Yokozuna Hakuho survived a scare to take out Egyptian grappler Osunaarashi on Tuesday and preserve his one-win lead heading into the final third of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
Hakuho (10-0) came perilously close to losing his first bout of the 15-day tournament after fourth-ranked maegashira Osunaarashi (4-6) knocked him off balance and had him hopping around near the edge of the ring at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
But the Mongolian yokozuna countered to thrust Osunaarashi down to the dirt and stay on course to move within one title of the all-time record of 32 held by legendary yokozuna Taiho.