In the day's final bout at the Nagoya Prefectural Gymnasium, Asashoryu quickly established a grip on Hakuho's belt and powered him out of the ring.

Asashoryu said he felt he had to stage a comeback after losing both the spring and summer tournaments to his fellow Mongolian Hakuho.

"I lost the first day, but I shed a lot of sweat and worked really hard to make this happen the way I wanted it to," he said.

Asashoryu finished with a 14-1 record.

Hakuho, who finished at 11-4, becoming the fourth non-Japanese to reach sumo's highest rank with his promotion to grand champion in May. Hakuho earned his promotion with the two tournament victories over Asashoryu.

Meanwhile, Kotomisuki's dash for the Cup ran out of steam in his final bout. The sekiwake appeared stiff as he struggled with Kisenosato, who finally threw him down to the dirt.

Despite the loss, Kotomitsuki's 13-2 performance in the tournament virtually assured him of promotion to ozeki, the sport's second highest rank. Kisenosato finished with 11 wins.

In other major bouts, veteran ozeki Chiyotaikai danced around the ring exchanging thrusts and slaps with Homasho before finally pulling the rank-and-filer down. Both men finished at 9-6.

Sekiwake Ama got the better of Kotooshu, sidestepping the Bulgarian ozeki to shove him down. The Mongolian grappler finished with 7 wins, while Kotooshu ended with 9.