Newly promoted ozeki Terunofuji will be out to prove his stunning championship victory in May was no fluke when the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament gets underway on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Mongolian whose real name is Gantulga Ganerdene, earned promotion after a 12-3 mark at May's summer tourney in Tokyo, clinching the title thanks in part to a late meltdown by yokozuna and fellow Mongolian Hakuho.
"He has built up days of hard training and I think he will respond to expectations by having a good record (in Nagoya)," stablemaster Isegahama said of Terunofuji, who has recovered from a calf problem sustained in the middle of June.