There will be no more missed tournaments for yokozuna Kakuryu, as the injury-plagued Mongolian wrestler notified the Japan Sumo Association of his not-so-unexpected retirement on Wednesday.
The association's board of directors approved the retirement, as well as his continued use of the ring name Kakuryu as a sumo elder.
Under pressure to call it quits after missing all or part of the previous four tournaments, Kakuryu had declared he would put his career on the line at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, currently underway at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
But the 35-year-old never made it into the ring, having suffered a leg injury during pre-tournament training, and withdrew before it started.
At the time Kakuryu announced his withdrawal, stablemaster Michinoku said Kakuryu would aim at returning the next tournament in May, but the yokozuna decided it was no longer worth trying to hang on.
Kakuryu became a Japanese citizen in December last year, making him eligible to remain in the Japan Sumo Association upon retirement as a stablemaster. The right to continue using the ring name after retirement as a stablemaster is limited only to yokozuna, and only for the first five years, and Kakuryu has exercised that right.
He won the last of his six makuuchi-division championships at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July 2019, but after that, was plagued with elbow and back problems. Of the five tournaments held in 2020, he competed on all 15 days only once, at the Spring tournament.
After missing the entire November tournament, he was issued a rare disciplinary caution from the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, a move aimed at motivating him to live up to the high standards of his rank.
While he took the warning to heart, it didn't prevent him from being forced to sit out the New Year tournament in January this year because of a back injury.
Kakuryu, whose real name is Mangaljalav Anand, made his sumo debut at the Kyushu tournament in November 2001 at the age of 16 out of the then-Izutsu stable. Using a variety of techniques learned from late stablemaster Izutsu, such as working his arms in for a belt hold and executing a throw while holding the front of the belt, he worked his way up the ranks.
He became the 71st yokozuna in history in May 2014 after capturing his first career title at the Spring tournament, earning him promotion to the highest rank.
That made him part of the trio of Mongolian yokozuna, along with Hakuho and Harumafuji, who dominated in the ring for much of the past decade. As Harumafuji has already retired, it leaves Hakuho, who appears to be on his last legs himself, as the lone yokozuna.
After stablemaster Izutsu died in September 2019, he transferred to the Michinoku stable, which was part of an alliance of stables.
Kakuryu's final match in the ring was a loss to No. 1 maegashira Endo on the opening day of last year's July tournament. He withdrew after that match, handing a forfeit victory to komusubi Daieisho the next day for his last official loss.
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