Tachiai can now confirm the competition status of two fan favorites. First, Ura is definitely a go for competition. He is ranked Sandanme 91 West. After hideous damage to his right knee Last year at Aki, he went the route of undergoing surgery, and has been working to rebuild his body since. This will be his first time in competition in a year, and I am very curious to see how long it takes him to re-connect with his sumo. Should he step up primed and genki, there is a strong chance that lower Sandanme rikishi may find themselves quickly going down to defeat.
The matter of Terunofuji is also hopeful, but with a different course of action. The big Kaiju is sitting out Aki, having also chosen to undergo reconstructive surgery. Terunofuji has mountains of talent, and a strong work ethic. It seems that he has accepted that he is rebooting his sumo career, and at this point it won’t matter what rank he falls to, as long as he comes back strong and healthy. He is currently ranked Makushita 47, but we expect him to be out several basho.
Aki starts in about 36 hours, and frankly Team Tachiai can’t wait.
Hat tip to Herouth for digging this up via Sanspo.
Can’t wait to see Ura in action again! Fingers crossed that he is truly healed and not jumping back in too soon. If so, he’ll rise in the ranks very quickly. Ura is a blast to watch!
Terunofuji’s choice is as difficult as it gets and that’s not counting the complications for surgery caused by his diabetes. If he comes back strong it will be an enormous achievement. More power and good will to any rikishi who suffer debilitating injury and struggle to come back to their previous form. Gambate!
Ura’s back, Ura’s back. Okay, we won’t be able to actually see him, but we can follow his progress up the ladder.
happy dance
Hopefully some fan video will come to the rescue!
As Meat Loaf almost said “one of two ain’t bad”.
I wish Ura all the best, he was fun and exciting and I hope he can come back and carve out a long career.
Terunofuji could take a whole year out and go banzuke-gai if only he could come back as the stone cold certain future yokozuna we used to know… , if only. He is 26 years old.
If he can get his health in order, it is not impossible that he could return the Kaiju we all know and love.
Terunofuji and work ethic??? You have GOT to be joking!
Do elaborate…