Sumo: Grand champion Kakuryu withdraws from Kyushu tournament

Grand champion Kakuryu pulled out of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament with a lumbar spine injury after hurting his back in practice on Sunday morning, according to his Michinoku stablemaster.The yokozuna's decision to pull out on the opening day of the 15-day tournament in Fukuoka marks his second straight withdrawal since missing half of the previous meet in September because of a knee injury, and leaves Hakuho as the sole yokozuna in competition.This tournament would have been Kakuryu's first contested under his new Michinoku stable, following the sudden death of his Izutsu stablemaster, …READ FULL ARTICLE