Sumo

Oho Upsets Ozeki Kotozakura on Day 3 at the Kyushu Basho

The top maegashira picked up his first win of the Kyushu Basho on a day when the two other ozeki grapplers prevailed in Fukuoka.

by
Jim Armstrong
November 12, 2024

Top maegashira Oho pulled off the only major upset on Day 3 when he defeated ozeki Kotozakura on Tuesday, November 12 to pick up his first win at the Kyushu Basho.

In the penultimate bout at Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Kotozakura pushed Oho back to the edge but the top maegashira managed to wriggle free and then used a powerful thrusting technique for the win.

Oho improved to 1-2 while Kotozakura dropped to 2-1.

"I was just determined to hang in there against him," Oho said. "I got some practice against him in the lead-up to this tournament. I'm in perfect shape so hoping for good things this time out."

Kyushu Basho Leaders: Onosato Among 7 Unbeaten Wrestlers

In the day's final bout, ozeki Onosato barely broke a sweat when he overpowered winless komusubi Shodai with a thrust to the neck at the face-off and then calmly shoved his opponent out to stay in the undefeated pack of seven grapplers at 3-0.

Also in that group is Mongolian ozeki Hoshoryu, who overwhelmed Hiradoumi at the face-off, sending him right back to the edge with his initial shove before finishing him off with one final thrust.

Top maegashira Hiradoumi suffered his third straight loss.

Third-ranked maegashira Abi heaped more pain on struggling Mongolian Kirishima when he used his bread-and-butter thrusting technique to send the winless sekiwake out to his third loss. Abi stands at 2-1.

No 2 maegashira Wakatakakage improved to a perfect 3-0 after he shoved out winless fourth-ranked maegashira Churanoumi.

Wakatakakage's brother Wakamotoharu took on crowd-favorite Ura who attempted a backward flip of the komusubi. But Wakamotoharu was having none of the No 2 maegashira's tricks and won by a frontal push-down.

Wakamotoharu moved to 2-1 while Ura dropped to 1-2.

Third-ranked maegashira Atamifuji improved to a perfect 3-0 after he got into a battle of thrusts with Daieisho and sent the sekiwake out to his second loss.

Takerufuji Outmuscles Kagayaki

Takerufuji (2-1) bounced back from a loss on the previous day. The No 16 maegashira came bursting out of the face-off and got both arms under the arms of Kagayaki to drive the winless juryo grappler out.

Takerufuji, who won the March tournament in his elite division debut, is making a comeback from an ankle injury that saw him drop down to the juryo division.

Onokatsu Triumphs Over Shishi

Mongolian Onokatsu deployed an overarm throw at the edge to defeat makuuchi division debutant Shishi in a thrilling bout. At one point the referee had to stop the bout to secure Shishi's mawashi.

Both wrestlers were pushed back to edge but somehow recovered before Onokatsu finally finished off his opponent for the hard-fought win.

No 15 maegashira Onokatsu improved to a perfect 3-0 while 16th-ranked Shishi dropped to 2-1.

Sumo's ironman Tamawashi, who will turn 40 on Saturday, relied on a frontal push-down technique for a win over Hokutofuji (1-2).

Mongolian Tamawashi, a No 11 maegashira, improved to 2-1.