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Sumo
Takanohana, Akebono
miss warmup;
Musashimaru hot
TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Kyodo) -- Yokozuna Akebono and fellow grand champion Takanohana missed the public practice session Thursday before the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, raising questions about their readiness for the upcoming Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.Defending champion Musashimaru, however, served notice that he is ready to resume carting home the tournament hardware by going 13-2 against the ozeki in practice bouts prior to the start of the Sept. 3-17 tourney at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Takanohana sat out the practice session apparently still hobbled by the sprained left elbow that forced him to withdraw midway through the Nagoya basho in July and the summer tour of local municipalities.
Akebono, winner of his first championship in more than three years in Nagoya, skipped the session to take care of a cold.
Musashimaru, meanwhile, went 13-2 against ozeki challengers Dejima and Miyabiyama, who hail from the same Musashigawa stable, and newly promoted Kaio, winner of the summer tourney in May.
The Samoan-born grand champion won last year's fall tournament with a 12-3 record along with the Kyushu crown in November, but has been winless in 2000.
Also impressive in the pre-tourney tune-up was sekiwake Tochiazuma, who would become the latest candidate for sumo's second highest rank of ozeki with 12-13 wins.
Tokitsukaze, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, however, was disappointed with the session, pointing out, "Just saying that Tochiazuma was the most impressive today should tell you how wretched it was."
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Kyodo News Service