Kinbozan Remains in Control as Hoshoryu Falters Again at New Year Basho

Unheralded rank-and-filer Kinbozan tossed aside Takerufuji on Monday, January 20 to maintain sole possession of the lead on Day 9 of the New Year Basho.

In one of the day's featured bouts, Kinbozan of Kazakhstan had his hands full with No 11 maegashira Takerufuji, who came into the bout with just one loss.

Shortly after the face-off, Takerufuji got a double inside position on Kinbozan and went for a beltless arm throw but the No 14 maegashira countered with a superb arm lock throw at the edge to improve to a perfect 9-0.

Takerufuji, who won the March 2024 tournament to become the first wrestler in 110 years to win a championship in his elite division debut, dropped to 7-2.

After two straight tournaments where he posted 4-11 records, Kinbozan dropped down to juryo for the November tournament but quickly earned his way back up to the elite ranks by winning the juryo division championship in Kyushu.

Hoshoryu Falls to 6-3 at the New Year Basho

In other major bouts, ozeki Hoshoryu saw his hopes for promotion to yokozuna all but dashed when Hiradoumi shifted to his left and swatted the Mongolian down to his second straight loss and a record of 6-3. Fifth-ranked Hiradoumi improved to 5-4.

"I just tried to stay focused and calm," said Hiradoumi, who beat the ozeki for the first time. "It's been a while since I had a winning record so that is the first goal."

Following the retirement of grand champion Terunofuji during the first week of the tournament, a lot of the focus was on whether Hoshoryu could earn promotion to sumo's highest rank by posting a championship-caliber record.

That seems highly unlikely now meaning sumo could be without a grand champion for the first time since 1993 when the next tournament starts in March.

Chiyoshoma Raises Record to 8-1

Mongolian Chiyoshoma stayed in the title chase and wrapped up a winning record when he deployed an arm-pulling technique as he was being pushed to the edge to defeat Churanoumi.

Fifth-ranked Chiyoshoma improved to 8-1 while No 9 Churanoumi fell to 3-6.

"My opponent was very low so I tried to raise his center of gravity high," said Chiyoshoma. "I want to rack up as many wins as possible in this tournament and that's all I'm thinking about."

Third-ranked maegashira Oho unleashed a perfectly timed under-shoulder swing-down to topple Atamifuji and improve to 7-2 to stay in contention. No 2 maegashira Atamifuji continued to struggle and fell to 2-7.

Fourth-ranked maegashira Ura heaped more misery on ozeki Kotozkura when he deployed a frontal push-down to improve to 5-4. 

Kotozakura won the November Basho and came into the New Year Basho hoping to earn promotion to grand champion. But at 3-6 that is a distant memory and he is now fighting to salvage a winning record.

Ozeki Onosato Outduels Daieisho

Onosato restored some ozeki pride when he slapped down sekiwake Daieisho to give both men a 6-3 record.

Top maegashira Kirishima won his sixth straight bout when he shoved out komusubi Abi to improve to 6-3. Abi dropped to 5-4.

Diminutive No 11 maegashira Midorifuji used a spectacular underarm throw at the edge to topple the much larger seventh-ranked Mitakeumi in a crowd-pleasing bout that left both men with records of 2-7.

After conking heads at the face-off, No 7 maegashira Endo shifted to his side and used a hand pull-down to dispatch Mongolian ironman Tamawashi.

Endo improved to 4-5 while 10th-ranked Tamawashi dropped to 6-3.

RELATED:

• New Year Basho: Shodai Upsets Hoshoryu to Deal a Blow to His Yokozuna Promotion Hopes
• Hoshoryu Stays 1 Win off the Lead After Overpowering Oho at New Year Basho
• Yokozuna Terunofuji Announces Retirement After Struggling in Start to New Year Basho
  

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.