Posted on: Friday, July 5, 2002

Takanohana will miss 7th tourney in a row

Advertiser News Services

Yokozuna Takanohana will sit out the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament due to a prolonged knee injury, the Japan Sumo Association said yesterday.

It will be the seventh-straight tournament from which the grand champion has withdrawn and his 15th overall.

Takanohana injured his right knee in last year's summer tournament and has been sidelined since.

Kitanoumi, head of the Japan Sumo Association, suggested that if Takanohana skips the September tournament, he will face a retirement recommendation.

The record consecutive withdrawals by a yokozuna is eight tournaments set by Nishinoumi during the 1920s.

The 15-day summer tournament will begin Sunday at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, central Japan.