🌐 Location: Kashiba
Guess what just popped out of the ocean?
Yep, today’s main sports news item is Ozekiwake Terunofuji (above, saying hi to Uncle Aminishiki) joining the Jungyo after his serious knee injury during the Aki basho. Which, I remind you, was only a month ago.
How bad was his injury? “Well, at first I couldn’t even use the toilet” remarked the fallen Ozeki (TMI! Please don’t say anything that will cause me to imagine Shunba helping you there, ever again! Somebody hand me the brain-bleach, please!). He was unable to properly extend his leg. Apparently, this was a new injury to his meniscus, unrelated to previous knee problems he had.
He received some treatment and some rehabilitation, and alongside that (wisely) concentrated on building up his muscles. “I worked out vigorously”, he said.
Today he refrained from doing any on-dohyo practice, and opted instead for shiko, suri-ashi, tachiai practices with his loyal Sancho-Panza, Shunba. And of course, strength training, as you can see here.
But if you think he is taking it easy, like his anideshi Yokozuna, you’re wrong. Tomorrow, when the Jungyo hits Osaka, he intends to join the rest of the sekitori and do some actual keiko.
Moreover, he was in the torikumi today. And the schedulers matched him up with Mitakeumi, no less. When I read that torikumi I was pretty sure Fish-Mouth will make himself a kaiju sandwich. But surprisingly, he didn’t. Mitakeumi did a quick nihon-zashi, and got the ozekiwake all the way to the tawara, but in the end, Terunofuji lifted the sekiwake with both arms (both uwate!) and got him out by Utchari. Video below!
Terunofuji’s problems are far from over, though. “If I told you that there is no pain, I’d be lying. But even if I rested, it won’t heal. I’ll just have to live with it”. He said.
About his demotion from Ozeki after 14 basho in that rank, he had this to say: “If my injuries are healed, I’ll be able to attain that rank again any time. The fact that I ended up with a completely new, unrelated injury that time does not make me happy, but I’m not wasting time thinking about a drop down the banzuke. I have to have self-confidence, and I’ll gain self-confidence by training and competing.”
And as usual, Tachiai wishes our favorite Kaiju a safe and healthy continued career.
It’s kisenosato’s turn to play with Asanoyama
The Yokozuna has apparently forgiven the kanto-sho winner for playing hooky from keiko the other day.
He invited him to a 14-bout sanban today, of which the Yokozuna won 9, and Asanoyama a respectable 5. Half way through the series, the two were pretty much even, and you could hear the Yokozuna grunting unhappily.
Those two have kenka-yotsu – the Yokozuna is hidari-yotsu, while Asanoyama is migi-yotsu. In those bouts in which the Yokozuna achieved his favorite grip, he easily dominated. But not so much when he didn’t. “I couldn’t push forward, so it wasn’t good sumo”, said Asanoyama, “but when I got my right hand in I could somehow negotiate at my own pace”.
Following yesterday’s 11-bout session with Kakuryu, this has been Asanoyama’s sixth time to be called for sanban by Yokozuna in this jungyo. “When I lose a bout, I can tell from the experience itself what the reason for having lost was. The angle at which Kisenosato hits you delivers a huge impact. Then he follows that by rapid attacks. Everybody should learn how to position themselves and quickly attack, from watching him”.
The Yokozuna, when asked about the training, narrowed his eyes: “He is skilled, and he has power. I can use him to assess my own state right now. He is the best opponent for that, as he vigorously produces power” he nodded his head.
(Taken from Daily Sports Online).
One thing I’d like to see is Terunofuji taking up Asanoyama (if the Yokozuna let him play with their toy). The youngster seems to be a certified self-assessment tool for high-ranking wrestlers.
Harumafuji is back on the dohyo
The Yusho winner who has, so far, settled for workouts below the dohyo, except for a couple of torikumi in the beginning of the jungyo, decided to do some butsukari geiko.
This was actually a reverse butsukari. That is, usually it’s the Yokozuna who lends his chest, and the lower-ranked wrestler who attempts to push him out. Given that a butsukari is usually a show of superiority, not just a form of practice, it’s relatively rare to see reverse ones.
Harumafuji commented that the reason he did not participate so far was finding himself “slow to recover from the fatigue of the honbasho”.
(Taken from Daily Sports Online. And if you read the article to the end and get to the part where they say that sumo originates from Israel, and that the calls “Haikioi” and “Nokotta” are actually Hebrew, well, that’s utter nonsense alternative reality).
Torikumi
Edit: This just in: some bout videos!
Hakuho-Kisenosato:
白鵬ー稀勢の里#香芝巡業#是より三役#立ち合いガチ#攻めと守りの十五尺#大熱戦#大関にかのう#溜まり席#大相撲テスト副賞#永久保存版#好角家必見 pic.twitter.com/MauvjSw0kq
— 一十四 (@minogakoi) October 21, 2017
Kakuryu-Goeido:
豪栄道ー鶴竜#香芝巡業#是より三役#攻めと守りの十五尺#渾身の寄り#大熱戦#関脇にかのう#溜まり席#大相撲テスト副賞#永久保存版#好角家必見 pic.twitter.com/H1LMVq86O7
— 一十四 (@minogakoi) October 21, 2017
Terunofuji-Mitakeumi!
照ノ富士ー御嶽海#香芝巡業#是より三役#攻めと守りの十五尺#四つ身の攻防#大熱戦#小結にかのう#溜まり席#大相撲テスト副賞#永久保存版#好角家必見 pic.twitter.com/EUk9mINqb6
— 一十四 (@minogakoi) October 21, 2017
Not Jungyo related, but sad news all the same
Apparently, Nishonoseki Oyakata (60) was found unconscious by passers-by after an accident with his bike. He was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery, but so far is still in a coma due to a brain contusion. (Sponichi)
So I don’t know if he is the “Flavor of the month” or not, but Asanoyama seems to be getting a lot of interest post Aki. I would say its far too early to think of him more than a welcome addition to the Makuuchi ranks, but I am quite interested by the amount of time and exposure he is getting this jungyo.
My guess is that it’s his physique, and preference for yotsu zumo, combined with enough skill for a Yokozuna to hone his own waza on. As Hakuho said, this is rare. Most youngsters are either tadpoles or oshi experts. And I get the feeling that Yokozuna don’t like practicing with sanyaku. Perhaps because it reveals their weaknesses to actual potential honbasho rivals.
Shodai and Daieisho also seem to be popular opponents, and also Chiyonokuni. Of those, only Shodai is a yotsu man.
At the end of Aki I thought the same – that Asanoyama will probably hover around the lower maegashira ranks for a while. But given that he is getting some excellent training right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does better than that. Especially because it sounds like he is not just enjoying himself, but is actually paying attention. But Kisenosato is also right – he shouldn’t be skipping keiko or any of the basics, if he is healthy, which he appears to be. He gets winded too easily.
Seeing Jeremy Lin go down last night immediately made me think of Terunofuji. Lin is done for the year. I wonder how a similar injury is treated in osumo.
I feel like his patellar tendon tear is way worse than a meniscus tear. Guess it really depends on the severity of the rupture for both of them. Not having surgery on the knee and it being painful and unreliable for the rest of your life seems dumb at their ages.
At least it wasn’t a broken ankle. I feel like that would be even more horrible at sumo weight.
Perhaps the closest comparison is the Achilles tendon tear Aminishiki had.
I’m curious if they use any of the more experimental therapies like Prolotherapy and stem cell injections in Sumo. It fits with the suck it up and gambarize system they got going, and some of that orthopedic research is going on in Japan.