Morty

I think the only one is Kaio who had five yusho and 11 jun-yusho, and had a number of consecutive quality basho performances that these days probably would have seen him promoted. If he did get the rope he probably would have had to retire about 2007 instead of 2011, but I suspect he would have agreed to that trade.

I respectfully disagree. They won't be that tough on him. Hoshoryu's last year went 11-4J, 10-5, 9-4-2, 8-7, 13-2J, 12-3Y and they gave him the rope on that relatively weak run. In contrast Onosato's last year goes 12-3Y, 9-6, 13-2Y, 9-6, 10-5, 12-3Y. He's got three yushos in a12 month span which flattens Hoshoryu's recent record, who, don't forget, also just went Kyujo on his first Yok basho, so might have been the wrong guy to promote. They can't be harder on Onosato than on Hoshoryu, so I reckon a 13-2J will get him over the line. Hell even a 12-3J may be enough based on his last year's performance. Now let's see if he can do it.

Given the possibility of infinite universes and timelines, there's at least one alternative reality where Takayasu is a Dai-Yokozuna and is considered the GOAT. In that timeline he has already won this yusho and is going for a zensho.

Since day five I think when it looked like he got briefly knocked out by Hakuoho. It's been happening since then.

This is what I thought too. He got smashed in the face and briefly knocked out early in the basho and has been like this ever since. Hate to see it, this is how you get CTE

I used to love it. Let you know who was up for the fight. Even though it is less common now, my fave of recentish times was when Kise and Hak had a pretty serious stare down, then an epic match-up that Kise actually won. It was probably ten years ago now, but I'll never forget the drama of that moment.

That was more like Yokozuna sumo today. I suspect it won't be long until Onosato, and possibly also Takerafuji also join that club.

Exactly this. Achieving the status of Yokozuna is one of, if not the most, difficult thing to achieve in world sport. There's a reason why there have only been 73 of them in just under 400 years. The one time they relaxed the standards they ended up with a Yokozuna with an imaginary asterisk next to his name, in that he never won a yusho. The banzuke has to have an Ozeki on it, not a Yokozuna, and there is no reason they need to quickly overpromote someone. That status should be reserved for only the absolute champions, the ones who prove they deserve it, by being so dominant they almost never lose, and when they do it is such a surprise that the cushions fly. Eventually someone will come along who fits that criteria, and will deservedly get the rope. I suspect it will happen sooner rather than later, but I hope they have to achieve it, rather than being given a soft ride to it.

If I had to put money on it at this stage I'd say Takerafuji is in the yusho box-seat. He doesn't seem to suffer from nerves, he's done it once before, he is clearly better than all the other rikishi around him on the banzuke, and he looks capable of mixing it with the guys at the top. We'll know more after tomorrow, but bigger picture, if he stays fit I reckon he'll be Ozeki well before the end of the year.

That result today is exactly why I think the KK is backing the wrong horse with giving Hoshoryu a tsuna run. There is nothing in his past performance that suggests he is consistent enough to be Yokozuna. Over the past seven or eight years we have had a number of rikishi have a single strong streak, get to Ozeki, then have mediocre performances and eventually crash and burn, for numerous reasons. Terunofuji (and arguably Takakeisho) are the only one who have shown the consistency of performance over a long period of time to rightly be promoted to Yokozuna level. I'm not suggesting Hosh is in the "crash and burn" phase of his career, and hopefully never will be, just that he isn't Yokozuna level yet (and may never get there). Also it would be pretty awesome if the other Grandson kept going and took this yusho

Hoshoryu being on a Tsuna run seems like the softest run of all time. His only yusho was a year and a half ago, and since then he has only got more than ten wins twice, both for jun-yushos. The basho before last he went 8-7. I thought it was supposed to be two yusho or yusho equivalents in a row, not J-Y. What am I missing here, how is a tsuna run justified at this time?

Onosato will get three Kotozakura will get two Takerafuji will get one

He's going to go on until he dies. Three 8-7s, and three 7-8s

This is all pure guess as I know nothing about him - mid table maegashira, and he'll win a juryo yusho

E: Wakatakakage S1 W: Atamifuji E: Gonyama K1 W: Hakuoho E: Kirishima K2 E: Oho M1 W: Abi I'm picking Hakuoho as a smoky to regain form and fitness, and move up the banzuke

I think he'll be a joi perennial but won't be good enough to end up in the sanyaku in January 2026 (though he may spend a basho or two in lower sanyaku during the year). I think he'll get at least a couple of kinboshi but will also get beaten by someone from the bottom of the banzuke. And I rating him as the best of the short shikona rikishi, though Abi might make me look silly here

He'll do okay but will have at least one diabolical basho where he gets only 3 or 4 wins and so won't have enough consistency to do any better than lower sanyaku. He has the talent but not the consistency and he's shown that if he's carrying any type of injury he struggles. Last year I said he'd get the rope and I was wrong, so I'm going with what I saw in 2024

Intai, unfortunately. I think a precipitous fall then he calls it a day, because he's tired.

I guessed....

Terunofuji will be intai. Kotozakura and Onosato will both get the rope, Hosh will continue being not quite good enough, Takerafuji will make a run up the banzuke and will be Ozeki by the end of the year, and Wakamotoharu will finally get 33 over 3 and will be promoted, to emulate his brother. Kotozakura Y1 Onosato Hoshoryu O1 Takerafuji Wakamotoharu O2

I'm putting him at Sekiwake with a successful year, but not spectacular enough to go higher. Given how young he is I think he can afford a gentle rise, and I see this as a learning year with Ozeki in 2026

He can't possibly make it to 2026 (prove me wrong big guy!). I don't think he yushos at all, I think he participates in a couple of tournaments all up, doesn't finish either, then intai. I feel like he's waiting for the next Yokozuna, so if that happens quickly (say Kotozakura wins in January) then he'll go pretty quickly. If it happens later in the year then he'll hang around, but he won't compete much, and if no-one gets the rope he'll be forced out by poor performance by the end of the year

Excellent, one yusho a year in polls is about where I'm at. Thanks for doing these @Jejima, I look forward to these every year

I remember saying this a lot about Kise at the time, that he did Yokozuna level sumo for literally years but couldn't quite get past the physical and mental hurdle of beating Hakuho, Harumafuji and Kakaryu at the right time to allow him to win a yusho. The only rikishi that had a better winning record against Hakuho when he was in his prime than Kise did, were Asashoryu and Harumafuji. Compare Kise to all the other Ozeki during that period that didn't get a rope and their winning records aren't even close to Kise's.

Welcome back . Good to see you again.