Just 3 days remain in the September tournament, and we’re down to 4 contenders, though it’s difficult to argue against this being Onosato’s basho to lose.

1. Y1e Onosato (11-1)

I had worried that the Yokozuna’s renaissance would be called into question once he began taking on the top rankers, but he’s looked positively imperious in dispatching both Sekiwake in the past few days (each of whom has been in excellent form this basho). Still not a done deal, and he’s only one sloppy defeat to Kirishima or Kotozakura away from letting Aonishiki potentially control his own destiny on senshuraku, but I’m not sure I see a world where this version of Onosato loses the 3 of 4 bouts he’d need to in order to come up short. Barring that, the Yokozuna yusho drought may at last be over!

2. O2e Aonishiki (9-3)

I’ve been hesitant to drop Aonishiki in these rankings, even after he had fallen behind most of the rest of the yusho contenders, precisely because the Ukrainian is better equipped than anyone else in the field (aside from a healthy Onosato) to put together a big winning streak in the second week. As alluded to above, he just needs a bit of help from one of his fellow Ozeki to put his fate back into his own hands, but it will take a titanic effort to fell Onosato twice, especially given his dire H2H against the Yokozuna. Still, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is practically a two-horse race at this point, and if anyone can pull off some senshuraku magic…

3. S1w Fujinokawa (9-3)

Can’t help but think Fujinokawa would have traded each of his prior victories over Onosato for a white star on Day 11, but he just had no answers for the freight train that is the Yokozuna this basho. Still, it’s been a brilliant san’yaku debut for the shin-Sekiwake, who at this point should be able to turn his attention toward racking up a few additional wins to set up a potential Ozeki run. After all, his 3-0 record against the Ozeki this basho indicates he has what it takes to make it stick at this level.

4. M6e Asanoyama (9-3)

I flagged in my pre-basho preview that I thought Asanoyama had a shot to put together a solid tournament at M6, and though he’s dropped one too many bouts to truly feel like he’s still in contention for the Cup, he’s the lone maegashira with 9 wins thus far. With two komusubi slots likely to open up and only one clear promotion candidate ahead of him, there’s a very good chance the former Ozeki will be fighting his first bouts in the san’yaku since May of 2021 come November!