Photo/Illutration Onosato, left, defeats Kotozakura to win the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 23. (Koichiro Yoshida)

Ozeki Onosato steamrollered fellow ozeki Kotozakura out of the dohyo on the 13th day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on May 23, securing the championship and his promotion to yokozuna. 

The 24-year-old wrestler, who belongs to the Nishonoseki stable, improved his perfect record to an insurmountable 13-0 with two days to go in the tournament at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. Kotozakura dropped to 8-5 with the loss. 

The seemingly unstoppable Onosato notched his fourth title and his second consecutive championship as an ozeki, which assured him of promotion to the sport's top rank. 

Since 1958, when the six-tournament-a-year system system was introduced, there has never been an ozeki who won two consecutive tournaments and was not promoted to yokozuna.

The Japan Sumo Association will hold a special meeting of the board of trustees on May 28. If approved, Onosato will become the 75th yokozuna and join Mongolian Hoshoryu at the highest rank. 

The promotion will end the sport's “one yokozuna” situation, which has continued since the retirement of the 69th yokozuna Hakuho in September 2021.

Onosato will be the first Japanese-born yokozuna since his stablemaster, the 72nd yokozuna Kisenosato, achieved the feat in March 2017. 

Onosato made his debut in the 2023 summer tournament. He won his first championship in the 2024 summer tournament, the fastest in history to do so after entering the professional ranks.

He was promoted to the second-highest ozeki rank afterward. His promotion to yokozuna in the 13th tournament since his debut will be the fastest since the establishment of the annual six tournament system.

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