Written by Ed Odeven

Heading into the second week of the 15-day Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, five wrestlers are tied for the lead.

Yokozuna Onosato, winner of September’s Autumn Basho, collected his seventh consecutive victory on Sunday to maintain his place atop the leaderboard. The grand champion extended his win streak with a frontal force-out of third-ranked maegashira Takayasu.

On Nov. 8, the opening day of the year’s final grand sumo tournament, komusubi Yoshinofuji earned an upset victory over six-time Emperor’s Cup champion Onosato. Since then, the popular Japanese grappler has returned to top form, showcasing the stellar all-around skills that led to his latest title in Tokyo.

A strong start on Sunday, fueled by an aggressive attack of his opponent early in the bout, keyed Onosato’s latest win, which was wrapped up when his muscular right arm bulldozed his foe.

Onosato (7-1) shares the lead with ozeki Kirishima, sekiwake Atamifuji and a pair of rank-and-filers, Kinbozan and Wakamotoharu.

Stablemaster Nishonoseki praised Onosato’s performance against Takaysu.

“That was a 100-point performance,” Nishonoseki, the former yokozuna Kisenosato (he retired in 2019), said in an interview on Japanese public broadcaster NHK. “Right from the initial clash, he shut down (Takayasu’s) left side. It was a perfect performance.”

Continuing his assessment of Onosato’s overall performance at the Kyushu Basho, his stablemaster said, “It feels like he really kicked into gear midway through the tournament. First of all, the pressure he applies is on a whole different level.”

In the day’s final bout at Fukuoka Kokusai Center, third-ranked maegashira Hakunofuji improved to 3-5 by shoving Hoshoryu, the Mongolian yokozuna (aka grand champion), over the edge of the raised ring.

Hoshoryu, who skipped the September tourney after undergoing knee surgery, slipped to a disappointing 4-4.

Haukunofuji exhibited determination en route to victory.

“I know he’s great at those throwing attacks, so I was just making sure I would not get thrown down,” Hakunofuji was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian Shishi slipped to 0-8 at the Kyushu Basho. In an all-maegashira showdown, No. 12 Ichiyamamoto (5-3) handed 10th-ranked Shishi his latest setback with a frontal push-out.

In one of Day 8’s featured bouts, Mongolian Kirishima conquered fellow ozeki Kotozakura to improve to 7-1, picking up his fifth straight victory.

The 198-kilogram Atamifuji, who’s vying for his first makuuchi (top) division title, stayed in the title hunt by outmuscling maegashira No. 2 Fujiseiun (4-4).

Kazakh grappler Kinbozan, a seventh-ranked maegashira, beat No. 14 Daieisho, and No. 7 Wakamotoharu also raised his record to 7-1 by manhandling fifth-ranked Gonoyama.

“My body is moving well,” Kinbozan told reporters after notching the win. Looking ahead, he added: “I’ll wrestle my own style with confidence.”

Ukraine’s yokozuna hopeful Aonishiki, who is competing in Fukuoka as an ozeki (sumo’s second-highest rank), fell to 4-4. Sekiwake Fujinokawa, who began the tourney with three straight losses, escorted Aonishiki out of the ring to improve to 3-5.

“My goal is to get my record on the winning side, and I’ll take it from there,” Fujinokawa said, according to Kyodo News.

The tournament runs through Nov. 22.