Day 11 was chock-ablock with our “Ones to Watch” cohorts, and that leaves day 12 with a light schedule. On day 11, we had the yusho candidates facing each other, and the few remaining undefeated in our list all took their first loss. This included Naya losing to Takanofuji, who will face Chiyoarashi for the Makushita yusho. In Sandanme, Amakaze lost to Toyo University entrant Shiraishi, who will go on to contest for the yusho on day 13.
I also am happy to report that Wakaichiro picked up his 4th win and secure his kachi-koshi after a worrying 0-2 start. He battled back from a cold opening to a winning record, with one match left to decide how large his July promotion will be. For reasons I don’t understand, he always fights better in Tokyo.
For those following the return of former Ozeki Terunofuji, he also won decisively on day 11, improving to 5-1. Roga also won, securing his kachi-koshi in a very one-sided match against Aratora.
Day 12 Matches
Wakatakamoto vs Jokoryu – Both men hold a make-koshi (1-4), and for Jokoryu this derails any hope he might have of returning to the salaried ranks any time soon. Experience edge goes to Jokoryu, and I think I would give a health advantage to Wakatakamoto.
Midorifuji vs Chiyootori – The former Komusubi, Chiyootori, is one win away from a winning record, if he can get past Midorifuji. Chiyootori is not ranked high enough to make it back to Juryo this tournament, but he could possibly get to that position by Aki with some skill and some luck.
Akua vs Bushozan – Both men have their 4th win already, and now they are fighting for rank in the Makushita joi-jin for Nagoya. Bushozan is fighting just below his highest ever rank, where Akua seeks to return to Juryo soon.
Musashikuni vs Keitenkai – Musashikuni can still reach kachi-koshi, but he needs to win his 2 remaining matches. His oppoennt, Keitenkai, was injured on day 2 of Aki 2012, and spent the next year struggling to recover and re-ascend the banzuke.
Shoji vs Hikarugenji – Winner of this match is kachi-koshi. Their one prior match was taken by Osaka native Hikarugenji.
Kitanowaka vs Ryuga – This match is actually to determine where to rank both of these 4-1 rikishi for the Nagoya banzuke. I would expect both of them to make the cut for Jonidan, but where is the quesiton.
We all knew that with Hakuho out, it was going to get wild, and while there had been some fun days leading up to the start of act 3, the opening day of the final third of this basho decided to unleash the unexpected, and take this tournament into overdrive.
For starters, the Ozeki corps, including the Ozekiwake, ate clay today in matches that saw their opponents deliver better sumo than they could. Furthermore, Yokozuna Kakuryu paid the price for one of his “bad habits” by delivering a cherished kinboshi to Myogiryu, summoning the zabuton rain at the Kokugikan.
However, Asanoyama won, leaving the Maegashira 8 in sole possession of the lead at the end of day 11. I will state that this guy deserves at least a special prize. His sumo has been dead on since the start, and so far he is not showing any fade into week 2. Now the pressure of being the leader rather than the underdog may crack him as soon as tomorrow, but I think it’s an indication that Asanoyama is going to be one of the stars of sumo in the new era.
Highlight Matches
Chiyomaru defeats Kotoeko – Today Chiyomaru’s sumo was working, and he completely disrupted Kotoeko’s attempts to attack or evade.
Yago defeats Daishoho – A very evenly balanced shoving match that saw no clear advantage until Yago dropped his hips and put more travel in his oshi.
Terutsuyoshi defeats Tochiozan – Terutsuyoshi’s effective submarine-tachiai allows him to lift Tochiozan by the mawashi and charge forward for a much needed win.
Chiyoshoma defeats Kagayaki – Kagayaki looks completely lost in this match. His oshi attacks are focused high, when he runs out of ideas he takes Chiyoshoma to his chest, and that is where he really shut down. I am going to guess that Kagayaki ends up deeply make-koshi.
Tomokaze defeats Enho – Some nice gymnastics out of Enho today, especially recovering his footing and balance after Tomokaze nearly pushes him into a seated position. I still assume Enho will hit kachi-koshi before Sunday.
