J11 – Takakeisho renverse Tochinoshin et s’installe en tête

Takakeisho pulled off a big win at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday, defeating ozeki Tochinoshin to remain in a tie for the lead in his bid to get re-promoted and win a second top-division title.

The young sekiwake earned his fourth-straight win of the 15-day meet at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan, where three of the five joint leaders dropped off the pace. Rank-and-filer Meisei also improved to 9-2 to retain a share of the lead.

In the penultimate bout of Day 11, Tochinoshin tried to wrangle Takakeisho around but the sekiwake stayed on his feet, then quickly spun behind the ozeki and connected on a massive shove that also sent the match referee flying off the raised ring.

Takakeisho needs to claim at least 10 wins here to regain ozeki status, while Tochinoshin requires eight to retain his position at sumo’s second highest rank.

No. 10 Meisei recovered from his second loss of the tournament with a win over No. 15 Ishiura (6-5). Meisei drove Ishiura to the edge of the straw, then repelled a slap-down attempt and followed up with a lethal pushout to stay in the race.

Among the overnight leaders, Mitakeumi suffered his third loss of the tournament after getting turned around by No. 5 Ryuden (6-5). The sekiwake battled his opponent to the straw but allowed him to get an inside grip, which Ryuden used to spin Mitakeumi around and send him out.

No. 8 Okinoumi crashed to his third-straight loss, falling to No. 14 Tsurugisho, who secured a winning record in his first tournament in the top division.

Okinoumi, who had been undefeated until Day 9, tried to charge the rookie from the ring but went in too low and gave Tsurugisho the chance to pull him down by the shoulder.

« I gave it everything. I want to keep up this strong sumo for the next four days, » Tsurugisho said. « This is only the start of what I hope will be a long career. »

Tsurugisho remains one win off the pace at 8-3 with four other wrestlers, including Okinoumi, Mitakeumi, No. 2 Asanoyama and No. 8 Takarafuji.

Asanoyama, who won his first makuuchi championship in May, gave up his portion of the lead after being defeated by No. 1 Hokutofuji (5-6). Asanoyama tried to rebound after being taken to the edge by circling around, but Hokutofuji met him with a finishing shove.

In other Day 11 bouts, ozeki Goeido (7-4) quicky dispatched No. 5 Chiyotairyu (2-9) after a trio of false starts and moved within a win of securing his rank for the next grand tournament.

The two komusubi had mixed results, with Endo prevailing and Abi falling. Endo (7-4) took down No. 4 Shodai (2-9) with a sleek overarm throw to get within a victory of a winning record, while Abi (6-5) overextended himself and slipped against No. 4 Tamawashi (6-5).

Written by Kyodo