Kakuryu will go into next month's Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in pole position as he searches for his seventh career championship, while Takakeisho returns at the sport's second-highest rank of ozeki, according to the latest rankings released by the Japan Sumo Association on Monday.
Kakuryu sits atop sumo's mountain as east yokozuna for the 15-day tournament, which starts Nov. 10 at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Hakuho was slotted into the other yokozuna slot on the west.
The yokozuna both pulled out due to injuries at the previous meet in September, allowing young wrestlers, including Takakeisho, Mitakeumi and Asanoyama to finish the meet with convincing results.