J5 – Hakuho confirme sa suprématie

Mongolian grand champion Hakuho mugged komusubi Yoshikaze on Thursday to stay tied for the lead on the fifth day of action at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.

Hakuho showed nifty footwork at the charge and got behind Yoshikaze (4-1) in a flash before easily bumping him out to make it five wins from five at the 15-day basho at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.

The result saw Hakuho, the most successful wrestler in the history of the sport with a record 38 career titles, move within six wins of former ozeki Kaio’s all-time win record of 1,047.

Eighth-ranked maegashira Aoiyama beat ninth-ranked Okinoumi (1-4) and is the only other wrestler with a perfect 5-0 mark.

Meanwhile, Kisenosato’s struggles continued as he fell to his third defeat of the meet and first in 16 meetings with third-ranked maegashira Ikioi.

Ikioi (1-4) went for Kisenosato’s sore left arm and after locking it up after the charge, the yokozuna simply had no answer as he got knocked off the dohyo.

Yokozuna Harumafuji (3-2) charged Hokutofuji (3-2) to the edge of the ring and pulled back to send the second-ranked maegashira to the dirt with a textbook sukuinage beltless arm throw.

His opening-day defeat seemingly a minor blip, newly promoted ozeki Takayasu stayed within one win of Hakuho, unleashing some hard shots to Takakeisho’s face and sending the top-ranked maegashira down to his fourth loss.

Ozeki Goeido came back from the brink in an entertaining bout and plopped No. 1 maegashira Shodai (1-4) on his backside to improve to 3-2.

Kotoshogiku finally got into the winner’s column, the komusubi getting a firm right-handed grip on Terunofuji’s belt and marching the Mongolian ozeki out to leave both men with 1-4 records.

Earlier in the day, third-ranked maegashira Endo pulled out of the tournament with a left ankle injury.

The 26-year-old wrestler from the Oitekaze stable lost his scheduled bout against No. 6 maegashira Ichinojo (3-2) by default.

Endo’s withdrawal is the second among wrestlers in the elite makuuchi division, after yokozuna Kakuryu. It is the fourth time in his career that Endo has pulled out of a tournament.

Written by Kyodo