Veteran Takanonami handed faltering grand champion Musashimaru his second straight loss on Wednesday but fellow yokozuna Asashoryu produced a bread-and-butter win over Aminishiki at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Musashimaru, who is back in the ring after missing the last three basho with an injured left wrist, plodded out of his crouch and ultimately paid the price for relying to heavily on his right hand to see him through in the day's final bout at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
The Samoan-born powerhouse again appeared to avoid using his ailing left hand and third-ranked maegashira Takanonami (2-2) took full advantage as he sidestepped the yokozuna and dragged him down to the dirt.
The defeat was the third shock of the day following defeats for ozeki Musoyama and Tochiazuma and left Musashimaru two wins behind early pacesetters ozeki Chiyotaikai and rank-and-filer Tokitsuumi, the only two wrestlers with perfect 4-0 records.