Sumo 1, âSandstormâ returned determined to take home the championship and went up against fellow Egyptian countryman Abdelrahman Elsafy in the decisive final. After Elsafy scored a surprise push out in the first match, âSandstormâ locked in and controlled the final two bouts, finally pushing Elsafy out of the ring to clinch his victory.
âThis is what I do, Iâm a champion,â said Oosunaarashi. âIâm born for this. Thatâs why Iâm the winner here. Thatâs what Iâm going to do again on February 18.â
This event was the second of three tournaments taking place in New Jersey in January and February featuring Sumo from around the world and that will eventually lead to the crowning of the first ever International Sumo League (ISL) World Champion. Next for these competitors is the blockbuster debut of World Championship Sumo on Sunday, February 18 from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Tickets for the live event at Prudential Center are available through Ticketmaster.com.
Here are the full results from Thursdayâs Sumo tournament that consisted of best out of three battles (number in parentheses indicated seed):
OPENING ROUND
(7) Mohamed Kamal defeats (6) Alysson Salles 2-0
(5) Abdelrahman Elsafy defeats (8) Brennen Moorefield 2-0
(4) Kamal Basira defeats (9) Hassan Omer 2-0
(3) Rui Junior defeats (10) Matt Kramer 2-0
(2) Oosunaarashi defeats (11) Jim Grammer 2-0
(1) Soslan Gagloev defeats (12) Mike Saudino 2-0
*Omer and Salles advance as Wild Cards
QUARTERFINALS
(5) Abdelrahman Elsafy defeats (4) Kamal Basira 2-1
(3) Rui Junior defeats (6) Alysson Salles 2-0
(2) Oosunaarashi defeats (9) Hassan Omer 2-1
(1) Soslan Gagloev defeats (7) Mohamed Kamal 2-0
SEMIFINALS
(5) Abdelrahman Elsafy  defeats (1) Soslan Gagloev 2-1
(2) Oosunaarashi defeats (3) Rui Junior 2-0
THIRD-PLACE MATCH
(1) Soslan Gagloev defeats (3) Rui Junior 2-0
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
(2) Oosunaarashi defeats (5) Abdelrahman Elsafy 2-1