Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet

Japan Times

14-05-2025

Could the destination of the Emperor's Cup be decided in the first handful of days of the ongoing grand sumo tournament?
With ōzeki Onosato looking untouchable during the summer meet's opening stages, and maegashira Oho having already downed yokozuna Hoshoryu and ōzeki Kotozakura, it's a distinct possibility.
The two front-runners were scheduled to meet on Day 4, and the victor will have a slight, but potentially significant, edge in the early stages of the championship race.
For Oho in particular, it's the kind of golden opportunity that doesn't often come along for rank and filers.
In most cases, maegashira who rack up a large number of wins in the first week of a tournament do so against relatively weaker opposition, and then have to run the gauntlet as the meet draws toward a conclusion.
This time, however, Oho has had the toughest part of his schedule in the opening few days and is in very good shape, giving him a chance to compete for a first career title.
For Onosato, even with the basho only a few days old, there are few remaining opponents that could feasibly derail his attempt to claim back-to-back Emperor's Cups and reach sumo's highest rank.
Given how dominant he's been thus far though, even if he comes up short in his bid to claim the Emperor's Cup, it's unlikely anything will prevent what is shaping up to be a record-breaking ascent to yokozuna for the Nippon Sport Science University grad.
The white rope almost seems like a forgone conclusion for the former collegiate star who made the jump to the professional ranks just two years ago.
On Days 1 and 3, respectively, Onosato manhandled former Emperor's Cup winners Wakatakakage and Abi, absorbing their best attacks and calmly marching both men out over the straw bales with ease.
Even on Day 2, when resorting to his longstanding bad habit of going backward when forward momentum stops, the ōzeki had little trouble with Takayasu – a man who he faced in a playoff for the title just two months ago.
As things stand, a fourth title in his first nine top division tournaments looks more likely than not, putting Onosato on track to ascend to sumo's summit faster than anyone in the history of the sport.
Wajima – who like Onosato was a makushita tsukedashi (a term for new entrants with advanced starting positions) – achieved the feat in 1973 after 22 tournaments, while Haguroyama reached the top in 1942 after just 16 basho — but that took eight years because there were fewer meets at that time.
Should Onosato earn promotion later this month it will come just 13 tournaments after turning professional – a mark that was almost inconceivable prior to his arrival in ōzumō.
So far this week, good starts can be found elsewhere among the upper ranks, with Daieisho going undefeated after three days and on track for the title-contention outing that he likely needs in order to earn promotion to ōzeki.
The sekiwake may have to repeat his 13-2 Emperor's Cup-claiming performance from January 2021 to get the nod, but even 11 or 12 wins would put him in a good spot for the next basho.
Daieisho has been one of the most consistent performers in sumo's upper echelons over the past 2½ years, with just a single losing record in the past 14 tournaments.
The 31-year-old has reached double digits in six of those meets and nine wins in four of the others. It's a level of performance that arguably makes him the best wrestler not to have made yokozuna or ōzeki over the past five to 10 years.
Promotion to the latter rank would be a well-deserved reward for those efforts, but the window is closing, and what happens over the next week and a half will go a long way toward determining whether or not Daieisho gets there.
Takerufuji — another former champion — is also continuing a good run of recent form and looking close to being back to his best. If the March 2024 champion can maintain his current level of performance, it bodes well for future tournaments as he is a legitimate threat to the main stars when healthy.
Hakuoho is another wrestler who got off to a perfect 3-0 start and everything said about Takerufuji (minus the former champion part) holds true for him as well.
At the very top of the rankings, Hoshoryu dropped his first bout on Day 3 but has looked sharp and quick otherwise. The yokozuna may not have fully recovered from his recent injury but continues to grow and improve and remains the most likely roadblock to Onosato's title hopes.
A first Emperor's Cup at the rank of yokozuna would check the last remaining box for Hoshoryu and remove whatever doubts remain about the speed of his promotion, so staying in the title race through the final weekend will not only benefit him personally but be good for the sport as a whole. Most fans will be hoping to see a title showdown between the current yokozuna and the (likely) next one later this month.
Of course sumo's nature as a zero-sum game means there must be losses to balance the wins and popular wrestlers Ura, Midorifuji and Abi are among the names who were shut out over the first three days of the meet.
For most men, the gap between a winning and losing record remains small, and so everything is still to play for.
It's been the start that most predicted for the summer tournament and one that keeps hopes alive for a titanic clash on May 25th with the Emperor's Cup, and potentially a white rope, at stake.