Photo/Illutration Kiribayama, left, and his stablemaster, Kakuryu, at the Tokitsukaze stable in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, where they are visiting for a training session on May 10 (Provided by Nikkan Sports)

Mongolian sumo wrestler Kiribayama will soon be one step closer to following in the footsteps of his stablemaster and other yokozuna from his country, when he is promoted to the second-highest rank of ozeki.

The 27-year-old from the Michinoku stable will be the first ozeki since Mitakeumi, who reached the rank in 2022.

The decision will be official after being approved by the Japan Sumo Association officials on May 31. He will join Takakeisho as the only two ozeki currently in the sport. 

There are no official criteria for the ozeki promotion. However, to achieve the status, wrestlers typically need to score at least 33 wins over the three recent tournaments while ranked as sekiwake or komusubi, the third- and fourth-highest positions in the sport.

Kiribayama has met the requirement by winning 34 out of 45 matches in the last three competitions, including capturing the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka in March. 

As a coach as well as a role model, stablemaster Kakuryu has been supporting Kiribayama in the last few years.

In September 2019, Kakuryu, then at the top yokozuna rank, joined the Michinoku stable and became a stablemate and training partner of Kiribayama, who was still in the second-ranked juryo division at the time.

Kakuryu, also from Mongolia, often took Kiribayama out to restaurants and encouraged him to eat more to gain weight, which he did; Kiribayama put on 10 kilograms in just two months.

The newly added weight and muscle helped make a heavy and powerful wrestler out of Kiribayama, who already had excellent balance and quick reflexes developed from riding horseback as he grew up in a Mongolian nomadic family.

In 2020, Kiribayama was promoted to the top-ranked makuuchi division.

Kakuryu retired as a wrestler in 2021 but stayed with Kiribayama as a stablemaster.

“I’m not the one who has trained Kiribayama from the beginning, but I want to help him as much as I can,” said the stablemaster.

Kakuryu would give Kiribayama instruction, illustrating his point by showing video of Kiribayama practicing.

They would also discuss tactics in detail in their native Mongolian language.

“You can do much more!” the stablemaster told Kiribayama, whose performance was not aggressive enough at the beginning of the summer tournament.

Kakuryu, who was praised for being smart and kind, is a role model for Kiribayama outside the ring as well.

“The more he gets promoted, the more humble he becomes,” said a stablemate. “He seems to behave like Kakuryu.”

In the sumo world with its strict hierarchy, higher-ranking wrestlers are always first to be accorded everything from meals to baths. But Kiribayama prefers to eat and bathe together with his fellow wrestlers regardless of their ranks.

Although he lost a tough bout against sekiwake Hoshoryu on the final day of the summer tournament to end with an 11-4 mark, Kiribayama was delighted to hear that his promotion was virtually assured.  

Kiribayama will be the sixth Mongolian wrestler to achieve the rank after Asashoryu, Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kakuryu and Terunofuji, all of whom eventually were promoted to the highest rank of yokozuna.

Related News