Yokozuna Akebono forced out ozeki Miyabiyama on Friday to assure his victory in the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, knocking a huge monkey off his back with his first championship in more than three years and his 10th overall.
Akebono notched his 13th straight win without a loss at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium to take an insurmountable three-win advantage over ozeki Chiyotaikai and sekiwake Tochiazuma into the final two days of the 15-day tourney.
The championship is the 10th of Akebono's 22-year sumo career and first since May 1997. It is also his first title since missing three straight tournaments from November 1998 to March 1999, when sumo experts were speculating about his possible retirement.
With bouts remaining against Chiyotaikai on Saturday and fellow grand champion Musashimaru on the final day, Akebono appeared eager to wrap up the championship against Miyabiyama and deny any wrestler the hope of forcing a playoff on the final day.