Sawt Falasteen - Sumo avoids chasm at top with grand master promotion

The ancient Japanese sport faced the rare prospect of having no wrestler at the grand master level when Terunofuji, the only active yokozuna, said this month that he was retiring.

The last time sumo had no yokozuna was in 1992-1993.

But Hoshoryu, the nephew of former yokozuna Asashoryu, stepped into the breach when he won the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday and was officially recommended a day later.

The 25-year-old will become only the 74th wrestler to reach the exalted rank in the history of the centuries-old sport when his promotion is rubber-stamped on Wednesday.

"Even now I'm still wondering if this is all a dream," he told reporters.

"I'm happy. I really feel like I gave it everything I had."

Hoshoryu claimed the second title of his career after winning the tournament in Tokyo in a three-way play-off after finishing with a 12-3 record.

There are no set criteria for promotion from the second-highest rank of ozeki, and cases are considered by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council.

Hoshoryu, whose real name is Sugarragchaa Byambasuren, will become the sixth Mongolian-born yokozuna.

The first was his uncle Asashoryu, who ascended to the rank in 2003.

Known as the bad boy of sumo, Asashoryu frequently clashed with the sport's authorities and was once punished for playing in a charity football game with former Japan star Hidetoshi Nakata.

He was forced to retire in 2010 after breaking a man's nose in a drunken brawl outside a Tokyo nightclub.

Hoshoryu said he grew up thinking of Asashoryu "more as my uncle than as a yokozuna".

"It was only when I joined the sumo world myself that I realised what a great person a yokozuna is," he said.

Hoshoryu will become the first wrestler to be promoted to yokozuna since Terunofuji in 2021.

Terunofuji announced this month that he was retiring after pulling out of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament through injury.

The 33-year-old Mongolian, who won 10 tournaments in his career, said he intends to stay in the sport and train young wrestlers.

C.Hamad--SF-PST