The past, present and possible future of the ozeki rank posted convincing wins Friday to remain the unbeaten leaders six days into the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Former ozeki Takanonami pried out Aminishiki, incumbent ozeki Chiyotaikai rammed out Takanowaka and ozeki hopeful Asashoryu marched Takamisakari out of the ring at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium to remain a step ahead of yokozuna Musashimaru, in hot pursuit with win No. 5.
Chiyotaikai, the only ozeki left in the tourney after injuries forced out Kaio, Tochiazuma and Musoyama, preserved the pride of sumo's second highest rank by bulldozing Takanowaka (3-3) to the bales and shoving the No. 4 maegashira out for an easy win.
No. 7 maegashira Takanonami, trying to rebound from an injury slide down the rankings, tied up the right arm of Aminishiki (2-4) with his familiar old wrap-around grip and then levered the fifth-ranked grappler out.