.
The sanyaku tennis ranking system assigns four honorary ranks to tennis players that have distinguished themselves in grand slam tournaments, i.e. the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Komusubi and Sekiwake are Junior Championship ranks and are given to players who have proven to be competitive at a high level. An Ozeki (Champion) has shown repeatedly to be competitive at the highest level. Finally, a Yokozuna (Grand Champion) occupies a dominant position in the sport.
Sanyaku ranks are borrowed from ozumo, Japan’s national wrestling competition. For tennis the associated promotion and demotion criteria have been modified to make them fit for a sport that has only four grand tournaments per year (as opposed to six annual grand ozumo tournaments) and that follows a KO modus rather than a league system (as ozumo). Only Grand Slam tournaments are considered. Hence other major competitions, such as the Davis Cup, the Masters Cup, or the Olympic Games--events that are either held irregulalry or follow a different modus--do not enter the rankings. The rankings start with the open era in 1968, when professionals were admittted to all Grand Slam tournaments.
Promotion Criteria
A rank can be obtained by either:
• accumulating championship points over subsequent grand slam tournaments,
• or, for Ozeki and Yokozuna, by winning a certain number of grand slam titles over the course of a player’s career.
Championship points are assigned as follows:
• 4 points for winning a grand slam title (W);
• 3 points for reaching the final (F) of a grand slam tournament;
• 2 points for reaching the semifinals (SF); and
• 1 point for reaching the quarterfinals (QF).
Tournaments where a player fails to reach the quarterfinals—either because he is eliminated earlier or because he doesn’t participate—are called non-scoring tournaments (NSTs).
The promotion criteria are summarized in the table below.
* Provided the player has won at least two grand slam titles in his/her career.
In practice, this implies the following requirements:
To earn a Komusubi promotion, a player needs to reach the SFs or make it twice to the QFs over the course of three tournaments.
Sekiwake is a higher rank than Komosubi and the promotion criteria are stricter. A W or F triggers a Sekiwake promotion, as does a 2-tournament combination of SF-SF, SF-QF or QF-SF. Over 3 tournaments, participation in two SFs interrupted by a NST results in a Sekiwake promotion. Moreover, a Komosubi who reaches a SF will be promoted to Sekiwake.
An Ozeki promotion attests competitiveness at the highest level over an extended period. Hence, in contrast to the junior championship ranks, the result of one tournament alone does not suffice to become Ozeki.
• Over 2 tournaments, the following combinations promote a player to Ozeki: W-F, W-SF, W-QF, F-W, F-F, F-SF, SF-W, SF-F, QF-W.
• Over 3 tournaments there are plentiful combinations that trigger an Ozeki promotion, including W-NST-SF, F-NST-F, or three consecutive SFs.
• An Ozeki promotion will also be effected if a player ranked no higher than Sekiwake wins the second, third or fourth grand slam tournament of his career.
A Yokozuna promotion is granted to players who occupy a dominant position in the sport.
• Two consecutive grand slam titles trigger a Yokozuna promotion.
• Over three tournaments, a combination W-F-W or W-SF-W results in a Yokozuna promotion.
• A combination W-F-F, F-W-F or F-F-W also suffices to become Yokozuna, provided the player has won at least two grand slam tournaments in his career.
• Finally, a player is promoted to Yokozuna after winning the fifth grand slam tournament of his career.
Dai-Yokozuna is not a rank but a title granted to Yokozuna with an exceptionally succesful career. Typically, 10 grand slam titles are the benchmark for becoming a Dai-Yokozuna. However, the title can be bestowed also on other Yokozuna if exceptional circumstances beyond a player’s control prevented him/her from winning 10 grand slams.
Demotion Criteria
Komusubi and Sekiwake are demoted if they fail to reach the QFs of a grand slam tournament. An unsuccesful Komusubi becomes a Maegashira (=non-champion), an unsuccesful Sekiwake is demoted to Komusubi.
Ozeki enjoy limited rank protection. A regular Ozeki who fails to reach the QF becomes a kadoban Ozeki. If a kadoban Ozeki fails to reach the QFs again, he is demoted to Sekiwake. As a Sekiwake, he has a one-time chance to re-obtain the Ozeki rank by reaching the SFs. If he fails with this attempt, rank protection extinguishes.
Yokozuna is a rank for life. This means a Yokozuna cannot be demoted - but he is considered inactive if he fails to reach two QFs or one SF in the four consecutive grand slam tournaments. A SF participation or 2 QF participations re-activate Yokozuna status.
