KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2017 - 13:28 | Sports, All

Yokozuna Kisenosato, who missed the last five days of the summer tournament in May due to chest and arm muscle injuries, will compete in the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, his stablemaster Tagonoura said Thursday.

The 31-year-old grand champion's participation in the July 9-23 tournament at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium had been in question after he lost to lower-ranked wrestlers and skipped a few training sessions since arriving in Nagoya late last month.

Though still in rehab phase, his stablemaster said he confirmed with Kisenosato on Thursday morning that his fitness level is up to par and believes the yokozuna knows best the weight of his responsibilities.

"He said he will compete for sure," said Tagonoura.

"He has to wrestle like a yokozuna. He knows it's not good enough for him to just appear in the meet. He is in a lot better condition than the last basho," he said.

Kisenosato won his first Emperor's Cup at January's New Year tournament to earn promotion to sumo's highest rank. He fought through injury on the last two days of the spring meet in March and came from behind to win his second championship in dramatic fashion.

But he is said to have rushed his rehab ahead of his three-peat bid at the summer tournament, eventually having to withdraw after being diagnosed with damage to the muscles in his left chest muscle and left upper arm.

Before the summer basho, Kisenosato had only missed one day of tournament in his 15-year-career.