---

Musashimaru to sit out another

---

TOKYO, April 24 (Kyodo) -- Grand champion Musashimaru will skip the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament for his fourth straight no-show in a basho due to a nagging wrist injury, the yokuzuna’s stablemaster Musashigawa said Thursday.

The elder said Musashimaru, who had been relegated to the west yokozuna slot for the first time in 11 tournaments in the latest rankings, opted out of the May 11-25 meet at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan after failing to recover from surgery on his left wrist.

”He’s suffering from inflammation in his wrist and can’t even practice. His participation is very doubtful,” Musashigawa said.

The 31-year-old has been out of action since November, when he damaged ligaments in his left wrist and pulled out midway through the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. He underwent surgery later that month.

Musashimaru’s seventh overall absence leaves Mongolian Asashoryu as the only active yokozuna for the second tournament in a row since the spring basho in Osaka last month.

---

For more sumo information online, try:
Sumo Web
Da Kine Sumo E-zine
Grand Sumo Home Page
Ozumo
CyberSumo
Kyodo News Service