Ichinojo’s triumph at Dolphins Arena in Nagoya redeemed a grand sumo tournament that had slowly been turning into a total farce.
The giant Mongolian’s unexpected — but well deserved — title win flipped the script at the last moment on a meet in which almost a third of the wrestlers in the top division were stood down by the end of the 15 days, due to COVID-19 infections or outbreaks in their stables.
Despite all those absences, no asterisk is needed for Ichinojo’s first-ever Emperor’s Cup.