Top-ranked maegashira Daieisho and No. 16 Akiseyama kept their perfect records intact Friday with their sixth straight wins. (Photo by=Kyodo) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Top-ranked maegashira Daieisho and No. 16 Akiseyama kept their perfect records intact Friday with their sixth straight wins at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, where No. 7 Meisei suffered his first defeat.
Daieisho saw sekiwake Terunofuji (3-3) momentarily succeed in stemming his thrust but never took his foot off the gas, emphatically pushing out the former ozeki at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. The 27-year-old former sekiwake, who beat three ozeki in the opening three days, was joined by Akiseyama. The veteran remained unbeaten despite looking dead and buried against diminutive No. 12 Terutsuyoshi (2-4).
The 35-year-old Akiseyama was on the back foot following a low initial charge from his counterpart but had a strong thrust down in his locker with his right arm at the edge to turn the tie around. Akiseyama had only fought once in the elite makuuchi division in March 2016 when a 4-11 record saw him drop straight back down to the second-tier juryo the next meet.