 (The others were Gōeidō, Kisenosato, Kotoshogiku, Toyohibiki, Toyonoshima and Tochiozan).Hōmashō was in better condition for the January 2009 tournament and from the very bottom "maegashira" 16 rank he scored eleven wins and won the Fighting Spirit Prize.In the following tournament in March he won nine bouts in a row from 2-3, finishing as a runner-up with another 11-4 score and winning his second successive Fighting Spirit Prize, and third overall.