Yokozuna Hakuho won a record-extending 43rd championship and his first as a naturalized Japanese citizen on Saturday, taking out the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament with a day to spare.
The 34-year-old from Mongolia, who acquired Japanese citizenship in September and withdrew from that month's tourney with a broken finger, claimed his first championship since going 15-0 in March.
Grabbing a left-handed belt hold on the charge, Hakuho stopped sekiwake Mitakeumi in his tracks and tipped him over backward in a matter of seconds. Mitakeumi, the September champion, had come to Kyushu with an outside shot of promotion to ozeki, but fell to his eighth loss.