Takanohana jolted in
New Year tourney

Musashimaru is at 1-1

TOKYO -- Yokozuna Takanohana looked out of sorts again Monday as he was sent crashing to his second straight defeat by top-ranked maegashira Tosanoumi on the second day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

Tosanoumi got revenge for a humiliating loss to the grand champion at the Kyushu tourney last November by jolting Takanohana at the charge and following up quickly to finish the job and even his record at 1-1 with a force-out win at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

"I wanted to prevent him from getting a belt grip because the yokozuna is deadly from that position, but I really wanted to make up for last time," said Tosanoumi, who was yanked down straight from the face-off in Kyushu.

Following an opening-day loss to komusubi Kotonishiki, Takanohana's lackluster showing raised more questions about the fitness of the yokozuna, who was unable to train properly before the tourney after catching the flu.

Wakanohana restored some yokozuna pride in the day's final bout, however, as he improved to 2-0 after digging into his bag of tricks to hand komusubi Dejima his first loss of the 15-day meet.

Going for his first Emperor's Cup since being promoted to sumo's top rank last summer, Wakanohana rocked Dejima with a face slap at the charge before trying, unsuccessfully to drag his opponent down as he pushed forward.

With both wrestlers locked in a clinch at the center of the ring, though, Wakanohana spotted Dejima was off balance and sent him sprawling by kicking the komusubi's right leg out from under him with well-timed ankle sweep with his right foot..

Ozeki Musashimaru bounced back from Sunday's loss to Tochiazuma by bulldozing No. 2 maegashira Takatoriki, 0-2, for his 31st win in 39 contests against the Futagoyama stable scrapper.

In one of the day's most intriguing bouts, komusubi Tochiazuma completed a double of the two ozeki by barging out Takanonami, 1-1, after two false starts at the face-off.

At sekiwake, Chiyotaikai boosted his record to 2-0 as he kept up his push for ozeki promotion with a convincing win over second-ranked maegashira Tamakasuga, 0-2, in a bruising battle of face slaps and neck thrusts.

Fellow sekiwake Kotonowaka and Musoyama were not so lucky, however, falling to No. 3 maegashira Akinoshima and top-ranked Kaio respectively, leaving all four grapplers with 1-1 records.

Meanwhile, Kyushu champion Kotonishiki, who upset Takanohana on the opening day, came back to earth with a bump as he was hauled down by No. 3 maegashira Aogiyama, who joined the komusubi at 1-1.

Meanwhile, Mongolian wrestler Kyokushuzan, an eighth-ranked maegashira, tipped over seventh-ranked Terao to leave both men on 1-1 in another highlight bout.

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Results in Scoreboard

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