Ozeki Kisenosato kick-started his bid for promotion to yokozuna with a comfortable win over Mitakeumi on Sunday, the opening day of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Kisenosato was all business against the top-ranked maegashira — a former amateur yokozuna who posted an impressive 11-4 mark at the Summer Basho in May — setting himself up with a right-handed belt grip and calmly bumping the 23-year-old over the straw ridge.
Kisenosato is attempting to become the first Japanese-born wrestler since Wakanohana in 1998 to win promotion to sumo's ultimate rank.