Japan's sumo world will have its first new yokozuna grand champion in three and a half years.

Ozeki Champion Hoshoryu has been recommended for promotion to sumo's top rank after winning his second grand tournament title in a three-way playoff on Sunday.

The Mongolian-born wrestler also performed well in the previous tournament in November, with 13 wins and two losses.

The Japan Sumo Association sought opinions on his possible promotion from the Yokozuna Deliberation Council at a meeting in Tokyo on Monday evening.

The council unanimously recommended Hoshoryu for promotion based on his dignity and sumo ability.

The association will make the upgrade official on Wednesday at a meeting on wrestler rankings for the next tournament and an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors. It will then send a messenger to notify Hoshoryu.

The wrestler said he has been striving to reach the top of the sumo world since he started his career, and that he wants to aim even higher after the promotion.

The last time a wrestler was made a yokozuna was 2021, when Terunofuji achieved the rank after the Nagoya Tournament.

When he retired in the middle of the latest tournament, Japan's sumo world had no grand champion.

With Hoshoryu's promotion, the tournament in March will narrowly avoid having no yokozuna on its ranking list, something that last happened in 1993.