Yokozuna Hakuho toppled man mountain Baruto on Saturday to remain undefeated in a two-way tie for the lead with ozeki Harumafuji on the seventh day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
As the 15-day meet enters the latter half, Hakuho is raising the bar and fellow Mongolian Harumafuji is staying right in step with a chance at winning his career first title on the line.
In the day's final at Ryogoku Kokugikan, Hakuho locked arms with Baruto in a fierce embrace as the pair jostled for position at the ring's center before perfectly timing a pulling overarm throw, which snapped the bigger man's knee like a breadstick to make it 7-0.
Hakuho, who won the spring title with a spotless record, extended his winning streak to a personal-best 27 bouts. He is in the hunt for his career 11th title.
Harumafuji never relented in a full-throttle attack on Kakuryu (2-5), getting his hands in front for a belt grip on the newly promoted komusubi before mashing his opponent over the edge to remain even with the yokozuna.
Fellow Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu (6-1) spun Kyokutenho like a top before dispatching the No.2 maegashira from behind bout to stay hot in the title chase