Yokozuna Hakuho extended his career championship haul to 42 on Sunday after winning the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with a record 15th undefeated run. Needing a win against fellow Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu to avoid a championship playoff, Hakuho was pushed to the limit in a ...
The race for the Emperor's Cup at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament will go down to the final day with undefeated yokozuna Hakuho and fourth-ranked maegashira Ichinojo both winning on Saturday. In the penultimate day of the 15-day meet at Edion Arena Osaka, Hakuho, seeking ...
Sumo 101: Retired stablemasters
As with most top-level athletic endeavors, 30 seems to be the age when many rikishi either hang up their mawashi or see a noticeable decline in skills and performance. Once the topknot is cut, the vast majority return to civilian life. Culinary skills acquired while in ...
Ted Williams famously said, "Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of 10 and be considered a good performer." While a 70 percent fail rate might work in America's national pastime, it won't get you very far ...
Yokozuna Hakuho inched toward a record-extending 42nd career championship with a win over ozeki Goeido on Friday, the 13th day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. The victory left Hakuho with a perfect record and a one-win lead over his Mongolian compatriot Ichinojo with two ...
Sumo has no shortage of legends. From titanic yokozuna that dominated in the ring, to plucky underdogs that achieved far more than a lack of size would have seemed to allow, the sport has never lacked stars and celebrities. Indeed, yokozuna Hakuho, the man leading the ...
Yokozuna Hakuho defeated ozeki Tochinoshin on Wednesday to retain his lead at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with 12 straight wins. Hakuho faced little challenge from the struggling Tochinoshin (6-6), who has only beaten the 41-time top-division champion once in 28 matchups. Hakuho hemmed up Tochinoshin ...
Yokozuna Hakuho held off a stern challenge from sekiwake Takakeisho on Wednesday to maintain his perfect 11-0 record at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. No. 4 maegashira Ichinojo is one win behind the Mongolian yokozuna, who aims to hold onto the lead for a record-extending ...
Sumo 101: Bow-twirling ceremony
Every day of a sumo tournament concludes with a bow-twirling ceremony, called yumitori-shiki in Japanese. A rikishi — normally from the makushita division — mounts the dohyo from the side of the winner of the final bout and is handed a traditional bamboo bow (minus ...
Normally, brothers in sumo can't fight one another. The only way siblings can meet on the dohyo is in a playoff for the championship. That has happened just once; in November 1995 when Wakanohana defeated younger brother Takanohana to win his second Emperor's Cup. The Hanada family ...
Yokozuna Hakuho improved to a perfect 10-0 Tuesday at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, but a pair of wrestlers remain just one win behind the all-time championship record holder on the leaderboard. Hakuho toppled Tamawashi on the 10th day of the 15-day meet at Edion ...
Sumo 101: College graduates in sumo
New entrants into the world of sumo generally fall into three groups. Most are recent junior high school graduates with little to no previous sumo experience. That category has a fairly high washout rate, as the reality of sumo's harsh lifestyle normally comes as a shock ...
