As a reminder, these were the Day 7 matchups:

Naya was was dominating Ikarigata until the latter pulled a reversal at the edge, which required a mono-ii to confirm, but Fujinokowa’s brother moves on. Former maegashira Yago pushed out Nihonyanagi, while another ex-sekitori, Shimazuumi, fell to Hinataryu, who’s been toiling in the lower divisions since 2018 without making me aware of his existence until now. Gyotoku prevailed by oshidashi after a tough bout, running his career record to 10-1. Seihakuho advanced without too much trouble. And then it was on to the two top-ranked undefeated wrestlers, Ms2e Ishizaki and Ms3e Asahakuryu, who both hail from Takasago beya. Asahakuryu earned his kachi-koshi, while Ishizaki was slapped down by Kamito and is still seeking the fourth win that would finally enable him to make his sekitori debut.

The quarterfinal bouts should take place on Day 9, and the matchups have not been posted yet, but the bracket should look as follows:

• Asahakuryu vs. Kamito
• Seihakuho vs. Gyotoku
• Hinataryu vs. Yago
• Ikarigata vs. the winner of the Day 8 Sandanme bout between Daishinkai and Kaigo

Former maegashira Kitanowaka (3-1) defeated former Ozeki Asanoyama (2-2) with surprising ease, leaving the latter with a lot of work to do to make a sekitori return. Enho (2-2) had his chances but lost to Narutaki, and looked like he might have injured himself in the process.

The next update should be on Day 9, when I’ll probably also take a first look at the Juryo promotion picture.