NAGOYA - Ukrainian sekiwake Aonishiki moved into the outright lead Friday at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament after an outstanding victory over ozeki Kirishima that knocked the Mongolian-born grappler off the top rung of the leaderboard.
The 22-year-old Aonishiki, who clinched his repromotion to ozeki by reaching 10 wins on Wednesday, improved to 11-2 on Day 13 at IG Arena by dispatching Kirishima (10-3) with a brilliantly executed under-shoulder swing down.
The two other overnight leaders, 13th-ranked maegashira Takerufuji and 14th-ranked Shishi, also fell to second place with their third losses of the 15-day tournament.
The Ukrainian-born Shishi succumbed to a pulling underarm throw against ozeki Kotozakura (8-5).
With his all-important eighth victory, Kotozakura shook off demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki status and ensured his continued place at sumo's second-highest rank.
Takerufuji was forced out by injury-hampered grand champion Onosato (7-6), who moved within one bout of a winning record while laboring with left shoulder pain.
The other yokozuna, Hoshoryu (7-6), was unable to clinch a winning record as he was crushed out by sekiwake Atamifuji, staying in contention for his first championship at 10-3.
"I'm happy that I won," said the 23-year-old Atamifuji, aiming to build the foundation for ozeki promotion.
"I just did what I usually do and the results followed. I'm here to win every day, and there's two more bouts I need to figure out how to win."
