Two-thirds of the way through the tournament and Harumafuji looks possessed. He charged through Kotoshogiku and nearly sent the jack-rabbit ozeki back to Juryo, in spite of a 100+ pound weight difference. Were it not for that ill-advised gamble facing Jokoryu a few days ago…

Hakuho took his time with the top-heavy Bulgarian, Aoiyama. Both wrestlers secured belt grips but Hakuho let Aoiyama over-commit to moving forward, slipped out of the way, and let gravity handle the rest.

Kakuryu and Kisenosato remain two losses off-pace so this basho is quickly becoming the Hak/Haru show. The junior yokozuna seemed to have little issue with Ichinojo and the ozeki sent Endo scrambling back into the tunnel.

Tochinoshin tried desperately to get a handle on Takayasu’s belt but the komusubi defended well, slowly sliding Tochinoshin off the other side. Jokoryu finally pulled out of the tournament with his injury. I hope he recovers well and will try to bring any injury updates. If he can get, and stay, healthy he’ll have a promising career.

Okinoumi must have read my blog. He quickly charged inside against Oosunaarashi and took advantage of the Egyptian’s inability to plant his feet, tipping him off the edge. Right now the Sand Storm’s only weapon is that thunderous barrage of slaps. If Oosunaarashi gets into a battle of leverage, his weak knees seem incapable of helping him find purchase on the clay surface. I’m not-too-secretly hoping he gets a quick couple of wins to secure a kachi-koshi winning record so he can pull out of the tournament early and rest his knees. Though Aminishiki is just as heavily bandaged, the geezer is much stronger in the legs and thus very competitive in the upper levels of the makuuchi.