AP Photo/Kyodo
Wakanohana drops Dejima.

Takanohana,
Musashimaru upset

TOKYO, Sept. 15 (Kyodo) - Former sekiwake Kaio upset yokozuna Takanohana on Tuesday, while ozeki Musashimaru was slapped down by No. 3 maegashira Asahiyutaka on the third day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.

Takanohana slipped to his first loss as Kaio, now fighting as a top-ranked maegashira, took advantage of a strong right-hand belt grip to muscle the yokozuna out for his first win of the 15-day meet at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Asahiyutaka improved to 2-1 by sending the 223-kilogram Musashimaru crashing to the dirt while back-peddling to hand the Hawaiian his first defeat of the tourney.

''I was just trying to get out of his way. It was a bit of a fluke,'' Asahiyutaka joked afterward.

Yokozuna Wakanohana, meanwhile, stayed perfect at 3-0 as he pulled out a piece of trickery at the edge of the ring to drop komusubi Dejima from the unbeaten ranks.

Dejima exploded out of the blocks, but Wakanohana, fighting in only his second tournament at sumo's highest rank, showed nifty footwork in circling to his left before slapping his opponent down with his feet dug in against the straw bales lining the ring.

Yokozuna Akebono, looking for his first Emperor's Cup since May 1997, rebounded from Monday's loss to Dejima as he made quick work of winless top-ranked maegashira Tochiazuma with powerful thrusts to improve his mark to 2-1.

Ozeki Takanonami finally got to grips with Tamakasuga in a scrappy bout, forcing him out to notch his second victory while handing the third-ranked maegashira his third straight loss.

Sekiwake Chiyotaikai boosted his record to a perfect 3-0 with another display of power sumo against No. 2 maegashira Minatofuji, who dropped to 0-3 with the loss.

However, Takatoriki, enjoying a renaissance at sekiwake after a 10-month absence, was slapped to the dirt surface for the second day in a row, losing to second-ranked Kotonowaka, 2-1, and seeing his own record drop to 1-2.

Komusubi Musoyama fell to his second loss as he was upset by No. 4 maegashira Wakanosato, 2-1, while 16th-ranked Terao won the battle of the veterans against No. 11 maegashira Tochinowaka, 1-2, to improve to 2-1.

Mongolia's Kyokushuzan, meanwhile, was dragged down to his second loss by No. 4 maegashira Aogiyama, also 1-2.

Results in Scoreboard

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