In his final match for the Aki basho, Texas sumotori Wakaichiro lost his bout against Wakasenryu. The match was an oshi-zumō festival, with both rikishi landing plenty of thrusts and shoves, but Wakasenryu was able to thrust down Wakaichiro. The kimarite is recorded as oshitaoshi.
Wakaichiro closes out the Aki basho with a 4-3 winning record, that short of some kind of cosmic upheaval will place him in the next higher division, Sandanme, for the November basho in Kyushu. We look forward to his promotion and his new slate of opponents.
This video posted to twitter shows the match. I fear something has happened to sumo’s one and only, as his videos have become scarce, shaky and from the cheap seats.
Looked like a partial slippiotoshi when I rewatched it. His right knee had some vertical tape on it, so I hope he’s not nursing any injuries.
Best of luck to him in Sandanme!
The loss is probably no bad thing. Starting low down in sandanme will give our lad more of a chance to find his feet and consolidate his position.