NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Ukrainian sekiwake Aonishiki moved into the outright lead Friday at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament after an outstanding victory over ozeki Kirishima that knocked the Mongolian-born grappler off the top rung of the leaderboard. The 22-year-old Aonishiki, who clinched his repromotion to ozeki by reaching 10 wins on Wednesday, improved to 11-2 on Day 13 at IG Arena by dispatching Kirishima (10-3) with a brilliantly executed under-shoulder swing down. The two other overnight leaders, 13th-ranked maegashira Takerufuji and 14th-ranked Shishi, also fell to second place with their…
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NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Ukrainian dynamo Aonishiki captured his third top-division title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday, winning a three-way championship playoff against fellow sekiwake Atamifuji and Mongolian-born ozeki Kirishima after the trio finished deadlocked at 12-3. Aonishiki’s gritty playoff victory capped off a remarkable performance by the 22-year-old, who secured automatic repromotion to ozeki by reaching the 10-win benchmark at the 15-day tournament while laboring with a painful foot condition. Having started the final day at IG Arena with the outright lead, he was brought back to…