Grand champion Asashoryu bounced back from two straight losses to beat Musoyama and remain tied for the lead at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, yesterday.
In the day's final bout at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Asashoryu got a hold of Musoyama's belt after the face-off and calmly lifted his opponent out.
Mongolian Asashoryu, who is gunning for his fourth straight Emperor's Cup and eighth title overall, improved to 11-2 and is tied with Miyabiyama. Musoyama fell to 8-5.
Chiyotaikai saw his title hopes dashed and dropped to 9-4 when he drove fellow ozeki Kaio back after the face-off but fell out when Kaio stepped to his side at the edge.
Kaio remained in the hunt at 10-3 along with lower-ranked wrestlers Hakuho, Toyozakura and Asasekiryu.
Sekiwake Wakanosato ran out of gas and was muscled out by No. 4 maegashira Shimotori, who improved to 9-4. Wakanosato dropped to 7-6.
Sekiwake Tochiazuma fell out of the running for the title when he was forced out by Kotomitsuki, who improved to 6-7.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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