New sekiwake Asanoyama took his first loss of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday, while yokozuna Kakuryu fell to his third defeat.
Asanoyama fell down the leaderboard along with top-ranked maegashira Endo after getting brushed aside by komusubi Abi on Day 4 at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Kakuryu took his second straight loss at the hands of No. 1 Myogiryu (2-2), who earned back-to-back kinboshi awards for defeating a yokozuna as a rank-and-filer.