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 grappler needed an extra bout to beat the determined rank-and-filer at the Nagoya Basho and came through with flying colors.
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.
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.
Rising sumo star Takerufuji was forced to pull out of the 15-day Summer Basho in Tokyo with an ankle injury, and komusubi Asanoyama is also sidelined.
The move is further punishment of former yokozuna Hakuho, whose protege Hokuseiho committed physical violence at Miyagino stable, leading to sanctions.
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.