Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho marked his return to the raised ring in style with a comfortable win over komusubi Tochinoshin on Sunday, the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.
But fellow Mongolian yokozuna, and Autumn tournament winner, Kakuryu failed to follow suit and suffered a stunning defeat against komusubi returnee Yoshikaze.
Returning from a left knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the autumn basho in September on the third day, Hakuho put on a sumo clinic in the day's penultimate bout, biding his time before sending Georgian-born Tochinoshin down with a textbook uwatenage overarm throw. Hakuho has now won all 20 of his meetings with Tochinoshin.