Yokozuna Asashoryu survived a scare to maintain his perfect record and ozeki Kaio put his promotion hopes in jeopardy with his second loss at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday.

Asashoryu (10-0) kept his lead with five days left in the meet at Fukuoka Kokusai Center by executing a seemingly desperate attempt to pull down fifth-ranked maegashira Shimotori (2-8), whose powerful thrust forced the Mongolian grand champion to backpedal toward the ring's edge.

Asashoryu, aiming to win his ninth career title and become the first wrestler since 1986 to win five Emperor's Cups in a single year, now has a one-win advantage over sekiwake Wakanosato and top-maegashira Hakuho.

Kaio (8-2) suffered a major setback in his campaign to earn promotion to sumo's highest rank at the hands of up-and-coming Hakuho (9-1) in a match between the closest pursuers of leader Asashoryu.