Japan's National Sport Wrestles With a Generational Change
Like a wrestler entering the ring, sumo is straddling the brink of a new era.
Japan's national sport seems more popular than ever. Attendance has bounced back from the pandemic; all 90 days of bouts in 2024 were sold out. The Japan Sumo Association, which oversees the sport, is enjoying record revenues. This autumn, it will hold a tournament in London 's Royal Albert Hall, the first outside Japan in 20 years.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Nine things I learned about new Spurs boss Thomas Frank while covering Brentford
Thomas Frank has been announced as Tottenham Hotspur's new head coach. He spent nearly seven years in charge of Brentford and guided them from the Championship into the Premier League. But his latest role will be the biggest challenge of Frank's career. He has no experience of European competition and Spurs are competing in the Champions League next season, while sections of the fanbase and some of the players are upset about Ange Postecoglou's sacking. I covered Brentford's first three seasons in the Premier League and saw plenty of evidence to suggest he can be a success in north London. Here are the nine key things I learned from watching him up close… The list of players who have significantly improved under Frank is a long one. Ollie Watkins transformed from a left-winger into a potent centre-forward. Ivan Toney became an England international, while David Raya evolved into one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and earned a move to Arsenal. Bryan Mbeumo only scored four goals in 35 appearances during Brentford's first season in the top flight. He has since become their star player, scoring 20 times last season. Only Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23) and Erling Haaland (22) scored more. Mikkel Damsgaard struggled with injuries during his first two years with Brentford, but Frank kept believing in him. Frank switched to a 4-2-3-1 system for the 2024-25 campaign, which brought the best out of Damsgaard as he registered 10 assists, the joint-fourth highest in the division. Frank encourages his players to do a lot of individual work on their biggest strengths and weaknesses. He is excellent at subtly tweaking his tactics to maximise a player's potential. Kristoffer Ajer is a great example of this. Brentford signed Ajer from Celtic in July 2021 to mainly play as a centre-back. The Norway international's powerful, surging runs from deep mean he is a fantastic option at right-back and that is where he has produced his best performances. Frank gave Toney a crucial piece of advice when the forward first joined Brentford from Peterborough back in August 2020. 'I tried too hard to try to get the ball in the box,' Toney told The Athletic in July 2021. 'I was trying to do things I wouldn't normally do. But Thomas spoke to me and said, 'Just anticipate where the ball is going to be and where it should be. Nine times out of 10, it doesn't come there, but the 10th time it does. You get a chance and that's the chance you need'. Advertisement 'That was key and I took that on board. That one bit of advice made me score a lot.' In games when Brentford dominated possession and needed to break down a low block, Frank would drop midfielder Vitaly Janelt into the left-sided centre-back role to give them better precision and control on the ball from defence. Then he could deploy a more attacking midfielder ahead of him. Depending on the strength of the opposition, he would alternate between 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 during their first two years in the Premier League. They recorded two victories over Man City in the 2022-23 campaign by eliminating the supply to Erling Haaland. Frank empowers set-piece coaches and Brentford created lots of chances from throw-ins too. It is this attention to detail that will help him to make a positive impact at Spurs. Brentford recorded some incredible results under Frank, including beating Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad in November 2022. Brentford took the lead through Toney but Man City were on top after Phil Foden's equaliser in first-half stoppage time. Frank could have tried to hold on for a point, but he saw an opportunity to win. He sent on Yoane Wissa and Josh Dasilva, and both played a key role in Toney's late winner. The previous year, Brentford were losing at home to fellow newly promoted Watford. Marcus Forss came off the bench to set up Pontus Jansson's equaliser, while fellow substitute Saman Ghoddos won a penalty in the 96th minute that Mbeumo converted. Frank's aggressive substitutions saw Brentford come from behind in the final 10 minutes to secure a crucial victory. He is proactive and always thinking of ways to disrupt the opposition. Frank had an excellent relationship with Brentford's fanbase and would take the entire team with him on a lap of appreciation after every home game. Before their play-off semi-final second leg against Bournemouth in May 2021, he ran around the entire stadium and whipped up the crowd. Following