It would of been interesting if another referee won but it was kinda obvious it would be Yakou (especially considering the cover of the next volume....) I really worry for Yakou's hand... And I feel bad for Kadokura cause I sympathized with his motive. And he tried really hard to win and also probably had the most panel time out of all the refs in this mini-arc... Hope he gets some sort of consolation prize or something, haha.
It seems like Yakou won Kyara's approval too, which is pretty cool. Yakou seems to have admired Kyara alot. Yakou is considered the "perfect referee" but in the Tatsuki ranking battle he acknowledges that he feels that he is far from perfect. https://mangadex.org/chapter/634688/5
https://mangadex.org/chapter/634688/14 (and the next page/15).
Yakou felt he was far from perfect because until the tower match he was content with his current standing. To him, Kyara was the perfect referee because he always strived to be at the top.
https://mangadex.org/chapter/204616/13
Another interesting part abt Yakou and Kyara's relationship is that Kyara seemed to have only told Yakou that he was planning to leave Kakerou. (I wonder why he specifically came to Yakou???)
With Yakou gaining Kyara's approval, it seems that he finally has become the "perfect referee" (or at least closer to it).
Also, since Baku seems very insistent on playing the game Yakou is going to purpose, I wonder if he already has a strategy planned (that would only work on that game)? It kinda reminds me of how Baku used Kyara in order to win his first Kakerou match.