Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

Just overpowered: Ozeki Kotooshu unleashes a throw to No. 3 maegashira Bushuyama on Tuesday at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. KYODO PHOTO

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) It wasn't sexy but yokozuna Asashoryu stayed on course in his bid for consecutive titles with a bread-and-butter win over Takekaze on the third day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday.

The feisty yokozuna from Ulan Bator was pulled slightly off-balance by Takekaze after the faceoff and almost went tumbling before recovering quickly to charge the winless No. 1 maegashira over the edge at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

Rival yokozuna Hakuho also remained perfect with a 3-0 record by grinding out Aminishiki in the day's penultimate bout. The two Mongolian yokozuna feature among a group of five wrestlers sharing the lead as the 15-day meet heats up.

Asashoryu is seeking his 25th career title after beating Hakuho in a playoff on the final day of the autumn meet. Hakuho can surpass Asashoryu's record of 84 wins in a year with 14 victories here.

Hakuho rested his chin on Aminishiki's shoulder and waited for his opponent to make the first move, using his superior leverage to usher the No. 1 maegashira over the straw bales to a third defeat.

Meanwhile, it was a day of contrasting fortunes for sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki.

Kotomitsuki (2-1) paid for his overzealousness when he tried to bulldoze Goeido (1-2) over the edge without having a firm grip on the komusubi, who twisted the ozeki down with an underarm throw at the last second.

Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu had no problem disposing of Bushuyama (1-2), knocking the No. 3 maegashira around with his slaps before deploying a powerful beltless arm throw to stay undefeated.

Relegation-threatened Chiyotaikai (2-1) was all bark as his trademark thrusting attack did little damage to Kisenosato (2-1), who countered with his own frontal shove out of the ozeki.

In another key matchup, hometown favorite Kaio (2-1) flipped Estonian giant Baruto (1-2) onto the dirt with an armlock throw immediately after the faceoff. It was Kaio's 800th career victory in the elite makuuchi division for third on the all-time list.

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