The time has come for the pivotal middle weekend of this crazy basho. Now solidly in the second act of Aki, this middle weekend is when we will finally get a look at our yusho race. Here at Tachiai, it will be time for us to track them via our leaderboard. Hopefully, dear readers, none of you are going to assume too much until day 13, as this basho is still a crazy jumble of the old and new fighting for supremacy. Right now, none of the Tachiai crew would be too willing to guess which faction will prevail, but lksumo will likely spot it first.

The big change is no rikishi is undefeated now. And we should all be ready for this basho to finish much like some of the Juryo tournaments earlier this year, with our leaders holding 2-3 losses, or possibly even more. One things seems quite certain, the team making the Kyushu banzuke is going to have their hands full.

What We Are Watching Day 7

Asanoyama vs. Daiamami – Daiamami is up from Juryo to help balance the swiss-cheese Makuuchi torikumi. Because Asanoyama just recently left Juryo himself, they actually have a track record, 2-1 in Daiamami’s favor.

Daishomaru vs. Tokushoryu – Daishomaru continues to dominate the lower end of Makuuchi, and day 7 he goes up against the hapless Tokushoryu, who seems doomed to exit the top division by Kyushu. Daishomaru holds a 4-2 career advantage.

Kaisei vs Chiyomaru – Kaisei is looking much better than he has in about a year. I think he lost some weight during his Juryo demotion, and he is moving better. He is still ¾ lumbering blob, but his sumo is better now. Chiyomaru comes in at 3-3, with Kaisei wining their only prior match.

Daieisho vs. Sadanoumi – Sadanoumi comes back from going kyujo, and it seems he gets to be the hacky-sack for the genki crowd in lower Maegashira. Daieisho comes in 5-1, tied with Daishomaru, and holding a career 3-2 advantage against Sadanoumi.

Endo vs. Takekaze – Time for Endo to start facing rikishi further up the banzuke, and it starts with a hapless Takekaze, who is suffering with a 5-1 record right now. Takekaze needs to turn things around this weekend, or face a stiff demotion.

Chiyonokuni vs. Arawashi – with matching records going into day 6, and their career match records at 5-5, this is going to be a fairly even match up. We can hope that both of them will go at it like cranky badgers stuck in a culvert.

Takakeisho vs. Chiyotairyu – Another symmetric match up. Both rikishi 4-2, with a 2-2 career match record. Both rikishi have been using a very limited range of sumo strategies thus far, so here’s to hoping that one or both get creative on day 7.

Hokutofuji vs. Onosho – Onosho took his first loss on day 6, but he is still part of the leader group. Hokutofuji is at .500 going into the middle weekend, and needs to push to get wins and stay in the hunt. Onosho leads the series 3-1.

Tamawashi vs. Kotoshogiku – Thank goodness the threat of “Kotoshogiku Day” has faded somewhat. I assure you dear readers, that should it come to pass, I shall indeed (even if no one else does), make and star in that Kotoshogiku tribute video. But now comes a chance for Tamawashi to push that possibility further away. Kotoshogiku leads the series 5-7.

Tochinoshin vs. Yoshikaze – Both of these rikishi had a lot of hopes at the start of Aki, now both are struggling for enough wins to stave off make-koshi. Tochinoshin seems significantly diminshed from his performance in Nagoya, so Yoshikaze may take this one. But Tochinoshin leads their career match-ups 14-8.

Mitakeumi vs. Tochiozan – Mitakeumi needs to keep rolling, and he has a chance to do that against 1-5 Tochiozan. Tochiozan is also greatly diminished from his Nagoya performance, and we have to wonder about injuries.

Shodai vs. Goeido – Goeido has a puzzle for today. With Shodai’s weak tachiai, the sole remaining Ozeki can’t repeat his backwards sumo as well. I am going to expect Shodai to more or less stand up at the tachiai, and this will force Goeido to actually go on offense. Shodai has beaten Goeido twice, but Goeido leads their series 4-2.

Shohozan vs Harumafuji – We were delighted that Harumafuji won day 6, and stablized at .500. He faces Shohozan now, who has been really pouring on the offense. Harumafuji has him on speed, but it’s clear he is suffering.