Kakuryu has gone Kyujo. This is his third consecutive kyujo tournament since winning in Nagoya. He follows Hakuho’s early exit leaving no Yokozuna in the Hatsu Basho. His sole win came on Day 2 against Abi, handing out kinboshi to Endo, Hokutofuji, and Myogiryu. Both Endo and Myogiryu doubled-up while Hokutofuji claimed the fusen victory today. Mitakeumi will get the freebie win today.
Sharpen the scissors
I really believe Yokozuna should be allowed to sit out if they are injured without incurring the wrath of the sumo world.. Their rank has earned them that privilege. And no one wants to watch an injured Yokozuna hand out gold star wins like they were Halloween candy. It cheapens the entire concept off a gold star victory. Get healthy, guys, and we’ll see you in March.
I’m right with you if there’s an injury/illness. But not if they’re just having a bad tournament or they’re getting beaten fair and square.
Sure, but maybe Kakuryu was getting beat because he was still sick. He had a fever before the basho. Is that losing fair and square or a reasonable excuse for sitting out?
That’s illness, so in my world that means reasonable.
I was thinking that it gets awfully expensive at that rate.
Well said.
Agree!
At least with Kakuryu, we did know he was ill beforehand. I don’t think it’ll get quite the criticism Hakuho did. I also really, really hope that the 4 days he DID compete didn’t give him a chance to pass on to anyone else whatever he had 😓
This is a dumb question because none of us will have a clue but how many gold stars wins has a 100% HEALTHY Hakuho given out in his Yokozuna career? 10? 5? None? That’s one reason they are so precious and should always remain so.
If I counted correctly, he’s given out 18 kinboshi in basho he’s been able to finish (out of a total of 26). And only 9 in his first 7+ years as Yokozuna (2007-2014), before the recent “late Hakuho” phase. And he’s won a whopping 431 bouts against maegashira as a Yokozuna.
@Iksumo. great stats. Thank you. I guess if you to ask him, he’d say the number is zero.
He might admit the one by Kise that ended his 63-bout winning streak but was the only blemish on a 14-1 yusho was legit. Bonus fun fact, nobody has more than two kinboshi against him.
I wrote this 5 years ago. Perhaps a little “post-prime” for Hakuho then but he was fantastic. https://tachiai.org/2015/03/27/analysis-current-yokozuna-kinboshi-rates/
Yokozunas have the privilege of withdrawing without any consequences like demotion, kadoban etc. They are able to rest and heal their bodies for several months to fight another day. The same cannot be said about other ranks from ozeki down, where they cannot think of quitting even though they may be injured for fear of a large drop in ranks. No time is given to revistalise their bodies which may affect their sustenance in the sport at the higher levels later on.
The thing is, they don’t seem to do it. If they should take 2 tournaments, take two tournaments off. Instead, they show up for both AND the intervening Jungyo and quit the basho early.
Yep. After fans purchase tickets to see them, thinking the Yokozuna will be on the banzuke. (If something happens during the current tournament, that’s unforeseen. Different circumstances.)
I don’t want to make it about fans’ ticket sales. Then we get yaocho and pro-res because fans want drama and controversy.
like it or not, andy,
we cannot escape that filling seats is a huge driver and has a dramatic influence on the sumo we see
is there any other reason for the one-foreignor-per-heya rule?
japanese fans are funding the art and they prefer japanese winners
yaocho is a rich topic of its own to begin with
doesn’t require ticket sales
I don’t see the correlation. I’m assuming fans have read that Hakuhō has said he’s going to retire this year. So x number of tickets are sold to people wanting to see him before his retirement and after seeing that he’s perfectly fine (as evidenced by practice sessions, etc) and listed as active for the tournament. (I’m not suggesting that he rise from bed or a wheelchair and hobble up onto the ring in some kind of stunt.)
But…yeah, he’s a Yokozuna so he has some latitude.
The bigger issue for me is what this says about the overall health and age of the yokozuna. What happens when Hakuho retires later this year, and Kakuryu is asked to retire because he goes kyujo so frequently? There are no obvious successors.
a vote here for zero yokozuna when no one meets the standard
isn’t it a station above and beyond normal ranks, for a dominator?
when no one is good enough, like now as champ and kakuryu finish this year, no yokozuna needed
anointing the unqualified demeans yokozuna special status (kisenosato disaster)
just live with ozeki as top rank awhile
soon or late, the next real champion will arise and ascend above the masses, a sumo god
I agree with you.
This is the most recent time when sumo went from four Yokozuna to none.
Records in this order:
Date: Hokutoumi, Asahifuji, Onokuni Chiyonofuji,
1991.01: 12-3, 11-4, 10-5, 2-1-12
1991.03: 13-2, 11-4, 12-3, 0-0-15
1991.05: 0-0-15, 14-1, 0-0-15, 1-3-11
1991.07: 9-6, 8-7, 4-5-6, Chiyonofuji Intai
1991.09: 0-0-15, 2-4-9, Onokuni Intai
1991.11: 4-4-7, 0-0-15
1992.01: 0-0-15, 0-4-11
1992.03: 0-3-12, Asahifuji Intai
1992.05: 0-0, Hokutoumi Intai
1992.07 – 1993.01 Four banzuke with no Yokozuna
1993.03 Akebono at Yokozuna
I’m relieved that we’ll see no more kinboshi this basho. It was starting to look like everyone in the Joi would get one, and anyone without two would be an underachiever.
I enjoy seeing the Yokozuna perform at a high level. Daily losses gets old fast. Especially at my age, too close to home!