Mongolians Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kakuryu mark easy wins on Day 10

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Mongolians continued to dominate their opponents at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on March 18, with yokozuna duo Hakuho and Harumafuji--who lead with unbeaten records--and ozeki Kakuryu all notching convincing wins. It was published on asahi.com website, same day. Meeting almost no resistance, Harumafuji thrust out komusubi Shohozan (4-6) for his 10th win. The yokozuna landed his thrusts potently on Shohozan's chest, raising his center of gravity and making him unable to do anything but retreat. Hakuho threw sekiwake Kotooshu to the dirt, to no one's surprise. Hakuho has been almost perfect throughout this tournament and is the defending champion, gunning for his 29th career title. Kotooshu, meanwhile, has lost all his bouts except for his opening-day match against rank-and-filer Kaisei. Mongolia's third-best wrestler, Kakuryu, was driven back at the face-off by komusubi Toyonoshima but kept his cool, maneuvered to the side and blasted back onto the offensive with a forward drive that sent Toyonoshima out of the ring for his sixth loss. Kakuryu is holding his ground well, with just one loss that he suffered on the tournament's third day, to Okinoumi. Kotoshogiku grimaced in pain after he was tossed to the dirt by No. 3 maegashira Takayasu (4-6). The ozeki is fighting through injuries, and this was the first time he has ever been beaten by Takayasu. He drops to 5-5 and will be under a lot of pressure to clear the eight wins he needs to stay out of trouble when the next tournament rolls around and not worry about his rank. Takayasu, on the other hand, is trying to get into position to move up to komusubi. Looking very much like the formidable ozeki he is, Kisenosato gave No. 4 maegashira Ikioi no openings and won with ease. Typical of Kisenosato, the win wasn't very flamboyant, but it was strong and nearly flawless. He simply took a conventional grappling approach and played it to its fullest. Kisenosato is 8-2, while Ikioi is 4-6. Sekiwake Goeido, a talented but often overlooked veteran, won his eighth bout convincingly and is now looking to see if he can finish in double digits. He won by getting a strong hold on No. 2 maegashira Okinoumi's belt and plowing forward until it was over. Okinoumi has only two wins. "I'm fighting my own style," Goeido said. "I just hope to keep adding on the wins." On March 19, he takes on Hakuho. Sekiwake Tochiozan (5-5) took down top maegashira Endo more easily than expected, absorbing his face-off and taking control until the young wrestler's knees buckled at the edge. The loss is the second in a row for Endo and his sixth of the tournament. He is still adjusting to the tougher competition now that he has to face yokozuna and ozeki opponents, and is starting to show some wear and tear from what has been a hard 10 days.