Intense Action Early.
The roster of matches for day 1 and 2 have been published on the Nippon Sumo Kyokai web site earlier today, and it is available for sumo fans to review here.
Taachiai will cover our in more detail during our wall to wall daily coverage, but starting out I am excited to see Takayasu vs Hokutofuji, and the crazy match of the day: Terunofuji vs Takakeisho. I sure hope the kaiju is not hungry on Sunday…
Harumafuji and Yoshikaze day 1… that will be awesome!
Tochinoshin vs Goeido is also going to be a great test match. I am hopeful that Goeido has now fully recovered from his injuries, and facing Tochinoshin is a test – if Tochinoshin is healthy.
Tochinoshin didn’t look great at the end of Natsu, looked like his leg went again, leading to his two consecutive henkas!
To me it looked like the Tamawashi henka was the rest of the Tamawashi staredown. We saw Hakuho take some issue with that earlier in the tournament. I thought Tochinoshin was basically giving him one for getting stared down.
No explanation for the last day though other than possibly carrying a knock, to your point, or just simply trying to seal in that jun-yusho
Whoops “result” of the staredown, not “rest”!
Tochinoshin interview comment translated by Kintamayama at the time (referring to the Tamawashi bout): “Tochinoshin, his old right knee injury acting up before the match: ‘I was afraid to go head-on. It’s good that I won..’ “
Great point on Tochinoshin, I have a post in draft right now about him. With his banged up legs he is really very iffy for any given match. it’s pretty much a shame as he is hugely strong and not without skill. I do recall that big block of time he took off for medical intervention, and dropped all the way back to Makushita, just to come roaring right back.
I know his heart is in it, but much like Ōsunaarashi, his body may be giving out long before he’s ready to give up the mawashi.
The Hell Sea will devour all.
This one wasn’t on the Torikumi but did anyone see Tom Brady fight Goeido a week or two ago? Haha
That was kind of a fun video. I think it shows that global awareness of sumo is continuing to inch higher. There is no reason it should not, as it’s a fairly compelling sport with a huge amount of potential. I would love to see a Goeido vs JJ Watt (Texans) encounter. Might be a bit more even. Or maybe Harumafuji vs Michael Bennett (Seahawks).