Overnight, the Tachiai team conducted our first successful live blog in parallel with the NHK World Live broadcast of a portion of Makuuchi. The live broadcast was a real treat, but unfortunately for viewers, the torikumi was running about 10 minuets ahead of schedule. The commentary by Murray Johnson and John Gunning was engaging and delightful, definitely a cut above the remarks that make it into the highlight show. As several people have mentioned, we were shocked and delighted when our humble sumo fan site got mentioned on air. Wow. This is a testament to the team that puts Tachiai together, and the thousands of readers who share their time with us. Thank you to everyone for helping take the sport of Sumo to a broader audience. The broadcast started just as Chiyomaru and Shodai went for the tachiai, and it was (hopefully) the shape of things to come.

Earlier today, readers may have noted I posted a story about Kisenosato taking a full year off to address his injuries. This came from a prolific sumo poster on Twitter, SumoSoul, who has been quite reliable in the past. In my sleep deprived state, I went with it. At the moment we can’t find a second source in the Japanese press, so we consider it to be more of a rumor than a story at the moment. Apologies for the lapse in the QA process.

Highlight Matches

Aoiyama defeats Kyokutaisei – Kyokutaisei up from Juryo to fill the hole caused by Onosho going kyujo. The Bulgarian Man-Mountain makes fast work of Kyokutaisei, with a forceful pull down. Hopefully whatever problems Aoiyama suffered during Kyushu are resolved.

Daiamami defeats Hidenoumi – Now THAT was a tachiai! It reverberated through the EDION arena like a thunderclap. Both men went chest to chest and fought it out in a battle of strength and stability. Solid win by Daiamami.

Nishikigi defeats Myogiryu – Quite the battle here, another explosive tachiai, and both men went quickly for each other’s mawashi. Myogiryu held the advantage for most of the fight, but Nishikigi kept him blocked, and Myogiryu could never establish control or a solid throwing grip. At the tawara, Nishikigi rallied and put Myogiryu off-balance. Nishikigi got behind and shoved. Great match, great effort from both.

Ikioi defeats Sokokurai – Straightforward win for Ikioi, but he is clearly still hurt.

Ishiura defeats Kotoyuki – Ishiura shifts to the side during the tachiai, Kotoyuki expects the move and catches Ishiura, but Ishiura evades, gets behind and takes control.

Tochiozan defeats Chiyoshoma – Bout ended by mutual slippio-toshi, with Chiyoshoma hitting the clay first. Of course, there was a monoii, and the shimpan decided Chiyoshoma touched first.

Ryuden defeats Okinoumi – Okinoumi put up a solid fight, but he is not consistently able to produce high-powered sumo right now. Ryuden is fast, strong and in good shape right now, and after a mawashi battle, he puts Okinoumi over the bales.

Abi defeats Yoshikaze – I would almost guess that whatever has impacted Yoshikaze is still causing problems. Abi produced a flurry of thrusts, and completely took control of the match. Excellent win for Abi, he looked solid. Yoshikaze needs to revert to the green mawashi.

Kaisei defeats Hokutofuji – Hokutofuji was simply outmatched, and Kaisei appears to be back to fighting form. At one point, Hokutofuji was a solid San’yaku hopeful, but now seems to be struggling. We can only hope that he can get his sumo together soon.

Shodai defeats Chiyomaru – In spite of a sloppy tachiai, Shodai keeps up the pressure and gets Chiyomaru high, off balance, and moving backwards. From there it’s a quick trip over and out.

Shohozan defeats Takakeisho – Takakeisho never had a chance to set up his deadly “Wave Action Tsuppari”, as Shohozan took immediate control, and forced Takakeisho into reactive sumo by going chest to chest. We know Takakeisho can fight this way, but he was outmatched by the massive strength and power from Shohozan. Outstanding strategy and execution from Shohozan, that was a solid win.

Ichinojo defeats Kotoshogiku – Kotoshogiku took him to his chest and tried to set up the Hug-N-Chug attack, but Ichinojo is simply too massive. By the time his heels are on the tawara, rather than giving up Ichinojo rallies and finds Kotoshogiku can offer no resistance to that much mass in motion.

Tochinoshin defeats Takarafuji – Unlike their match at Hatsu, Takarafuji could not find a way to block Tochinoshin’s left hand grip, and from there the Hatsu yusho winner took command and used his superior strength to finish Takarafuji.

Mitakeumi defeats Arawashi – Missing his tomato red mawashi, Mitakeumi gets inside Arawashi’s defenses at the tachiai, and quickly converts to a rolling sukuinage that was all shoulder and hip power. Wow!

Tamawashi defeats Goeido – Goeido pushes inside at the tachiai, absorbing blows to his face, but can’t get Tamawashi off balance. Tamawashi keeps his sumo on track and attacks at once, and it’s Goeido who is forced to retreat. Goeido blows a shallow left mawashi grip attempt, and Tamawashi capitalizes to get behind and force him out.

Endo defeats Takayasu – I am a big Takayasu fan, but his sumo has gone to hell since Kisenosato got hurt. This match is a prime example. Endo knows his big, all or nothing shoulder blast is coming, and he is ready for it. The effort he puts into an up-front winning move leaves him unprepared for counter attack, and that’s exactly what he gets. Endo keeps him reaching forward, and unable to establish either an offensive or defensive posture. When you weigh as much as Takayasu, a clever opponent will use that mass and momentum against you. Try again Pooh-Bear.

Kakuryu defeats Chiyotairyu – I loved this match because the Yokozuna kept moving forward, landed a right-hand grip, which surprised Chiyotairyu. Kakuryu lifted hard with that injured hand and moved forward strongly. It was over in seconds. Way to win Big K!