At the start of act 3, there has been little material change in the leaderboard, with the exception of Chiyonokuni picking up his second loss, and sustaining a knee injury at the end of his match with Ikioi. As Chiyonokuni is already kachi-koshi, we expect him to be kyujo for the remainder of Hatsu. That would leave Tamawashi 2 wins behind, and relegate the yusho question to if Hakuho will go 15-0 again.
On the topic of Hakuho, he reached his “Yokozuna kachi-koshi” on day 10, racking up his 10th win of the tournament, and his 28th consecutive win counting all tournaments. For a rikishi of 33 years, that is bordering on the unbelievable. Fans are still waiting for what could be this tournament’s ultimate test-match: Hakuho vs Takakeisho. We expect that to happen before Saturday, and may represent the best outlier chance of putting dirt on “The Boss”
Leader: Hakuho
Hunt Group: Chiyonokuni (kyujo?), Tamawashi
5 Matches Remain
He could honestly have this wrapped up by day 12.
I’m curious what moniker Japanese media and fora give Hakuho. I see “the boss” and “GOAT” quite often in English.
One thought regarding day 4, where Hakuho wrestled Nishikigi (the day of the do-over). There were three mattas, but were they really part of a psychological game played by Hakuho that some consider underhanded? I say no in this case, because subsequent bouts Nishikigi fought also had mattas. Seems to me that Nishikigi is a bit slow to get ready (or is it his near-sightedness? Is wearing contacts allowed?)
I’ve heard Nishikigi doesn’t want to wear contacts, which I can understand. So I think he’d be allowed to wear contacts if he wanted.
Oh I don’t know. When I was in High School at least, wearing contacts during P.E. and during team sports was strictly forbidden. This was a looooong time ago. Maybe things have changed, but maybe not.