The May Grand Sumo Tournament starts Sunday in Tokyo and the first 2 days’ matches are set, but more significantly there already are 2 withdrawals in Makuuchi (top tier): Ichinojo (Maegashira 1) and Ishiura (Maegashira 16) have withdrawn pre-tournament. Isiura missed most of March with injury and didn’t win after returning late, so if he misses at least half the tournament, his M16 ranking means he probably will be demoted to Juryo for July. Ichinojo was in position to return to Sanyaku with a winning record, how far he would drop if he misses the whole thing depends on how others perform. Based on recent precedent, my guess is he’d drop to maybe an M6.
No withdrawals yet at the lower ranks but former Ozeki Asanoyama probably will be out as I believe he has one tournament left on his 1-year suspension for violating coronavirus safety protocols during the tournament a year ago.
