With Asashoryu's de facto firing from ozumo, Hakuho has established a new brand of dominance as the sole yokozuna. He had a run of 63 straight wins and was in a great position to topple the all-time mark of 69 this tournament, one of the sport's most important records set by a legendary, almost god-like yokozuna.
Alas
one slipup and it's back to square one.
Yep it was THAT big a deal, even with sumo's popularity being at an all-time nadir. This match led off the NHK morning newscast even before stories about petty crimes and economics.
p.s. lookit all the empty seats up there! When I went to sumo in the early 90s in Kyushu... well we had to wake up super early to get same day tickets for those cheap seats. Sad nowadays.