Ozeki Asanoyama suffered a second straight defeat at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday, falling against top-ranked maegashira Takanosho to remain winless after two days.
The absence of yokozuna Hakuho and Kakuryu, both out of the 15-day meet with injuries, has given the up-and-coming ozeki a big chance to claim his second championship, but the 26-year-old was dealt a huge blow by a rank-and-filer on Day 2.
Asanoyama failed to gain traction in his initial clash with Takanosho (1-1) in the penultimate bout of the day at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, and was quickly driven back to his side of the straw.