last year, 10 top division wrestlers and 11 juryo wrestlers received the status, the most ever, and the Sumo Association feels it was getting out of hand. In addition, Musōyama was refused kosho status after his injury in the March tournament was deemed to be an old shoulder injury, and yet still competed in May and got eight wins. At the Aki basho in Tokyo, Asashoryu wins his second championship as a yokozuna, third of the year, and fourth overall, with a 13–2 record. He finishes two wins ahead on a trio of wrestlers on 11–4: Chiyotaikai, sekiwake Wakanosato and maegashira Iwakiyama. Kaio, who had been told a 15–0 score was necessary for yokozuna promotion, can only manage 7–8. Musashimaru sits the tournament out. Wakanosato receives the Outstanding performance Award while Iwakiyama wins the Technique prize and Kyokutenho and Takamisakari share the Fighting spirit prize. Takekaze wins the juryo championship. November Former yokozuna Akebono announces he is leaving his oyakata position to become a K-1 fighter. At the Kyushu basho, Musashimaru retires after his second attempted comeback ends in failure, losing four matches in the first seven days. He is the last wrestler from Hawaii in sumo, a legacy that began with Takamiyama in 1964. Lower down the ranks, former maegashira Aogiyama and the American born Sentoryu also announce their retirements. Ozeki Tochiazuma wins the makuuchi championship, his second, with a score of 13–2. Asashoryu finishes in second place, one win behind, after losing to Tochiazuma on the final day. Veterans Tochinonada and Tosanoumi, with three wins over yokozuna between them in this basho, share the Outstanding Performance Prize. Tamanoshima wins the Fighting Spirit prize. In the juryo division Georgian Kokkai wins the championship with a fine 14–1 record and becomes the first Caucasian to be promoted to the top division. The makushita yusho is won by veteran Daimanazuru, with an unbeaten 7–0 score, who earns promotion to the sekitori ranks for the first time. Runner-up on 6–1 is the 18-year-old Mongolian Hakuho, who is also promoted to juryo. December Former maegashira Higonoumi branches out from Mihogaseki stable and opens up his own Kise stable. Deaths 28 April: Yamawake Oyakata, who as the former maegashira Tochifuji defeated Taiho in the yokozuna's final tournament in May 1971, dies aged 56. 17 July: Maeda Yoritaka, an apprentice at the Kitanoumi stable, aged 15, of Cardiomyopathy. He is the only sumo wrestler to