Giant Slayer Daieisho Stuns Yokozuna Terunofuji on Day 1

Komusubi Daieisho upset yokozuna Terunofuji on Sunday, May 8, the opening day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.

After sitting out most of the March tournament due to injuries, Terunofuji, the lone grand champion, is hoping to get back to his winning ways in the 15-day meet at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan.

But he didn’t get the start he wanted against Daieisho, a wrestler who has a reputation for pulling off upsets.

In the day’s final bout, Daieishio prevented Terunofuji from getting a grip of his belt and forced the Mongolian-born grappler back to the edge where the yokozuna stepped out with his left foot.

Even if he hadn’t stepped out, it was clear that Terunofuji had little chance of winning the opening day bout against Daieisho, who also defeated Terunofuji on Day 2 of the Spring Basho.

“I was able to move forward right away,” Daieisho said. “I was able to fight my style of sumo and get a big win on the opening day. I’ve been working on my pushing and thrusting attack in practice sessions and it paid off. I will aim for a winning record first and then we will go from there.”

After winning his first two tournaments at sumo’s highest rank, the Mongolian-born Terunofuji has hit a rough patch in the previous two tournaments.

After losing to ozeki Mitakeumi in the New Year tournament, Terunofuji was forced to pull out of the March event with injuries to his knee and heel after competing in just five bouts.

He will take on top maegashira Takayasu on Day 2. Whether Terunofuji has fully recovered from his injuries remains an open question. He was slow out of the face-off on Day 1 and Daieisho took full advantage.

Successful Start for Mitakeumi

In other major bouts, Mitakeumi saved some ozeki pride when he used a push-out technique to send Takayasu toppling off the raised ring.

Winner of the New Year Basho, Mitakeumi will be eager for a strong result in this tournament after losing out on the top prize in the March tournament.

Former ozeki Takayasu was a surprise contender for the title in March, but missed out on his elusive first championship when he was defeated in a playoff by Wakatakakage.

Sekiwake Wakatakakage got a left arm lock on Hokutofuji and then shoved the No. 3 maegashira over the edge to kick off his summer campaign with a solid win.

Wakatakakage, who won the Spring Basho with a 12-3 record, is gunning for promotion to the second-highest rank of ozeki. 

Elsewhere, No. 2 maegashira Kotonowaka, who was in contention for the title right up until the final day of the March tourney, used his size advantage to defeat ozeki Takakeisho for the first time.

“I just tried to keep constant pressure on the ozeki with my thrusting attack,” Kotonowaka said. “This will give me confidence but I know I need to keep improving.”

Kotonowaka is one of sumo’s rising young stars and his comprehensive defeat of Takakeisho is further evidence of his potential to rise to the top of the rankings in the near future.

He will get another shot at an upset win when he faces ozeki Shodai on Day 2.

Milestone Victory for Kiribayama

No. 2 maegashira Kiribayama overpowered Shodai with a frontal force-out in the second straight defeat of an ozeki wrestler on the opening day.

It was the 100th makunouchi (top division) win for Mongolian Kiribayama.

“I just tried to go forward and give it everything I had,” Kiribayama said. “I still have a lot of things I need to improve on.”

In the March tournament, Shodai became the first ozeki to lose his first four matches and then secure a winning record to maintain his status.

Veteran Tamawashi came bursting out of the face-off and used several powerful arm thrusts to the upper body to dispatch sekiwake Abi in a matter of seconds for the opening-day win.

In an earlier bout, fourth-ranked maegashira Endo used a thrust-down technique to defeat komusubi Hoshoryu, the nephew of former yokozuna Asashoryu.

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for more than 25 years. You can find his articles here.