AP/Kyodo
Champion Musashimaru, or Fiamalu Penitani, left, tumbles
grand champion Akebono, or Chad Rowan on Thursday
in Nagoya, central Japan.

Takanohana on track
for championship
at Nagoya sumo

NAGOYA -- Yokozuna Takanohana polished off his nearest challenger Kotonowaka on Thursday to stay perfect at 12-0 and put himself in a good position to seal his 19th Emperor's Cup at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.

With just three days left of the 15-day tourney, Takanohana sent a warning to anyone with aspirations of catching him with a clinical victory over the No. 9 maegashira at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, handing Kotonowaka his second loss.

Displaying excellent lower-body technique, Takanohana wriggled free of his opponent's attempted throw and patiently moved in for the kill, securing a tight grip on Kotonowaka's sash before driving him over the edge of the straw bails with the minimum of fuss.

Meanwhile, ozeki Musashimaru toppled giant yokozuna Akebono in an all-Hawaiian clash to remain tied for second place with Kotonowaka at 10-2.

One of the day's marquee bouts was over in a flash as Akebono stumbled out of control at the charge and was easily thrown to the dirt by Musashimaru, seeing his record slide to a near-disastrous 8-4 in the process.

Newly promoted grand champion Wakanohana slipped to 9-3 after he was steamrollered by Chiyotaikai, who is continuing to impress in his first tournament as sekiwake.

Chiyotaikai exploded out of the blocks, forcing up Wakanohana's center of gravity, and then barging him out to boost his own record to the same 9-3 mark.

Much to the delight of the packed arena, No. 4 maegashira Dejima secured his winning record by bulldozing Takanonami into the front rows and dropping the ozeki to 9-3.

Away from the giddy heights of sumo's top three "sanyaku" ranks, there was huge relief for third-ranked maegashira Gojoro, who finally managed to chalk up his first win with a text-book show of pushing and thrusting to dispatch No. 6 maegashira Hamanoshima.

It was a bad day for the Mongolian grapplers, with No. 11 maegashira Kyokushuzan falling to 7-5 after being pulled down by Aogiyama and Kyokutenho, a 15th-ranked maegashira, suffering his ninth defeat as he was toppled over by Asanowaka.

Results in Scoreboard

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