Takanohana favored
in New Year tourney

Musashimaru must rebound
from his Kyushu performance
to be a contender

TOKYO -- While Kotonishiki's surprising victory in the final tourney of 1998 gave sumo fans a breath of fresh air, a repeat performance in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament getting underway Sunday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan appears unlikely.

The 30-year-old Sadogatake wrestler, who became the first wrestler in sumo history to win the Emperor's Cup twice as a rank-and-file maegashira, will enter the New Year tourney as a komusubi and face a much tougher schedule than he did in Kyushu.

The big question for Kotonishiki this time around will be whether he can maintain the speed and tenacity he showed in Kyushu and post a winning record to climb back up to sekiwake, the highest position he has attained thus far.

For the leading contenders at the New Year tourney, look no further than the cast of usual suspects - the same small band of yokozuna and ozeki that currently dominate the sport.

Sumo superstar Takanohana enters the 15-day meet as the favorite, despite a roller coaster 1998 in which he missed two tournaments due to a liver ailment and became embroiled in a bitter rift with elder brother Wakanohana.

After 10 months without a championship, Takanohana came back to win in July and then again in September last year to take home his 20th Emperor's Cup, becoming only the fourth wrestler after Taiho, Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji to reach that milestone.

Historically, Takanohana has performed well at the New Year tourney, where he has finished with a 13-2 record or better in four of the past five years. He will be tough to beat this time if he can put his personal problems aside.

With yokozuna Akebono sidelined for a second straight basho with a nagging back injury, Takanohana's main competition for the Emperor's Cup will come from Wakanohana, who will be looking for his first title since being promoted to sumo's highest rank.

But Wakanohana, who is probably the most skilled among sumo's top wrestlers, has his own set of problems both on and off the dohyo heading into the tourney.

Since his promotion last summer, Wakanohana has struggled under the pressure of having to win as a yokozuna and has shown a tendency to be vulnerable to exhaustion from trying to use force to overpower his larger opponents.

And, in addition to the ongoing ''cold war'' that began when Takanohana told a sports daily last autumn that his brother lacked the wrestling fundamentals to be a grand champion, Wakanohana must now contend with his suspected marital problems.

After a difference in opinion with wife Mieko over the raising of their three children, Wakanohana has reportedly moved out and took up residence at the Futagoyama stable. He is in the middle of rampant speculation that he is contemplating a divorce from the former stewardess.

Other challengers for the Emperor's Cup will be the ozeki duo Musashimaru and Takanonami, but both wrestlers are coming off mediocre performances in Kyushu and looking more like pretenders.

Meanwhile, sekiwake Chiyotaikai suffered a pre-tourney knee injury in November but, if he has regained his top form, the Kokonoe stable wrestler, who has the strength and determination to beat anyone, will be a force to be reckoned with.

Along with Chiyotaikai, the komusubi pair Tochiazuma and Dejima, and top-ranked maegashira Tosanoumi, who posted an impressive 12-3 record in November, represent sumo's rising generation and will be well worth watching in the first tourney of 1999.

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