Rank-and-filer Shodai suffered his first defeat and relinquished his sole lead at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday.
No. 4 maegashira Shodai lost to struggling ozeki Goeido (3-4) in the day's penultimate bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan and fell into a five-way tie at 6-1. The 15-day tournament is missing yokozuna Hakuho and Kakuryu, who withdrew in the opening days of the competition with injuries.
Shodai started out convincingly, pushing the veteran ozeki toward the edge of the ring. Goeido, however, dodged that bullet. As he escaped to his left, Goeido grabbed Shodai by the arm in an attempt to swing him over the straw bales, but the No. 4 maegashira stayed on his feet until the moment of truth came.