Mongolian ozeki Hakuho overpowered Kotomitsuki Tuesday to remain in a share of the lead with ozeki Chiyotaikai and sekiwake Miyabiyama at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.
Hakuho was held at a standstill with the sekiwake after the faceoff but calmly moved ahead to force his opponent over the straw ridge in textbook fashion to improve to 9-1 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Chiyotaikai, meanwhile, buried Aminishiki (4-6) in a storm of slaps, sending the third-ranked maegashira sprawling over the edge in a matter of seconds to stay in front.
Chiyotaikai will meet Miyabiyama in a head-to-head between top wrestlers on Wednesday, while Hakuho will do battle with rank-and-filer Tokitenku.
Miyabiyama handed out a beating to Wakanosato with a series of hard slaps and thrusts to the chest before swatting the struggling No. 2 maegashira to his eighth defeat to keep his pace with Hakuho and Chiyotaikai.
Kaio's bout against Tokitenku (3-7) was over in the blink of an eye after the ozeki smacked the No. 4 maegashira down immediately after the taichi-ai to stay two behind the leaders.
Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu, however, was completely fooled by Mongolian trickster Kyokushuzan, who executed an overarm technique to toss down the ozeki right after the faceoff. Kotooshu fell to 6-4, while Kyokushuzan improved to a winning record of 8-2.
In another key bout, Baruto of Estonia threw down Futeno like a rag doll for a win.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.