Yokozuna Kisenosato announced his retirement from sumo at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward.
The 32-year-old’s two-year reign in the top rank was plagued by injuries and concluded with eight straight losses in the ring, “NIKKAN SPORTS”.
“Even though it’s very regrettable that I wasn’t able to live up to everyone’s expectations as a yokozuna, I don’t regret one bit of my career on the dohyo,” he said.
Breaking: Yokozuna Kisenosato Announces his Retirement https://t.co/nlLxhqsuoD
— 立合 (@tachiai_blog) January 15, 2019
“I had practiced and gotten in shape before the tournament,” Kisenosato said. “I had a feeling inside like ‘this is do or die’ and I trained well. The result of that came in the form of three losses from opening day, and I don’t have a single regret.”
“Since the injury, I was confident that I was doing the best I could. I wrestled with everything I had in the world,” he said. “But I felt for the first time that I was unable to go on.”