TOKYO (Kyodo) -- New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner Hoshoryu on Monday was still feeling the effects of the grueling three-way championship playoff in which he clinched his second Emperor's Cup and a promotion to yokozuna.

The 25-year-old Mongolian ozeki on Sunday finished the 15-day tournament at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan arena deadlocked with rank-and-file wrestlers Oho and Kinbozan at 12-3 before beating the two back-to-back in the tiebreaker.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, an exhausted Hoshoryu said he had only dragged himself out of bed to fulfill his official obligations.

"I was fast asleep," he said. "If there hadn't been a press conference, I would still be sleeping."

Hoshoryu won his first Emperor's Cup as a sekiwake in July 2023 and was subsequently promoted to ozeki. He earned a shot at yokozuna promotion by going 13-2 as runner-up in November and needed a championship-caliber performance to move up to the sport's highest rank.

The Japan Sumo Association's nine-member Yokozuna Deliberation Council unanimously decided Monday to recommend Hoshoryu for promotion.

He will become the 74th grand champion Wednesday when the association's board rubber stamps the council's decision.

"I feel I did my best," Hoshoryu said. "I guess I'm not dreaming. I'm happy to have won for the first time as an ozeki."

The explosive and technically skilled grappler, whose real name is Sugarragchaa Byambasuren, will follow in the footsteps of his famous uncle, former yokozuna Asashoryu, by becoming a grand champion.

"I used to watch him from the sidelines as a child," Hoshoryu said. "I'm excited."

His impending promotion also means the sumo world will avoid the absence of an active grand champion following the mid-tournament retirement of Terunofuji.

Mongolian-born yokozuna Terunofuji brought down the curtain on an injury-plagued career in which he nevertheless captured 10 Emperor's Cups and carried the mantle of grand champion on his own after all-time great Hakuho retired in September 2021.