Yokozuna Terunofuji pulled out of the upcoming Kyushu Basho on Thursday, November 9 due to lower back pain. This is the latest setback in his bid to return to competition.
The 15-day event, also known as the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, is the final basho of the year. It gets underway on Sunday, November 12 at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.
Terunofuji sat out the entire Autumn Basho in September treating a herniated disc and symptoms of diabetes.
After missing the New Year Tournament and the Spring Basho, Terunofuji won the Summer Basho in May for his eighth championship.
He was forced to pull out of the Nagoya tourney in July after just three days in which he lost two bouts.
'He Can't Wrestle'
The Mongolian-born yokozuna, who is 31, has declared he wants to win 10 Emperor's Cups. But will he have the steam?
His on, and mostly off, career over the past year is not something the Japan Sumo Association can be happy with.
Yokozuna are supposed to represent the pinnacle of the sport and be dominating.
"He feels (back) pain when he drives forward, he can't wrestle," his stable master Isegahama said, according to Kyodo News.
Isegahama said the yokozuna had been practicing in Kyushu but just couldn't overcome the pain and is now aiming for a return to action at the New Year meet in January.
"We'd been working assuming he'd take part (in Fukuoka)," Isegahama told Kyodo. "But he can't deal with opponents making dodging moves. He gets inflammation after a little bit of training."
Terunofuji will miss the whole or part of a meet for the eighth time during his 14 meets since being promoted to yokozuna after the Nagoya Basho in 2021.
Takakeisho is the Favorite at the Kyushu Basho
With Terunofuji out, ozeki Takakeisho becomes the odds-on favorite.
Takakeisho captured his fourth top-division title by winning a championship playoff with 21-year-old rank-and-filer Atamifuji in the Autumn Basho.
With an opportunity to improve his chances for promotion to yokozuna, Takakeisho should have plenty of motivation. But he has struggled to put together back-to-back strong performances and has also had injury issues of late.
The tournament's other two ozeki grapplers ― Mongolians Kirishima and Hoshoryu ― will be looking to improve on modest results from the previous competition.
Kirishima went 9-8 while Hoshoryu barely eked out a winning record of 8-7 after beating rank-and-filer Hokuseiho on the final day of the September tourney.
Both are capable of better things and will be out to prove it in Fukuoka.
After surprising the sumo world in the Autumn Basho, it will be interesting to see how Atamifuji progresses after going 11-4 last time out and contending for the title.
Atamifuji was given the Fighting Spirit Prize for his efforts in the previous tourney and has moved all the way up to maegashira No 8 from the 15th ranking.
Daieisho Aims for Promotion to Ozeki
Sekiwake Daieisho, who went a respectable 10-5 last time out and was in contention up until a final-day loss to Takakeisho, will continue his pursuit of promotion to the sport's second-highest rank of ozeki.
The other two sekiwake wrestlers are Wakamotoharu, who seems to have fallen back in his pursuit of ozeki, and Kotonowaka, who went a solid 9-6 in his sekiwake debut in the previous meet.
Fan favorite and former ozeki Asanoyama comes into the Kyushu Basho as a top maegashira after going 9-6 last time.
RELATED:
- Takakeisho Beats Atamifuji in a Playoff to Win the Autumn Basho
- Atamifuji Moves into Sole Lead at Autumn Basho with a Clutch Win over Abi
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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