Tonight there are three yusho race elimination matches in Makushita between 3-0 record-holders with kachi-koshi on the line as well as a slot in another to follow. The headliner in tonight’s action is Abi. The former Komusubi will face Shinohara. Shinohara is certainly a young one-to-watch, having won first yusho last year in his debut tournament…the “silent basho” back in Osaka.
That’s right, the same tournament that saw the debut of Nabatame, Hayatefuji, and Taiyo (all of whom he defeated in that first tournament). Others to debut in that same tournament were Kirameki and Takeoka. A solid recruiting class. Thanks to the SumoDB, YouTube, and Twitter, there are several videos of him in action out there but Abi will clearly be his biggest challenge yet. One bout of interest would be this one against former sekitori Takaryu, from Hatsu.
He’s got a complimentary oshi-style so this bout against Abi should be a bit of a slap-fest, if the two get into it. He’s also got a great hatakikomi weapon at his disposal. In a similar move, he got wrapped up here against Hokutoshu but at the tawara tries ottsuke to dislodge Hokutoshu’s arm before deciding to bring him down with Midorifuji’s patented katasukashi.
大相撲三月場所 四日目 幕下
篠原 二連勝 pic.twitter.com/MrtkHq43Y4— ZEAL (@MasakiKudo59) March 17, 2021
With his fast, powerful tachiai, Shinohara will be an interesting challenge but should certainly be out of his league against someone who has faced Hakuho four times, including this kinboshi. There were a few videos online but I chose this one because it’s over so quickly so the slow-mo replay is helpful. Some of the other videos made me really miss zabuton-throwing.
Tomorrow, a bit further down the banzuke, Tomokaze is up for his kachi-koshi in another yusho race elimination bout.
Please, do not embed auto-playing videos.
The “Darwin bout” description loses its luster a bit when it’s applied to what are essentially just random parts of a knockout bracket competition, IMHO.
Agree; it’s best reserved for final matchups with both rikishi 3-3 or 7-7.
I agree with you and Leonid. I tweaked it. I settled on “yusho race elimination bout” because they’re not true elimination bouts or a knockout bracket because they continue to compete…just not for the yusho.
My boy dominated without breaking a sweat – and won with a throw to boot!
When their hands get up there, I worry about hair-pulls but it was like he was putting his opponent to bed. Not often he wins by throws. It would be cool if he gets back to makuuchi with more tools in the tool belt.