Kotozakura trains, Oushouma too

[Moti Dichne]

Ozeki Kotozakura joined the keiko session at his heya today in Nagoya, taking part in a total of 11 bouts against opponents including Fujinokawa), who came for degeiko.. After facing Fujinokawa, Daieishou and Abi for five bouts, he had six bouts in a row against Fujinokawa. He reflected on practicing with the small rikishi, 177 cm tall and weighing 123 kg, who he lost to on the first day of the last tournament, saying, "There aren't many rikishi of that size. I was able to put my heart into it." Last basho, he withdrew on the 12th day due to lower back pain, finishing with a record of 3-9-3. He will be competing in  Nagoya as kadoban for the second time in his career. "I'll try to manage my lower back well. I'll do my best from here on out," he said.

On the 2nd, Oushouma (Naruto) had keiko with lower-division rikishi -  a total of 17 bouts at his heya's lodgings in Midori Ward, Nagoya City, in preparation for the Nagoya basho. He said that the previous day, the 1st, he had keiko with Ounokatsu and others, who came for degeiko, and commented, "I had a good session. I'm not in top form yet, but I want to gradually improve."Last year, he competed in the Nagoya basho as a newly promoted Komusubi, but was overwhelmed by the higher-ranked rikishi, suffering a major losing record of 3-12. He continued to have difficult bashos after that, but in the last one, he achieved a kachikoshi, going 8-7 for the first time in four tournaments. "Although it didn't lead to wins, there were some bouts where I was moving forward. I want to increase the number of bouts like that," he said, feeling he had made progress. Looking ahead to this tournament as Maegashira 5W, he said with great enthusiasm, "Winning is important, but more than winning or losing, I want to attack aggressively and move forward." From the 3rd onwards, he may be considering going for degeiko.