Year: 2019

Bouts From the Lower Divisions – Day 14

Herouth Nagoya Basho 2019 , , , , , , , , , ,
First make-koshi for Hoshoryu

I have a short report for you today. You all know that Enho finally got his kachi-koshi today. Let’s take a look at some of Hakuho’s other uchi-deshi.

In Jonidan, the biggish Toma suffered his first loss on Day 11, so he dropped out of the yusho race there, and today, with a balance of 5-1, engaged with Yoshii from Nakagawa beya. Toma is on the left (he is really hard to miss), and Yoshii on the right:

Yoshii turns out to be far from a pushover, and even managed to throw the humongous Toma with an uwatenage. Not exactly your Mongolian “roll’er-over-in-the-clover”, but still. I’m really hoping Toma will start losing some of that extra poundage, and show something better than Orora-zumo. In any case, he is 5-2, kachi-koshi, and will keep moving up.

At Sandanme, we meet Hakuho’s oldest – and apparently most damaged – uchi-deshi, Yamaguchi. He comes into this match with 3-3, so the winner is kachi-koshi and the loser, make-koshi. On the left we have Tochimitsuru, from Kasugano beya.

Yamaguchi doesn’t offer much in the way of resistance, and is make-koshi. He will drop further down in Sandanme.

Makushita

Akua, our aquatic rikishi from Tatsunami beya meets Nishikifuji from Isegahama beya. Nishikifuji and Midorifuji are the biggest new hopes in Isegahama beya, a heya which two years ago sported six sekitori, including a Yokozuna and an Ozeki, and now only two of them remain.

Nishikifuji is ranked Ms8w, and he and Akua are both 5-1 as they stare at each other across the dohyo. Akua is on the left, Nishikifuji on the right:

Akua is very efficient this basho – a quick katasukashi in this case. He finishes it 6-1, while Nishikifuji will have to settle for 5-2 and will have a chance of ramming himself against the gateway to Heaven in Aki.

His heya mate, the tiny deputy pixie Midorifuji, is similarly 5-1 (though ranked a little lower, at Ms11w). He is facing our Hungarian friend, Masutoo, here on the left.

Mastoo is not letting Midorifuji try any pixie dust on him. The big Hungarian has his second 6-1 basho in a row, and will start smelling the heady perfume of silk mawashi across the barrier next basho. Midorifuji will settle for 5-2, and he, too, will be in that hot neighborhood.

The last Makushita bout (though not the last Makushita wrestler fighting) is between Tamaki and Hoshoryu. This is a life-or-death bout. The two are not just fighting for kachi-koshi vs. make-koshi, but also, at their rank, for a very probable ticket to Juryo, which only the winner can take. Hoshoryu is on the right, Tamaki on the left:

Hoshoryu’s hand touches the surface of the dohyo. The gyoji notices immediately and points his gunbai, but the two are not paying attention and keep fighting. But even if that finger did not touch the dohyo, Hoshoryu was completely out of balance for most of it, and would have lost anyway.

He suffers the first make-koshi of his career. The Japanese press tells us that he was still wearing his game face (he is really overdoing it in the staredowns, methinks) as he was walking down the hana-michi, but in the shitakubeya he broke out in tears, and the only thing he said to the reporters was “I’m sorry, I’m sorry”.

Kid’s 20 years old. This was his one chance to match his uncle’s speedy ascent from Jonokuchi to the sekitori ranks, and he blew it. He will get there, but it will probably take a couple of basho now that his make-koshi will send him a few ranks down. I’m sure it stings as hell.

Tamaki, on the other hand, enjoyed the limelight today, surrounded by press and media people.

Juryo

Kaisho, Ms4w from Asakayama beya was sent into Juryo today to fight Arawashi. Kaisho was 3-3 and needed a kachi-koshi. Arawashi was already make-koshi, 5-8, but needs to tread carefully. Kaisho is on the left, Arawashi is nursing an eye injury, on the right.

Despite Arawashi’s efforts, Kaisho manages to get a good grip and yorikiri the veteran. Arawashi is 5-9, and is edging towards the danger zone. Kaisho, on the other hand, is kachi-koshi, and may be considered for promotion if there are enough demoted Juryo members, and Wakamotoharu doesn’t improve from his five wins tomorrow.

So tomorrow is the big day, senshuraku, with some exciting playoffs, and some familiar names like Wakamotoharu and, of course, Terunofuji, who will be facing the very dangerous henka artist Shiraishi.

Nagoya Day 14 Highlights

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nagoya Basho 2019, Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takagenji, Takarafuji (宝富士), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochiozan (栃煌山), Tomokaze, Toyonoshima, Yago, Ōnoshō (阿武咲) , , , ,

Once again, purple rain fell in Nagoya. In the final match of the day, Kotoshogiku managed, against all expectations, to overpower Yokozuna Hakuho. I had to watch it a few times to absorb what happened, but it was in fact glorious. As a result, the yusho race has Yokozuna Kakuryu in front by 1 win, with Hakuho needing to beat him twice on senshuraku to take the cup.

