In February 2023, Daiki Nakamura was picked third overall by this columnist in a theoretical Inside Sumo mock draft.

That was despite the then 22-year-old still being three months away from even setting foot inside a professional sumo ring.

Similarly, on an end-of-year review television show last December, when asked to predict banzuke ranking highs for 2024, I put Nakamura (by then known as Onosato) at ōzeki even though he was still in the sport’s second tier.