Brentford's famous 2-0 victory over Arsenal on the opening day of the 2021-22 season, he celebrated with a young supporter called Woody, who has Down's syndrome. Brentford's fanbase sing that they are 'just a bus stop in Hounslow'. This was originally a mocking chant aimed at them by Queens Park Rangers supporters, which they now consider to be a badge of honour as it highlights their humble beginnings. Frank would often talk about it in his press conferences, which only endeared him to the supporters even more. He will hope to build a similar bond with Tottenham's fans. One of the biggest differences between Frank and his predecessor Postecoglou, is the way they manage relationships with their players. The reaction from Tottenham's squad to Postecoglou's dismissal showed that they held a lot of affection for him, but the Australian still liked to keep his distance. Advertisement He let his assistants take training and did not enjoy small talk. This was all done on purpose, so he could make team selections without emotional attachment. Frank is the complete opposite. He is warm, friendly and goes out of his way to make players and staff feel welcome. When Nathan Collins made a couple of high-profile errors in a 4-1 defeat against his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers, Frank called him on the way home to offer his support and reiterate he trusted the defender. In an interview with The Athletic last year, former Brentford captain Jansson described Frank as a 'friend for life and the best coach I ever worked with'. 'What a fantastic person he is,' the defender said. 'He comes into rooms and gives people energy. I came here as a guy who wanted to show off and shine. I became a leader and people remember me as a good captain and a good person. The way he changed me, I will never forget.' Just like Postecoglou was known to make crucial phone calls that would convince a target to join his club, Frank played an active role in Brentford's recruitment strategy. He would explain to a potential new signing where they would fit into the starting XI, how their attributes would complement his team-mates and identify areas for improvement. Toney harboured doubts about joining Brentford in the summer of 2020, but Frank convinced him and told the forward he would score at least 25 times. Toney broke the Championship goalscoring record with 31 goals in 45 appearances. Frank's close relationship with Christian Eriksen was vital to the former Spurs midfielder joining Brentford in January 2022 — six months after he had suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at the European Championship. Frank coached Eriksen when he was in charge of Denmark's youth teams and changed Brentford's tactics to suit him. Advertisement He is even willing to interrupt time with his family to convince a player to join his club. 'The first time I spoke to Pontus (Jansson), I was in Denmark,' Frank said in April 2023. 'I was visiting my oldest daughter's boarding school. I was trying to sell this fantastic project on the phone and my wife got angry at me that it took too long, but it was a very good call with Pontus, who felt the project and ambitions we had were a perfect match for him.' Frank has a strong bond with his backroom staff and places a lot of trust in them. He takes the group out for dinner multiple times a year and they regularly watch Champions League games together — now they can look forward to being in that competition with Spurs next season. He is open-minded to their suggestions but will always have the ultimate say. For example, it was assistant Claus Norgaard's idea to convert Keane Lewis-Potter from a left-winger into a full-back. Lewis-Potter was one of Brentford's most consistent performers last season as he flourished in the unfamiliar position. 'Lots of leaders have a view on things they won't change, but if you give (Frank) evidence and explain why it might make a difference, then he is all in,' Ben Ryan, Brentford's performance director, told The Athletic's audio documentary Access All Areas: Brentford in July 2023. 'It is an important part of our success that he has the fluidity to be able to make brave decisions if he thinks it's going to help us get better.' Part of the reason why Frank has such a good relationship with other members of staff is that he genuinely cares about them. He asked Brentford to install a padel court when they upgraded their training ground in 2022 and he would regularly play against his assistant, Justin Cochrane, the head of athletic performance, Chris Haslam, and head of player care, Barney Bossom. Haslam, Cochrane and analyst Joe Newton are following Frank to Spurs. He regularly took part in circuit training sessions in the gym with up to 15 staff members. In May 2022, he ran a training session for Brentford women's first team and B team. During Brentford's pre-season tour of the United States in 2023, when they took part in the Premier League's Summer Series, he went on a run, including past the White House, every morning with staff. Brian Riemer, Frank's former assistant who is