In a matchup of veterans on Day 2 of the ongoing Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, Myogiryu sent Chiyotairyu crashing out of the ring and onto the ground.

On his way to the floor, the Kokonoe stable man hit the edge of the raised dohyō with such force that it knocked a large chunk out of the clay structure, and unintentionally provided a perfect allegory for the current state of Japan’s national sport.

"Seemingly stable, but with areas of surprising fragility" — this summation can be applied to the action across the first three days in Osaka as well as to the last few months of sumo as a whole.

The main culprit of that instability — or at least a significant common denominator — is COVID-19.

Two years on from the coronavirus forcing the Japan Sumo Association to hold the Spring meet behind closed doors, the pandemic continues to have a notable — if less visible — effect.

It's not clear to what extent wrestlers are still dealing with the aftereffects of a spate of infections that emerged in early February, but it’s obvious that quite a few of the more prominent rikishi aren’t yet back to 100%.

One of the reasons behind such opacity is the fact that sumo doesn’t have any form of injury report.

Rikishi, unlike athletes in other sports, aren’t obligated to reveal the extent of their various ailments to the press.

Of course, many injuries are obvious or require medical certification, especially when they lead to withdrawals. But sumo’s macho culture — and a desire not to reveal points of weakness to future opponents — means that a large percentage of the sport’s injuries are never revealed publicly.

An additional challenge from COVID-19 is the extremely random and diverse pathophysiology of the disease. In other words, there is no current way to forecast just how severely an infection will affect any individual or how long the lingering effects will be.

For Shodai and other wrestlers like him who have contracted COVID-19, it can be hard (both for the wrestler himself as well as commentators) to know whether his subsequent poor performance is due to a coronavirus-enforced reduction in training time, a simple lack of form or the result of so-called long COVID.

Making it harder to get to the truth are the continued restrictions on media access, with limited interview opportunities and a dearth of chances to speak with wrestlers in person.

The JSA's caution and serious manner with which it has dealt with the pandemic from the beginning are both commendable. Yet the fact that increasingly packed arenas — with improperly masked fans visible ringside on TV screens — have become the norm undercuts both the effectiveness of and rationale behind constraints imposed on those covering the sport.

In a time when physical attendance at tournaments or practice sessions isn’t an option for a large swath of sumo’s fan base, and the amount of misinformation online continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to ensure as much access as possible to trustworthy media sources.

Booster campaigns taking effect have raised hopes that coverage of the sport should be back to something resembling normal by summer.

What the status quo inside the ring will be like by then is anyone’s guess.

As predicted in this column, the COVID-19 outbreak of a month ago and its disruption of training schedules has resulted in the Osaka tournament regaining its famous (yet long-inaccurate) stormy reputation.

Although still in the March tournament’s opening act, there has already been chaos at the top of the banzuke rankings.

The three highest-ranked wrestlers in the sport have a combined record of 3-6 and discussion around the likelihood of two of them (Shodai and Takakeisho) failing to achieve a winning record and losing their ozeki rank has already begun.

Given the performances to date of the men in question, it’s a possibility that can’t be ruled out.

If that scenario does come to pass, then Terunofuji will be designated yokozuna-ozeki for May, as there must always be two ozeki-ranked rikishi on the banzuke at all times.

In the unlikely event that Takakeisho and Shodai both fall to losing records, and Terunofuji decides to retire, another wrestler (probably Abi) would find himself the recipient of a very fortunate and sudden promotion to sumo’s second-highest rank.

The man most recently elevated to that position, Mitakeumi, has looked the sharpest of all the top-rankers thus far and is making a strong play to put his inconsistent image to bed for good.

While a second straight Emperor’s Cup for the Nagano native would be a major surprise, a title win in Osaka for an ozeki would just be a continuation of the top rank’s domination of the spring meet.

The ultimate counterpart to that chunk being knocked out of the ring would be an out-of-the-blue championship for a low-ranked journeyman.

Yutakayama and Nishikigi are leading the pack for that honor after the first three days. Neither man has made an appearance in the three sanyaku ranks below yokozuna to date and a title win for either would rival that of Tokushoryu for the most surprising in recent times.

The COVID-induced shakeup currently rattling through sumo isn’t expected to last beyond the summer.

By then, coverage of the sport and attendance should be back to what they were in pre-pandemic times.

Inside the ring, though, is a different matter, and when sumo leaves Osaka it could well take that location’s famed storminess with it.