With two-thirds of the basho in the books, I am bringing back the posts that outline what is still at stake for various sekitori. Most will move up or down a few slots while maintaining their overall division and named rank, but more is on the line for some rikishi—primarily those near the top and the bottom of the banzuke.
The Yusho Race
Kakuryu’s easy win over Chiyomaru takes him to 10-0 and the sole lead. Why, oh why, dear schedulers, did we not get to see the much more interesting Kakuryu-Kaisei matchup? Instead, in a heavyweight bout of the day that lived up to expectations, Kaisei gave his all but lost to Ichinojo, dropping him to 9-1, and one off the lead. After Goeido yet again showed himself unworthy of the Ozeki rank with his blatant henka against lower-ranked Tochinoshin, Ichinojo joins Takayasu in a very small and elite 8-2 chase group.
Tomorrow, we get the match of the day, and possibly the tournament: Kakuryu vs. Ichinojo. Almost as interesting is the undercard bout of Takayasu vs. Tochinoshin. Kaisei will attempt to keep pace when he takes on the struggling Takakeisho. [Goeido gets Shodai, which at least means he won’t henka again. –PinkMawashi]
The Sanyaku
With his eighth win today, Ichinojo locked up his place in sanyaku for another basho, and has a chance to move up from Komusubi to Sekiwake, depending on how the last five days play out.
The other Komusubi, Chiyotairyu, is already make-koshi and will be vacating his slot. Where has the Chiyotairyu who absolutely blasted Tamawashi off the dohyo today been hiding this whole basho?
Despite his loss today, 7-3 Tochinoshin is likely to defend his Sekiwake rank—he needs one victory in the final five days. Less clear is the fate of struggling Mitakeumi, 5-5, who started his fade earlier this time around, and has lost 3 in a row.
If the basho were to end today, the open Komusubi slot would go to Kaisei. Also still in the running for promotion to sanyaku are the two M1’s, Endo and Tamawashi, who are both 5-5, followed closely by M4 Shohozan, 6-4.
The Demotion Zone
Most of the Makuuchi men are safe from demotion after ten days. Chiyoshoma, Ishiura, and Daiamami could use one more win each to be sure, while Ryuden, Tochiozan, and Aoiyama had better pick up one more win to stay in the top division. Nishikigi, Sokokurai and Myogiryu still need 3 additional wins. Onosho, who is kyujo, will be dropping to Juryo, where he will almost certainly be joined by Kotoyuki and Hidenoumi.
Who will take their places in the top division? Takekaze looks set for a return after a one-tournament absence. Sadanoumi is also making a strong case for promotion. Kyokutaisei, who just missed a promotion last time, is 5-5 and needs to secure his kachi-koshi to move up. There are also other contenders lower down in Juryo, who will get sorted out in the remaining days.
Mitakeumi is an interesting one. He should be able to beat Shodai and Chiyomaru, and may well be able to manage a win against one of the Ozeki or Kakuryu, which would give him kachi-koshi. But the schedulers might decide he gets Kaisei instead of Shodai. Mitakeumi has lost all three of his previous bouts against Kaisei, so he’s probably really, really hoping that the torikumi committee are looking at relative ranks more than win records. If he drops, I am so hyped for Sekiwake Ichinojo.
We should find out Mitakeumi’s day 12 opponent in a couple hours. And with 3 more wins, Ichinojo could lock up a Sekiwake slot even if there isn’t an “open” one.
He gets Shodai – but he couldn’t beat Chiyomaru, so his chances of pulling out a kachi-koshi are looking very slim indeed. 7-8 and a return to Komusubi, I think.
Sadly at this point 6-9 and a drop from sanyaku seems more likely.
A bit out of subject from the original post but i’ve got to take maybe this opportunity to have maybe finaly the answer to one of the question me and my friend have been wondering for a while now by asking to the well of knowledge the people here on this blog have.
I’ve to know….please….what on EARTH is that big….green….thingna-ma-bob object that person is holding in the picture above this post ????
The puzzling object has been making us crazy for a while now.
We’ve been making joke about what it represent among us. Is it a cookies ? Is it a Krabby patty ?!? (At one point in one episode, Spongebob did make some of them of that color!!!) What is it ?!?!?
And for all that is sacred in sumo…….why is it…GREEN!!!! ^_^ Ha ha ha ha!!!!
Hi. It’s an enormous macaroon.
The macron of triumph (it’s always a different color) is part of the yusho winner awards on the final day. We always love to speculate what color it will be this time, and postulate if it’s an actual confection, or just a giant “Sampuru”.
Then we wonder if Chiyomaru would eat it anyhow.
It’s a Macaroon (or macron) ?!? I’ll have to search on the web what that is then. (English is not my first language.)
So it isn’t always green either ? Strange. The few time i’ve seen it, it was always that color. Strange luck i guess.
Thank everyone for the answer.
Macaron. I think the pictures of the green one are more striking. But I know there’s a pink one and a gold one.
As Bruce mentioned, it’s not always green. They have pink and gold, too. It’s the prize for winning a tournament presented to the winner by the Embassy of France. If you ever have a chance to go to a tournament, try to go on the final day. It’s amazing to see all of the different awards. There are awards from National and regional newspapers and press outlets, embassies, prefectures and local governments. Saudi Arabia gives a year worth of gas. One prefecture gave Kobe beef while another gave shiitake mushrooms. It is absolutely wonderful. I’m fairly certain the big one is fake but the winner does receive real macarons from Pierre Herme. https://www.pierreherme.com/products/macarons.html
BTW, the