With the presentation of the Emperor's Cup to yokozuna Hakuho on Sunday evening Nov. 29, the first decade of sumo in the 21st century came to a thundering close. Hakuho (15-0) had just dispatched fellow yokozuna Asashoryu with a wonderful uwatenage throwing technique to claim his 12th top-flight trophy to date, and excellent performances over the fortnight by maegashira men Tochinoshin (12-3), Miyabiyama (12-3) and Yoshikaze (10-5) will all be rewarded with impressive promotions next basho.
However, what promised to be a great record-breaking basho all but fizzled out once yokozuna Asashoryu went on a four-day losing streak toward the end, leaving his final day face-off with Hakuho as more of a bonus bout than anything upon which reputations years from now will rest.
In so many ways, the Mongolians dominated the world of sumo in the years of 2000-2009. Between them, Hakuho and Asashoryu took an incredible 36 of 60 possible Emperor's Cups. Ten individuals shared the remaining 24, with former yokozuna Musashimaru top of the non-Mongol pile with nine. Unfortunately, without the rose-colored glasses historians so frequently like to don, those living in the here and now were witnesses to one of the worst overall makunouchi basho in recent memory.