With the last-minute withdrawal of grand champion Terunofuji, the chase for the Emperor's Cup will be wide open when the Autumn Basho begins on Sunday, September 8 in Tokyo.
The 32-year-old Mongolian has been dealing with symptoms of diabetes and chronic knee pain and his Isegahama stable decided Friday that he will not take part in the 15-day basho, according to Kyodo News.
Terunofuji won his 10th Emperor's Cup at the Nagoya meet in July when he defeated Takanosho in a playoff after the two finished with a 12-3 record.
It was a significant milestone for the grand champion who had long coveted reaching 10 championships in order to be considered among the great yokozuna.
But putting together back-to-back championships has proven difficult and Friday's decision to pull out of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament is not surprising.
Terunofuji has only completed eight of his 18 meets as a grand champion as he deals with chronic injuries to both knees and lower back.
He claimed his ninth Emperor's Cup in January of this year and was then forced to pull out of the following two tourneys before winning in Nagoya.
After emerging victorious in July, Terunofuji gave no indication that he was ready to hang up his mawashi, saying he wants to win more titles.
Expected Title Contenders at the Autumn Basho
So, with Terunofuji absent, who has the upper hand to win the title?
There will only be two ozeki for the September 8-22 meet at Ryogoku Kokugikan: Kotozakura and Mongolian Hoshoryu.
Kotozakura, one of sumo's promising young grapplers, went 10-5 the last time out and has been knocking at the door for some time now but has yet to win his first Emperor's Cup.
He will definitely be among the favorities.
Hoshoryu missed the last two days of the July meet with injury and finished with a 9-4-2 record. He will be bidding for his first title since July of 2023.
Hoshoryu beat Kotozakura on Day 12 at the Nagoya meet to improve to 9-3 and looked set to challenge for the cup until his untimely injury.
Takakeisho Aims for a Return to Ozeki
Meanwhile, veteran Takakeisho will be looking to get his ozeki rank back.
A four-time Emperor's Cup winner, Takakeisho was demoted to sekiwake after compiling a disappointing 5-10 record in the July tournament.
Under Japan Sumo Association rules, Takakeisho can earn automatic promotion back to sumo's second-highest rank by winning 10 or more bouts in the Autumn Basho.
"I'll give it my all. That doesn't change," Takakeisho said, according to Kyodo News. "If I can perform my best sumo, the victories will follow."
Another young star who could challenge for the title is Onosato.
A native of Ishikawa Prefecture, Onosato won his first Emperor's Cup in May with an impressive 12-3 record that included an opening-day win over Terunofuji.
Sekiwake Onosato went into the Nagoya Basho as one of the favorites to take home the silverware but underperformed slightly with a 9-6 record.
That was good enough for an Outstanding Performance Award but fell short of expectations. Onosato will be determined to get back to dominant ways in the Autumn Basho.
The other two sekiwake for September's tournament are Abi and Mongolian Kirishima. Both posted 8-7 winning records last time out and are capable of better.
One wrestler further down the ranks to keep an eye on is Wakatakakage, who has moved up all the way to No 7 in the rankings after posting a strong 11-4 record as a 14th-ranked maegashira in July.
With his injury woes behind him, Wakatakakage could be well on his way to returning to the sanyaku ranks in the not-too-distant future.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.
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