Ulaanbaatar
Professional sumo to welcome first Japanese-born Yokozuna after four successive Mongolian champions
SportsUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Ozeki Kisenosato is set to become the first Japanese-born yokozuna in 19 years after a Japan Sumo Association advisory body recommended his promotion on Monday, writes Japan Times.
Kisenosato will be named the 72nd yokozuna, the first born in Japan since Wakanohana in 1998, at an extraordinary JSA board meeting Wednesday as a formality, after the rankings for the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament are decided.
Kisenosato won his first career title at the New Year tourney that wrapped up Sunday, and Monday’s approval by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council all but guarantees him to reach sumo’s highest rank, Japan Times reported on Monday.
The last Japan-born Yokozuna, the grandest rank of the professional sumo, was Takanohana, who retired in 2003, when the first Mongolian-born Yokozuna Asashyoryu Dagvadorj descended him as the 68th grand champion of “ozumo”.
The 69th, 70th and 71st Yokozunas are all Mongolians.
Luck was on Kisenosato’s side at the New Year Basho, with up-and-down Mongolian yokozuna Harumafuji and Kakuryu both withdrawing. Fellow ozeki Goeido also pulled out on the 13th day, gifting a win by default to Kisenosato.
Eight of the last nine yokozuna secured promotion by winning their preceding two tournaments. Mongolian Kakuryu, the last to be promoted to yokozuna ahead of the May 2014 meet, lost in a playoff that January despite finishing 14-1, but won the title in March.
So often accused of being mentally fragile, Kisenosato has finished second-best at a meet 12 times. After Kotoshokigu and Goeido captured their first titles last year, Kisenosato had become the only Japanese-born ozeki not to have won a trophy.
But Kisenosato found consistency and finally came into his own in 2016, becoming the first wrestler to win the most bouts in a season without winning a single title, reports Japan Times.
