Injury-hit Kakuryu proceeds with caution toward New Year meet Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Yokozuna Kakuryu (right) trains at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Dec. 19. | POOL / VIA KYODO
Kyodo Dec 29, 2020
Yokozuna Kakuryu held his final practice of the year on Monday ahead of the upcoming New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, where he hopes to overcome a run of injuries that have forced his withdrawal from the past three meets.
The Mongolian-born grand champion, who will be competing for the first time since obtaining Japanese citizenship, worked up a sweat in a full-contact session in preparation for the 15-day meet starting Jan. 10, his stablemaster Michinoku said.
yokozuna, leads the three
ozeki in the rankings released by the Japan Sumo Association on Thursday ahead of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, which is scheduled to take place Jan. 10 to Jan. 24.
The sport’s second-highest rank illustrates both the promise and the peril of sumo’s elite wrestlers. While Takakeisho will try to seize a second straight championship and earn promotion, his two ozeki rivals, Shodai and Asanoyama, will have somewhat more mundane goals.
Both men failed to win eight bouts in November after they pulled out injured. Now, as demotion-threatened
kadoban ozeki, Shodai and Asanoyama need at least eight wins to keep their ozeki status.
Sumo: Mongolian-born yokozuna Kakuryu takes Japanese citizenship mainichi.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mainichi.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Yokozuna Kakuryu has acquired Japanese citizenship, which could open the door to becoming a stablemaster after he retires from the dohyo.
An application for Japanese citizenship from Kakuryu, 35, who was born in Mongolia as Mangaljalav Anand, has been granted, according to an official government gazette published on Dec. 10.
It marks a big step for Kakuryu to be eligible to remain in the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) and become a stablemaster after retirement, which could be on the horizon after an injury-plagued year.
Kakuryu came to Japan in 2001. He has won six Emperor Cups, with the most recent coming at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July 2019.