The world of sumo has a new yokozuna. On Wednesday morning, the Japan Sumo Association officially promoted Hoshoryu to the highest rank in the makuuchi division of the sport. He is the 74th grand champion and the sixth Mongolian to assume the title. The 25-year-old from Ulaanbaatar follows in the footsteps of his uncle, Asashoryu, who went on to become one of the most successful yokozuna of all time. Hoshoryu will need another 23 top division titles before he catches him.
Hoshoryu’s promotion comes shortly after the retirement of fellow Mongolian, Terunofuji, the last active yokozuna. Despite numerous comments calling for his retirement after he missed both the September and November tournaments last year, Terunofuji confirmed that he would be competing in the first tournament of 2025. However, he pulled out on the fifth day of the competition and then announced he was calling it quits on January 17. It left the sport without a grand champion for the first time since March 1993.
Hoshoryu Wins the Emperor’s Cup
That baton has now been passed to Hoshoryu, whose real name is Sugarragchaa Byambasuren. His prospects didn’t look good, though, after the ninth day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. He already had three losses to his name by that stage. Another would have put him out of contention. He battled back and went into the final day one win behind leader Kinbozan. After Ohno defeated Kinbozan, Hoshoryu set up a rare three-way play-off following his victory over fellow ozeki, Kotozakura.
It was an intense climax to the tournament. In the first play-off, Hoshoryu manhandled Kinbozan out of the ring. The second bout against Ohno proved more difficult. The pair were locked in a stalemate until Hoshoryu wrenched the rank-and-filer off balance. He then toppled him with a frontal crush to clinch the Emperor’s Cup for a second time. The first came in July 2023, a victory that earned him promotion to the rank of ozeki. His latest triumph is even more special.
“On the last day of the previous tournament, I promised myself that I would really get it done this time at the January tournament,” said Hoshoryu. “This was a tournament for getting to yokozuna, but each day I wanted to stay focused and have the results follow. My stablemaster told me to have fun and to enjoy the bouts, and that was really encouraging.”
