NHK Sports is reporting that Tochinoshin will not compete on Day 7. Shodai will get the fusen win. Obviously, we will try the best we can to get information on the severity, and whether he will return this tournament. We’ll remember Endo returned after going kyujo last tournament and did not win any bouts after a 3 day break. As Ozeki, Tochinoshin now has a serious advantage. If it turns out this is a serious injury, he could stand to go kadoban and plan to come back in September. If it is even more serious, he could stand to go back down to ozekiwake in November, win 10 and come retain his Ozeki rank to start the year. But, this being sumo, he’ll likely be back by Monday.
We now have no Yokozuna and two Ozeki. As things stand, we’re looking at Goeido/Takayasu showdown on the final day. Woo. This basho is melting…melting…
Update: Tochinoshin’s medical certificate is for “Damage to the collateral ligament of the MTP joint of the great toe. Requires about 1 month of rest and may require further treatment”. (Source: Nikkan Sports – Herouth)
Darth Vader style NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! T_T Onosho’s not 100% back yet, neither is Takayasu, most of my favorites are kyujo, (including Ura, IIRC,) and I’m just ahhhh! OK, someone put armor or something on Mitakeumi, seriously >.<;;;;
Aaargh
I just have to…
I know NHK plans to do live sumo for day 14 and 15. Is it going to be Mitakeumi fighting some poor guy form Jonidan who is still alive and mobile? Maybe Wakaichiro?
The might start pulling people out of the crowd. I vote for the dude with the gold top hat.
I vote for Mitakeumi-Hoshoryu… And I wouldn’t necessarily bet on Mitakeumi.
sekiwake for ozekiwake and regain for retain. I know the entry was written under time pressure.
Well, no. Ozekiwake is a term we use here at Tachiai to denote an Ozeki who is occupying a Sekiwake slot with a 10 win option to return to Ozeki.
Is there any history of a guy skipping two or three days worth of bouts in the middle of a basho and STILL WINNING IT? Hard to believe that’s ever happened!
Yes, apparently there is.
For example, Mitoizumi, Aki 1985, Juryo 8 west, was four wins, went fusen then three kyujo, and won four of his remaining bouts for a 8-4-3 kachikoshi.
Tomonohana, Natsu 1997, Juryo 8 east, 8-5-2 – seven wins after returning from kyujo.
Kyokunankai, Aki 2009, Juryo 10 east, 8-5-2 – six wins after returning from kyujo, though one was by fusen.
Aogiyama, Haru 2001, Juryo 2 west, 8-4-3 – all of the wins after returning from kyujo.
There are some more.
Herouth, those four examples are wrestlers who went fusen, came back and got their kachikochi. Those four guys didn’t WIN the Juryo, correct? They simply took losses due to injury and, yet were still able to win 8 bouts.
Ah, I thought by “winning” you meant getting a kachi-koshi, not the Yusho. A Yusho would be very unlikely as you would usually need 12 or more wins. I don’t think Tochinoshin would be aiming at that. He would simply want to avoid kadoban if he could.
There’s no obvious way to search sumodb for absences. The only thing I could find is the yusho winner picking up a fusen loss on the last day…
Why on the last day? You just query for a fusen loss for a yusho winner. The thing is, there aren’t any whose fusen was not on the last day.
How do you specify a fusen loss?
Rikishi one, only losses, kimarite fusen.
Dropping.
Like.
Flies.
Where’s Harumafuji when you need him?
Apparently, currently enjoying the Naadam in Mongolia.
To save anyone googling, the Naadam is the annual grand championship of Mongolian wrestling (with archery and horse racing). Harumafuji’s family have been very big in the sport.
It’s too bad for us that Harumafuji’s Mongolian roots run so deep. It would have been great if he had stayed in Japan and became an entertainer. He has that great singing voice and he’s so damn popular among the Japanese, he could have been a major post-sumo celeb.
Um, what? At the moment he is in Mongolia on a visit. He is still anchored in Japan, working as a coach at Isegahama beya. As for his singing voice – are you sure you are not mixing him with Kakuryu? Harumafuji has very limited range. He is much more known for his painting skills than his show-biz prowess.
I thought I read somewhere that Harumafuji was planning on being a police officer in his home country upon retirement from sumo. He passed the tests and everything. As for his singing, there are a couple great videos of him singing on Youtube and I think he has a better voice than any of the other guys.
I saw a couple of videos of him singing. In one he was fine. In the other he was way out of his range. Perhaps that’s because I knew the song well… “Kampai”. Saying “better than any of the other guys” is a horrible exaggaration if those other guys include Ikioi. Or Takayasu for that matter.
The police officer thing is very old. He did get certification for that. Recently he also completed a degree in Japanese culture in a university in Japan. His oyakata once noted that he just enjoys studying. He may return to Mongolia eventually – he does have strong roots there. He is currently completing the establishment of a comprehensive school in Ulan-Baatar. He may return eventually, but he doesn’t actually have to. It appears that he has a permanent residence status in Japan and can work there if he so pleases. I think entertainment is just not what he wants to do – perhaps because it’s not a reliable source of income to feed his children.
Trying to find a suit that fits.
Going into Day 8 there are precisely enough Sanyaku vs Sanyaku match-ups left to have one on each remaining day (assuming no further injuries)
There is no Sanyaku bout scheduled for Day 8. As usual, the schedulers are way ahead of me and conserving their options.
Excellent analysis, thank you for sharing. Given the track record of the last 3 basho, they may wish to consider a bigger san’yaku.
Anyone but Goeido. Please, anyone.
It could be worse,it could be… erm… no,you’re right. With any luck your nightmares will be allayed tomorrow If the real Kaisei shows up (rather than the evil twin who lost to Endo), then ass will be kicked.
Goeido seems to share your opinion. He very skillfully throws away every chance he has of getting a yusho.
Who wants the pressure that comes with being a Yokozuna?