It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
When Onosato ascended to yokozuna last summer following a dominant stretch, then added a fifth Emperor’s Cup, in just 11 top division tournaments, in September, it appeared as if sumo’s next great champion had arrived.
Then when Aonishiki’s rapid ascent saw the young Ukrainian breeze through the sanyaku ranks, reach ōzeki a year after debuting in the makuuchi division and claim a second title in January, an era with two elite rikishi battling it out for glory every tournament seemed tantalizingly close.
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