Top maegashira Nishikigi recovered from a slow face-off to defeat Abi on Friday, July 14 and move into sole possession of the lead at the Nagoya Basho.
Nishikigi was initially pushed back by komusubi Abi but kept his composure and shoved his opponent out to improve to a perfect 6-0 in the 15-day basho at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
It is the longest winning streak of Nishikigi's career as a sekitori. Abi dropped to 3-3.
Ozeki Kirishima, who lost to top maegashira Tobizaru on Thursday, used a thrust-down technique to defeat No 2 maegashira Shodai (2-4) and improve to two wins, two loss and two absences at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Kirishima, who sat out the first three days due to injury, needs at least eight wins in Nagoya to avoid becoming a relegation-threatened ozeki in September's Autumn Basho.
Hakuoho Triumphs over Gonoyama
In other major bouts, No 17 maegashira Hakuoho, a protege of former yokozuna Hakuho at the Miyagino stable, slapped down previously undefeated No 13 maegashira Gonoyama to move to 4-2.
Gonoyama, the winner of May's second-tier juryo division, dropped to 5-1.
Takayasu, a seven-time runner-up, was also handed his first loss of the tournament when Onosho took advantage of a superior face-off and shoved his opponent out over the edge.
Seventh-ranked maegashira Takayasu dropped to 5-1 while No. 5 maegashira Onosho earned his second win against four losses.
Sekiwake Daieisho, who is pursuing promotion to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki, was handed his second loss when he was hauled down by komusubi Kotonowaka. Both men are now 4-2.
Mongolian sekiwake Hoshoryu deployed a well-timed outside leg trip to topple No 3 maegashira Midorifuji (1-5) to pick up his fifth win against a lone loss.
Of the three sekiwake pursuing promotion to ozeki, Hoshoryu has the best record so far.
The other sekiwake chasing the ozeki rank, Wakamotoharu, swatted down No 3 maegashira Meisei (2-4) at the center of the dohyo to improve to 4-2.
Veteran No 7 maegashira Tamawashi, who will turn 39 in November, improved to 5-1 when he shoved out fifth-ranked Hiradoumi, who fell to 1-5.
Former ozeki Asanoyama, a No 4 maegashira, got a left-hand grip on the belt of Oho (2-4) and bulldozed the No 6 maegashira over the edge to pick up his fourth win.
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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