New ozeki Kirishima has pulled out of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament starting Sunday, reporting to the Japan Sumo Association he requires three weeks to recover from bruising to the ribs on his right side.
The 27-year-old was forced to withdraw after missing training for two consecutive days through Saturday ahead of the 15-day meet at Dolphins Arena.
Kirishima hurt his right elbow on Tuesday and his stablemaster Michinoku said the wrestler also complained of back pain on Friday night.
The Mongolian-born wrestler sealed his promotion to the second-highest rank after recording an 11-4 record during the Summer meet in May. He tallied one more than the benchmark 33 wins over three straight meets wrestling as sekiwake or komusubi.
If Kirishima manages to recover in time to compete in the latter stages of the Nagoya meet, he will need to secure at least eight wins to avoid wrestling as a demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki at the Autumn meet in September in Tokyo. There, he will need a winning record to retain his ozeki status.
Michinoku said he recommended Kirishima pull out on Sunday morning but indicated his wrestler could still appear on the raised ring midway through the tournament.
"If possible, he wants to wrestle with the next meet in mind," Michinoku said. "I think he will be okay if the inflammation subsides."
Kirishima, who wrestled under the ring name Kiribayama before his promotion, joins the other ozeki Takakeisho on the sidelines at the Nagoya meet.
His opponent on the first day, No. 1 maegashira Nishikigi, will win by default.
