OSAKA - Sekiwake Kirishima lost his bout but still won the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday with a day to spare as his two closest title rivals, yokozuna Hoshoryu and No. 5 maegashira Kotoshoho, also fell.
Kirishima (12-2), a former ozeki, went down against Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki. But Hoshoryu (10-4) was then beaten by ozeki Kotozakura in the day's final bout to hand Kirishima his third Emperor's Cup with Kotoshoho (10-4) having also lost earlier at Edion Arena Osaka.
While struggling to repeat the form that won him the last two tournaments, and finding himself on the brink of a losing record, Aonishiki (7-7) was back to his best against Kirishima.
The Ukrainian star quickly grabbed the frontside of the title race leader's belt with both hands, underarm with his left and overarm with the right, and put his head against Kirishima's chest.
Kirishima did find a right overarm grip himself but was left in a vulnerable position throughout with Aonishiki keeping his trademark low-angled stance before his left underarm throw saw Kirishima touch the sand with his left knee.
Hoshoryu could have taken the title race to the final day, but the grand champion, without an Emperor's Cup since his yokozuna promotion ahead of the Spring meet last year, failed to rise to the occasion.
The signs were ominous from the start as Hoshoryu locked squarely straight away against a much heavier Kotozakura (9-5), with both wrestlers getting right underarm belt holds.
After a standstill and attempts to grapple forward from both, Hoshoryu produced a left overarm pulling throw but failed to knock Kotozakura off balance before the ozeki, now holding both underarm grips, came up with an outside leg trip to end Hoshoryu's hopes.
"I lost my bout, and ideally I wanted to have won it. But I'm relieved to have secured the title," said a tearful Mongolian-born Kirishima, who last won the elite makuuchi division in November 2023.
"My daughter has been telling me she wanted to do banzai (hurrah) together for some time, and I'm glad I've somehow managed to get myself into that position. I've kept doing what I can, believing there's something good waiting in the end."
Kirishima went 11-4 as a No. 2 maegashira and sekiwake in the past two tournaments, and has 34 wins in three straight meets with one day left. Ozeki promotion usually requires 33 wins over three straight meets while fighting as a sekiwake or komusubi.
Kotoshoho dropped out of the title race with a loss to komusubi debutant Atamifuji (9-5). He made a timely dodging move before securing a belt hold with both hands, but could not overcome the size disadvantage and was forced out to back-to-back defeats.
Sekiwake Takayasu (6-8) fell to a losing record with his seventh straight defeat after the former ozeki was floored by an overarm throw from No. 6 maegashira Ichiyamamoto (8-6), who clinched his winning record.
