Akebono to sit out
New Year tourney

TOKYO -- Yokozuna Akebono, who sat out last month's Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament with a lower back injury, will also skip the 15-day New Year Grand Sumo Tournament starting Jan. 10, his stable master Azumazeki said Friday.

Azumazeki said the Hawaiian-born grand champion was examined by his doctor in Hawaii and judged unfit for the upcoming tourney. Akebono returned to Japan Thursday from Hawaii.

Akebono, 29, is suffering from a herniated disk and requires four to six weeks of rest, the stable master said, adding the yokozuna is unable to practice due to pain.

Both the Japan Sumo Association and an official at Akebono's stable could not confirm the report.

Akebono hit his lower back hard in a fall on the sumo ring's straw edge in a practice bout just before the Kyushu tourney in Fukuoka.

The New Year's Grand Sumo bout in Tokyo would be Akebono's second missed tournament in a row. He sat out the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November because of the same injury.

Akebono, formerly Chad Rowan of Hawaii, is the first foreign sumo wrestler to reach the rank of yokozuna, sumo's top position.

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