Match Comments
Endo defeats Nishikigi – Endo continues to win, but for a man who has been Maegashira 1 this year, he is struggling with the rikishi at the bottom of the banzuke. Hopefully this is because he is healing up from surgery, and not some “new normal”.
Daishomaru defeats Asanoyama – Asanoyama may be Mr Sunshine, but Daishomaru was running in top form today. Their bout raged back and forth for a few moments before Daishomaru was able to execute a nice tsukiotoshi.
Yutakayama defeats Sadanoumi – With a rikishi (Sadanoumi) coming back from kyujo, you always wonder what you are going to see. This bout was actually very good, and I am going to guess that once Sadanoumi cleans out the cobwebs, he will recuse himself fairly well this basho. Clearly he is trying to fend off a trip back to Juryo
Daieisho defeats Arawashi – Daieisho moved ahead strongly, and Arawashi could do little to stop him. Daieisho is looking very sharp this tournament.
Ichinojo defeats Kagayaki – I know I was being a wise-ass last night on the preview, but this turned into a decent bout. Ichinojo executed a very well timed uwatenage for the win, and looked like a sumotori doing it. He has a nice win streak going now.
Tochinoshin defeats Tamawashi – Tochinoshin finally gets his first win. Sadly he is looking too fragile to be competitive at his current rank, and will likely end up well down the banzuke in November.
Mitakeumi defeats Kotoshogiku – I am overjoyed that not only has Mitakeumi remembered how to do sumo, but he also has placed the much dreaded “Kotoshogiku Day” further out of reach. In every facet of this match, Mitakeumi over powered the Kotoshogiku. A very solid win.
Yoshikaze defeats Tochiozan – More really good sumo from a pair of vets who are desperate for wins now. There are not too many times that Yoshikaze will win a match by yorikiri, but it happened today.
Goeido defeats Onosho – Onosho picks up his first loss. I would have liked it better if Goeido had been moving forward, but at this point I am giving up on him doing much in the way of “real” sumo this basho.
Harumafuji defeats Chiyotairyu – And he made it look easy. Thank you oh Great Sumo Cat of the Kokugikan. I did not get my death spin, but I am happy with the results.
Sadanoumi would normally need to get at least 5 wins in the remaining 9 days to stay up, and more likely 6, although with this crazy basho, who knows. There are plenty of obstacles in his way, starting with Daieisho tomorrow, so I’m betting his attempt to stay out of Juryo will be futile.