Grand champion Musashimaru kicked off his bid for a fourth Emperor's Cup of the year with a no-nonsense win over Mongolian komusubi Kyokutenho on the opening day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
The grizzly Samoan-born bulldozer, wrestling as the sole yokozuna following the eleventh-hour withdrawal of injury-plagued Takanohana, squirmed out of a stalemate at the center of the ring before finishing off Kyokutenho with a trademark shove.
In the only upset of the day, "kadoban" ozeki Tochiazuma slipped on a banana skin but the other four wrestlers at sumo's second-highest rank, including local favorite Kaio, all came through unscathed at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.
Tochiazuma, who after missing the autumn meet though injury finds himself needing a minimum eight wins to retain his ozeki rank, uncharacteristically wimped out at the face-off, allowing former ozeki Miyabiyama to bump him over the straw edge with a simple thrust.