Thanks to Herouth’s searching, Tachiai can now bring you fan videos of Wakaichiro’s day 6 and day 7 matches. The day 6 match in particular is of great interest to me, as I had only previously seen the match one, and it was from the Abema camera angle. The person who so kindly uploaded this video had an excellent view of the last moments of the fight, and it reveals some details not noticeable in the Abema feed.
Wakaichiro is in control for most of his day 6 match, strongly moving forward against his opponent, Amanishiki, who has been crumpled over but is still on his feet. Amanishiki reverses and begins to advance. As Amanishiki pushes Wakaichiro towards the bales, Wakaichiro puts up a vigorous defense. With his heels on the tawara, he works to ensure that Amanishiki steps out, before he can hit the clay. And he nearly pulls it off.
This improving ring sense, and solid footwork is seen again in day 7 action, where Wakaichiro snatches a win from Hokutoo as Wakaichiro manages to keep his feet inside the ring as Hokutoo steps out.
It’s good to see Wakaichiro’s improvement in every match. He obviously learned a lesson from his last match and worked to make sure that he didn’t step out first. That’s a really big mental step for him to take. I hope he can win out this basho!
Well done to Wakaichiro for bringing down the Big Owl. That nickname for Hokutoo is based on a mispronunciation but I now realise that I have also been saying “Wakaichiro” incorrectly for ages. It’s “Waka’chiroh” not “Waka-I-chiroh”.