After an epic, pre-bout stare down. Goeido threw Harumafuji to likely secure his first yusho. He brought it straight to the yokuzuna, thankfully avoiding the henka temptation, ending it with Harumafuji in a headlock and thrown to the ground to the delight of the spectators – especially the old dude in the third row with the comely Russian companion.
“Olé!” Endo’s misdirection at the edge sent Shohozan charging off the dohyo like a raging bull. The move keeps Endo mathematically in the hunt if the wheels fall completely off Goeido in Okinoumi-like fashion. Enso will surely be recipient of a special prize. Meanwhile, Takayasu’s yusho hopes were dashed at the skillful hands of Mitakeumi. With this great tournament performance, Mitakeumi could very well find himself taking the sekiwake post lost by Takarafuji. He’ll certainly be at least komusubi in November in the wake of the devastation in the K-M4 ranks.
In the other sanyaku bouts, Kakuryu picks up a needed 9th win with his quick takedown of a deflated Kisenosato. Kotoshogiku picks up a cheap kachi-koshi against Terunofuji who should have spent this tournament on a couch with Hakuho and Ichinojo.
Yoshikaze used a great mid-ring throw to beat Takarafuji. I love when a henkaee manages to recover and win like Tochinoshin against Myogiryu. That was pretty cool. What was NOT cool was the way Okinoumi let Aoiyama beat him with very little resistance. He slid to the edge of the dohyo at the tachiai and basically stepped off, into the front row. Extremely disappointing from someone with such an amazing start to the tournament.
So day 15 it should be Goeido facing Endo as a final decision on if he can go undefeated. What a great surprise for him to come from a really weak kadoban Ozeki to what could be a clean sweep. At the same time, what a really poor result from Kisenosato. That guy has to be seriously doubting himself today.
But just like how Goeido came roaring back after a really crummy Nagoya tournament, I can only hope Kisenosato can buckle down, train head to head with Takayasu daily and return in November with a lot of motivation.
Who would you nominate for November couch patrol? Me, I would suggest Terunofuji, Yoshikaze and Osunaarashi.
It’s just that I expect this from him now. He needs to live up to this. Giku won this year but went kadoban again last tournament and now has a sub-par tournament? If he’s chronically injured, he needs to retire. For Goeido, I’m expecting this level from him because he doesn’t have the same injury issues as Giku and Terunofuji.
Crappiest tachiai ever between Ura and Satoyama today…
Ura has been on a meteoric rise for a while, now he is having a really bad tournament. It makes the contrast really sharp. I hope he can regroup before Fukuoka in November. I maintain that Ura gained weight, and that his muscles are not yet ready to move that much mass as nimbly as he would like. He has also fallen into a bit of art with his opening moves.
Beh, commenting on a phone leads to poor auto correct once more – meant to say that Ura had “fallen into a rut” with his opening moves. Andy, of course, posted about this earlier in the tournament.
I’ve been meaning to check. I woke up and turned on the computer during Endo’s bout so I didn’t have a chance to see any of the earlier ones. I was very curious how these two lightweights would go at it.