Pre-tournament predictions of healthy top-rankers battling it out for the Emperor’s Cup took all of three days to burn to ash in Nagoya’s fierce heat.

Anticipation of an exciting July meet took an early hit when both ozeki withdrew just before the tournament got underway, and things quickly went downhill from there as Terunofuji followed up an opening-day win with two straight losses.

Sumo’s top three rikishi having a grand total of one victory as Day 4 action got underway wasn’t the start sumo fans were hoping to see.

A quick bounce back for the yokozuna won’t happen either, as Terunofuji, who looked to be in serious discomfort following defeat to Tobizaru on Day 3, announced his withdrawal from the tournament on Wednesday morning.

It hasn’t all been bad news from Aichi Prefecture, however, as promotion-chasing Daieisho continued his recent string of hot starts and looks well on his way to returning to Tokyo in September as a newly minted ozeki.

Since January, the 29-year-old has won 21 of 25 opening-week bouts.

With four — or possibly even five — losses unlikely to derail his promotion chances in Nagoya, sekiwake Daieisho seems set to ensure a feel-good ending to the tournament regardless of what happens elsewhere.

Daieisho lost his bout on Day 4 to Nishikigi, who has also done his part to enliven proceedings in central Japan.

Kirishima’s absence handed the Isenoumi stable man a walkover win on Sunday, and the 32-year-old took full advantage of that early gift of an extra day of rest by claiming victories over Terunofuji and Hoshoryu before beating Daieisho on Wednesday.

Those wins ensured Nishikigi extended his career-best winning streak to 12 — a run that started on Day 8 in May when the Iwate native had a 1-6 record and was facing demotion.

Instead, the popular veteran is at his highest rank since entering professional sumo 17 years ago, and likely needs to win just four of his remaining 11 bouts to make it to the sanyaku ranks for the first time.

Though Kirishima eventually made his ozeki debut on Wednesday despite bruised ribs that kept him out of the first three days, the withdrawals of Terunofuji and ozeki Takakeisho mean that various promotion challenges should monopolize the headlines over the next 10 days.

Daieisho and Nishikigi aren’t the only rikishi on the verge of reaching new heights after the July meet.

Wakamotoharu and Hoshoryu each suffered an early defeat, but ozeki hopes are still very much alive for both men.

The sekiwake trio have all been in fine form of late, and should either earn promotion this time out or put themselves in line to do so in the autumn meet.

While promotion charges are going as planned, the aforementioned withdrawals mean the destination of the Emperor’s Cup is completely up in the air.

Aside from Daieisho, almost all the names mooted as potential title challengers have so far either dropped bouts or looked shaky at times.

The crucible that is Dolphins Arena, with its sauna-like atmosphere and slippery dohyō, has, in the opening chapter of the 2023 meet, made a mockery of pre-tournament predictions.

Hopes for stability and dominance from those at the top of sumo’s pyramid are as far away from being on a secure footing as the rikishi that are slipping, sliding and losing balance in Nagoya every day.

Among the early pacesetters this time out, there are at least half a dozen that could reasonably be expected to challenge for silverware, with as many again legitimate dark horse candidates for glory.

The likelihood of a frontrunner clearly separating himself from the pack before Day 10 or 11 is low.

While we wait for the picture to become clearer, it’s been interesting to see sumo in a regional tournament fully return to what it looked like prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

Full-throated cheers and the throwing of cushions following the yokozuna’s upset loss signaled that the COVID-19 restrictions that dominated the news cycle over the past three years are a thing of the past.

The rain of zabuton thrown onto the dohyō — while officially prohibited, and continuously warned against in the arena — is one of sumo’s most iconic sights.

The risks of sending heavy cushions flying, frisbee-like, across an audience with a much higher percentage of elderly people and young children, in an arena where the boxes are ringed with exposed steel pipes, are obvious — but even the most safety-conscious sumo fan would have been forgiven for cracking a smile of relief at this week’s visual representation of sumo’s return to normal.

Unfortunately, a Nagoya-specific tradition, the tearing apart and carting home of chunks of the dohyō after the final day’s action has concluded, is unlikely to return. Seeing people rush to the ring, shovels in hand, trying to ensure they got a piece of the tawara was always a sight to behold.

The days of wilder audiences may be gone, but wild title and division races seem to be here to stay.

The good news, for those disappointed by the failure of sumo's top-ranked trio to make it to Day 4, is that they can take solace in the fact that up-and-coming stars like Hokuseiho, Hakuoho and Onosato are still in action and performing well.

Injuries and Nagoya’s extreme conditions may have put paid to the current holders of the yokozuna and ozeki titles, but likely future incumbents are still providing thrills in a basho that has brought the energy of pre-COVID sumo back to the fore.