The Sumo Kyokai has released the banzuke for September’s tournament. As Bruce predicted, Takayasu jumped to top sekiwake after his strong July but Kaisei stays in the sanyaku, dropping only to komusubi. My matchup to watch this basho is Ura v Osunaarashi as both exciting wrestlers are ranked at the top in Juryo, provided they’re both healthy.
The yokozuna and ozeki ranks are pretty well known; the fun really is guessing how the rest of the makuuchi pans out. Next tournament, I’ll also put out a mock banzuke. If other readers are interested we could try scoring them and see who comes out on top.
So with 2 Ozeki on the bubble, we begin to see how the Sanyaku group are really the hunters for an open slot at Ozeki soon. For Takayasu to take Ozeki, he would need to go 13-2 or better. Considering that was enough in July for Yusho (tournament winner), he has a steep hill to climb.
I am really sad Ura is not in Makuuchi – mostly because as a poor Yank, I only get NHK highlights, and that seldom if ever includes Juryo.
Also impressive to see Chiyonokuni at M6e. If he stays healthy, he is trouble (the entertaining kind)
I hope Ura can get a yusho while down in juryo. It will definitely be exciting. I just don’t want to see him get chewed up by the big boys like when Satoyama gets promoted.
If I remember correctly, Chiyonokuni has had major surgery earlier this month. I can hardly believe that he will be able to ensure its rank…
43 points for me… phew… my expectations were not that high this time. Chiyonokuni was my lucky charm ! However, Osunaarashi tumbling into juryô… I didn’t see it coming.
Yes, the Osunaarashi demotion seems quite extreme, especially as Kaisei only dropped to Komusubi after having a losing record in Nagoya.
I will note that Nishikigi (another of my favorites) moved up from M14w after going 9-6 in Nagano. But Takanoiwa moving from M10e up to M3e… I think he is going to get folded up and used as a neck pillow a couple of times. I hope he does not get hurt.
Ordinarily, I would expect 7 wins at sekiwake to be okay for remaining in sanyaku but two of Kaisei’s wins were fusen wins after Osunaarashi and Kotoshogiku pulled out. That’s why I was surprised he stayed in.
Also a bit surprised that they brought Gagamaru up to Makuuchi but left Ura down in Juryo for September. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Gagamaru pushme-pullyu, but watching Ura work is like watching Fred Astaire. I saw a show where they were likening his technique to all manner of things, including majestic creatures in nature. I think the guy must have watched a good number of Jackie Chan movies, because frankly that and Fred Astaire are the ones that come to mind.
Now if I can just find some way to get the big NHK feed here in Texas so I can watch all of Juryo and Makuuchi….