Nishikigi defeats Tokushoryu – Once again, Tokushoryu’s cab-foward design causes him to have huge trouble slowing his forward momentum. Nishikigi uses this today with great effect.
Asanoyama defeats Sadanoumi – In the first “What the hell was that” moments, the shimpan call a monoii, and then completely confuse everyone, including themselves with their resulting narrative. They eventually called the match for Asanoyama, after explaining how Sadanoumi was the winner. From the replay, it’s clear Asanoyama had won the match, and they knew it too, but could not communicate it.
Meisei defeats Ishiura – Meisei gets lower, stays lower and pushes harder to take the match. Ishiura still has some work to do.
Shodai defeats Shohozan – The whole time, Shodai is far too high, but his feet stay stuck to the clay, and he wears Shohozan down, and then finishes him off. Good job Shodai!
Shimanoumi defeats Yoshikaze – Yoshikaze manages some offense today, but it’s only a fraction of what he is capable of, and Shimanoumi shoves him from the dohyo. Yoshikaze make-koshi.
Takarafuji defeats Onosho – There probably should have been a monoii on this one, but after the Asanoyama debacle, I am guessing the shimpan did not want to further confuse matters with a rambling, babbling explanation that left everyone puzzled and anxious.
Tamawashi defeats Chiyotairyu – Solid Tamawashi sumo today that ends with a Chiyotairyu slippiotoshi. Tamawashi takes the initiative at the tachiai, and Chiyotairyu is left struggling to keep his balance.
Okinoumi defeats Daieisho – When you watch this one, pay attention to Okinoumi’s feet. I love how they barely leave the clay. That’s excellent defensive sumo skill on ample display.
Kotoshogiku defeats Hokutofuji – After a matta, Kotoshogiku sets up his favorite hold and applies the hug-n-chug with great effect. Hokutofuji seems likely to end up make-koshi, and he needs to refine his sumo to effectively operate at this rank. I have confidence he will get there.
Endo defeats Mitakeumi – Endo gets mae-mitsu early, and has firm control of the match, Mitakeumi backs away and attempt to load a throw, but the pivot fails and leaves Endo behind him in control.
Abi defeats Tochinoshin – Tochinoshin’s triumphant 10th win is delayed as Abi employs his best Abi-zumo with devastating effect. It seems Tochinoshin ramped up the forward pressure the counter Abi’s expected double arm thrusts, and Abi turned that forward lean into the seed of the winning hatakikomi.
Ryuden defeats Goeido – Goeido got into trouble when Ryuden landed his right hand grip and used it to keep Goeido leading forward to compensate. This was not Goeido doing crappy sumo, this was Ryuden really doing fantastic sumo.
Aoiyama defeats Takayasu – Frankly some of the best sumo I have seen from Aoiyama in a year or so. He was low, he was relentless and he never let Takayasu really enact any offense.
Myogiryu defeats Kakuryu – Kakuryu gets stalemated, loses patience, decides to pull, and Myogiryu is waiting for it. Excellent planning and execution by Myogiryu, and I am sure Kakuryu is chiding himself for falling into his bad sumo.
Sekiwake Ichinojo, who pulled out of the tournament on Day 8, is returning on Day 12, according to the just-released torikumi. With his 2-6-3 record, the best he can hope to do is 6 wins, which wouldn’t be enough to keep him in San’yaku, but presumably he wants to limit the size of his demotion. Let’s hope the decision to return isn’t as misguided as Takakeisho’s was.
Just like Takakeisho, Ichinojo faces Aoiyama in his first bout back. This gives the schedulers an extra intra-San’yaku matchup and allows them to postpone a marquee pairing until deeper in the tournament. Although Ichinojo hasn’t faced Kakuryu, Goeido, or Takayasu, neither has Tochinoshin, and it will be interesting to see what the schedulers end up doing on the final 3 days, since technically Ichinojo outranks Tochinoshin but makes for less interesting bouts.