I have been an admirer of the “Kyushu Bulldozer” for a good long time, and it’s true he is fading out due to accumulated injuries, and can no longer fight like he once could. He came into the match with a 6-56 career defect against The Boss, but in true sumo hero fashion, he did not let that worry him much if at all. The crowd lost their mind, and the zabuton took to the skies in celebration.

Body Headline

Toyonoshima defeats Nishikigi – Toyonoshima started the tournament 5-1, then recovered to 6-2, winning the last 3 in a row. Toyonoshima refuses to give up. What else could you expect for a man who go hurt, fell to mid-Makushita, and has battled his way back against all odds to return to the top division. A win on the final day seal his return with a kachi-koshi.

Kagayaki defeats Onosho – (Thanks to Herouth) Wakanohana: “Onosho aims to go forward, but his feet don’t go with him”. I could not have described it any better. Kagayaki still has a chance for his 8th win, while Onosho is make-koshi and need of work.

Enho defeats Myogiryu – After two matta, Enho gets the tachiai right, and immediately tries for a left hand mae-mitzu grip, which he can’t maintain. Now Myogiryu has him in a headlock and is pressing him toward the clay. Taking the bait, Enho now has Myogiryu right where he wants him. With Myogiryu clinging tenaciously to his head, Enho has clean access to Myogiryu’s mawashi. A quick hip pump and Myogiryu is high, with his feet poorly positioned to resist the charge. The crowd loses it, I lose it, it looks like sumo twitter goes bonkers and the guy everyone wanted to get his 8th affirms his position in the top division. I love sumo some days.

Tomokaze defeats Kotoeko – I can hear the grumpy sumo fans calling from September or November, when Tomokaze has a bad tournament and is looking poorly, “See, he’s just a flash in the pan”. Well, future sumo-grumps and negative types, the promising young ones gain consistency. I expect that this is going to be local high performance mark for Tomokaze, but over the next few years, he has the potential to be a big deal.

Kotoyuki defeats Meisei – What the hell happened to the real Kotoyuki? The bumbling fellow who was never too good, who liked to land in the crowd and roll around? That guy is not on the dohyo today, or really any day this basho. Instead we get some kind of hard, focused sumo machine. Nice work Kotoyuki.

Shimanoumi defeats Aoiyama – Aoiyama tried too many pulling moves this bout, and gave up position too many times. Shimanoumi has his kachi-koshi, and continues to move up the banzuke.

Endo defeats Takarafuji – Am I allowed to regain a touch of optimism about Endo? It’s been a fools game thus far, so perhaps not. With two brilliant sumo technicians on the dohyo, you knew it was going to be like a bad episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! with all kinds of of things happening that only the hard core fans would catch. I lost count of how many times the switched up grips, but Endo advances to 9 wins.

Asanoyama defeats Shodai – More sumo grumps were busting on Asanoyama for going make-koshi this tournament after taking the yusho last time. Folks got spoiled with Hakuho and Asashōryū dominating the daylights out of sumo for a long time. Consistency on these young guys is a work in progress, of course. The Asanoyama we enjoy today is a larval form of the Asanoyama we will see next year. He just needs to stay healthy. Oh and he handed Shodai his make-koshi. If you wanted an example of Shodai’s chaos sumo, this was a great match to review.

Abi defeats Ichinojo – Abi keeps his kachi-koshi hopes alive by getting Ichinojo into his “give up” mode quickly and not letting the boulder do much except react. That brace on his right arm (his main weapon) is a bit of a worry.

Daieisho defeats Ryuden – Shin-Ikioi (Ryuden) has had a tough tournament. But Daieisho seems to not only made some solid improvements to his sumo, but his stamina is noteworthy. We are 2 weeks into a sumo tournament, and if anything the energy he is bringing to his matches has gone up. In defeating Ryuden, Daieisho is now kachi-koshi.

Kakuryu defeats Mitakeumi – If you can watch this frame by frame, you can see that Kakuryu is literally a half step faster at the tachiai. Mitakeumi goes for center mass to begin thrusting, Kakuryu keeps his hands low and works for a grip, while rotating his right shoulder to deflect Mitakeumi’s force away. Kakuryu’s gambit pays off, and after a single thrusting attack from Mitakeumi, he has a deep right hand grip, and control of the tadpole. Down go the Yokozuna’s hips, and forward for the win.

Kotoshogiku defeats Hakuho – At the tachiai, Kotoshogiku bunches his shoulders, and gets his arms inside as Hakuho attacks at the arm-pits. The both land grips as Kotoshogiku turns the Yokozuna to Kotoshogiku’s right. This puts Hakuho slightly off balance, but Kotoshogiku’s hips are square, his feet are bracketing Hakuho’s, and the Kyushu Bulldozer is in business. Kotoshogiku engages the gaburi-yori and wins. Damn that was beautiful.

