Kakuryu conquered man mountain Ichinojo to grab sole possession of the lead Friday after fellow Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho crashed to a shock first defeat at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.

In the day's most absorbing contest, Kakuryu came back from the brink and broke up a lengthy stalemate to shove out Ichinojo and gain revenge against the newly promoted sekiwake for a defeat at the Autumn Basho.

In September, Ichinojo mugged Kakuryu with a frowned-upon "henka" sidestep maneuver en route to a stunning 13-2 showing in his debut in the top makuuchi division.

The win puts Kakuryu at 6-0, while Hakuho heads a group of eight wrestlers including ozeki Kisenosato at 5-1.

Hakuho had not lost in eight previous meetings with Takayasu.

But Takayasu (4-2) managed to knock Hakuho off balance and as the yokozuna lost his footing, the third-ranked maegashira moved in for the kill and slapped him to the dirt.

Yokozuna Harumafuji (4-2) wrapped up the day's action at Fukuoka Kokusai Center with an uwatenage win over Brazilian-born No. 4 maegashira Kaisei (2-4).S