The new standings for the professional sumo wrestlers were announced by the Dai Nippon Professional Sumo Association on January 4, ready for the January main tourney which will be opened on January 10 at the Kokugikan, Ryogoku, Tokyo. The tourney will continue for 15 days.
    Because of the sweeping victory of the West team in the May tourney, last year, the West team and the East team replaced each other in the standings.
    The new East team is made up mostly of grapplers belonging to the Dewanoumi club, although the team is headed by Minanogawa, "yokozuna" on the roster of the Sadogatake club.
    The new West team, the East team in the May tourney last year, is a combined squad of grapplers from various clubs, although the leading positions of the team are occupied by such wrestlers belonging to the Tatsunami club as Futabayama, Haguroyama, Nayoroiwa, and Asahigawa.
    The high ranking grapplers are: