In July 1999, longtime Musashigawa Beya sekitori Dejima Takeharu won his first and only career Emperor's Cup after defeating former yokozuna Akebono in a play-off victory.
Exactly a decade later, in July, 2009, the Ishikawa native called it quits on 13 years in the professional sport that saw him peak at the rank of ozeki in late '99. He stayed there for a couple of years before slipping back into the maegashira ranks for much of the last eight years. At times he would flirt with the lower echelons of sanyaku, but with leg issues that bothered him through much of his time in the ring, a 14th year of top-flight action has, for several months, been looking increasingly unlikely. His retirement then proved little more than an announcement of the inevitable.
On the dohyo, another inevitability, in the eyes of many, was the victory claimed by yokozuna Hakuho with a 14-1 record. Securing his 11th title to date, his only defeat came at the hands of ozeki Kotomitsuki on Day 11 as the local boy in the sport's second rank put together one of the most impressive bouts we have seen from him in the past few years.