BREAKING: Today’s Day 9 of the July 2022 Grand Sumo Tournament has seen a huge shakeup before the top tier begins-Ichiyamamoto, a co-leader at 6-2, has WITHDRAWN. Unknown why but my first thought is coronavirus, maybe an outbreak at his beya (stable). His stablemate Shimazuumi is out of Juryo too. This means fellow co-leader Nishikifuji will get a free win and remain at least a co-leader, putting the Maegashira 17 one win from promotion. Japan is seeing another surge in virus cases and it may be accounting for numerous withdrawals at all ranks-it seems that everyone in both Dewanoumi and Naruto Beya is now out of the tournament.
More as it becomes available.
In other news, former Ozeki Asanoyama won his Day 9 match in the Sandanme, remaining a co-leader at 5-0. At Sandanme 22, promotion to Makushita is just about guaranteed in September no matter what.