now Denmark's head coach, even lived with Frank's family during his four-year spell with Brentford. Despite Brentford's success, Frank has stayed down-to-earth. He was late for their first game in the Premier League because he picked up his parents from the airport and their flight had been delayed. He keeps a photo on his desk of Brentford's former technical director Robert Rowan, who passed away in November 2018 at the age of 28 after suffering a fatal cardiomyopathy episode in his sleep. Frank and Rowan only worked together for a couple of years but became close friends. There have been a couple of occasions when Frank has lost his temper, including when he was sent off for confronting Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves when Wolves beat Brentford in January 2022. He had to be separated from Swansea City defender Conor Roberts in stoppage time of their Championship play-off semi-final second leg in July 2020. Brentford were leading 3-2 on aggregate and Frank picked the ball up before dropping it behind his back when it went out of play for a throw-in. Frank reacted angrily to Roberts' barging past him to retrieve the ball. Advertisement He seems to have learned his lesson though and remains relatively calm after defeats now. He looks for the positives but can acknowledge when his team has underperformed. He will often say that 'my body is burning' but likes to take 24 hours to process his emotions after every result. He will speak to referees and the fourth official during games but does not tend to moan about controversial VAR decisions. Frank probably won't create as many headlines as Postecoglou, but he is thought-provoking and enjoys cracking jokes in press conferences.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Viral Video of Wet, Muddy Course Conditions at U.S. Open Turns Heads Sunday
Viral Video of Wet, Muddy Course Conditions at U.S. Open Turns Heads Sunday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The 125th U.S. Open was played this weekend at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania as competitors battled it out for a $21 million plus dollar purse. Advertisement The Open was won by J.J. Spaun (-1 final score), who survived challenging conditions to defeat Robert McIntryre of Scotland (+1) and Viktor Hovland of Norway (+2). The tournament included commentary from PGA star Justin Thomas, who decried the challenging conditions on X while golfers did their best to save face during the challenging final found. As the tournament began to wrap up, a golf journalist shared a stunning video of course conditions from a close-up perspective that had fans talking. JJ Spaun with the championship trophy on Sunday. © Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Kyle Porter, founder of shared a video of where golfer Sam Burns took a shot on the 15th hole at Oakmont. Advertisement The ground appeared wet, muddy and a difficult lie to say the least for any player to attempt to hit off of, especially considering the high degree of competition involved at the U.S. Open. Porter's post got over two million views as fans reacted to the ongoing spectacle and his close-up video. "Sam Burns should sue the USGA," one fan said. "Him not getting relief here cost him a chance at the U.S. Open. "There was clearly standing water." "And that's not why he hit a bad shot," another added. "I can't even image how heated he has to be right now," another fan said. "He still lost by five strokes," another watcher said. Advertisement Burns finished in a tie for seventh place at +4 on the day. Related: Justin Thomas Shares Honest Thoughts on Oakmont Country Club During U.S. Open's Final Round This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Record-breaking Japan striker 'King Kazu' plays at 58
The record-breaking striker Kazuyoshi Miura played in Japan's fourth tier aged 58 for his 40th season as a professional footballer. Former international Miura, fondly known as "King Kazu", is the oldest professional in Japan and almost certainly beyond. Advertisement He came on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Atletico Suzuka Club on Sunday and helped them seal a 2-1 win in the Japan Football League. Miura, one of Asia's best-known footballers in the 1990s, did not score but told reporters he was "glad I was able to contribute" after his cameo aged 58 years and 109 days. "Thanks to help from my teammates and trainers, I've been able to make it this far. Now I want to raise my game even more," said. Miura returned to Japan last year after two seasons with Portuguese second-division outfit Oliveirense, where he made nine appearances on loan from Yokohama FC. Advertisement He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian side Santos and has also played in Italy, Croatia and Australia. The forward helped put football in Japan on the map when the professional J-League was launched in 1993. He made his Japan debut in 1990 but was famously left out of the squad for their first World Cup finals appearance in 1998, despite scoring 55 goals in 89 games for the national side. tmo/kaf/pst
