Well, Takayasu is on a roll. Eight straight wins after he dropped his Day 1 match to Meisei, and he finds himself in the lead, and first with a kachi-koshi. Terunofuji and Chiyoshoma are nipping at his heels . More importantly, he shows no signs of the arm or knee injuries from the past. He cleaned up when he was fighting lower maegashira and has now found his sumo and is beating up the varsity squad. Can he keep this streak alive and claim his first Emperor’s Cup? Even if he comes up shy, he’s got to be looking at starting another Ozeki run. It would be wild to have two former Ozeki win yusho and then be re-promoted to the rank.

As for our incumbent Ozeki, Asanoyama seems to be turning things back on and may find himself in the hunt. Takakeisho is on a path to clear the kadoban status, while Shodai is playing with fire. They’re not the dominant forces we’d come to expect from ozeki like Kisenosato…steadily picking up 10 wins and often featuring late in the yusho race. However, they may soon have company at the rank with Terunofuji 2 or 3 wins away…and now Takayasu’s looking like the strongest guy in the sport.

Day 10 Bouts

Ishiura defeated Yutakayama: Yutakayama had one strategy today, go for Ishiura’s head. After a solid tachiai, Yutakayama’s started in on Ishiura’s face and pursued him around the ring. However, as Ishiura cycled toward the tawara, Yutakayama’s upper body pitched further and further forward until Ishiura’s shift at the dohyo made Yutakayama flop onto the dohyo. Hikiotoshi.

Daiamami defeated Terutsuyoshi: Similar to Yutakayama, Daiamami was focused on a single strategy, driving his forearm into Terutsuyoshi’s upper body. With his superior footwork, he was able to drive Terutsuyoshi out…to Terutsuyoshi’s complete and utter disbelief. I thought it was pretty obvious Daiamami won but Terutsuyoshi clearly had his doubts and hung around, hoping the gyoji would spin his way? Kimedashi.

Aoiyama defeated Kotoeko: It only took two big shoves from Aoiyama to push Kotoeko out. Wow, that one was quick. Oshidashi.

Hidenoumi defeated Midorifuji: Hidenoumi took his time with this. He quickly wrapped up Midorifuji’s arm but patiently waited for the perfect time to twist and drive Midorifuji backwards. Midorufuji landed square on his butt and was slow to get up and slow to walk back to his starting position. Oshitaoshi.

Tsurugisho defeated Ryuden: Straightforward tachiai and Tsurugisho drove forward into Ryuden. As Ryuden fought back, Tsurugisho put his big paw on the back of his head and drove down, backing up a bit. THAT is how you execute a pull. Kotenage?

Hoshoryu defeated Kaisei: Wow, Hoshoryu took on Kaisei’s power sumo head on. With a twist at the center of the ring, he threw the much bigger Kaisei. Just wow. Shitatenage.

Tobizaru defeated Chiyoshoma: About a dozen body blasts weren’t getting us anywhere. So Tobizaru went for the belt and pulled Chiyoshoma backwards over the tawara and down while he also kicked his leg out from under him. That was pretty. Komatasukui.

大相撲三月場所 十日目 幕内
翔猿　七勝目 pic.twitter.com/zmCGqlKSGL

— ZEAL (@MasakiKudo59) March 23, 2021

Akiseyama defeated Tochinoshin: A frantic Tochinoshin tried to power Akiseyama out. He could get him back to the tawara but Akiseyama fought back. Tochinoshin drove Akiseyama back again to the edge but Akiseyama pivoted and threw Tochinoshin off the dohyo. Shitatenage.

Chiyotairyu defeated Kagayaki: Rather than expend energy with some protracted, entertaining oshi battle, Chiyotairyu executes the hated early pull. Unfortunately for Kagayaki, he wasn’t ready for it at all and fell flat on his face. Hatakikomi.

Ichinojo defeated Kotonowaka: Ichinojo says, “Get out of the ring!” He drove Kotonowaka back with a fierce nodowa but Kotonowaka somehow resisted and stayed in. As he slipped to his right, Ichinojo continued to bull forward…until he’d decided he had enough and slapped Kotonowaka’s head down and rolled back across the dohyo. Hatakikomi.

