Baku, Azerbaijan: 17-18 October 2026
British Sumo was proudly represented at the 2026 Sumo World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Five of our athletes went toe-to-toe with the world’s finest across two days of fierce action at the Baku Sport Hall.
The Sumo World Championships, brought together rikishi from nearly 30 nations. Our senior squad contested four men’s weight categories and the team event. The women’s –80 kg division was the only category we fielded a woman.
The standout result belonged to Mandeep Kundi, who took fifth place in the openweight — losing a bronze-medal match, the best individual finish of the weekend. Three wins from five bouts, and both defeats against medallists.
Sebastian Wray had the toughest of draws, meeting Kyrgyzstan’ Georgy Abdula-Zade in his first contest — a man who went on to take silver in the under 85 kg. Wray was beaten by tsukiotoshi (thrust down) and then lost his repechage bout to Ireland’s Ryan Roddy by hikiotoshi (pull down).
Sonny Bell and Nathan Rault both met opponents who went deep into their categories — Bell met Azerbaijan’s Javid Yusifov, who finished fifth at –115 kg, while Rault’s first-round opponent, Ireland’s Elvis Mickans, reached the repechage at over 115 kg. In the women’s –80 kg division.
Leah Cozens lost her opening bout to Poland’s Aleksandra Grygiel-Lis, who went on to contest a bronze medal.
| Athlete | Category | Finished |
|---|---|---|
| Mandeep Kundi | Openweight | 5th (3–2) |
| Sebastian Wray | Under 85 kg | Repechage (0–2) |
| Sonny Bell | 100–115 kg | Second round (0–1) |
| Nathan Rault | Over 115 kg | First round (0–1) |
| Leah Cozens | 73–80 kg | First round (0–1) |
Team GB versus Team Hungary
The team event brought our men back to the dohyo. Sonny Bell took the senpo slot, Mandeep Kundi fought at chuken and Nathan Rault anchored at taisho, with Sebastian Wray as substitute.
Hungary took the opening bout when Szilágyi caught Bell with a kirikaeshi (twisting backward knee trip), but Kundi levelled the tie with an oshidashi (frontal push out) over József Délceg. Marcell Gyuricza then edged Rault in the anchor bout, and Hungary won 2–1. Hungary reached the quarter-finals, where they went down to eventual silver medallists Ukraine.