Some Hot Streaks Quenched
The Sumo in Tokyo overnight supplied great equalizing force in the September basho, with quite a few rikishi going to 2 wins 2 losses. For most men in sumo, the great drive each tournament is to end with a winning record, even by 1 bout, in order to not be demoted.
Goeido, Kotoyuki and Okinoumi remain undefeated.
Some notable results:
Kakuryu defeats Shodai – Glad that Kakuryu has a recovered from his rocky start, but really Shodai is not worthy of an 0-4 record.
Kotoshogiku defeats Myogiryu – Mr Back-stretch is now 5 wins away from clearing his kadoban status. In spite of some tough falls he is still looking good.
Kisenosato defeats Yoshikaze – I am now worried that the Berserker is going to struggle to make kachi-koshi. It was a close one against Kisenosato, but Yoshikaze is facing a harder set of opponents this tournament. Everyone in Japan (and many parts of the world) wonder if Kisenosato can still make a strong run after a 2-2 start. Something is not right in the pumpkin patch.
Okinoumi defeats Terunofuji – Called this last night in the predictions post. What sort of magic force is driving Okinoumi? He is strong, confident and is dominating every opponent. It would be really neat to see a rank and file Maegashira finish near the top. Maybe he can keep this rolling.
Goeido defeats Takanoiwa – Goeido is somehow on fire. He is now 4 wins away from clearing kadoban, and is really doing well.
Takayasu defeats Tochiozan – Good to see Takayasu winning. I still think he is a strong contender for the next Ozeki. Tochiozan reminds us once again how Komusubi is the toughest rank in sumo.
Sadanofuji defeats Ura – Can’t wait to see the video for this one. Ura now drops to 2-2
Osunaarashi defeats Chiyomaru – Sandstorm back on track, he is now also 2-2.
The Ura bout is interesting. I think he needs to build up more of a bag of tricks and Sadanofuji exposed some weakness today. Tochinoshin’s definitely injured. You had a good point about him not being able to do a real tachiai when he pulled off that henka. Any word on the specifics of the injury? Collar bone or leg or back?
So 20 minutes scouring the Japanese sumo press for any news on Tochinoshin, and there isn’t anything talking about his injury. So he is likely just going to suffer through it in hopes of not getting the Osunaarashi treatment. I really wish they would bring back the policy of rikishi getting to sit one out every so often with no penalty.