Yokozuna Kisenosato to Skip Summer Sumo Tournament

May 11, 2018

Tokyo- Yokozuna Kisenosato will pull out of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo, due chiefly to an injury on the left side of his chest, it was learned on Friday.

It will be the 31-year-old grand champion's seventh consecutive withdrawal from a tournament and second straight absence for an entire 15-day championship.

Ahead of the summer tournament's start on Sunday, Kisenosato submitted to the Japan Sumo Association a medical certificate stating that he should refrain from strenuous exercise for about a month.

Among his predecessors since 1958, when the association started holding six grand tournaments a year, only Takanohana has skipped seven tournaments in a row, through the summer meet in Nagoya in 2002.

Also in the upcoming tournament, Takayasu, a 28-year-old ozeki, the sport's second-highest rank, has decided not to take part, after injuring his left arm in training.

Takayasu will pull out of a championship for the first time since the Kyushu event last year and the fourth time in his career. Jiji Press