Yokozuna Asashoryu grabbed sole possession of the lead with the demolition of Miyabiyama while promotion-chasing sekiwake Kotooshu stayed one off the pace with a convincing win at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Thursday.

After the first third of the 15-day meet, Mongolian Asashoryu, who is chasing an unprecedented seventh straight Emperor's Cup title, took the lead with a 5-0 record with eight wrestlers pursuing the grand champion at 4-1.

In the day's final bout at Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Asashoryu took control from start to finish, shoving the fourth-ranked maegashira off-balance several times, lifting him up in the air once and promptly pushing him out of the ring in a relentless attack. Miyabiyama fell to 3-2.

Bulgarian Kotooshu (4-1) made quick work of top-ranked maegashira Hokutoriki (1-4), getting a solid two-handed grip on his opponent's belt after the face-off before ushering him over the ridge in convincing fashion.