Former Makuuchi rising star Ura was handed his first loss of Aki on day 3 when Daishoki applied a well timed tsukiotoshi. On day 2, Ura looked like a Makuuchi or Juryo rikishi who had decided to play around in Sandanme. On day 3 he looked like a rikishi still working hard to recover his ring sense and balance after a risky and painful medical break.

With this loss, Ura drops to 1-1, and as Herouth has pointed out, he has eliminated a short-cut into Makushita that might have been granted him if he had gone 7-0 and claimed the yusho. Ura will instead face a long hard grind back to his pink mawashi. We know he will gamberize. We know he can make it.

Many fans, myself included, have been eagerly awaiting the return of Ura. After suffering a painful and crippling knee injury, he took the bold step to have surgical reconstruction, and a long recovery. His extended absence from competition sees him ranked near the bottom of Sandanme, a long way from his former mid-Makuuchi post. This is actually very good for Ura, as it gives him a chance to get back to competition sumo against a different class of opponents.

As with day 1, Sandanme is mostly having east and west rikishi of the same rank face off. His opponent is Sandanme 91 Sumanoumi, from Takadagawa heya. Sumanoumi has been a Sandanme main-stay since 2013. I expect Ura to start off a bit conservative, and perhaps a bit rusty. His practice matches featured his recognizable low and crazy sumo, and I will be curious to see if he brings that out today.

We will be watching his return match, and will share results as soon as they are known.