The Day 12 matchups for the Big 4 are Kakuryu vs. Ryuden, Goeido vs. Takarafuji, Takayasu vs. Abi, and Tochinoshin vs. Meisei. Co-leader Asanoyama draws Tamawashi, while chaser Kotoeko (M15, 8-2) will face Okinoumi (M4, 2-8), an 11-rank disparity.
Leonid covered the many storylines as we head in to Act 3. Here, I will focus on those matches tomorrow but a little overlap on a few topics is unavoidable.
All eyes will be on the fixture between Tochinoshin and Abi as the Georgian battles to regain his Ozeki rank. He has been a force this tournament, demolishing Mitakeumi last night, winning nearly all of his bouts by trademark yorikiri (all wins but the fusen). The one blemish so far comes from Endo, who has had a rather unimpressive outing so far.
The good news for Tochinoshin is that he’s got breathing room. Kotoshogiku lost three of his final five matches as he failed to regain his rank. While Terunofuji ultimately delivered the final nail in the coffin, Kotoshogiku needed to win three of his Act 3 bouts and quickly dropped the first two, meaning he had to win out on the final weekend.
Tochinoshin’s opponent for tomorrow, Abi, was quite aggressive against Yokozuna Kakuryu and at 6-3 is having a decent basho so far. Will he play spoiler? On paper, it seems unlikely as he has lost all three bouts to the Georgian. While his style can sometimes befuddle a one-dimensional belt-grappler, it really relies on hatakikomi pulling attacks, Tochinoshin seems rather impervious to that. According to the career visualizer, he has only lost to hatakikomi 13 times. It’s much more likely he’d lose to a superior grappler than a pull.
Kachi-Koshi
For the other wrestlers, Enho gets another chance at his kachi-koshi during this debut tournament. He’ll face Tomokaze, who lost his fourth bout in a row last night to Takarafuji in rather embarrassing fashion. The Ozekae tandem of Goeido and Takayasu are also in line to pick up that valuable eighth win, assuring they clear the kadoban hurdle with several lengths to spare. Takayasu will face Aoiyama and Goeido has drawn Ryuden. Both of those rank-and-filers are quite capable of the upset. Aoiyama leads in the head-to-head against Takayasu but this resurgent Ryuden is really an unknown quantity to Goeido. Both should be entertaining matches.
Other Matches to Watch Out For
Musubi-no-ichiban, the number one rice ball, features Kakuryu vs Myogiryu. The two have a rather even career rivalry but Kakuryu has won the last four meetings. With the yusho race on the line, we can expect Kakuryu to bring out all the stops, though it likely won’t be quite as easy as swatting away Abi.
Mitakeumi vs Endo will be a fan favorite. I’m expecting a lot of loud cheers for the victor. While Mitakeumi has had a solid basho, though not impressive, Endo is clearly in a slump. The Hokutofuji vs Kotoshogiku matchup is a great pairing to lead into the Mitakeumi/Endo bout. I’m already eating crow from my pre-tournament call for Kotoshogiku but both men need to turn the bus around this week. Hokutofuji’s in better position as the Geek is eyeing makekoshi.
Skipping down to Chiyotairyu and Tamawashi, Chiyotairyu will want to avoid going makekoshi but Tamawashi will be wanting to compete for the sanyaku slots that will be vacated this tournament. I expect fireworks.
The Sho- Sho- Showdown (excuse my stammer) is one of those that I have no idea how it will turn out. Shohozan‘s a brawler while Shodai somehow manages to cling on to his high-mid maegashira rank without much exciting sumo. Apologies, even I cringed at that pun but I can’t help myself sometimes.
Perhaps it’s the presence of other pixies but Ishiura is doing sumo again. And Meisei has been having a solid basho of his own so this should be another good bout. Skipping down to Terutsuyoshi as we already discussed Enho, his bout against Tochiozan will be an interesting one. Tochiozan is likely ranked a bit low here so I expect him to devour Terutsuyoshi.
