Sports

Terunofuji Beats the Heat and Shonannoumi to Stay in Control at Nagoya Basho

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.

Published

2 months ago

July 21, 2024

Jim Armstrong

Yokozuna Terunofuji (left) picks up his eighth victory in as many matches at the Nagoya Basho, defeating Shonannoumi on July 21, 2024, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. (©SANKEI)

Yokozuna Terunofuji calmly dispatched Shonannoumi on Sunday, July 21 to remain undefeated and in the driver's seat at the midway point of the Nagoya Basho.

In sweltering heat at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Terunofuji quickly got both arms around the fifth-ranked maegashira and used a frontal force-out to send Shonannoumi over the straw ridge while improving to a perfect 8-0.

Temperatures reached 37 degrees Celsius in Nagoya on Sunday and while the venue is air conditioned, both grapplers were covered in sweat before their bout even started.

Shonannoumi dropped to 5-3. Three grapplers are at 6-2: ozeki Kotozakura and rank-and-filers Shodai and Churanoumi.

Terunofuji is bidding for his 10th Emperor's Cup in the 15-day Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, a result that would allow him to claim the title of "Dai Yokozuna," or great yokozuna.

Kotozakura Maintains Strong Form at Nagoya Basho

In other major bouts on Day 8, Kotozakura kept his title hopes alive when he used a pushing and thrusting technique to send Ura toppling off the raised ring and moved to 6-2.

Fourth-ranked maegashira Ura came in low at the face-off in an attempt to knock his much larger opponent off balance but couldn't get a hold of the belt and fell to 3-5.

Ozeki Hoshoryu swatted down komusubi Daieisho to give both wrestlers a record of 5-3. It was the fifth straight win for Mongolian Hoshoryu over the Oitekaze stable grappler.

No 10 maegashira Shodai improved to 6-2 when he swatted down No 14 Wakatakakage, who had the former ozeki in a position to shove him out but couldn't finish the job and dropped to 5-3.

No 12 maegashira Churanoumi forced out 17-ranked Nishikifuji (3-5) to stay in the shrinking chase pack at 6-2.

Onosato Extends Winning Streak to Four

Sekiwake Onosato shrugged off an audacious foot sweep at the face-off and calmly shoved out Tobizaru to pick up his fourth straight win and improve to 5-3.

Fourth-ranked maegashira Tobizaru lost his third straight to fall to 4-4.

Ozeki Takakeisho averted disaster when he used his bread-and-butter thrusting technique to send Kirishima over the edge to pick up a much-needed third win against five losses.

Takakeisho has to win five more bouts in seven days to maintain his ozeki status for the next tournament.

Sekiwake Kirishima dropped to 4-4. The Mongolian needs six wins in the next seven days to regain the ozeki status he lost after going 1-6 in the previous tournament with eight absences due to injury.

Newly promoted komusubi Hiradoumi (5-3) used a barrage of arm thrusts before getting both arms around Meisei (2-6) and shoving the top maegashira out.

In a showdown of seasoned veterans, 37-year-old Sadanoumi was pushed back after the initial face-off but deployed a thrust-down technique at the edge to defeat 39-year-old Tamawashi.

Sadanoumi, a seventh-ranked maegashira, improved to 3-5 while No 9 maegashira Tamawashi dropped to 4-4.

Top maegashira Atamifuji put a halt to a four-bout losing streak when he shoved out Wakamotoharu to move to 3-5. No 2 maegashira Wakamotoharu fell to 4-4.

Follow daily coverage of the Nagoya Basho on SportsLook.

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.