[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Houshouryuu woes

[Jeff A]

Moti

Best regards,
Jeffrey Anderson
Gaijingai
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Houshouryuu woes
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


Many rikishi competing in the world of professional sumo are said to be
constantly suffering from some sort of injury or pain somewhere in their
body. In most cases, they try to avoid revealing details as much as
possible, as this gives their opponents an opportunity to exploit them, so
pain is not an excuse since everyone feels the same. Even one weakness is
difficult to overcome, but one rikishi has already been found to have two.
That rikishi is Yokozuna Houshouryuu At the Nagoya basho in July, he had a
dismal first-day record of 1 win and 3 losses and submitted a medical
certificate to the Kyokai stating that he had a sprained left toe
metatarsal joint and a bone contusion in his left metatarsal, requiring one
month of rest, treatment, and time off from the basho. He ended up missing
the tournament from the fifth day, with just one win, his worst record
since his debut in Makuuchi in September 2020. He was unable to participate
in the summer jungyo, which took place from August 3rd to 31st, until the
7th due to a fractured and dislocated left thumb, and on the 23rd he
suffered an injury to his left shoulder at the jungyo. He managed to
complete the jungyo with temporary tape on the injured area, but it is
unclear how well he will recover by the start of Aki basho on September
14th.

While a single injury significantly disrupted his performance at the Nagoya
basho, it's easy to imagine that Aki basho, with two injuries, will be even
tougher than the previous one. Given the risk of the injury worsening or
another injury occurring, sitting out the entire Aki basho and hoping to
bounce back at the Kyushu basho is an option, but given the Kyokai and the
YDC's  attitude, this option seems unlikely.

Could he be forced to retire? Houshouryuu won his second yusho at the Hatsu
Basho in January this year, with a record of 12 wins and 3 losses. However,
after the final day of the tournament on the 26th, the association's
refereeing department requested that Chairman Hakkaku convene an
extraordinary board meeting to consider his promotion to Yokozuna, which
was approved. The Yokozuna Deliberation Council, which received advice from
the chairman, unanimously recommended Houshouryuu for Yokozuna at its
regular meeting on the 27th, and his promotion was officially approved at
an extraordinary committee meeting on the 29th. He replaced Yokozuna
Terunofuji, who retired after the tournament. However, all three of his
losses in the first basho were against rank-and-file rikishi, and he missed
out on the yusho in the 2024 Kyushu tournament, losing the final match
against Ozeki Kotozakura. Fans criticized his promotion as being too
lenient. Nevertheless, the Kyokai and YDC promoted Houshouryuu to Yokozuna,
likely due to a desire to avoid a vacant Yokozuna position with its first
London tour in 34 years coming up in October. Houshouryuu's results since
his promotion have been disappointing, with 5, 12, and 1 wins, but while
the Kyokai and YDC have criticized him, they have not yet come close to
forcing him to retire. However, if he misses the Aki Basho and does not
take part in the London tour, the significance of his promotion amidst such
controversy will be diminished, so it is not impossible that their attitude
may suddenly change.

Houshouryuu is currently scheduled to compete in both the Aki Basho and the
London Cohen. At a September 2nd event for the London tour, he expressed
his enthusiasm for conveying the appeal of sumo to as many people as
possible. If he truly intends to fulfill his promise, he will need to
compete in every day of the Aki basho until the final day, whatever the
circumstances, and achieve at least double-digit wins. Conversely, if he
misses two basho in a row due to injury, he will likely be unable to even
consider participating in the London Cohen. Given his current condition,
the outlook is bleak, but the ultimate outcome will depend on Houshouryuu
himself, not outside predictions or speculations. He is undoubtedly
frustrated by the string of disappointing tournaments, but will he be able
to deliver a performance in the Aki basho that will allow him to release
all the frustration he has built up until now?

Masato Shibata - The Sporting News

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