each. Takakeishō won his final bout against Nishikigi, ensuring that he was either assured victory or a playoff with Takayasu if the ōzeki won his final bout. But instead Takakeishō watched as the same wrestler who handed him his first loss, Mitakeumi, guaranteed him his first top division championship by defeating Takayasu in the final bout. With just 26 career tournaments under his belt this victory tied him with yokozuna Akebono for fourth fastest all time from debut to winning a top division championship. At 22 years of age he was the sixth youngest top division championship winner since the six tournaments per year system began in 1958. The win also meant that Takakeishō has won championships in all but the sandanme division in his career. Takakeishō followed up with an 11–4 record in January 2019, winning the Technique Prize. This gave him a record of 33 wins over the last three tournaments, but he was not promoted to ōzeki due to a combination of his failure to win more than nine victories in September, and his one-sided loss to ōzeki Gōeidō on the final day. In March he entered the penultimate day with a record of 9-4, including wins over Kakuryū and Takayasu, but was quickly defeated by Ichinojō. On the final day he was matched against Tochinoshin who needed a win to preserve his ōzeki rank. Takakeisho dominated the bout and pushed his opponent out to win by oshi-dashi. Reports in Japan declared it a certainty that he would be promoted to ōzeki, and at a press conference in Higashiōsaka he spoke of his relief at earning promotion after missing out in January. The Sumo Association made the ōzeki promotion official on 27 March 2019, and delivered the news to Takakeishō at a press conference in Osaka. "I will respect the bushidō spirit," he said in his acceptance speech, "and be thoughtful and thankful at all times while devoting myself to the way of the sumo." After his promotion ceremony, Takakeishō thanked his parents Kazuya and Junko Sato for supporting him, and promised to repay them through sumo. He said that reaching the rank of ōzeki is "a childhood dream," but that "there's a higher rank in the banzuke." He made ōzeki in 28 tournaments after his professional debut, which is the sixth fastest rise since the six-tournament a year system was established in 1958. At 22 years