Grand Sumo Spring Tournament - Day 15

Sumo: New ozeki Takakeisho takes his place among elite

TOKYO - Takakeisho's name was officially placed among the sumo elite on Tuesday, when the rankings for next month's Summer Grand Sumo Tournament were released by the Japan Sumo Association.
The 22-year-old needed just 28 pro tournaments before being promoted to the sport's second highest rank. He is the first wrestler from the Chiganoura stable to be newly promoted to ozeki, although he only joined the stable after the Takanohana stable folded prior to his maiden championship in November.

Although five wrestlers have needed fewer tournaments to earn ozeki promotion, Takakeisho has the fastest promotion record of any Japanese born wrestler. His former stablemaster, Takanohana, and his brother Wakanohana are the only other Japanese to crack the top 10.

Yokozuna Hakuho is at the top of the rankings on the prestigious east side for the May 12-26 meet at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, although he said Saturday that his upper right arm, where he suffered a muscle tear, is not completely healed, leaving his participation in doubt after he went 15-0 in March.

Fellow Mongolian and yokozuna Kakuryu is on the west side of the rankings after a 10-5 performance last month in Osaka.

Goeido, 12-3 in March, leads the ozeki trio as No. 1 on the east, with Takayasu (10-5) on the west, and newbie Takakeisho behind them.

Georgian Tochinoshin, demoted to sekiwake after failing to win eight bouts in each of the past two grand tournaments, will have one shot at regaining his status as an ozeki for the next tournament in July, but will need 10 wins next month in Tokyo in order to do so.

That seems like an awfully difficult road for the 31-year-old, who has struggled with knee trouble since dominating the raised ring during last year's first three tournaments. There have only been five cases in which a sekiwake regained ozeki rank during the tournament following a demotion since the current promotion system was introduced in 1969.

Also at sekiwake is Mongolian Ichinojo, who shot back up from No. 4 maegashira after a 14-1 record in March.

The komusubi pairing consists of returnee Aoiyama and Mitakeumi. Bulgarian Aoiyama is returning to the three "sanyaku" ranks below yokozuna for the first time since January 2015. On the other side, Mitakeumi will be spending his 14th straight tourney as a sanyaku wrestler, moving him into a tie with Goeido and two others for the second-longest sanyaku stay.

At the other end of sumo's top flight, two wrestlers will be making their debut in the elite makuuchi division, Shimanoumi and Enho.

Shimanoumi starts as a No. 12 maegashira after winning the second-tier juryo division with a 13-2 record in May. Enho is at No. 14 following his 8-7 mark as a No. 2 juryo.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190430/p2g/00m/0sp/016000c