Yokozuna Kakuryu made sure he is one of two wrestlers going into the second week of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with a perfect record -- albeit by the skin of his teeth -- with a win over No. 3 maegashira Takakeisho on Saturday in Osaka.
The Mongolian grand champ appeared to put his toe outside the ring just as he sent Takakeisho (3-4) out. The judges convened to determine what had happened, and eventually handed the win to Kakuryu.
No. 6 maegashira Kaisei has emerged as this tourney's upstart. He beat Kagayaki (3-4) for his seventh win. Kaisei used his larger frame to force his opponent over the bales.
Meanwhile, the two ozeki turned consummate showmen in earning their fifth wins.
In a long battle against No. 4 maegashira Shohozan (5-2), Takayasu was forced to use his full arsenal of tricks, holds and shoves before dodging his opponent's final charge and slapping him down to the surface.
Goeido had an equally crowd-pleasing evening. He never really looked out of control, but still had to work hard to defeat a dogged No. 2 maegashira Takarafuji. The pair darted around the dohyo, drawing raucous cheers from the audience.
Sekiwake Tochinoshin (5-2) appeared particularly fired up in the moments before his bout with No. 2 maegashira Arawashi (0-7). After a thunderous jump-off, he rolled his opponent to the surface with a tidy throwdown.
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