Sumo: Harumafuji claims 1st title at summer sumo

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TOKYO, May 24 Kyodo -
Ozeki Harumafuji pulled off the improbable Sunday by beating grand champion
Hakuho in a playoff to capture his first career title at the Summer Grand Sumo
Tournament.
Harumafuji, the Mongolian dynamite formerly known as Ama, got an explosive jump
at the face-off before placing his left hand on the back of Hakuho's mawashi
and making his first attempt at an underarm throw at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Hakuho, who was denied his quest for back-to-back titles, held his balance but
Harumafuji kept up the attack and used his right hand to sweep out the
yokozuna's knee for the victory.
It was the first two-way playoff since grand champion Asashoryu beat Hakuho to
win the New Year meet in January.
The 25-year-old Harumafuji, who at 126 kilogramws is one of the lightest in the
elite makuuchi division, became the eighth foreign grappler to win a title and
third Mongolian wrestler following Asashoryu and Hakuho.
''I am really happy. I just tried to concentrate on my own sumo throughout this
tournament. I wanted to respond to all of my fans,'' said Harumafuji. ''I
simply focused on today's matches. I really want to give my thanks to my father
and mother and my stablemaster and his wife for opening the way for me to
wrestle in sumo.''
Hakuho captured his 10th career Emperor's Cup at the spring meet with a 15-0
record and had been on a 33-bout winning tear in regulation bouts until he
suffered a first loss at the hands of Kotooshu on the 14th day.
Asashoryu and rank-and-filer Kisenosato dropped out of the title race when
Harumafuji came back from the jaws of defeat with a decisive blow against
Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu in the day's penultimate bout in regulation.
Harumafuji pushed his larger opponent to the edge with a fierce charge at the
face-off but Kotooshu regrouped to gain the advantage with a superior grappling
position. All looked lost as Kotooshu (9-6) went in for the kill but Harumafuji
rewrote the script, deploying a neck-twisting throw to send his opponent onto
his back.
Hakuho disposed of rival Asashoryu in the final bout, getting his favored right
leaning grip on his opponent before ushering him over the edge to set up the
playoff with a 14-1 mark. Asashoryu finished at 12-3.
Kisenosato (13-2), who won his third Fighting Spirit Prize, heaved out
Mongolian komusubi Kakuryu (9-6), who took the Technique Prize, also for the
third time, for his dominant performance.
Injury-plagued Chiyotaikai, who was facing demotion from his ozeki rank for a
record 13th time, pulled off a miracle with three consecutive wins to post a
majority of victories after falling to a 5-7 record that put him on the bubble.
Chiyotaikai stopped Baruto dead in his tracks with a throat grab before
toppling the Estonian sekiwake with a series of quick-fire shoves to save his
ozeki rank. Baruto ended with a meager 4-11 mark.
Kotomitsuki ushered out Kaio in an all-ozeki encounter to also save his rank
with an eighth win while his rival finished with the same record 8-7 slate.
In another match of note, Homasho had to wait until the final day but got a win
at long last, lifting out Yoshikaze (4-11) after tussling with the No. 5
maegashira at the ring's center.
==Kyodo