Yokozuna Terunofuji and former ozeki Asanoyama, each making a kind of comeback at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, continued to look unbeatable Saturday as each improved to 7-0, maintaining their share of the three-way lead with No. 6 maegashira Meisei.
Terunofuji, in his first tournament since October surgeries on both knees, had little trouble with Kazakhstan's first makuuchi-division sumo wrestler, No. 5 Kinbozan (3-4), in the day's final bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, driving him back at the charge and flinging him to the sandy surface.
Asanoyama, a No. 14 maegashira, is returning to the elite makuuchi division following a suspension for violating coronavirus safety rules and resumed competing in the fourth-tier sandanme division last July.
In his return to the top flight, Asanoyama has been a wrecking ball, dishing out daily one-sided defeats to the division's lower-ranked wrestlers.
On Saturday, he made quick work of No. 15 Ichiyamamoto (2-5), beating him on the charge and shoving him out in a heartbeat.
Meisei, although perfect at 7-0, has been far less impressive than the other two leaders. On Saturday, he failed to pull down No. 8 Sadanoumi (3-4) on the charge, setting the tone for a bout in which both wrestlers alternated slaps with failed pull-down attempts.
When Meisei missed again and looked vulnerable near the edge, Sadanoumi lunged forward, but his poor effort allowed Meisei to slap him down to defeat.
New sekiwake Wakamotoharu bounced back from his first loss on Friday with a steady but unimpressive win over No. 3 Nishikifuji (1-6) and is tied one win back of the leaders with fellow sekiwake Daieisho.
Ozeki Takakeisho, who needs eight wins to avoid demotion to sekiwake, picked up his fifth with a no-nonsense effort over tricky No. 4 Ura (3-4).
Meanwhile, sekiwake Kiribayama, who is seeking the 10-plus wins that could earn him promotion to ozeki, was forced out by komusubi Shodai (3-4) to his second defeat.
Related coverage:
Sumo: Wakamotoharu stunned as leading group trimmed to three
Sumo: Georgian former ozeki Tochinoshin calls it quits
Sumo: Terunofuji stays perfect at 5-0, Takakeisho loses again
