NAGOYA - Yokozuna Hoshoryu pulled out of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday, its penultimate day, handing ozeki Kirishima a win by default that kept him in title contention.
Back from a right hamstring injury that ruled him out of most of May's Summer meet, Hoshoryu had gone 7-6 in the 15-day tournament at IG Arena in Nagoya before deciding to withdraw for the fourth time in nine meets as a grand champion.
Having risen to the exalted rank of yokozuna ahead of the Spring meet in March 2025, the 27-year-old has not been able to add to his two top-tier makuuchi-division titles.
Fellow Mongolian-born wrestler Kirishima, meanwhile, will go into the final day on Sunday with a chance to lift the Emperor's Cup as he improves to 11-3 with the default win.
After going 12-3 in May, Kirishima could win promotion to yokozuna by posting a championship-caliber result. But a defeat on Friday to fellow title-chaser Aonishiki left Japan Sumo Association senior officials voicing doubts about the promotion.
Sekiwake Aonishiki holds the outright lead in Nagoya with an 11-2 record ahead of his bout on Saturday, with four wrestlers, including Kirishima, a win behind the Ukrainian star, who will be back at the second-highest rank of ozeki at September's Autumn meet.
