On a day sumo officials wore egg on their faces after the name of disgraced ozeki Kotomitsuki appeared on the official rankings released for the upcoming Nagoya meet, yokozuna Hakuho tried to focus his attention back on the raised ring amid a widespread gambling scandal in the ancient sport.
"It will be a difficult tournament, but I want to concentrate on preparing myself mentally and physically," Hakuho said at a news conference on Monday, the day after Kotomitsuki was fired over allegations that he gambled on professional baseball.
Hakuho, the sole wrestler to hold the top rank of yokozuna, has admitted to betting on "hanafuda," or Japanese playing card games, but has not been implicated in the baseball gambling scandal.