Ten days into the 2024 Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament and the biggest surprise is that two ozeki are leading the field, but one of them isn’t Onosato.

Sumo’s newest star has a solid 7-3 record and remains just two wins off the pace — with five days to go — but in a basho where many expected the Nippon Sport Science University grad to begin a yokozuna promotion run, that’s still somewhat disappointing.

Onosato will face frontrunners Hoshoryu and Kotozakura during the run-in and will likely need to beat both (and get help) if he is to claim a second straight Emperor’s Cup.