Heading down the passageway out of the arena, No. 4 maegashira Shodai had a big smile on his face and extra spring in his step. Call it a victory sprint.
Shodai kept a share of the top spot at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament by defeating ozeki Takakeisho in a showdown of wrestlers with 7-1 records, capping the ninth day of action at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Monday.
In a tournament that had seen the withdrawal of both yokozuna, Takakeisho had emerged as the favorite to lift the Emperor's Cup on the final day. But Shodai dealt him a setback, while also securing an all-important kachikoshi eighth win for himself.
The two exchanged pushes before Shodai perfectly timed a sidestep to a charge by Takakeisho, whose momentum left him helpless to avoid being pushed out of the ring.
The victory left Shodai tied for the lead at 8-1 with No. 17 maegashira Tokushoryu, who put his 188 kilograms of girth to full use in bellying No. 12 maegashira Tsurugisho to the edge before forcing him out.
Takakeisho joined a pair of wrestlers, No. 9 maegashira Yutakayama and No. 11 maegashira Kagayaki, trailing one win behind the leaders at 7-2. Yutakayama's forceout of No. 7 maegashira Onosho was his first victory in seven career meetings between the two.
Sekiwake Takayasu's bid to regain the ozeki rank ended when he was dealt his sixth loss by No. 6 maegashira Takarafuji. With the two locked up in the middle of the ring and playing a waiting game, Takarafuji made the first move, putting the pressure on to get Takayasu off balance then marching him out of the ring.
Takayasu, demoted from ozeki after posting a losing record in the previous tournament, needed 10 wins to automatically return to the second-highest rank. Now he will have to go through the conventional process all over again.
Ozeki Goeido, fighting to gain the minimum of eight wins he needs to keep his rank, was dealt a stunning sixth loss by spunky No. 5 maegashira Enho. Enho, outweighed by 61 kilograms, slipped to the side on the jump-off, arm-dragged Goeido past him and then put all of his 99 kilograms into forcing him the final few centimeters over the edge to improve to 5-4.
Sekiwake Asanoyama flung down komusubi Daieisho to improve to 6-3 and remain in the title chase. After weathering several bullish charges from Daieisho (3-6), Asanoyama secured an overhand belt hold and twisted to send the komusubi spinning to the sand.
Komusubi Abi improved to 5-4 by ramming a hand into the neck of No. 1 maegashira Endo on the jump-off and stiff-arming him out of the ring. Endo, who started the tournament with victories over the two yokozuna and Goeido, was dealt his second straight loss and fell to 6-3.
Meanwhile, former ozeki Terunofuji continued to make big strides in his comeback from a historic drop down the ranks as he remained unbeaten as a No. 13 juryo, forcing out No. 10 juryo Takagenji to improve to 9-0.
A combination of injuries and illnesses sent Terunofuji plunging down as far as the jonidan division -- the second-lowest of the six divisions -- as recently as March last year. The Mongolian considered quitting, but stuck with the sport and fought his way back up to the salaried ranks, and has now moved closer to making it back to the uppermost makuuchi division.
No ozeki had ever regained juryo status after falling to makushita (the third-highest division) or below.
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