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New yokozuna Terunofuji wins Autumn Basho opener as both ozeki fall

New yokozuna Terunofuji had a winning start on Sunday at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament, but ozeki Shodai and Takakeisho both lost badly in the opening match.

Terunofuji, 29, was missing a third consecutive championship in July in Nagoya, but his 14-1 record was enough to get him promotion to the top tier of sumo. Starting from where he had stopped, he declared a quick force victory komusubi Ichinojo at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Terunofuji, who obtained Japanese citizenship in early August, quickly acquired a left bib to fend off the giant komusubi and drove forward to finish the match in seconds.

With the sport’s only other major champion, Hakuho, sidelined due to COVID-19 at his stables, Terunofuji is the favorite player to win his fifth Emperor’s Cup in a meeting lasting 15 days.

It will be another award in the already remarkable career of the Mongolian-born grappler, whose knee injury and other health problems have dropped him from second-highest ozeki to fifth. jonidan before an unprecedented return.

The two ozeki hoping to challenge him for the title didn’t look so good on opening day.

Shodai became a victim of the 1st place maegashira Hoshoryu, grandson of the former Yokozuna Asashoryu, who put on an impressive performance to claim three head-to-head wins out of three over ozeki.

Shodai relied on his advantage of size to quickly push Hoshoryu to the edge, but the athlete held his ground and launched a sharp tackle to corner his opponent into the opposite court to win. win.

Takakeisho also had a lackluster start to the meeting, his weak pull-down effort allowing No. 2 Hokutofuji to take the initiative and force him out of the raised ring.

Withdrawn from Nagoya match with neck injury, threatened with dismissal kadoban ozeki needs a winning record here to maintain his rank.

Sekiwake Mitakeumi, meanwhile, showed off her impressive abilities in a push-out victory over No.1 Takanosho. The two-time major tournament champion forcefully forced Takanosho to his feet after the jump before sealing victory with a second strike.

New Sekiwake Meisei was unable to get off to a winning start despite a fierce header against energetic No. 2 Kiribayama. During an encounter with a whirlwind, Meisei lost his leg while dodging his opponent and received a massive slap.

Komusubi Takayasu also opened the encounter with a losing result, the former ozeki being unable to defeat the No. 3 Wakatakakage before he was crushed near the edge.

The Japan Sumo Association has limited the audience to 5,000 people, half the capacity of the Ryogoku Kokugikan. The capital is in a state of COVID-19 emergency until the end of the month.

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