OSAKA (Kyodo) -- Ozeki Onosato and No. 4 maegashira Takayasu moved into a two-way tie for the lead at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament after advancing to 10-2 on Thursday.

Onosato narrowly beat the other joint overnight leader, No. 6 maegashira Takerufuji, while Takayasu overpowered sekiwake Oho on Day 12 at Edion Arena Osaka, where the tournament is taking place without a yokozuna following the injury withdrawal of newly promoted Hoshoryu (5-5-2).

Winner of the Emperor's Cup here a year ago, Takerufuji (9-3) drove Onosato back to the straw bales with a strong opening charge but was slapped down by the rapidly retreating ozeki in their top-of-the-table clash.

Veteran former ozeki Takayasu, meanwhile, maintained his bid for a maiden top-division championship in strong fashion as he pushed out Oho, consigning the new sekiwake to a losing record at 4-8.

Demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki Kotozakura (7-5) closed to within a single victory of securing his place at the second-highest rank with a force out against sekiwake Daieisho (8-4).

Kotozakura delivered a strong opening charge but needed to stay poised to collect the win after Daieisho regrouped and went for a push out.

Ukrainian No. 13 maegashira Shishi (8-4) clinched his first winning record in the elite makuuchi division with a pulling overarm throw against former sekiwake and current No. 1 maegashira Wakamotoharu (7-5).

"I'm really glad, although I still want to compete at a higher level," Shishi said.

Former sekiwake Wakatakakage (7-5) continued his impressive turnaround following an 0-4 start to the 15-day tournament. Also competing as a No. 1 maegashira, the younger brother of Wakamotoharu is poised for a winning record after pushing out No. 3 maegashira Takanosho (3-9).