Sumo is back in our lives starting this weekend. The 15-day Kyushu tournament begins on Sunday, Nov. 10 and runs until Nov. 24. Below are five storylines I’ll be paying close attention to during this basho (tournament).
How will Onosato respond to ozeki pressure?
Onosato deserves to be the pre-tournament favorite for this month’s Emperor’s Cup. The young man has taken Grand Sumo by storm since being promoted to the top division in January. In the five tournaments that have followed he has won two championships and finished runner-up twice. These successes have seen him promoted to ozeki, just one rank below the ultimate rank of yokozuna. His results, and performances, have also signalled that he may not only be a generational talent, but possibly a historic talent as well.
Onosato has passed every test that sumo has thrown at him, thus far. He was an elite high school and college rikishi before be began dominating the pro ranks. However, in Kyushu he’ll be given a new test; living up to the expectations that befall an ozeki.
Ozeki is a very special rank and one that comes with a lot of perks and responsibilities. Ozeki are granted votes in Sumo Association elections and are entrusted to represent sumo at important social, corporate and cultural events. The pressure of representing sumo, with both a dominating style in the ring and a perfect demeanour outside the ring, has proven too much for many wrestlers in the past.
Shodai, who we will talk about later, discussed how the pressure of being an ozeki was crushing. And we’ve seen wobbles from Hoshoryu and Kirishima over the past two years in their first few tournaments as ozeki.
Onosato’s sumo is technically near flawless and his physical attributes are ideal. His mental game has stood up to the pressure of being a super prospect and recruit, but now we get to see if he can handle the pressure of being one of Grand Sumo’s leading men.
If he can handle the pressure, and perform as he has so far, then it won’t be too long before I’m writing “Can Onosato handle the pressure of being a yokozuna?”
Will Takerufuji pick up where he left off?
Takerufuji is sumo’s other big story of 2024. He tore through the competition in March to win a title in his very first top division tournament. This was the first time that has happened in over 90 years.
Takerufuji injured his ankle during his storied championship run. That injury forced him to miss all of the May tournament and most of the July tournament. With injury absences essentially counting as losses, this meant that Takerufuji was demoted to the juryo (second division). In September he returned to full strength and cruised his way to the juryo championship, using the same high octane blitzing style he used to win his makuuchi (top division) title. This title earned him promotion back to the top flight.
This month we’ll get to see whether March was a freak occurrence or if Takerufuji is the real deal. This tournament also sets up a potential collision course between Takerufuji and Onosato.
Takerufuji is ranked very low in the makuuchi for November. This means he will be matched up with fellow low ranked wrestlers for the first week of the competition. If he does well against them he’ll then be matched up with other tournament leaders.
If he beats up on the lower maegashira ranks, and Onosato continues to win at his higher ranking, the pair will likely be matched up in the second week of the competition.
They’ve only met once before, during Takerufuji’s championship winning tournament. Takerufuji won that bout, in lightning quick fashion. I’m sure Onosato hasn’t forgotten that.
Can Hoshoryu and Kotozakura steal back some spotlight?
With so much attention on Onosato and Takerufuji, Hoshoryu and Kotozakura are at risk of being forgotten men at the Kyushu basho. Aside from yokozuna Terunofuji (who has not announced if he will compete this month), Kotozakura and Hoshoryu are the highest ranked wrestlers in the sport.
Hoshoryu earned his ozeki promotion after winning the title (his first and only) at the Nagoya basho last year. Kotozakura secured his promotion earlier this year. He’s yet to win a top division championship.
With Onosato having double the amount of championships of Hoshoryu and Kotozakura combined (despite competing in just five top division tournaments compared to their 53 combined tournaments), many are looking past the two elder ozeki when considering potential candidates to become the 74th yokozuna.
This is despite both Hoshoryu and Kotozakura being excellent wrestlers.
Hoshoryu, the nephew of legendary ‘bad boy’ yokozuna Asashoryu, is known for his eye pleasing judo throws and intimidating scowl.
Kotozakura, the grandson of the original Kotozakura (the 53rd yokozuna), is a massive grappling-first rikishi who is known for intelligent game planning and incredible strength.
Both are elite wrestlers, but both struggled in the last basho. They both went 8-7, scraping by with a very un-ozeki-like winning record.
They are also both members of the very small group of wrestlers to have two victories over Onosato. However, Onosato won the most recent bouts against them.
If Hoshoryu and Kotozakura want to seize back some of the narrative in sumo from Onosato, they need to start challenging for titles and beating the newest ozeki when it counts.
Is Shodai back to his best?
Popular former ozeki Shodai has seemingly awakened from a slumber that saw him slide from that vaunted ranking all the way to maegashira 10 in the past two years. At one point the 33-year-old looked on the verge of becoming one of the faces of the sport, thanks to his powerful brand of sumo, slew of special prizes and charming demeanour off the dohyo (ring).
Despite his form leaving him over the bulk of the past few years, his popularity has remained. Many who watched sumo during the Hakuho-era cite Shodai as one of their favourite rikishi. Shodai also has a lot of fans in the West due to how often he appears in memes, variety show segments and behind-the-scenes videos. A running theme in those clips is Shodai’s dry sense of humour and love of a good prank.
In the past two tournaments Shodai has amassed 10-5 records. Those excellent, albeit under-the-radar, results have vaulted Shodai back up to the san’yaku (sumo’s special upper rankings) and the position of komusubi.
The last time he was komusubi Shodai slumped to a 6-9 record and was immediately demoted.
This tournament takes place in Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu. Shodai is one of a handful of top division wrestlers who hail from Kyushu. Because of this, the crowd will be going wild for Shodai this month.
It will be interesting to see whether Shodai will be buoyed by the support or overwhelmed by the pressure as he tries to stick the landing in his most recent san’yaku promotion.
Can Shishi cause any surprises?
Shishi is the most notable newcomer to the top division for this tournament. The 27-year-old is the first Ukrainian born wrestler to ever compete at this level in Grand Sumo. However, we must not forget Taiho, a yokozuna who dominated the 60s and the record books until relatively recently, was born in present day Russia to a Japanese woman and a Ukrainian man.
The sumo world will be shocked if Shishi can live up to the exploits of Taiho. After a long time slogging it out in the second division, it’s unclear how much more ceiling the tall and rather slow ‘prospect’ has in the sport.
If Shishi can survive the top division and become a mainstay he will occupy a space recently vacated by other Western rikishi. During the last tournament Bulgarian wrestler Aoiyama announced his retirement. Last year, Georgia’s Tochinoshin announced his retirement. Both men were wildly popular inside and outside of Japan and together they ensured there was a European in the makuuchi over most of the past decade.
More sumo on Combat Press!
Keep it locked on Combat Press for coverage of the upcoming Kyushu tournament. Here we will provide a viewing guide, a mid-way results post and a final results post.
If you want more sumo content, please consider subscribing to my substack Sumo Stomp! There you’ll get daily updates from the tournament and can also enter a giveaway to win a signed Takakeisho tegata (hand print).