After 6 days and 3 rounds of bouts, let’s take a look at the action in Makushita, where exciting newcomers mix it up with veterans for a shot at the salaried ranks.

As a reminder, the Makushita yusho race is essentially a seven-round single-elimination tournament in which the 120 or so rikishi are reduced by half over two-day rounds until one man with a 7-0 record takes the title (occasionally, same-heya rikishi and other wrinkles throw a wrench into the works, and we end up with a playoff and a 6-1 champion). A 7-0 record from Ms1-Ms15 is a near-guarantee of promotion to Juryo, which otherwise usually requires a winning record from Ms1-Ms5.

After Day 6, the headline has to be that one man has already clinched his kachi-koshi: former Sekiwake Wakatakakage. After sitting out 3 basho following his March knee injury and surgery, the fan favorite and erstwhile Ozeki hopeful returned at Ms6 in November and showed some unsurprising ring rust on his way to a 5-2 record, not enough to earn re-promotion to Juryo. Now fighting at Ms1w, WTK started off with 3 straight wins against Makushita opponents before visiting Juryo on Day 6 and besting Chiyosakae to all-but-ensure a return to the salaried ranks. He now gets two days off before continuing his quest for a second career third-division yusho.

Also in the yusho race are 13 undefeated 3-0 wrestlers. The next round, unfolding over Days 7 and 8, will reduce the number to 6 or 7 (the lowest-ranked of the 13 will fight the highest-ranked undefeated Sandanme rikishi). The highest-ranked is Ms8e Onokatsu, the last man to debut at Ms15TD in November before a rule change eliminated this head start. He scored a huge victory over Ms5w Hakuoho (2-1), who is in his first basho back after shoulder surgery, and understandably a little rusty. Other notable names are 18-year-old prospect Ms15e Wakaikari (6th professional basho; 32-6 career record) and Ms55e Sazanami, whose main claim to fame is his starring role in Hiro Morita’s “Sumo Prime Time” videos.

After only 3 rounds of bouts, all 9 active wrestlers in the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone are still mathematically in contention for a Juryo spot (Ms3e Takakento is out with injury). Six of them are paired up on Day 7, with the most interesting bout matching Hakuoho against a man nearly twice his age, the wily veteran Ms2w Kitaharima (2-1), who at 37 is seeking a record-tying 9th career Juryo promotion.

Come back in a day or two to see how the yusho and promotion races shape up!