FUKUOKA - Yokozuna Onosato will begin his bid for a second straight Emperor's Cup and seventh overall championship against komusubi Yoshinofuji on the opening day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, after the Japan Sumo Association announced the first two days' matchups on Friday.
The 26-year-old grand champion broke a yearlong title drought in September after dealing with nagging pain stemming from a dislocated left shoulder at last year's Kyushu tourney.
Yoshinofuji, hailing from Kyushu's Kumamoto Prefecture, can expect strong support from the crowd at Fukuoka Kokusai Center when the 15-day tournament opens Sunday.
The 25-year-old komusubi has been a formidable opponent for Onosato, winning their first four meetings before the yokozuna scored a breakthrough victory in September.
Onosato is scheduled to face No. 1 maegashira Fujiryoga, gunning for his first promotion to the three "sanyaku" ranks below yokozuna, on Day 2.
Fellow yokozuna Hoshoryu, who is set to return after withdrawing from the previous three tournaments due to a right knee injury and other ailments, opens against new komusubi Churanoumi before taking on No. 1 maegashira Asanoyama the following day.
Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki, who lost a winner-take-all bout to Onosato on the final day of the September tournament, will meet Asanoyama and Yoshinofuji, respectively, in his first two matches.
Aonishiki and Asanoyama, who is fighting to return to sanyaku, have yet to face off ahead of a captivating opening-day battle between current and former ozeki.
"We've never even trained together," Asanoyama said. "If I start talking about my impression of him, I might become overly conscious of it, so I'll just focus on wrestling my own style."
The first wrestler to twice come back to the top division after dropping to the fourth tier, most recently following a severe knee injury, Asanoyama has a chance to build momentum toward another ozeki promotion, but the 32-year-old is not looking too far ahead.
"I'm not thinking about what's in the future," he said. "I don't know how many more years I'll be able to compete, so I'm giving it my all to ensure I have no regrets."
Ozeki Kotozakura is slated to face Fujiryoga and Churanoumi, while fellow ozeki Kirishima takes on No. 2 maegashira Ura and No. 2 maegashira Fujiseiun.
Sekiwake Fujinokawa, who posted 11 wins in September, opens against Fujiseiun, while fellow sekiwake Atamifuji faces No. 3 maegashira Takayasu.
No wrestlers ranked juryo or higher were absent from the entry list for the tournament.
