Sumo

Onosato Pulls into Tie for Lead with Clutch Win Over Daieisho on Day 14 of Spring Basho

The ozeki wrestler is even with veteran Takayasu, a fourth-ranked maegashira, heading into the final day of the 15-day Spring Basho in Osaka.

by
Jim Armstrong
March 22, 2025

Ozeki Onosato overpowered Daieisho on Saturday, March 22 to pull into a tie for the lead with Takayasu with one day remaining in the Spring Basho.

In the penultimate bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Onosato came bursting out of the face-off and used a powerful arm thrust to the neck to knock Daieisho off balance before shoving the sekiwake out over the edge.

Onosato improved to 11-3 while Daieisho dropped to 9-5.

An Ishikawa Prefecture native, Onosato will face fellow ozeki Kokozakura on the final day with a chance to win his third Emperor's Cup.

Churanoumi posted a hard-fought victory over Takayasu to ensure the battle for the Emperor's Cup at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament would come down to the final day.

Takayasu (11-3) had a strong face-off and forced Churanoumi to the edge but the No 14 maegashira deflected a series of arm thrusts and shoved his opponent out to improve to 10-4.

No 4 maegashira Takayasu could have won the Spring Basho on Day 14 with a win and a loss by Onosato. But he couldn't pull off the important win and will have to wait until the final day.

The 35-year-old Takayasu is bidding for his first Emperor's Cup.

Hiradoumi Outmuscles Kotozakura

In the final bout of the day, No 6 maegashira Hiradoumi got an under-handed grip on the belt of Kotozakura and drove the ozeki out to improve to 9-5.

It was Hiradoumi's first win over Kotozakura.

"I was just trying to do my best," Hiradoumi said. "I got my preferred grip and everything worked out."

He added, "I just tried to keep moving forward once I got that grip."

Kotozakura, who wrapped up the winning record he needed to maintain his ozeki status on the previous day, dropped to 8-6. He went a disappointing 5-10 in the January tournament so he needed a better result in Osaka.

Makuuchi division rookie Aonishiki from Ukraine got both arms around 2024 March tournament winner Takerufuji and shoved out the sixth-ranked maegashira to improve to 10-4.

Takerufuji dropped to 9-5.

Kirishima Raises Spring Basho Record to 7-7

Komusubi Kirishima spun Kinbozan around after the face-off and shoved him out for a rear push-out win to improve to 7-7 and put himself in position to secure a winning record on the last day.

Fifth-ranked maegashira Kinbozan, who advanced to a three-way playoff in the previous tournament, dropped to 5-9.

Local favorite Ura, a No 5 maegashira, bulldozed Abi out of the ring with a series of powerful arm thrusts to give both wrestlers a record of 6-8.

It was a painful loss for komusubi Abi as he lost a chance to finish the tournament with a winning record. Abi is now in danger of dropping down the ranks for the next tournament in May.