Baruto Secures First-Ever Grand Tournament Win
Estonian professional sumo wrestler Kaido Höövelson, better known as Baruto, locked in the first top division tournament victory of his career on Friday by scoring his 13th consecutive win at the Hatsu-basho in Tokyo.
The 27-year-old Baruto took the decisive bout by knocking fellow ozeki Kotoshogiku out of the ring using the shitatenage move, an underarm throw.
Though two more match days remain in the tournament, no other competitor has enough wins to catch up.
Baruto is next scheduled to battle Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu, with whom he has a record of eight wins and 12 losses, reported sport.err.ee. He will go on to face yokozuna Hakuho on the last day of the tournament.
Until now, Baruto's best performance in a Makuuchi-level tournament was the 14-1 score he achieved at the Haru-basho in Oksaka in March 2010. The result, however, wasn't enough to win him that tournament.
Steve Roman