Defending champion Harumafuji sailed
to yet another win and yokozuna Hakuho demolished his fourth opponent to hold
on to his share of the lead at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sept. 12 in
Tokyo”s Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Marking an easy win, Harumafuji
drove top maegashira Kaisei into the dirt to collect his fourth victory. The
Mongolian pounded into Kaisei”s chest, knocking him off balance, and then
pulled back and twisted to the side as the lumbering Brazilian, who is 1-3,
fell forward.

Hakuho was even more convincing. He
blasted into No. 2 maegashira Aran, of Russia, and never looked back,
railroading Aran into retreat and out of the ring. He even added a throw after
Aran was effectively disposed of, just for good measure.

On the attack all the way, ozeki
Kisenosato took Georgian komusubi Tochinoshin (0-4) over the edge for his
fourth straight win. Kisenosato is looking good and certainly has the skills
and the strength he needs to be a formidable contender. In his fifth outing as
an ozeki, he is also probably getting pretty hungry for his first championship.

Sept. 12 was dismal for the other
ozeki wrestlers–for those still competing, that is.

Ozeki Kotooshu paid the price for getting
too shallow a grip on top maegashira Shohozan”s belt. As he yanked, the belt
simply loosened up, giving Shohozan an opportunity to fight back by turning the
momentum around and thrusting Kotooshu out. With two losses, Kotooshu is once
again showing his frailties early in the race. Smart money is not on him to
make a stunning comeback.

Mongolia”s other ozeki, Kakuryu,
meanwhile, dropped out of the leading tier and into the spectator seats when
No. 3 maegashira Homasho unleashed a brutal thrusting barrage against him.
Kakuryu had a good start but couldn”t hold his ground and was caught
flat-footed by the onslaught.

“He put the pressure on, but I
got around him,”” Homasho said. Homasho is also 3-1.

Ozekis Baruto and Kotoshogiku have
pulled out with injuries, so sekiwake Myogiryu (3-1) and No. 2 maegashira
Gagamaru (2-2) won no-contests. Baruto injured the big toe on his right foot
before the competition began, and was not in fighting form, although he
probably fell victim to a bad call–not his opponent”s skills–in his
opening-day loss on Sept. 9.

Kotoshogiku hurt his knee in his
bout on Sept. 11 against Homasho.

Sekiwake Goeido (2-2) capitalized on
a bad face-off by komusubi Aoiyama, who stood up and let Goeido charge in for a
double-armed belthold. The winless Bulgarian attempted to get back in the match
with an armlock, but by that time Goeido was already in position to heave him
down.

No. 11 maegashira Kyokutenho, No. 8
maegashira Okinoumi and No. 9 maegashira Takayasu also made it through their
bouts on Sept. 12 undefeated.

AJW