Some huge news for the world of sumo! Hakuho has handed in his
retirement papers. His right knee has not healed as expected. It was
well known that he was aiming for doing something at the Tokyo
Olympics and ended up hanging on after the delay. He still managed to
win the last basho he was in at a record defining 44 yushos. Hakuho
has been a dominant force and reached the rank of Yokuzuna after just
6 years. He has set so many records and is simply a beast to watch.
I certainly shall miss Hakuho's artistry in how he got people out and
some of his displays of emotion which often got him into trouble. It
was certainly fun to see his smiles of 'did I really get away with
that?'
We shall still see Hakuho but he shall have another name and will be a
stable master. It will be interesting to see what he can offer back to
sumo and who he decides to train. He certainly seems to be aiming to
recruit the extremes of height based on 1.68m tall Enho and 2m tall
Hokuseiho. Hopefully his work with the Hakuho Cup, a tournament which
he finances and organises for school children will also continue.
The end of another sumo era and the start of an uncertain period with
no dominant high rankers beyond Terunofuji.