Nagoya Day 14 Preview

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nagoya Basho 2019, Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takagenji, Takarafuji (宝富士), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochiozan (栃煌山), Tomokaze, Toyonoshima, Yago, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

We enter the final weekend of the Nagoya basho, and all eyes are on that final match on day 15 between the two yusho leaders, and what might happened on day 14 to set the stage for the conclusion to this tournament. As lksumo has pointed out so well, there are a handful of possible outcomes now, and they all revolve around how the two top men in sumo acquit themselves today.

Lower down the banzuke, the nature of sumo is showing its teeth. A good number of rikishi are still in the narrowing middle ground between a losing and winning record, and where possible they face each other to ensure that only the best rikishi will advance. This is true up and down the banzuke, where in the lower ranks an army of young men have 3-3 records going into their final match, and face another equally determined sumotori, who will throw everything they can muster into that final match in an effort to gain a winning record. Watching these “Darwin” matches on day 13, the action on day 14 will be fast, brutal and unforgiving.

Some fans have expressed disappointment in the torikumi for the final weekend, and with good cause. Sumo fans want to see the top men of the sport battling it out for all the hardware, and for the best there is to emerge triumphant. But with all of the Ozeki out with injuries now, the schedulers have had to make do with what they can, reaching far down the banzuke over the past few days to find opponents for the remaining Yokozuna. We all hope for a better lineup for Aki in September.

Key Day 14 Matches

Toyonoshima vs Nishikigi – Somehow, Toyonoshima is still in the hunt for a winning record. He’s only faced Nishikigi once before (for a loss), in May of 2016! Toyonoshima will have to win both of his remaining matches in order to get his 8 wins, but it could just happen.

Onosho vs Kagayaki – Both of them come in 6-7, so someone is getting loss #8, and someone gets to go into day 15 at 7-7. This is going to strongly favor Kagayaki in my book, given Onosho’s suspension and alignment issues, but their career record has them tied at 4-4. Pop the popcorn and open a fresh bottle of sake, this one might be good.

Tochiozan vs Okinoumi – Okinoumi is also still in the running to get to his 8th win, and he has to overcome his fellow veteran, the deeply make-koshi Tochiozan. Their career record is 13-13, but Tochiozan is looking really dismal this tournament.

Myogiryu vs Enho – Enho has hit a wall, and just can’t seem to find that final win to get to the safety of 8. He will find no relief today when he faces the much higher ranked and already kachi-koshi Myogiryu. Enho has been hurt since before the basho, but he’s out there fighting every single day. I think we all want to see him pull it off.

Aoiyama vs Shimanoumi – One of these two, both coming in with 7-6 scores, will get their kachi-koshi, and the other will have to try again on day 15. This is their first ever match, so no history to go from. I think Shimanoumi will struggle with Aoiyama’s long reach and powerful oshi-attacks.

Asanoyama vs Shodai – Shodai can still make it to 8, but he has to win both of his final matches. Asanoyama has had a rough ride (typical for first time ranked this high), but has fought well. He’s a force for the future, and he’s capable of putting Shodai away, if he thinks he can win.

Terutsuyoshi vs Hokutofuji – These two are surprisingly similar in some ways; you could almost think of Terutsuyoshi as a ¾ scale model of Hokutofuji, but just as fast, just as powerful and just as determined. Both are kachi-koshi, so this is just to run up the score for Hokutofuji, or to stay 1 behind the yusho leaders for Terutsuyoshi.

Abi vs Ichinojo – Ichinojo has never lost to Abi, who needs 2 more wins to reach the safety of 8. How is Abi-zumo going to deal with what someone once called the “Mongolith”?

Daieisho vs Ryuden – Ryuden is make-koshi, but can still play spoiler to Daieisho’s bid to rank higher on the banzuke for September. They are evenly matched, but Daieisho has been fighting better this tournament.

Chiyotairyu vs Tamawashi – Chiyotairyu needs one more win, and he might find it today against the wreck of Tamawashi. Tamawashi has a dismal 3-10 record at the moment, I think one of the worst of his career. Clearly he is hurt, and not able to really be very effective on the dohyo.

Kakuryu vs Mitakeumi – I expect a lot of caution on Kakuryu’s part today. He’s going to play to his strengths, and use a collapsing / retreating defense against Mitakeumi’s opening gambit. I will watch for him to protect the inside and try to deflect / re-direct Mitakeumi, who is likely going to power in strong. Kakuryu will stalemate and wait for an opening to put Mitakeumi away.

Kotoshogiku vs Hakuho – Man with damaged knees takes on man with damaged elbows. Don’t tell me the scheduling committee does not have a sense of humor; there have been too many “ha ha” moments this tournament to convince me otherwise. Hakuho has no problem dispatching a genki Kotoshogiku, let along the damaged relic who will mount the dohyo for the final match of day 14.

Bouts From the Lower Divisions – Day 13

Herouth Nagoya Basho 2019 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Naruto oyakata, on duty today, with his 7-0 deshi Sakurai

We’re back on track! Today, although there were few “big names” on the torikumi list, there were many important matches. All the yusho deciders in Makushita or below were played today, resulting either in yusho winners, or in playoffs to take place on Senshuraku. We’ll go through these bouts, as well as some of our usual ones of interest.

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