In a tweet from the Sumo Kyokai, it is confirmed that Ura has damage to his right knee Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
From a more medical web site
The knee is essentially a hinged joint that is held together by the medial collateral (MCL), lateral collateral (LCL), anterior cruciate (ACL) and posterior cruciate (PCL) ligaments. The ACL runs diagonally in the middle of the knee, preventing the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, as well as providing rotational stability to the knee.
Full write up: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00297
Suffice to say, Ura will be out of sumo for a while, and his road back will likely be long and hard, similar to what Tochinoshin faced in 2014, where he dropped to Makushita and had to fight his way back.
I have a bad feeling that this is the last we have seen of Ura.
Yes, with modern surgery and months of rehabilitation, professional athletes can regain top-level ability. I said so myself in a comment yesterday. But this actually depends on the individual in question.
Besides random factors like genetics and the body’s response to rehabilitation, there’s this matter of Ura’s style. The man relies heavily on acrobatics and more flexibility than the average rikishi. A rikishi that just plants his two legs into the dohyo and applies plain vertical compression to his knee is completely different than a rikishi that needs that knee to move like a precision ball bearing. The knee has to stand up to shear and torque and whatnot.
Ura uses that style to overcome his greatest problem – his height. He added some weight to allow him to play with ever bigger boys, but that just puts more stress on his knees. He wouldn’t be able to keep up that style. And without it, I’m not that sure he can bo better than low Juryo.
Soccer players routinely blow cruciate ligaments and, whilst it used to be a career ending injury, these days plenty manage to return to something approaching their former glory.
Fingers crossed we see the pink pirouetter back to his best eventually.
I wonder what the comparison is between Japan’s sports science and the US. For that matter, I’m not sure about where the UK or Europe lies (you mentioned ⚽).
He’ll be back but it might take 1 year out. It’s a real shame, he’s my favourite rikishi right now _ very skillful and great to watch.
I have the exact same concerns. Sumo would be well served for a few years of Ura playing the role of Mainoumi, and generally making sure everyone was on their toes. But at this point we are not going to see the man in pink for many months, if ever.
When I heard Ura was going to start Aki, I was certain we were going to get this outcome unless he had a mummification bandage on that right leg like Tochinoshin does. Then he comes out day 1 with some little tape and nothing more. This was avoidable in so many ways.
I’m sure, almost everyone was surprised to see him fight after he had so many problems in the last basho. Too much ambition, obviously. On his side? Or was he pushed?
I wrote a comment on Ura’s facebook page to express my wishes of speedy recovery. His manager answered to my comment that he thought that Ura doesn’t need surgery… and that we will see him soon on the dohyo… I also doubt a little bit about that and think that he tried to reassure me…
Wow, if true his regenerative powers are most impressive. Thanks for sharing this bit of news.