Purple cushions rain down in Tokyo
A quick recap of day 3 action at the Kokugikan, there was some amazing sumo taking place in Tokyo while the US was asleep. Some of the favorites faced defeat, and underdogs took some wins.
Undefeated after day 3: Goeido, Okinoumi, Mitakeumi, Kotoyuki, Chiyoshoma
Okinoumi defeats Harumafuji – his second kinboshi this tournament! Okinoumi remains undefeated. The Maegashira 1e wrestler is having a great basho 3 days in.
Tochinoshin defeats Kisenosato – The big Georgian takes down the Great Pumpkin, whose dreams of Yokozuna in Tokyo are well and truly in tatters
Kakuryu defeats Yoshikaze – The winless Yokozuna picks up one against the Berserker. Yoshikaze fights like a man possessed, but keep in mind he was hospitalized for injuries in August.
Kaisei defeats Takanoiwa – Takanoiwa had been on a strong winning streak, and the burly Brazilian has been struggling, but today it was Takanoiwa’s turn to go down.
Mitakeumi defeats Tamawashi – Mitakeumi remains with Okinoumi at 3 wins / 0 losses at the end of day 3. This basho is wide open with the Boss recovering from foot surgery.
Chiyotairyu defeats Ura – It was bound to happen some time, but Ura had his first loss today. I am not going to say “Henka”, but others may.
Hidenoumi defeats Osunaarashi – The Egyptian is struggling after taking the July tournament off to recover from injuries
Sorry for being picky, but Tochinoshin is Georgian ^^
Thanks for your great editorial work !
Right you are! That’s what happens when you try to post sumo results at 5:00 AM. It has been corrected.
I understand… I’m a heavy sleeper.
You are forgiven ^^
Ok, because it might be amusing, a story:
I am an enormous Sumo fan boy. I have the “Grand Sumo” app on my phone because, well because I am a fan boy. I set my phone to airplane mode when I go to sleep, and use it as an alarm clock to wake me up. So on basho days, the first thing that happens after I quiet the alarm at 5:00 AM is all of these Sumo results start hitting my phone.
* BING * BING * BING * – Yoshikaze Lost (sadness) * BING * Harumafuji Lost (puzzlement) * BING * Kisenosato Lost (feeling of creeping dread).
I wipe the sleep from my eyes and wonder “what’s in the water at the Kokugikan?”. So off to the computer before a cup of tea or anything to eat to see what kind of evil force sent me this foul information.
The cat (who is a bigger sumo fan than I am) is already up and eager to watch highlights (again via the app) so we do. Overwhelmed by the chaos in Makuuchi overnight, the cat convinces me “You had better post that”. While the cat gets started typing up the highlights, I hit the loo and pour some tea.
The cat, I must admit (he goes by the name Mr. Meow Meow) decided Tochinoshin was from Bulgaria, but I failed to catch his mistake. He also originally posted an old Harumafuji photo, which I corrected. I am at the office now, and he is certainly asleep on the bed. But yet, I must soldier on (and correct his blog mistakes).
I solved this problem by adopting a chinchilla. His legs are too short to reach the keyboard…
Damn. I was hoping Harumafuji would make a strong run with Hakuho out. Instead it’s Goeido and Okinoumi? It’s official. Okinoumi is one of the harbingers of the apocalypse. Donald Trump is going to win.
I was starting to imagine a Harumafuji zen-yusho, if for no other reason than to make it clear that Kise would have to really earn his rope. But the undefeated group is quite a surprise. It’s only day 3, and I am going to be interested in who they schedule for the next 5 days.
Big bout for day 4 in my book: Yoshikaze vs Kisenosato, but you also have Okinoumi vs Terunofuji.
When Zuul said “Choose the form of the destructor”, I don’t think anyone expected Okinoumi. (Ghostbusters)
Also, if one of the kadoban twins takes the yusho, I will officially eat both my own buttocks.
Ha! Now I’m pulling for Goeido!
It’s like that Star Trek mirror universe where Spock has a beard. What the hell happened to Hakuho to cause this disruption in the space-time continuum? Is he really a Rikishi from the future, come to bring harmony to the past during a turbulent time in Sumo?
Is Hakuho some mighty cyborg sent from Skynet after Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to kill Sarah Connor (and govern California), and the petite girl terminator left to do other shows on TV?