Yokozuna Terunofuji will miss the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament after failing to overcome nagging lower back pain, his stablemaster Isegahama said Thursday.
The 31-year-old sole grand champion is out of the 15-day meet starting Sunday at Fukuoka Kokusai Center and will sit out the entire tournament for the second straight time after also skipping the Autumn meet in September.
The eight-time Emperor's Cup winner exacerbated the injury during the Nagoya meet in July when he withdrew and finished with a 1-3 record and 11 rest days, and was later found to have a bone fracture.
"He feels pain when he drives forward. He can't wrestle," said Isegahama, adding Terunofuji will seek to return to the raised ring at the New Year meet in January.
The yokozuna did take part in training at his stable's base in Dazaifu in Fukuoka on Thursday morning.
The Mongolian-born wrestler, who has long been troubled by injuries, won his last championship at the Summer meet in May in his only full appearance this year out of its six tournaments.
His promotion to the top rank after the 2021 Nagoya meet capped an epic comeback for the wrestler, who fought at the sport's second-highest rank of ozeki before injuries to both knees saw him fall to the fifth-tier jonidan division in March 2019.
"We'd been working assuming he'd take part, but he can't deal with opponents making dodging moves. He's got the back pain after trying to minimize his knee issues," Isegahama said. "He gets inflammation after a little bit of training."
Terunofuji is missing the whole or part of a meet for the eighth time during his 14 meets as a yokozuna. Ozeki Takakeisho, the Autumn meet winner, is set to be the highest-ranked wrestler in action in Fukuoka.
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