Bulgarian Kotooshu wrangled Tamanoshima to the dirt yesterday to maintain his undefeated lead in the Autumn Grand Sumo, while defending champion Asashoryu overpowered Kotomitsuki to stay one win behind.
Tamanoshima jumped to a quick start, pushing sekiwake Kotooshu to the straw ridge. But Kotooshu countered with a one-handed arm wrap and twisted his opponent out of the ring. Kotooshu improved his perfect record to 10-0, while No. 8 maegashira Tamanoshima fell to 6-4.
Kotooshu is eyeing his first championship after finishing second in the summer tourney with a loss to Asashoryu in a climactic final bout. Asashoryu is now gunning for his sixth straight Emperor's Cup and 14th overall.
PHOTO: AP, KYODO NEWS
In yesterday's closing contest, the Mongolian grand champion jumped on the offensive against Kotomitsuki, who was unable to mount any challenge against the yokozuna's powerful arm thrusts. Asashoryu advanced to 9-1, while his komusubi opponent dropped to 6-4. Kisenosato, a lowly No. 16 maegashira, also stayed one off the pace at 9-1 after grabbing the belt of Mongolian grappler Ama and quickly bulldozing him out of the ring. Ama dropped to 6-4.
Ozeki Tochiazuma made fast work of Kyokutenho to improve to 8-2. Kyokutenho racked up his fourth loss against six wins.
Fellow ozeki Chiyotaikai, 7-3, also came out on top, pulling rival Dejima to the dirt with a slap to the neck. Dejima fell to 3-7.
In top-ranked maegashira action, Georgia-born Kokkai fought through a barrage of arm thrusts to push out Miyabiyama. Kokkai improved to 2-8, while his No. 1 maegashira opponent fell to 3-7.
Mongolian Hakuho gave komusubi Futeno a hefty belt throw to scored his seventh win against three losses. Futeno fell to 2-8.
In other bouts further down the ranks, Russian-born Hakurozan jumped off the blocks in a false start against Shimotori, but quickly spun him around on the restart and pushed him out with a series of arm thrusts to the chest. The No. 12 maegashira Hakurozan improved to 5-5.
Russian compatriot Roho also bettered his record to 6-4 after pushing Kasugao to the edge and dodging a counterattack to throw the lower-ranked South Korean maegashira off balance. Kasugao fell to 6-4.
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
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care