Yokozuna Takanohana cleared the first hurdle in his comeback to the dohyo on Tuesday when he claimed his eighth victory to secure a winning record at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
The win kept Takanohana, who has missed a record seven straight tournaments with a career-threatening knee injury, in contention just one win behind fellow grand champion Musashimaru and newly promoted Mongolian ozeki Asashoryu with five days left in the tournament.
Takanohana (8-2) had to work hard but held his nerve against tricky moves by No. 4 maegashira Takanowaka (6-4), who mounted a brave challenge by drawing on a full arsenal of techniques at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
After a couple of exchanges of slaps and thrusts, as well as sudden, brief mid-ring belt-gripping tussles, Takanohana calmly shoved his opponent over the straw ridge in his 900th career bout in the top makuuchi division with a win.
Asashoryu (9-1) rebounded from Monday's defeat to preserve his share of the lead in a bout between in-form ozeki.
Asashoryu survived a fierce thrust to his neck at the face-off and then lunged onward until Chiyotaikai backpedaled with little resistance over the edge in an anti-climatic ending to one of the day's featured bouts.
Musashimaru (9-1) would not budge in the face of a challenge from No. 5 maegashira Tamanoshima (5-5), who circled around the ring trying to dodge devastating slaps but was eventually brought down by only the second real blow unleashed by the Samoan-born giant.
Kaio (8-2) escaped from the danger of being relegated from sumo's second highest rank, laboring to a much-needed eighth win with a powerful arm throw after being locked in a belt-gripping duel with ozeki rival Musoyama (7-3).