Hakuho and Terunofuji survive fear to stay perfect on day 4

Tugnar Ekim 24, 2021

Nagoya – Great Hakuho Returning Champion and Looking for Promotion ozeki Terunofuji both survived close calls on Wednesday at the Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya, as the number of spotless wrestlers was reduced to just three.

The top pair advanced to 4-0 with base grappler Tamawashi on Matchday 4 at Dolphins Arena.

Hakuho, who underwent knee surgery in March, needed all his agility and survival instinct to deny No. 2 maegashira Takanosho an upset in the final fight of the day.

36 year old man yokozuna Had the strongest opening charge, but looked on the verge of being pushed back after Takanosho (0-4) pivoted him. While being pushed back through the ring, Hakuho kept his foot just inside the straw as he pushed Takanosho down.

Winner of a record 44 Emperor’s Cups, Hakuho will decide whether or not to retire depending on his performance in the 15-day meeting, having missed all or part of the previous six tournaments.

Pursuing both a promotion to yokozuna and a third consecutive championship, Terunofuji took on his toughest challenge of the competition so far against the No.1. 1 Daieisho.

the maegashira, who won his first big tournament championship in January, opened his front foot and twice pushed Terunofuji to the edge of the straw. The great Mongolian ozeki however kept the footing each time, regrouping to force Daieisho (0-4) out of the raised ring.

Ozeki Shodai (2-2) suffered his second straight loss, succumbing to a push-out against new komusubi Wakatakakage (2-2), who appears to have Shodai’s number.

The athletic komusubi, who has claimed multiple senior casualties in recent encounters, struck hard from the jump and never slowed down in his third straight win over Shodai.

Terunofuji and Shodai are the only ozeki to compete in the absence of Takakeisho, who retired with a neck injury, and Asanoyama, who is serving a six-match suspension for breaking the coronavirus safety rules of the Japanese Sumo Association.

Sekiwake Takayasu (2-0-2) slapped No. 1 Endo (1-3) for back-to-back wins after missing the first two days with lower back pain.

After pushing Endo to the brink, the former ozeki made a success of his second attempt to wrest the maegashira from the clay.

Takayasu, 31, is looking to return to second place in the sport but faces an uphill battle after the two absences.

His compatriot Sekiwake Mitakeumi improved to 3-1 by dominating No. 3 Tobizaru (1-3), pushing him straight back and out of the first collision.

Komusubi Meisei fell to 1-3 with a forced loss to the imposing number one. 2 Ichinojo, who blocked an inside hold attempt and used his weight advantage of around 50 kilograms to fight his way to victory.

No. 10 Tamawashi, who has an Emperor’s Cup to his name, handed No. 11 Kotonowaka (3-1) his first pushback loss.

The Nagoya fixture is the first major tournament held with spectators outside of Tokyo since November 2019.