Top-ranked
maegashira Daieisho and No. 16 Akiseyama kept their perfect records intact Friday with their sixth straight wins at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, while No. 7 Meisei suffered his first defeat.
Daieisho saw
sekiwake Terunofuji (3-3) momentarily succeed in stemming his thrust but never took his foot off the gas, emphatically pushing out the former
ozeki at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The 27-year-old former
sekiwake, who beat three ozeki in the opening three days, was joined by Akiseyama. The veteran remained unbeaten despite looking dead and buried against diminutive No. 12 Terutsuyoshi (2-4).
The 35-year-old Akiseyama was on the back foot following a low initial charge from his counterpart, but had a strong thrust down in his locker with his right arm at the edge to turn the tie around.
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yokozuna, fell to his fourth straight loss on Wednesday, this time to rank-and-file opponent Takarafuji.
The
ozeki went to his trusted pushing and thrusting techniques in the final bout of Day 4, but could not keep No. 2 maegashira Takarafuji directly in front of him.
After catching Takakeisho by the arm, Takarafuji (2-2) quickly sent him and his hopes for yokozuna promotion tumbling with an overarm throw.
“I wasn’t really thinking too much, I just got the grip naturally,” said former
sekiwake Takarafuji, who is aiming to return to the elite
sanyaku ranks below yokozuna.
“I’m satisfied with the quality of the sumo I’ve been showing. I just want to keep it up.”
Having come into the tournament looking to earn promotion to sumo's top rank of yokozuna, the 24-year-old Takakeisho will now almost certainly face a longer wait.