Yokozuna Terunofuji showed his power and No. 2 maegashira Ichinojo his tactical prowess as the Mongolian-born wrestlers remained the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament's joint leaders on Thursday.
On the 12th day of the 15-day meet at Dolphins Arena, Terunofuji brooked no nonsense from Daieisho (6-6), wrapping up the sekiwake's arms on the charge and then rocking him out of the ring with strong shoves to his shoulders.
Terunofuji's 10th win kept him tied with Ichinojo, who did well to avoid an ambush at the hands of tricky fellow No. 6 Tobizaru (8-4).
Tobizaru was rocked backward by Ichinojo's explosive opening charge, but remained in the ring. He then circled the 211-kilogram giant, looking for an extended arm with which to pull him off balance.
Ichinojo, however, carefully avoided overcommitting and after some sporadic hand slapping, locked up Tobizaru's right shoulder and used that to lever him out.
Ozeki Takakeisho is the sole wrestler one win back at 9-3. He needed two tries but his powerful thrusting and shoving game finally evicted No. 8 Nishikigi from the ring to his fourth loss.
When his vicious shove to the throat failed to do the trick the first time, Takakeisho regrouped, went low and bent Nishikigi backward so far he could no longer remain within the straw bales.
Ozeki Shodai earned the eighth win he needed to avoid relegation to sekiwake, sumo's third-highest rank, after going 5-10 in March.
He got the better of No. 6 Aoiyama (5-7) from the jump. The Bulgarian retreated and tried to slap the onrushing ozeki down, but Shodai stretched out as far as he could and shoved Aoiyama out an instant before he himself crashed to the dohyo.
After starting the day one win off the pace, No. 17 Nishikifuji suffered his fourth loss when No. 8 and former ozeki Tochinoshin (7-5) manhandled him on the opening charge and thrust him down to the sandy surface.
Sekiwake Wakatakakage inched closer to a winning record with his seventh victory, a force-out against No. 7 Okinoumi (4-8).
Both komusubi were winners. Abi (6-6) made short work of No. 4 Wakamotoharu (5-7), while Hoshoryu (7-5) beat No. 7 Hokutofuji (6-6) from the jump, grabbing an overarm hold, spinning him around and throwing him from the ring.