The sanyaku tennis ranking system assigns four honorary ranks to tennis players that have distinguished themselves in grand slam tournaments, i.e. the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Komusubi and Sekiwake are Junior Championship ranks and are given to players who have proven to be competitive at a high level. An Ozeki (Champion) has shown repeatedly to be competitive at the highest level. Finally, a Yokozuna (Grand Champion) occupies a dominant position in the sport.
Sanyaku ranks are borrowed from ozumo, Japan’s national wrestling competition. For tennis the associated promotion and demotion criteria have been modified to make them fit for a sport that has only four grand tournaments per year (as opposed to six annual grand ozumo tournaments) and that follows a KO modus rather than a league system (as ozumo). Only Grand Slam tournaments are considered. Hence other major competitions, such as the Davis Cup, the Masters Cup, or the Olympic Games--events that are either held irregulalry or follow a different modus--do not enter the rankings. The rankings start with the open era in 1968, when professionals were admittted to all Grand Slam tournaments.
Promotion Criteria
A rank can be obtained by either:
• accumulating championship points over subsequent grand slam tournaments,
• or, for Ozeki and Yokozuna, by winning a certain number of grand slam titles over the course of a player’s career.
Championship points are assigned as follows:
• 4 points for winning a grand slam title (W);
• 3 points for reaching the final (F) of a grand slam tournament;
• 2 points for reaching the semifinals (SF); and
• 1 point for reaching the quarterfinals (QF).
Tournaments where a player fails to reach the quarterfinals—either because he is eliminated earlier or because he doesn’t participate—are called non-scoring tournaments (NSTs).
The promotion criteria are summarized in the table below.
| Championship points over 1/2 over 3 tournaments | Grand Slam titles | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Komusubi | 2 | 2 | - |
| Sekiwake | 3 | 4 | (1) |
| Ozeki | 5 | 6 | 2-4 |
| Yokozuna | 8 | 10* | 5 |
* Provided the player has won at least two grand slam titles in his/her career.
In practice, this implies the following requirements:
To earn a Komusubi promotion, a player needs to reach the SFs or make it twice to the QFs over the course of three tournaments.
Sekiwake is a higher rank than Komosubi and the promotion criteria are stricter. A W or F triggers a Sekiwake promotion, as does a 2-tournament combination of SF-SF, SF-QF or QF-SF. Over 3 tournaments, participation in two SFs interrupted by a NST results in a Sekiwake promotion. Moreover, a Komosubi who reaches a SF will be promoted to Sekiwake.
An Ozeki promotion attests competitiveness at the highest level over an extended period. Hence, in contrast to the junior championship ranks, the result of one tournament alone does not suffice to become Ozeki.
• Over 2 tournaments, the following combinations promote a player to Ozeki: W-F, W-SF, W-QF, F-W, F-F, F-SF, SF-W, SF-F, QF-W.
• Over 3 tournaments there are plentiful combinations that trigger an Ozeki promotion, including W-NST-SF, F-NST-F, or three consecutive SFs.
• An Ozeki promotion will also be effected if a player ranked no higher than Sekiwake wins the second, third or fourth grand slam tournament of his career.
A Yokozuna promotion is granted to players who occupy a dominant position in the sport.
• Two consecutive grand slam titles trigger a Yokozuna promotion.
• Over three tournaments, a combination W-F-W or W-SF-W results in a Yokozuna promotion.
• A combination W-F-F, F-W-F or F-F-W also suffices to become Yokozuna, provided the player has won at least two grand slam tournaments in his career.
• Finally, a player is promoted to Yokozuna after winning the fifth grand slam tournament of his career.
Dai-Yokozuna is not a rank but a title granted to Yokozuna with an exceptionally succesful career. Typically, 10 grand slam titles are the benchmark for becoming a Dai-Yokozuna. However, the title can be bestowed also on other Yokozuna if exceptional circumstances beyond a player’s control prevented him/her from winning 10 grand slams.
Demotion Criteria
Komusubi and Sekiwake are demoted if they fail to reach the QFs of a grand slam tournament. An unsuccesful Komusubi becomes a Maegashira (=non-champion), an unsuccesful Sekiwake is demoted to Komusubi.
Ozeki enjoy limited rank protection. A regular Ozeki who fails to reach the QF becomes a kadoban Ozeki. If a kadoban Ozeki fails to reach the QFs again, he is demoted to Sekiwake. As a Sekiwake, he has a one-time chance to re-obtain the Ozeki rank by reaching the SFs. If he fails with this attempt, rank protection extinguishes.
Yokozuna is a rank for life. This means a Yokozuna cannot be demoted - but he is considered inactive if he fails to reach two QFs or one SF in the four consecutive grand slam tournaments. A SF participation or 2 QF participations re-activate Yokozuna status.
2 comments:
For "subsequent", please put "consecutive" instead.
Post a Comment