San’yaku Cleans Up
At the conclusion of every basho, the sumo kyokai award a series of special prizes. They are intended to recognize rikishi who have over-performed and achieved greatly in the basho. At the end of Natsu, 4 special prizes were awarded, and all but one went to members of the San’yaku.
Natsu Special Prizes
Ginō-shō (技能賞), Technique prize
Yoshikaze (his 3rd award)
Takayasu (his 2nd award)
Kantō-shō (敢闘賞), Fighting Spirit prize
Onosho (1st award)
Shukun-shō (殊勲賞), Outstanding Performance prize
Mitakeumi (1st award)
Onosho is notable in that he really tore through the ranks on his first Makuuchi basho, going 10-5 from Maegashira 14 rank. Mitakeumi was notable in that he defeated two Yokozuna in his Natsu matches.
Congratulations to all sanshō winners.
Yoshikaze also defeated two yokozuna: Kisenosato on Day 1, and Kakuryu on Day 4.
I thought we should mention it. :)
Also this was Takayasu 5th sansho in one year! He was in the eyesight of the NSK for a while now…
I was quite surprised that Ura did not win a prize I was thoroughly impressed by his varied sumo
Has there been any news on Kotoshogiku? Tbh I feel like he will probably carry on
No news on the Kyushu Bulldozer, but then I expect him to take his own time deciding his future path. There is no rush today for him to resign, and although he was make-koshi, he is probably going to remain in the San’yaku at Komusubi.
Ura and a special prize – yes, that was a bit of a surprise, but Ura’s time is still on the way. We are still enjoying watching the larval stage of what could be an amazing rikishi. As much as it pains me to say it (and I have said it a lot), most of the top line rikishi are fairly old by sumo standards. We will see many of them leave the dohyo soon for retirement and new careers.
Can you imagine if Ura can stay healthy for 5 years what kind of sumo he will be cranking out? Ura vs Hokotofuji rivalry? The future is bright for sumo, especially if the NSK can find a way to disrupt Juryo again and put it on boil once more.
You’re right Bruce – due to the transitional period we are in, and the rise of a great crop of rikishi, it is a really exciting time to be a sumo fan.
I really hope Kotoshogiku continues as I have (hopefully) got a couple of days worth of tickets for Nagoya so I would love to see him – the crowd’s reaction to his salt throwing is great and he always gives it his all, even if the body is not willing