Sumos in town, let's get ready to rumble
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-04 08:49

They are the big men of world sport, they are in Beijing and they mean business.

Japanese sumo champion Yokozuna Asashoryu arrives in Beijing with fellow combatants, June 3, 2004. [newsphoto]

A 111-member delegation of Japanese sumo wrestlers, referees, ringside judges, ushers and medical staff touched down in Beijing Thursday to beef up celebrations for the 30th anniversary of air links between China and Japan.

The colossal combatants include the top-ranked Yokozuna Asashoryu, 23, who captured his third straight Emperor's Cup on May 23, at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka.

The man-mountains will clash on Saturday and Sunday at the Beijing Capital Stadium.

Sumo wrestling, the national sport of Japan, has a history of 1,500 years.

The first sumo delegation visited China in 1973 to celebrate the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Thursday, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao expressed a warm welcome for the arrival of the sumos, saying he hopes there will be more exchanges in various fields in the future.

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