As he piled up another win, yokozuna Kakuryu also found an unique way to vanquish his latest opponent.
Kakuryu remained unbeaten through 12 days of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Thursday with a slick victory over No. 6 maegashira Chiyotairyu, while fellow yokozuna Hakuho stayed one win behind by surviving a marathon bout.
Kakuryu, with a sixth career title within his grasp, gained a right-handed belt hold on the jump-off against Chiyotairyu. As he spun to the side, Kakuryu kicked away the maegashira's left leg, causing him to plop backwards to the dirt to leave him winless in 12 career matches with the yokozuna.
Capping the day at Aichi Prefectural Gym, Hakuho ended a mid-ring stalemate with sekiwake Mitakeumi that lasted well over a minute by muscling him out to raise his record to 11-1 and keep him on track for a final-day showdown with Kakuryu.
The two maegashira-ranked wrestlers who started the day two wins behind Kakuryu had mixed results, as No. 16 Terutsuyoshi won to improve to 10-2, while Tomokaze was dealt his third loss.
Terutsuyoshi was pushed back off the initial charge by No. 7 maegashira Myogiryu, but managed to escape to the side. He then went on the attack and pushed his opponent over the edge to secure double-digit wins in just his third tournament in the upper-most makuuchi division.
A short time later, Tomokaze's already slim title hopes took an all-but-fatal blow when he was marched out by bulky No. 4 maegashira Ichinojo, who notched his kachikoshi eighth victory.
Sekiwake Tamawashi, trying to salvage a disastrous tournament, showed remnants of his old self with a solid victory over No. 4 maegashira Meisei. Tamawashi had the maegashira backpedaling from the start and never let up in forcing him out to leave both wrestlers at 2-10.
Komusubi Abi, who would be line to replace Tamawashi as sekiwake if he can achieve a winning record in his first tournament in the fourth-highest rank, suffered a setback when he slipped trying to get behind No. 2 maegashira Endo, leaving him a precarious 5-7.
No. 1 maegashira Asanoyama, winner of the previous Summer tournament in May, moved one defeat from a losing record when fell to No. 3 maegashira Daieisho to drop to 5-7.
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