Sumo: Young Ukrainian Aonishiki upsets yokozuna Hoshoryu on Day 3
New yokozuna Onosato, meanwhile, continued his impressive start to the 15-day competition, improving to 3-0 with a victory over No. 1 maegashira Wakamotoharu.
Having beaten ozeki Kotozakura on the opening day of the tournament, the 21-year-old Aonishiki (2-1) recorded the biggest win of his brief career, earning his first "kinboshi" gold star prize for defeating a yokozuna as a rank-and-file wrestler.
The No. 1 maegashira stayed in constant motion after the opening clash, preventing Hoshoryu (1-2) from using a belt grip and eventually tackling the yokozuna to the clay with a thigh grabbing push down.
"I'm just glad I won," said Aonishiki, who was beaten by Onosato on Day 2. "I'll just do my best each day from now on and concentrate on whoever my opponent may be."
Hoshoryu's second straight defeat, a day after losing to Wakamotoharu, marked another poor start to a meet as yokozuna. He withdrew hurt from his debut tournament at the top rank in March and finished with a 5-5-5 record.
Onosato, gunning for his third straight Emperor's Cup, delivered a strong opening charge and was credited with a frontal push down victory after the backpedaling Wakamotoharu (1-2) slipped to the sandy surface.
Kotozakura (1-2) showed little sign of overcoming his recent run of lackluster results, succumbing to a pulling overarm throw against veteran komusubi Takayasu (2-1).
"I want to do the kind of sumo fans enjoy watching," former ozeki Takayasu said.
Aiming to move back up to ozeki, Mongolian sekiwake Kirishima (3-0) stayed unbeaten by forcing out No. 2 maegashira Oho (0-3). Sekiwake Wakatakakage dropped to 2-1 with a slap-down loss to No. 2 maegashira Abi (2-1).
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