Ex-University Wrestlers Thriving in the Pro Ranks

[Gaijingai 1,597]

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241215/p2g/00m/0sp/009000c

[Asashosakari 19,643]

The joy of cherry-picked comparisons.

Quote

(...) top amateur prospects are increasingly willing to bide their time at university before entering professional sumo (...)

At November's Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, there were 19 former university students among the 42 wrestlers in the top-flight makuuchi division, a sharp rise from 10 a decade ago.

Kyushu 2024: 19
Kyushu 2019: 17
Kyushu 2014: 10
Kyushu 2009: 15
Kyushu 2004: 19

[Seiyashi 4,108]

Incomplete research more likely per Hanlon's, but what could cause that dip in Kyūshū 2014?

[Asashosakari 19,643]

4 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Incomplete research more likely per Hanlon's, but what could cause that dip in Kyūshū 2014?

When the premise of one's article is "going to university before their pro career is that fresh new thing top sumo talent do" and it actually turns out to be something they already did to the same degree 30+ years ago, that's a little more than just incomplete research in my book.

Anyway, I'd blame the temporary lull on some combination of these three early 2000s goings-on: The general downturn in sumo's business, the big foreign recruiting wave that proceeded to "take away" makuuchi spots from Japanese rikishi altogether, and the ill-advised makushita tsukedashi changes which more or less said, "We don't care about what you did at university unless we'd lose face by ignoring it." And last not least the many scandals around 2006-2011. For a while there was a definite feeling in the fandom that the collegiate pathway had been kind of "lost" to ozumo. With a degree in hand and often good job offers available thanks to their clubs' OB networks, going pro just didn't look attractive anymore.

So, top amateurs have obviously been "willing to bide their time at university" in large numbers for decades now; the real issue is how many of them have actually been willing to follow through with their original aim of a pro career in the end. IMHO, what we've seen developing over the last 10 years or so has been merely a return to modern-day normalcy, especially in the willingness of not-quite-elite collegiate talent to give ozumo a shot. Part of it is probably that the reasons that depressed their interest in the 00's just aren't there anymore, but it's likely also an "it is what it is" thing...that lost generation came up in an era where ozumo ended up appearing markedly different to them at age 22 (when they had to decide whether to go pro or not) than it had when they first showed their talent maybe a decade earlier, while the more recent collegiates knew the deal all along and were prepared for it.