Sekiwake Onosato dodged a bullet against Kotoshoho on Wednesday, September 18 and managed to come out on the winning side to maintain his two-win lead at the Autumn Basho.
In the day's featured bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, Onosato pushed Kotoshoho back to the edge where the No 4 maegashira suddenly dodged to his side, a move which forced Onosato to go flying out of the ring.
But fortunately for Onosato, Kotoshoho's right foot had already stepped out. The referee called the bout in favor of Onosato and the ringside judges huddled on the raised ring to confirm the result.
Onosato improved to 11-0 while Kotoshoho fell to 5-6 in the 15-day Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. The 24-year-old Onosato is bidding for his second Emperor's Cup and promotion to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki.
Other Top Contenders at the Autumn Basho
With four days left, sekiwake Kirishima and rank-and-filers Nishikigi and Takayasu trail Onosato with 9-2 records.
Mongolian Kirishima stayed in the title chase when he slapped down fellow sekiwake Abi to improve to 9-2. Abi managed to push Kirishima back to the edge but couldn't finish off his opponent and fell to 2-9.
No 13 maegashira Nishikigi executed a perfect arm-lock throw at the edge to defeat Wakatakakage and improve to 9-2. Seventh-ranked Wakatakakage slipped to 8-3.
Takayasu, a 15th-ranked maegashira, used a barrage of arm thrusts to the upper body to send Endo over the edge while improving to 9-2 to maintain a share of second place.
Eighth-ranked Endo (7-4) was denied a chance to wrap up a winning record for the second straight day.
Ura Extends Winning Streak
Fifth-ranked maegashira Ura posted his third straight win when he came in low at the face-off and shoved out ozeki Hoshoryu from behind to move to 7-4. Hoshoryu dropped to 6-5.
It was a bad day all around for the ozeki as komusubi Daieisho shoved out Kotozakura for the third straight tournament to pick up his sixth win against five losses.
Ozeki Kotozakura, who came into the tournament with championship aspirations, is all but done with a record of 7-4.
No 2 maegashira Atamifuji (5-6) got both arms around Hiradoumi and used his 60-kilogram weight advantage to bulldoze the komusubi out.
Hiradoumi, who went 10-5 in the previous tournament and is hoping for promotion to sekiwake, fell to 6-5.
Takakeisho Considering Retirement
In other news off the raised ring, it was revealed that sekiwake Takakeisho, who was forced to pull out of the Autumn Basho due to injury, is mulling retirement.
The four-time champion was demoted from ozeki after going 5-10 in the previous tournament in July.
The 28-year-old Takakeisho, who has been struggling with neck pain, needed at least 10 wins in this tournament for an immediate return to ozeki. But he dropped out after losing his first two bouts.
The injury-plagued Takakeisho has withdrawn from four of five tournaments this year while having a winning record just once.
"We want to make a decision by the end of the tournament," his stablemaster Tokiwayama said, according to Kyodo News. "I think a conclusion will be reached sometime soon."
Takakeisho won his most recent title at the 2023 Autumn Basho. He also claimed the Emperor's Cup at the 2023 New Year Basho, and won November tournaments in 2018 and 2020.
RELATED:
- Onosato Opens Up a 2-Win Cushion at the Autumn Basho
- Onosato Bulldozes Over Wakamotoharu to Improve to 9-0 at the Autumn 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.
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