## Grand Sumo’s Autumn Tournament: Five storylines to Watch
Grand Sumo returns this month with the 15-day *aki basho* (autumn tournament) beginning on September 15 at the historic Ryokku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Each day of the tournament hundreds of sumo wrestlers will do battle, hunting for precious *kashi-koshi* (winning records) which may secure promotions in the next *banzuke* (rankings document).
To set up the up coming tournament (and convince you to start watching sumo) here are five storylines that I’ll be tracking this month. Veteran sumo watchers and readers of this content on combat Press will notice that I don’t mention our two *yokozuna* in this post. And there’s a reason for that.
For years now, the race to find the next *yokozuna* and then speculation over how the new *yokozuna* would fare have dominated the narrative in Grand Sumo. Right now, I feel as though we may have turned a corner in the sport. We have two *yokozuna* atop the *banzuke* and they are phenomenal wrestlers. And this tournament will probably be decided based on how well they compete (and how healthy they are). But there’s a lot more going on in sumo this month than what’s happening in the Onosato and Hoshoryu camp and that’s what I want to talk about.
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## Wakatakakage’s final act of redemption
Wakatakakage comes into the *aki basho* after a 10-5 July tournament, while ranked *sekiwake*, and a 12-3 May tournament, while ranked *komusubi*. He finished as a runner-up in that May tournament. These achievements mean that Wakatakakage has an *ozeki* promotion within his grasp.
Promotion to the rank of *ozeki*, which is second only to *yokozuna*, is generally awarded after a wrestler puts together a run of 33 wins across three consecutive tournaments, while ranked *sekiwake*. Though, this rule is not written in stone and, like most things in sumo, context is key.
wakatakakage is 11 wins from that 33 win threshold. He’s gotten 11 or more wins in three of the past seven tournaments. Should he get those 11 wins this month, he is very likely to be promoted to *ozeki* (despite him being *sekiwake* for just two of the past three tournaments). Wakatakakage’s chances of promotion are helped by the fact that there is only one *ozeki* currently on the *banzuke*, Kotozakura. The Japan Sumo Association would much prefer there to be two *ozeki*, one for each side of the *banzuke*. This desire might even help Wakatakakage get the rank if he falls just short of 11 wins.
Should Wakatakakage reach *ozeki* it would represent an incredible comeback for the 30 year-old. the last time he was a *sekiwake* trying to carve out an *ozeki* run was in early 2023. That’s when he suffered a devastating knee injury, in a win over Kot
Kotoshoho’s Breakthrough: Can He Sustain His Sumo Success?
Kotoshoho has done it. He’s won his first Emperor’s Cup at the Nagoya basho, and the sumo world is taking notice. This wasn’t a lucky win; it was a display of skill and composure that suggests a genuine leap forward for the 23-year-old wrestler.
His path to victory wasn’t easy. Kotoshoho was tested with very high-level opponents including Takayasu, kirishima and Onosato. He looked incredible against each of them, winning with very composed and highly technical sumo (a far cry from his usual haphazard style).
This all set up a bout with Aonishiki on the final day for the cup. Kotoshoho seemed immune to the pressure of that occasion. He confidently handled Aonishiki to lift his first Emperor’s Cup with a 13-2 record.
That record has catapulted Kotoshoho from maegashira 15 up to maegashira 5, one step below the joi.
The last time this happened to Kotoshoho, things did not go well. Back in January 2023 he finished runner-up, losing on the last day to winner Takakeisho. Kotoshoho, who was just 21 at the time, was then promoted to M5. He went 6-9 in the next tournament and then 2-10-3. That sent him back down the ranks. He climbed back to M5 again, but then suffered a 3-11-1 record.
kotoshoho will hope that this time, as a defending champion, he’s able to stick the landing in the higher maegashira ranks and then progress beyond them.