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Five
years later, at the July 1969 basho, Kiyokuni was promoted to ozeki and
took the yusho in his first ozeki basho. He beat Fujinokawa (later
sekiwake) by abisetaoshi (backward force-down) in the yusho-deciding
bout. There were high expectations that he could reach yokozuna in two
basho, but Kiyokuni ended up severely injuring his neck and spine early
on, and could never recover fully from the injuries. These affected his
performance significantly later on in his career. ![]() Early in his career, Kiyokuni developed his hidari (left)-yotsu style. His arm strength was such that he once broke Taiho's elbow, and he had developed a reputation for injuring his opponents. He soon was christened with the nickname “Destroyer". He was also known for his clean tachiai style, often considered the paradigm of proper tachiai form. From a typical ozeki standard, Kiyokuni was regarded as an excellent ozeki who missed the opportunity to become a yokozuna due to chronic injury. He was strong and had a well-established style, but his physical weakness was in his lower body. His lack of flexibility hurt his career and it |
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Courtesy of the Nihon Sumo Kyokai |
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