Sumo tournament deadlocked going into final day

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Capture 4
Takayasu wins.

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FUKUOKA, JAPAN – After holding sole possession of first place for over a week, Takakeisho now finds himself in a tie atop the leaderboard of November’s grand sumo tournament.

Takakeisho fell to 12-2 on Day 14 to ozeki Takayasu despite initially pushing him to the edge on the tachi-ai.

After the initial thrust however, Takakeisho lost his footing, allowing Takayasu to spin around and push him down in the back, providing a hikiotoshi victory.

On the final day of the competition, Takakeisho will face maegashira #3 Nishikigi (8-6) while Takayasu faces sekiwake Mitakeumi (6-8). If both rikishi win or lose, they will face off again in a playoff to determine the yusho.

The final day also holds drama for five rikishi holding at 7-7, all maegashira that can see possible promotion or demotion depending on whether they can obtain a winning record for the tournament.

In other news from Day 14, komusubi Kaisei announced his withdrawal from the tournament, citing a calf injury suffered a day earlier. Kaisei missed the first two days of the tournament due to a leg injury suffered in practice. He is the third rikishi to withdraw from the tournament.

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.