Terunofuji remained the man to beat at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday as the Mongolian ozeki defeated Tamawashi in an absorbing contest to remain one win clear at 10-0 heading into the final stretch of the 15-day Tokyo meet.
No. 12 maegashira Ikioi stayed in touch with Terunofuji at 9-1 but Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu suffered a stunning upset to sekiwake Myogiryu and dropped two wins off the pace.
Fifth-ranked maegashira Tamawashi (3-7) provided Terunofuji with his toughest test yet as he came out with all guns blazing at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
But after weathering an early storm of slaps and thrusts, Terunofuji came roaring back and finished the job by taking Tamawashi out with a textbook uwatenage overarm throw to stay on track for his second Emperor's Cup in three tournaments.
In the day's final bout, Myogiryu was awarded an oshidashi over Kakuryu after ringside judges decided the yokozuna's heel had touched the dirt outside the ring first when both went over the edge.
Kakuryu is tied at 8-2 with ozeki Kotoshogiku and No. 8 maegashira Toyonoshima
Ikioi continued his excellent start to the tournament with a slap-down win over popular No.7 maegashira Endo (5-5).
In an all-ozeki matchup, Kotoshogiku secured a majority of wins by charging forward to belly out Kisenosato (7-3), sentencing him to his second defeat in a row in the process.
Struggling ozeki Goeido traipsed back to the locker room nursing a sixth defeat after getting bounced out by Brazilian-born No. 5 maegashira Kasei (4-6).
Ozeki hopeful Tochiozan scored a morale-boosting sixth win after four straight losses by barging out No. 4 maegashira Takarafuji (4-6).
Komusubi Tochinoshin posted an impressive tsuridashi win over Yoshikaze (6-4) to level his score at 5-5, the Georgian lifting the top-ranked maegashira off his feet and plopping him over the edge of the ring.
