Wakanohana unbeaten;
Musashimaru advances

TOKYO -- Yokozuna Wakanohana put in another textbook display Tuesday to barge out No. 2 maegashira Tamakasuga and remain unbeaten on the third day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

Looking for his first Emperor's Cup since his promotion to sumo's top rank last May, Wakanohana quickly drove out his winless opponent after a solid charge at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan to join sekiwake Chiyotaikai and three maegashira wrestlers with 3-0 records.

In the day's final bout, younger brother Takanohana avoided dropping three straight for the first time as yokozuna by going to his bread-and-butter technique in a force-out win over top maegashira Kaio, who dropped to an identical 1-2 mark.

Hawaiian-born ozeki Musashimaru, meanwhile, made surprisingly quick work of Tosanoumi, 1-2, as he pushed out the top-ranked maegashira with a few well-aimed jolts to the neck and face to boost his record in the 15-day meet to 2-1.

However, fellow ozeki Takanonami lost for a second consecutive day and slipped to 1-2 after walking into a barrage of thrusts from versatile No. 3 maegashira Aogiyama, who improved to 2-1.

Last November's Kyushu champion Kotonishiki also fell to his second straight defeat following his opening-day win over Takanohana as he was slapped down at the charge by sekiwake Musoyama, who upped his record to 2-1 in the process.

Chiyotaikai dished out the same treatment to komusubi Dejima, 1-2, as he once again displayed his ozeki credentials in a one-sided bout.

No. 14 maegashira Chiyotenzan, making his debut in sumo's elite makuuchi division, improved to 3-0 by sending 13th-ranked Asahiyutaka, 0-3, into the front-row seats in the day's opening bout.

Hamanoshima and Oginishiki, both No. 12 maegashira, also posted solid respective wins over 10th-ranked Gojoro, 1-2, and No. 9 maegashira Tochinonada, 1-2, to preserve their unbeaten records.

In Tuesday's most incident-packed bout, sekiwake Kotonowaka shoved out winless No. 2 maegashira Takatoriki to improve to 2-1 and level their head-to-head record to 16-16 after the Futagoyama stable wrestler had been warned for three false starts.

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Results in Scoreboard

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