The summer grand sumo tournament continued on May 13 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, with the preliminary bouts for new recruits taking place on the fourth day. The eldest son of former komusubi Kakizoe—now stablemaster Ikazuchi—and a graduate of Saitama Sakae High School, Kakizoe (Ikazuchi stable) defeated Asahi Hayate (Oshima stable) by yorikiri, securing his second consecutive win and earning the quickest promotion among the rookie group.
After his first victory on Day 2, he had pulled back under his opponent’s pressure and won with a hatakikomi slap-down. His father and stablemaster, watching from ringside as a judge, later advised him: “If you wrestle like that, you’ll look weak. You need to push forward more.” In today’s bout, even though his opponent moved to the left at the tachi-ai, Kakizoe aggressively charged ahead with powerful sumo. “I just focused on hitting and moving forward. For now, I’m relieved,” he said with a smile.
The impact of his debut in the mae-zumo preliminary bouts has been huge. “My phone was blowing up with notifications yesterday,” he remarked. “Most of all, I love the crowd cheering ‘Kakizoe!’—it gives me an incredible boost.” He is thoroughly enjoying his time on the dohyo. “I get serious fight jitters,” Kakizoe explained. “I don’t actually feel nervous at all during the match, but after it’s over, my legs start shaking uncontrollably.” He revealed this unique sensation, noting that while he remains completely calm during the bout, his legs tremble only when he steps off the dohyo to give post-match interviews.
