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Updated at 5:46 a.m., Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sumo: Hakuho wins eighth championship

Associated Press

TOKYO — Mongolian grand champion Hakuho completed his 14th win to claim the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday for his eighth championship title.

The 23-year-old easily beat Kotomitsuki by giving the Japanese opponent powerful hand thrusts and pushing him out of the ring in the day's final bout of the 15-day tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Hakuho clinched his eighth championship title on Saturday, which followed his seventh tournament victory in July at the Nagoya tournament.

Fellow Mongolian Ama picked up his 12th win against Toyohibiki. The 24-year-old Mongolian threw all his weight into the Japanese wrestler and bulldozed him over the ring in a matter of seconds.

Kotooshu of Bulgaria also ended the last day of the tournament with a victory against Chiyotaikai. The European wrester grabbed Chiyotaikai's belt and upended him.

Estonia's Baruto easily captured his eighth win by lifting Kakuryu and tossing him out of the ring.

Meanwhile, Hakuho's main rival Asashoryu, a fellow Mongolian grand champion, was absent from the autumn tournament. Last week he pulled out of the tournament due to an elbow injury. The 28-year-old Mongolian has won 22 Emperor's Cups in his career, but has struggled with injuries this year. Asashoryu also withdrew from the Nagoya tournament in July with an injury.