Grand Sumo 2026 January Tournament Day15 (Final)

Aonishiki Wins the Playoff for His Second Consecutive Championship, Sets His Sights on Yokozuna Promotion

Aonishiki and Atamifuji entered senshūraku (final) tied at three losses apiece. Personally, I did not want to see the championship decided at an 11–4 mark, so I was hoping that both men would rise to the occasion.

OshoumiーAtamifuji

Oshoumi had already beaten Aonishiki when they were in Juryo. He is a rikishi who can fight well both in close quarters and at distance, with strong lower-body balance and a certain technical versatility. I rate him highly. That said, I could not picture him defeating Atamifuji. In reality, the difference in forward-driving power between the two was obvious.

KotozakuraーAonishiki

Kotozakura tried a variety of approaches—tsuppari, attempting to break Aonishiki’s balance with a katasukashi—but Aonishiki’s forward-leaning posture never collapsed. At one point Kotozakura secured a left uwate, but he was unable to draw his opponent in. Aonishiki pressed his head into Kotozakura’s chest and finished with a yorikiri. Aonishiki’s left ottsuke was particularly effective in that sequence. It may well become a weapon he can use against Onosato in future tournaments. More broadly, even when Kotozakura manages to get a left uwate, it rarely changes the flow of a bout. For a rikishi of his size, he may lack the arm strength needed to really control and pull his opponent in.

HoshoryuーOnosato

Hoshoryu came out of the tachiai well, quickly secured both sides in a migi-yotsu position, drew his opponent in, and wasted no time in driving forward for the yorikiri. Hoshoryu is strong against Onosato but struggles against Aonishiki; Aonishiki is strong against Hoshoryu but struggles against Onosato; and Onosato is strong against Aonishiki but struggles against Hoshoryu. How long will this rock–paper–scissors relationship among the three continue?

With both men preserving their three-loss records, Aonishiki and Atamifuji advanced to a championship playoff.

AonishikiーAtamifuji

I could not predict which way it would go, but if Atamifuji were to win, I believed it would have to be by overwhelming Aonishiki with sheer power and driving straight through him. Instead, Aonishiki secured the migi-zashi and placed his head against Atamifuji’s chest. At that moment, I thought, “This is Aonishiki’s championship.” Still, Atamifuji forcibly used arm strength alone to raise Aonishiki’s upper body and drive him back to the tawara (edge of the ring). In the end, however, Aonishiki’s kubinage landed cleanly and decisively.

In the past, Aonishiki has reversed bouts at the tawara with this same kubinage against Hakunofuji, Yoshinofuji, and now Atamifuji—three rikishi from the Isegahama stable.

Aonishiki has now crowned his debut tournament as Ozeki with a championship, and next basho (tournament) he will formally embark on a tsuna-tori campaign.

Rather than picking up short-term wins through clever tricks, he has steadily refined and built up his own sumo style. That style is underpinned by exceptionally strong body, and by a consistently high level of ambition. In his interview, he remarked, “I’m glad I was able to win the championship wearing the mawashi passed down to me by my master.” When asked what he wanted to do next, he replied, “I want to report this to my master as soon as possible.” There is no sense that he will lose his way. Despite all the attention, he remains grounded and humble—it is hard to believe he is only 21 years old.

Atamifuji missed out on the championship, but this tournament I clearly felt a change in the substance of his sumo. Until now, he had been instructed by the former Isegahama-oyakata and by Terunofuji to take hidari-mae-mitsu at the tachiai, but it never quite came together. In fact, during a past NHK broadcast, Terunofuji even remarked that despite trying to instruct Atamifuji, things were not going well and it was undermining his own confidence as a coach. This basho, Atamifuji appeared to reverse that approach: instead of prioritizing a grip at the tachiai, he made “moving forward first” the absolute priority, with migi-yotsu and left uwate emerging as a result rather than a goal.

That emphasis on “moving forward first” is something I sense across the Isegahama stable as a whole.

Kirishima defeated Abi by yorikiri to finish with 11 wins and earn the Fighting Spirit Prize. After seeing Kirishima defeat Aonishiki, I had actually predicted that he might win the championship—but that was not to be. Depending on his results next basho, a return to ōzeki is now within reach. Ultimately, it will come down to the condition of his body.