The ozeki grappler is one of the favorites to win the Emperor's Cup at the 15-day Autumn Basho in Tokyo in the absence of yokozuna Terunofuji.
After winning his 10th title in July, back-to-back tournaments proved to be too much for the injury-plagued yokozuna, who will skip the Autumn Basho in Tokyo.
The Mongolian-born grand champion has a two-win cushion over a trio of sumo wrestlers as he heads into the second half of the 15-day Nagoya Basho.
The ex-ozeki relied on experience to shove out the newly promoted sekiwake, who couldn't mount a counterattack in their Nagoya Basho match.
The native of Ishikawa Prefecture looks for back-to-back championships as he debuts at sumo's third-highest rank at the Nagoya Basho.
A native of Ishikawa, the 23-year-old Onosato is inspiring fans in his home prefecture and giving sumo a much-needed boost in popularity.
Newly promoted komusubi Onosato, who went 12-3 in the Summer Basho, has contended in every tournament since his January debut in the elite division.
The native of Ishikawa Prefecture is gaining more confidence by the day at the 15-day Summer Basho in Tokyo as he pursues his first championship.
In his komusubi debut, Onosato kicked off his bid for the Emperor's Cup at the Summer Basho with an impressive win over the Mongolian yokozuna.
In the Spring Basho, Takerufuji gutted out a Day 15 win over Gonoyama to capture his first Emperor's Cup and match Ryogoku's 110-year-old feat.
Ozeki grapplers Kirishima and Hoshoryu also fell on Day 1 of the 15-day Spring Basho in Osaka, while Kotonowaka triumphed in his ozeki debut.
The lone yokozuna will be bidding for his 10th Emperor's Cup at the Spring Basho, but he will have to contend with new ozeki Kotonowaka.