23 thoughts on “Grand Sumo Live Blog – Day 15

  1. I do hope that they can find a juryo spot for Toyonoshima whose battle to get back in upper divisions I have been following for a while now. Maybe a retirement or two will make a space. Hey Takekaze, book a cruise!

    • It’s an interesting one. 5 wins at that rank typically wouldn’t do it, but 6 wins for Kizenryu typically wouldn’t save him. Jokoryu going back up I can see, but it’s tougher to make the argument IMHO for a 4 win guy at Ms6 over a 5 win guy at Ms7, when it’s largely the same schedule.

    • Tricky situation. You have only 2 guys who should go up and 3 guys who must go down. Then you have Kizenryu who normally would go down. I think they will only promote Jokoryu and he will end up at J14W.

      Although I’m rooting for Toyonoshima since many years, I don’t think there should be any way for him to get promotoed over either Jokoryu or Akua. If you look at his schedule this basho, he was only fighting once against anyone from MS6 or higher and he lost that bout and has two wins against both Ms12.
      Meanwhile Jokoryu had one bout outside the top 6 at Ms9 and Akua had two at Ms7&8, but also got called up once to Juryo.

      I think Toyonoshima will rank at Ms1 or 2 and Toyohibiki with his 6-1 not close behind. A kachikoshi next tournament should guarantee his promotion.

  2. Thanks to all involved- Yago finished with a win, as have Hokutofuji and Kyokutaisei- and now for Yoshikaze- everything’s crossed

  3. Kakenage to Yutakayama! What a fabulous display from the next generation ! So entertaining- just brilliant from them both

    • Gunning (as usual) made a good point – it’s one of the hardest ranks to achieve but one of the easiest ranks to retain – “technicaly you only need to win 8 bouts out of 30 to keep it”

  4. Excellent work into the wee hours, Josh. Thank you for hosting the senshuraku live blog!

  5. With Yoshikaze, the repeating (and repeating and repeating) pattern I saw was that he would start as genki as possible but quickly (really quickly!) run out of gas, like after 4 seconds. In his two final matches he was able to bring enough heat to win quickly but I do wonder if his stamina would have held out for even slightly longer matches…

    • On the final weekend, his oyakata did admit he was injured, but declined to state what the problem was. He said that Yoshikaze still wanted to compete, but was falling short of what it took to win. I think that knowledge was fairly widespread by the start of week 2, as you can see the great care his opponents take with him.

      For Yoshikaze enthusiasts, its now a question on if he is going to bounce back, or take up his kabu and become a sumo elder.

      • whatever it is i hope he heals fully and soon, seeing him this dejected is not good (for him OR for me! or should i say US Bruce!)

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