 In January and March 1991 he posted reasonable scores of 11–4 but was never really in contention for the championship in either tournament, although he did have a memorable win over the young rising star Takahanada in March.He had to wait until May 1991 for his first title as a "yokozuna", when he defeated Konishiki twice on the last day, once in their regulation match and once in the playoff, to finish with a fine 14–1 record.This was to prove Asahifuji's only tournament championship as a "yokozuna", as the rest of his career was dogged by illness and injury.