Okinoumi defeated Chiyonokuni: Okinoumi drove forward and played spoiler today. He resisted Chiyonokuni’s pull and accompanying hatakikomi attempt. Come on, we were over quota anyway. It wasn’t going to work again. With Chiyonokuni’s back to the tawara, it only took one well-timed shove to knock him over onto his butt. “Ow, my pride hurts.” – Chiyonokuni Oshitaoshi.

Kiribayama defeated Tamawashi: Tamawashi fought a Tamawashi bout and battered Kiribayama like there was no tomorrow. Somehow Kiribayama withstood the assault but rapidly grew tired of playing punching bag. He basically threw himself onto Tamawashi in a Domino-like attack. “If I go down into him, he’ll go down.” It worked. Sotogake.

Meisei over Endo: Endo’s kyujo. A late scratch. He’s not been performing well since that calf injury before the tournament. Good call, but probably a week late, if it is the calf. It is a bit odd, since, as Bruce mentioned, Endo’s been having a little rally. Fusen.

Wakatakakage defeated Takarafuji: Wakataka-.38 calibre. Wakatakakage shot out of his tachiai like a bullet, completely overwhelming Takarafuji. “You got me, kid. You got me.” Takarafuji fell back out of the ring like a bad guy in an old Western. Yoritaoshi.

Daieisho defeated Hokutofuji: Hokutofuji came into the bout, slapping himself, stomping, getting all hype…for a pull? You pull after the (weak) tachiai? Daieisho was entirely justified in pushing that lame business out. Oshidashi.

Mitakeumi defeated Onosho: Maybe Mitakeumi’s right leg isn’t as bad as I’d thought. Or Onosho is over his head. Onosho gave it a valiant attempt with the nodowa, but Mitakeumi bulldozed straight through. Yorikiri.

Shimanoumi defeated Terunofuji: Kaiju drove Shimanoumi back to the edge immediately. Shimanoumi tried over and over to drive forward but could not get any relief from the edge. Terunofuji kept up the pressure. Time and time again, it looked like Shimanoumi’s foot would be headed out, only to find secure purchase at the top of the tawara. (I don’t think his feet are as big as Tochinoshin’s.) Then, as Shimanoumi shifted to his right, and Terunofuji shifted with him, he tugged a weary Terunofuji a bit further forward and the great Kaiju fell to the clay. It was as if the longer Shimanoumi stayed in it, the closer his odds of winning approached 1 from starting at just about 0.000001. Tsukiotoshi.

Takayasu defeated Takakeisho: T-Rex tired. Takayasu fought Takakeisho’s fight, the two throwing wild haymakers at each other. Until both men tired and settled into an odd-oshi grapple. Head-to-head, literally, each man had their right hand on the opponent’s left shoulder. Then Takakeisho lashed out, pushed Takayasu’s head down and tried to kick his right leg from under him. Takayasu maintained his balance throughout and as Takakeisho settled into his arms for another cuddle, Takayasu rolled him gently to the floor. Uwatenage.

Asanoyama defeated Takanosho: Solid tachiai with Takanosho launching a nodowa at the Ozeki. However, Takanosho’s gabburi hip-thrusts were going nowhere. Asanoyama shifted right and twisted, bringing Takanosho down. Sukuinage.

Shodai defeated Myogiryu: “Defeated” is such a strong word and I don’t think it really applies in this case. Shodai absorbed Myogiryu’s tachiai, then pulled. Myogiryu recovered and began battering the Ozeki as punishment but Shodai pulled again, driving Myogiryu into the dohyo. Katasukashi.

Wrap-up

What a wild day! There was some excellent sumo today. While the drama lessons as Takayasu pulls out in front, that doesn’t lessen the excitement. Takayasu might win his first yusho! That is incredible after he’s come so far, not only in overcoming injuries but in his personal life as he and his wife recently had their first baby.

Tobizaru and Hoshoryu demonstrated amazing sumo and we’re eager to see rejuvenated Ishiura and Enho climb back from the club team. Late news that Ura will be back tomorrow.

Ura returns Day 11https://t.co/qRxRD9LgSd

— ヘルット (BASHO SPOILERS!) (@SumoFollower) March 23, 2021