Sumo

Lone Yokozuna Terunofuji Bounces Back on Day 2 of Spring Basho

The Mongolian looked convincing in his Spring Basho victory over Ura, but the same can't be said for three ozeki grapplers who went down to defeat.

by
Jim Armstrong
March 11, 2024

Grand champion Terunofuji bounced back from an opening-day defeat with a convincing win over Ura on Monday, March 11 to even his record to 1-1 at the Spring Basho.

In the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Terunofuji quickly got an arm lock on top maegashira Ura (1-1) before flinging his opponent off the raised ring for his first win of the 15-day tournament.

Terunofuji is hoping to win his 10th Emperor's Cup in Osaka. He captured his ninth title in January when he went an impressive 13-2 in regulation and then defeated former sekiwake Kotonowaka in a playoff.

The 32-year-old Mongolian has battled a series of injuries in recent years and it remains to be seen if he has the stamina to win back-to-back titles.

Prior to Terunofuji's bout, Day 2 of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament featured a series of upsets.

Top maegashira Asanoyama took advantage of a superior face-off and drove out newly promoted ozeki Kotonowaka to give both wrestlers a record of 1-1.

"The ozeki can be nifty so I just tried to keep my composure and fight my brand of sumo," said former ozeki and crowd favorite Asanoyama.

Abi Overpowers Takakeisho

Komusubi Abi added to the ozeki woes when he used a powerful thrust to the neck before deploying an arm throw at the edge to dispatch Takakeisho.

Abi improved to 2-0 while ozeki Takakeisho, who needs eight wins to maintain his record, dropped to 1-1.

"I was able to stay focused," said Abi, who displayed superb footwork on the straw bales before throwing down his opponent.

He added, "I was also able to keep my balance, which was key."

Atamifuji Upsets Kirishima

In the first major upset of the day, No 2 maegashira Atamifuji picked up his first win when he used a frontal force-out to defeat Mongolian ozeki Kirishima, who dropped to 0-2.

Just when it looked like the ozeki might suffer a clean sweep of losses, Mongolian Hoshoryu got both arms around Nishikigi and bulldozed the komusubi out to give both grapplers a 1-1 record.

Newly promoted sekiwake Wakamotoharu toppled No 2 maegashira Meisei to make it two wins in a row. Meisei fell to 1-1.

Further down the ranks, No 17 maegashira Takerufuji improved to 2-0 when he used a frontal force-out to dispatch veteran Endo, a No 16 maegashira who dropped to 0-2.

Takerufuji, who is 24, needed only nine tournaments since his professional debut to reach the top division, tying the record with former komusubi Jokoryu.