Energetic wrestler Tobizaru, whose identify means “flying monkey”, had earlier misplaced his lengthy bout with Takayasu and thereby his personal shot on the trophy, however he was rewarded for his efforts over the 5 days with the excellent efficiency award.
His opponent Takayasu, a repeated runner-up however by no means a winner of one of many six main tournaments held annually in Japan, obtained the combating spirit award.
However the greatest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for Ura, whose reputation in Japan appeared to have made the journey with him, as he picked up each the method award for his superb throws and the viewers favorite award, voted for on-line over the 5 days.
Whereas the sold-out London event has given sumo some uncommon worldwide airtime, the game now goes again to Japan and its long-running battle to seek out new recruits. There at the moment are about 600 wrestlers within the skilled setup, nicely down from a peak of round 1,000 within the early Nineties.
Earlier than the wrestlers all walked out waving to the group, the higher-ranking of the 2 grand champions, Onosato, stored his English good and easy in a last farewell on behalf of all of them: “London is nice. Thanks and see you once more. Goodbye.”
