
The Makushita yusho race is in full swing. Four rounds of bouts have whittled down the 120 or so rikishi to 8 undefeated wrestlers with 4-0 records. Tomorrow, they’ll face each other to give us our semifinalists.
Here’s the bracket:
- Ms1 Kinbozan vs. Ms15 Shonannoumi
- Ms20 Tokihayate vs. Ms26 Ishizaki
- Ms38 Yoshii vs. Ms42 Arauma
- Ms57 Chiyotora vs. Ms60 Asakoki
Shonannoumi still has a shot at near-automatic promotion to Juryo with an upset of Kinbozan followed by two more wins.
Outside the yusho race, nothing has yet been decided in the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone, but the picture is starting to get clearer. Ms1e Takakento (2-2) needs two more wins for a Juryo return. Ms1w Kinbozan (4-0) has probably done enough for promotion already, though he hasn’t definitively clinched it. Ms2e Roga and Ms2w Kanno, both 3-1, are off to a good start, and one more win could see them make a sekitori debut. I think that Ms4e Kamito (3-1), who picked up his first loss in a hard-fought bout against Kinbozan, is the only other man with a realistic promotion shot.
The key Day 9 bouts in the promotion zone are:
- Takakento vs. Ms4w Chiyonoumi (2-2)
- Kamito vs. Kanno
- Ms3e Tomokaze (1-3) vs. Ms5e Chiyoarashi (1-3)
Roga will try to stake his promotion claim with a visit to Juryo, where he’ll take on Hokuseiho. I’ll try to keep these reports coming as additional rounds of bouts are completed.
If Kinbozan pulls off the yusho, that will be very impressive. Next stop, 新入幕