Sumo: Onosato clinches championship, certain to become yokozuna
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Ozeki Onosato secured his promotion to yokozuna by winning back-to-back championships Friday at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
The 24-year-old defeated fellow ozeki Kotozakura to improve to 13-0 and take an unassailable three-bout lead over his nearest rivals into the final weekend of the 15-day competition at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan arena.
With the Japan Sumo Association's Yokozuna Deliberation Council having never denied promotion to an ozeki winning consecutive tournaments, Onosato's ascent to grand champion is a formality.
The Ishikawa Prefecture native, who debuted in the elite makuuchi division in January last year, will join Mongolian Hoshoryu at the sport's highest rank.
He will become the first Japanese-born yokozuna since his stablemaster, the former Kisenosato, who retired from competition in January 2019.
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