No. 1 maegashira Nishikigi took the sole lead at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday, the 11th day, when No. 9 Hokutofuji fell to his second defeat at the 15-day meet.
Nishikigi (10-1) and in-form No. 16 Endo (8-3) had a head-on collision before a slight move to the side from Endo gave the surprise leader a small opening to exploit at Dolphins Arena. Even without a belt hold, Nishikigi generated enough power to produce a force-out win.
Hokutofuji (9-2) stood his ground following an early pull-down attempt from sekiwake Wakamotoharu (8-3). But when each grabbed a right overarm belt hold, Hokutofuji's grip was looser and Wakamotoharu gradually seized control before grappling out the overnight joint leader.
Sekiwake Hoshoryu joined Hokutofuji at 9-2 after powering his way past fellow Mongolian-born wrestler Tamawashi (6-5). Repeated sharp drives from the nephew of former great Asashoryu proved enough to dispatch the stubborn veteran No. 7 with a push-out.
Sekiwake Daieisho (8-3) took a step back from the title race after failing to deliver his usual thrusting attack against new ozeki Kirishima (5-4-2). Daieisho never put Kirishima under pressure, and a desperate lunge ended in his being slapped down to defeat.
With a key benchmark for ozeki promotion being 33 wins over three tourneys as a sekiwake or komusubi, Daieisho and Hoshoryu can each afford one more defeat over the last four days, while Wakamotoharu will likely need to win his remaining bouts.
No. 17 top-tier makuuchi debutant Hakuoho pushed out former ozeki and No. 7 Takayasu (5-6) from behind to secure a winning record, joining the three other wrestlers at 8-3.
Komusubi Kotonowaka (7-4) picked up a win after top-division debutant No. 14 Shonannoumi (7-4) stepped out of the ring while executing a throw at the edge, while the other komusubi, Abi (4-7), fell to a last-ditch thrust down from No. 15 Takarafuji (7-4).
