FUKUOKA - Returning yokozuna Hoshoryu continued his positive start to the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament as he improved to 2-0 with victory over No. 1 maegashira Asanoyama on Monday.
The Mongolian-born grand champion, who had knee surgery in July and withdrew from the past three grand tournaments, wasted no time as he used a strong initial charge to position himself for a frontal crush out against the veteran former ozeki, in their first meeting since March 2024.
The 32-year-old Asanoyama, coming off an impressive takedown of Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki, remains winless in six top-division matches against Hoshoryu.
After an opening day of upsets, there were fewer unexpected results on Day 2 of the 15-day tournament at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.
Following his loss to komusubi Yoshinofuji, yokozuna Onosato got his campaign for back-to-back championships on track by defeating No. 1 maegashira Fujiryoga (1-1).
The six-time Emperor's Cup winner looked less than dominant, however, giving up the momentum with a pulling attempt and retreating around the edge before forcing out his opponent.
Kirishima remained the only ozeki without a loss as he recorded a convincing force-out victory over No. 2 maegashira Fujiseiun.
Ukrainian ozeki Aonishiki rebounded from his opening-day loss by toppling Yoshinofuji with a superbly executed "uchimuso" inner thigh propping twist down, while fellow ozeki Kotozakura also opened his account at 1-1 by slapping down debutant komusubi Churanoumi (0-2).
Sekiwake Fujinokawa, who went 11-4 in September, remained winless after being forced out by No. 3 maegashira Takayasu (1-1). Fellow sekiwake Atamifuji improved to 2-0 with an armlock throw against No. 2 maegashira Ura.
