It was not pretty but Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho disposed of Dejima with a series of hefty blows Monday, moving him into a three-way tie for the lead at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
The 15-day meet is shaping up interestingly with Hakuho, sekiwake Aminishiki and makuuchi debutant Goeido all tied at 8-1.
Of course, sumo's dominant force, yokozuna Asashoryu, is missing from the fray after he was barred from the ongoing meet and the Kyushu meet in September.
In the day's final bout, Hakuho could not get his favored right-hand grip but managed to smother Dejima (4-5) with a series of strong blows before sending the No. 4 maegashira crashing to the dirt at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Aminishiki, meanwhile, fell out of sole possession of the lead, losing to Wakanosato. And Chiyotaikai was another one to bite the dust, dropping to a second defeat at the hands of Homasho while Kotomitsuki also fell in a lengthy bout with Toyonoshima.
Wakanosato (3-6), a former sekiwake, controlled the bout from start to finish and got a hefty left hand under his opponent's right arm before bumping him over the edge. He improved to 10-0 in bouts against Aminishiki.
Chiyotaikai fell into the clutches of upstart Homasho, a No. 1 maegashira, who charged full-throttle to shove the ozeki out to improve to 5-4.
Meanwhile, newly promoted ozeki Kotomitsuki (6-3) got caught in a marathon bout against Toyonoshima (6-3) that lasted over three minutes but was lifted out by the No. 5 maegashira, taking a blow to his titles hopes.
Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu (6-3) showed no composure, flailing about all over the place, but was able to pry out komusubi Kisenosato (3-6) by the arm in frontal take out.
Mongolian komusubi Ama pulled over Hokutoriki (1-8) on the edge to improve to 6-3.