TOKYO - Sekiwake Wakatakakage, who won the summer grand sumo tournament in May in Tokyo, has withdrawn from the upcoming Nagoya meet. Here is a digest of the summer basho, as a buildup for the 15-day Nagoya contest starting Sunday.
Hoshoryu suffers upset loss, potential injury on opening day
Day 1, Sunday, May 10 - Yokozuna Hoshoryu appeared to be hurt and limped from the ring following an upset loss to komusubi Takayasu as the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament opened, with two of the sport's brightest stars already missing through injury.
Grand champion Onosato is out for around a month with a rotator cuff injury, his stable announced Friday, while Ukrainian-born ozeki Aonishiki faces demotion back to sekiwake after hurting his left ankle while preparing for the 15-day meet at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan arena.
Day 2, Monday, May 11 - Yokozuna Hoshoryu pulled out from the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament after injuring his right hamstring in his opening bout the previous day.
Day 3, Tuesday, May 12 - Ozeki Kirishima continued to impress in his return to the second-highest rank at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, improving to 3-0 in a fiercely contested battle with young talent Fujinokawa.
Day 4, Wednesday, May 13 - Re-promoted ozeki Kirishima continued his perfect start to the tournament as komusubi Wakatakakage and No. 13 maegashira Kotoeiho also claimed their fourth straight win.
Kirishima stays perfect at 5-0, ties rank-and-file Kotoeiho for lead
Day 5, Thursday, May 14 - Kirishima stayed unbeaten with a win against former komusubi Hiradoumi at the tournament, tying rank-and-file wrestler Kotoeiho for the lead at 5-0.
Day 6, Friday, May 15 - Kirishima stayed undefeated and took the outright lead with his victory over former sekiwake Oho.
Injured ozeki Aonishiki will miss the entirety of the ongoing Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, his stablemaster said, sealing the Ukrainian star's demotion from the second-highest rank to sekiwake.
Day 7, Saturday, May 16 - Kirishima secured his seventh straight win to stay perfect at the tournament, while ozeki Kotozakura continued his poor start with a fifth defeat.
Gonoyama upsets ozeki Kirishima, creates 3-way tie for lead
Day 8, Sunday, May 17 - Rank-and-file wrestler Gonoyama handed Kirishima the first defeat of his ozeki comeback meet at the tournament, creating a three-man logjam at the top of the leaderboard.
Kirishima, komusubi Wakatakakage and No. 15 maegashira Tobizaru share the top rung at 7-1 heading into the final week of the 15-day tournament in Tokyo.
Day 9, Monday, May 18 - Kirishima bounced back from his first loss to regain the outright lead, but fellow ozeki Kotozakura slumped to the brink of a losing record.
Day 10, Tuesday, May 19 - Overnight leader Kirishima fell to former ozeki Shodai as his closest title rivals all won to create a six-way tie for the lead after 10 days of action.
Day 11, Wednesday, May 20 - Ozeki Kirishima defeated his fellow title rival komusubi Wakatakakage to share a three-way tie for the lead as ozeki Kotozakura fell to an early losing record after 11 days.
Kirishima, Kotoeiho stay atop leaderboard, Kotozakura withdraws
Day 12, Thursday, May 21 - Kirishima and No. 13 maegashira Kotoeiho remained atop the leaderboard, while struggling ozeki Kotozakura withdrew on Day 12.
Day 13, Friday, May 22 - Kirishima grabbed a memorable last-ditch victory over joint overnight leader and No. 13 maegashira Kotoeiho, retaking the outright lead with two days remaining.
Day 14, Saturday, May 23 - Young talent Hakunofuji sprang an upset against sole overnight leader Kirishima to set the stage for a captivating final day of the tournament.
Wakatakakage beats Kirishima in tiebreaker, claims 2nd Emperor's Cup
Day 15, Sunday, May 24 - Komusubi Wakatakakage clinched his second top-division championship with a tie-breaking victory over ozeki Kirishima at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament after both finished with 12 wins and three losses.
The former sekiwake from Fukushima Prefecture spoiled Kirishima's bid for back-to-back titles after the Mongolian-born technician earned promotion back to sumo's second-highest rank with his championship in March.
Sekiwake returnee Wakatakakage vows to lay foundation for ozeki push
June 29 - Returning sekiwake Wakatakakage expressed his determination to build a solid foundation for his ozeki push, as the rankings for the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament were released Monday.
Sekiwake Wakatakakage out of Nagoya meet after emergency surgery
July 6 - Wakatakakage will sit out the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament at IG Arena after injuring his left thigh in practice, his stablemaster said Monday.
