Sumo Summer Grand Sumo Tournament 2026

Finally! Tomorrow, 10 May, the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament 2026 will start at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

However, it was reported yesterday that Yokozuna Onosato and Ozeki Aonishiki will not participate due to injuries.

Aonishiki, who posted a 7-8 losing record in March and is a demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki this month, suffered a blow on Wednesday when he hurt his left ankle during a training session. The 22-year-old dynamo will drop to the third-highest rank of sekiwake unless he enters the meet this month and gets a winning record with eight or more wins. "He's planning to take part once the pain subsides," said his stablemaster Ajigawa, former sekiwake Aminishiki. "I spoke to him this morning and he said he was 'barely walking.' It's both a mental and physical issue." Aonishiki marked his record-fastest ozeki promotion at the New Year meet in January by winning back-to-back top-tier championships but suffered an unexpected losing record in March -- when yokozuna promotion was a possibility -- after breaking his left little toe.

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Onosato is still suffering from an injury sustained in the November tournament:

Onosato was diagnosed with rotator cuff damage in his left shoulder that requires a month to recover, having battled pain in the same part of the body since injuring it late in November's Kyushu meet. The grand champion slumped to a 0-4 record with 11 missed days at the Spring meet in March. "He still has pain, and his physical condition wasn't really improving," his stablemaster Nishonoseki, former yokozuna Kisenosato, said. "I hope he takes a good look at himself and makes this an opportunity to grow."

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The final day of the Natsu Basho in Tokyo yesterday saw komusubi Wakatakakage defeat ozeki Kirishima in the championship playoff, winning the Emperor Cup and securing his second championship title, after a tournament marked by the absence of both yokozuna and ozeki Aonishiki, and the dropout of ozeki Kotozakura due to injury.


Wakatakakage moved fast from the tachiai and drove his opponent straight out of the ring, beating the wrestler who had handed the komusubi a defeat in their regular bout on the 11th day of the tournament. The title is Wakatakakage's second top-division championship since March 2022. It also came in the tournament where he had only just returned to the rank of komusubi after fighting his way back up the rankings.

Wakatakakage and Kirishima ended the 15-day tournament at 12-3. Though the loss means the ozeki failed to grab back-to-back championship after winning the Spring tourney in March, his achievement as runner-up may turn his next tournament into a pursuit of the yokozuna rank. Before the 15th-day bouts started, there was a possibility for a maximum six-way playoff. However, Wakatakakage swung down No. 17 maegashira Fujiryoga (10-5) to extend his winning record to 12-3. With that, Fujiyoga, No. 2 maegashira Yoshinofuji, No. 10 maegashira Hakunofuji and No. 11 maegashira Ura saw their chances of advancing to playoff disappear. Kirishima pushed Ura into the dirt to extend his winning record to 12-3 and force the playoff. Trailing both Kirishima and Wakatakakage, Yoshinofuji forced No. 13 maegashira Kotoeiho out of the ring and took away his chance to advance to the playoff. Hakunofuji pulled down No. 6 maegashira Fujiseiun to maintain a record of 11-4.

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Among the three special prizes, Wakatakakage received the Technique Prize. Hakunofuji and Yoshinofuji were both awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize. No wrestler was selected for the Outstanding Performance Prize this tournament.