Osunaarashi won a battle of missed opportunities on Thursday as the Egyptian maegashira defeated Kakuryu to win his first career match against a yokozuna.
Osunaarashi's victory on the fifth day of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, left four wrestlers with unbeaten 5-0 records: yokozuna Hakuho, ozeki Kotoshogiku and rank-and-filers Takayasu and Chiyomaru.
After a chaotic start to their match, Kakuryu had a chance to bulldoze Osunaarashi (3-2) from the raised ring, but as he revved his engine and came on, the No. 3 maegashira dodged the brunt of the assault and used a sukuinage beltless arm throw to send Kakuryu (4-1) out.
Hakuho outlasted No. 2 maegashira Yoshikaze (3-2), who came out full of energy in an effort to secure his second yokozuna scalp in two days after beating Harumafuji Wednesday.
Yoshikaze's charge quickly ran out of steam and he began fighting defensively. When the opportunity presented itself, Hakuho slapped his opponent down to the sandy surface.
Harumafuji (4-1) regrouped from his defeat the day before to register a crushing oshitaoshi win over No.2 maegashira Homasho (1-4), who needed assistance to walk away from the ring following the day's final bout.
Relegation-threatened Kotoshogiku improved to 5-0 with an effort that made up in tenacity what it lacked in art. Needing eight wins to avoid relegation as a "kadoban" ozeki, Kotoshogiku, latched onto his opponent from the get-go and doggedly kept top maegashira Ikoi (0-5) pinned against the straw bales until he succumbed.
Ozeki Kisenosato remained one win back of the leaders with a solid win over Kaisei (0-5).
Kisenosato withstood the charge of the Brazilian-born maegashira, turned his opponent sideways and shoved him out.