Akinoumi, "yokozuna" and captain of the East team, suffered his first defeat, by Kashiwado, in an upset on the eighth day of the current main tourney of the Dai Nippon Sumo Association on January 17 at the Kokugikan, Ryogoku, Tokyo
    The other three "yokozuna" grapplers, Futabayama, Haguroyama and Terukuni, continued to keep up their winning streaks.
    Outpointing the East team 13 to 9 on that day, the West team now leads by 94 points to 87 in the senior group's team competition.
    The results of the matches in which high ranked wrestlers contested were as follows:

    The East team narrowed the West's lead to three points, 102 to 99, in the senior inter-team series by outpointing the West team 12 to 8 on the ninth day of the spring main sumo tourney at the Kokugikan, Tokyo, on January 18.