Sumo

Tobizaru Pulls off Another Huge Upset with a Win over Terunofuji at New Year Basho

With two wins over ozeki wrestlers already at the 15-day New Year Basho, sumo's Flying Monkey dealt a serious blow to the yokozuna's title hopes.

Published on

January 15, 2025

Jim Armstrong

No 2 maegashira Tobizaru defeated grand champion Terunofuji on Wednesday, January 15, a day of major upsets at the New Year Basho.

In the day's final bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, Mongolian Terunofuji did manage to push Tobizaru back to the edge. But the Flying Monkey wriggled free before shoving the stunned yokozuna out from behind.

Tobizaru added the kinboshi victory to two previous wins over ozeki wrestlers to improve to 3-1 while Terunofuji dropped to 2-2 in his bid to come back from missing the last two tournaments of 2024.

"I have been able to do my style of sumo and I just wanted to go all-out today," Tobizaru said.

He added, "I tried not to let the yokozuna catch me and this is a big win for me."

Terunofuji, who had two long bouts on the previous two days, seemed to run out of steam. His second loss of the tournament will likely lead to speculation he may not be able to go the full 15 days.

In other major bouts at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, ozeki Hoshoryu was taken back to the edge by Takanosho but used a spectacular thrust-down technique while perched on the straw ridge to stay tied for the lead with four others at 4-0.

Mongolian Hoshoryu is bidding for promotion to yokozuna and has looked solid in every bout so far. Top maegashira Takanosho has struggled out of the gate and is winless at 0-4.

*Kirishima (front) secures a Day 4 win over Kotozakura. (KYODO)*

Kirishima Nabs 1st Victory of the New Year Basho

In another big upset, top maegashira Kirishima all but ended Kotozakura's bid for promotion to grand champion when he used a frontal force-out to send the ozeki out and give both men a record of 1-3.

Kotozakura won the 2024 November tournament for his first championship title and came into this basho with hopes of gaining promotion to sumo's highest rank.

But with three losses already he has virtually no chance. He would have either had to win the tournament or post a championship-caliber record.

No 3 maegashira Oho (4-0) displayed superb footwork on the straw ridge when he was pushed back to the edge by Daieisho. But Oho used a last-gasp hand pull-down to send the sekiwake toppling off the raised ring.

Daieisho fell to 3-1.

*Abi overpowers Onosato at Ryogoku Kokugikan. (©SANKEI)*

Abi Hands Onosato His 2nd Loss of the New Year Basho

In the day's first major upset, komusubi Abi used a nifty hit-and-pulling technique at the face-off to send ozeki Onosato sprawling to the dirt surface while improving to 3-1.

"The ozeki was leaning a little bit forward so I just thought I would use that hit-and-pull attack," Abi said. "I was able to stay focused from the outset."

Onosato, who won two tournaments last year and went 9-6 in his ozeki debut in November, is finding life more difficult at sumo's second-highest rank and dropped to 2-2.

Sumo's ironman Tamawashi of Mongolia, a 10-ranked maegashira, shoved out 2024 Spring Basho winner Takerufuji to move to 4-0 while handing the No 11 maegashira his first loss of the tournament.

Mongolian Chiyoshoma, a No 5 maegashira, also stayed tied for the lead at 4-0 when he shifted to his side and shoved Endo out, handing the 17th-ranked maegashira his third loss against a lone win.

Kinbozan of Kazakhstan is also tied for the lead at 4-0 after he thrust out fellow rank-and-filer Tamashoho (1-3).

No 4 maegashira Ura gave the fans a thrill when he used a rare backward body drop to defeat sixth-ranked maegashira Takayasu to give both grapplers a record of 2-2.