Ozeki Kisenosato and yokozuna Hakuho were forced to work hard for their wins Thursday to remain in a five-way lead at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
On the fifth day of the 15-day tourney, Kisenosato survived the powerful shoves of Mitakeumi (3-2), who has so far defeated two yokozuna and an ozeki, and finished the top maegashira off by edging him out of the ring at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
In the penultimate bout, Hakuho suffered a scare as he almost lost balance while trying to catch Shohozan (2-3), but the Mongolian yokozuna managed to thrust the second-ranked maegashira down at the edge.