Yokozuna Asashoryu battled through the pain barrier to upend Kaiho and claim his ninth straight win at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
The saucy Mongolian hurt his left shoulder on Sunday but that did not affect the lone grand champion's performance in the day's finale at Ryogoku Kokugikan as he made mincemeat of the fourth-ranked maegashira to keep his unbeaten record in tact.
Asashoryu bided his time before going in for the kill and floored Kaiho (2-7) with a routine overarm throw to move a step closer to his fourth consecutive Emperor's Cup and his 12th title overall.