Yokozuna Terunofuji regained sole possession of first place at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with a thrilling victory over sekiwake Wakamotoharu on Thursday.
The lone yokozuna finished Day 12 at Ryogoku Kokugikan alone on the top rung of the leaderboard at 11-1 after the joint overnight leader, former ozeki Asanoyama, was handed his second loss of the 15-day meet by sekiwake Daieisho.
In the day's final bout, Terunofuji survived a force-out attempt from Wakamotoharu (8-4) by countering with a frontal crush out that put the Mongolian-born yokozuna's surgically repaired knees to the test.