OSAKA - There were more upsets on the fifth day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Thursday as a slick throw by a pumped-up Kaio sent Musashimaru crashing to his second loss and dealt the giant ozeki's yokozuna hopes a serious blow. Musashimaru loses; grand champion quits
On a day when yokozuna Takanohana was forced to pull out of the 15-day tourney due to a recurring liver ailment, komusubi Kaio showed good poise in improving his record to 3-2 -- his other two wins coming against top dogs Akebono and Takanohana.
East yokozuna Akebono, or Chad Rowan from Hawaii, had a scare against cagey veteran Akinoshima, who caught him with a vicious round-arm slap at the face-off and almost pulled off a surprise win, but he was unable to maintain his forward motion.
Akebono dug in at the edge and maneuvered his smaller foe to the straw ridge before forcing him down and out for this third straight win.
One-time ozeki candidate Kaio showed excellent patience against Hawaii-born ozeki Musashimaru, who seemed confused by his opponent's nimble footwork.
''The oyakata (stable master) keeps telling me to move forward in a straight line. I was just following his advice and I was a bit lucky today,'' Kaio said.
Meanwhile, supreme technician Wakanohana remained perfect at 5-0 with an awesome display against top maegashira Chiyotaikai, tying his opponent in knots before pushing him out with the minimum of fuss.
Futagoyama stablemate and fellow ozeki Takanonami was not so impressive, however, as he was beaten at his own game by a spirited Kotonowaka and fell to 2-3. The No. 4 maegashira quickly locked up Takanonami and marched him out to the delight of the packed crowd.
In the day's wildest bout, Takatoriki improved to 4-1 after slapping Tochiazuma to the dirt after a fierce contest of thrusts and slaps that left the sekiwake with a bloody nose, a fat lip and a sore right shoulder.
Tochiazuma, who slipped to 2-3, was slow to get to his feet after and later was taken to a hospital in downtown Osaka for X-rays to determine the extent of the damage.
Wednesday's giant-killer Shikishima, meanwhile, ran into an immovable object in sekiwake Musoyama, who charged to an easy win to up his record to 3-2. Shikishima fell to 1-4.
Tochinonada, who dumped Takanonami on Wednesday, maintained his good run of form by shoving out Ganyu to go to 2-3.
Thursday's play of the day went to No. 11 maegashira Asahiyutaka who pulled off an unusual elbow twist throw -- or ''zubuneri'' in Japanese -- to defeat popular veteran Terao and boost his record to 3-2.
Sumo commentators noted it was the first time the move had been seen since the 1961 Nagoya tournament.