A solid day of sumo, with special recognition to both Sekiwake 1 men, who fought like they are ready to be Ozeki. Neither has the consistent record to make the bid yet, but the form was there today. I like that the rules have been relaxed somewhat in the Kokugikan, and fans can now cheer during the fight. It’s starting to feel a bit more like sumo again.

Highlight Matches

Takarafuji defeats Chiyomaru – Its quite a relief to see Takarafuji moving well, and generally not looking like an orthopedic ward patient this January. Chiyomaru tries his traditional slap and shove sumo, but Takarafuji’s balance is unshaken. A healthy Takarafuji will wear you down, and thus he does. Kimarite is listed as hatakikomi, and Chiyomaru was looking pretty tired before he fell.

Tsurugisho defeats Mitoryu – Tsurugisho set up a left hand outside grip at the tachiai, and Mitoryu could do exactly zero from that point. Reduced to practice ballast, Mitoryu was quickly bounced out of the ring, and Tsurugisho starts Hatsu with a win.

Azumaryu defeats Kotoeko – I don’t recall seeing Kotoeko look that unprepared and disrupted before. Even when he loses, he tends to bring a lot of power and energy to any match. Ring rust? Injury? No matter. Azumaryu is happy to book the win on opening day and start 1-0.

Kotoshoho defeats Ichiyamamoto – Ichiyamamoto started strong, but lost his nerve and attempted a pull at the end of his second volley. Kotoshoho knew just what to do, and attacked center mass. Three steps later, Ichiyamamoto was out of the ring, giving Kotoshoho an opening day win.

Kagayaki defeats Okinoumi – What a joy to see Kagayaki’s classic style of sumo. He was relentlessly focused on Okinoumi’s center-mass. Okinoumi worked to fight back, but could not find an opening for anything other than a half hearted pull attempt, and received an oshidashi for his trouble. Kagayaki starts 1-0.

Tochinoshin defeats Chiyoshoma – It looked to me like Chiyoshoma did not really have a solid match plan, and ended up chest to chest with Tochinoshin. This is not where you want to find yourself, and Chiyoshoma seemed to take a moment to think it through. His only advantage was that he had forced Tochinoshin into a left hand inside grip, and we know that simply will not do. After a nice, lengthy endurance check, Tochinoshin switched his grip to left hand outside, and put Chiyoshoma out.

Aoiyama defeats Hiradoumi – Some great technique from Hiradoumi at the start of this match. I like how he kept his attacks low, and forced Aoiyama to go chest to chest. But much like the prior match, you can quickly find that there are problems with holding on to nearly 200kg of veteran rikishi. Big Dan Aoiyama quickly tired of cuddling Hiradoumi, and threw him out of the ring.

Takanosho defeats Endo – Takanosho did an excellent job of working his hands inside Endo’s defenses early, and only lost the attack for a moment. Dare we hope that he’s finally up to bouncing back from his July kyujo, and resume his dominance near the top of the banzuke? He takes Endo down and out with a resounding oshitaoshi to start Hatsu with a bloody 1-0.

Onosho defeats Oho – The match started with an excellent exchange of pushing attacks, and the two were evenly fighting it out. But Oho decided to test the theory that Onosho is always too far forward, and found that instead Onosho was ready to press the attack into Oho’s pull. Three steps later and a shove to Oho’s chest put him into the front row, as Onosho starts Hatsu with a win.

Myogiryu defeats Ura – Ura picks up in January where he left off in November, looking vague and unable to handle much forward pressure. An early pull by Ura only amplified Myogiryu’s dominance, and it was four steps from the tachiai to the win, with Myogiryu starting 1-0.

Hokutofuji defeats Nishikigi – Nishikigi had a strong opening to this match, but Hokutofuji’s ottsuke kept Nishikigi from getting a workable grip on Hokutofuji’s body. Hokutofuji masterfully contained Nishikigi, shifted his balance and set up a slap down. It was so well done, I had to watch it twice.

Ryuden defeats Nishikifuji – Nishikifuji dominated this match, bundling up and moving Ryuden out of the ring with solid sumo. But at the moment of victory, he accidentally stepped out of the ring. The initial win was reversed in the mono-ii, and the kimarite was assigned as isamiashi. Ryuden 1-0.

Midorifuji defeats Sadanoumi – Midorifuji’s did not like his initial hand placement, and worked to switch it up. This seems to have distracted Sadanoumi enough that he did not figure out the uwate was set up, and he was going for a ride.

Abi defeats Kotonowaka – Abi connected with force early, putting Kotonowaka on defense. He was never able to recover, as Abi kept pouring on the pressure, moving Kotonowaka back, then out. Abi’s sumo, when he’s dialed in, is tough to overcome. He starts hatsu 1-0.

Tamawashi defeats Kiribayama – Kiribayama was attacking well, but Tamawashi employed his remarkable ring sense and agility to upend Kiribayama the moment he pushed Tamawashi out. Tamawashi got the gumbai, and a monoii ensued. Even though Tamawashi’s right foot was out long before Kiribayama hit the clay, a rematch is directed. The second match, Kiribayama gets a double inside grip, and once against moves Tamawashi to the bales. For the second time, Tamawashi pivots into Kiribayama’s final attack, and drops him to the clay.

Mitakeumi defeats Shodai – Shodai fans expecting the previously seen “mighty Shodai” appear to rescue his rank may have to wait longer for the trans-dimensional conduit to form. I did like his counterattack to Mitakeumi’s opening gambit, but he could not sustain the power, and Mitakeumi sharpened his focus center-mass and drove Shodai from the ring to start 1-0.

Daieisho defeats Takayasu – This came down to Takayasu being too high at the tachiai. Daieisho was able to attack from below, and Takayasu never got back into the match. This is my problem with Takayasu’s “wild man” tachiai. He is out of control at a crucial moment in the match, and a skilled opponent can use that moment to gain the advantage.

Hoshoryu defeats Tobizaru – Tobizaru attempted a face slap at the tachiai. This left his body wide open, and Hoshoryu hit him at full strength. Three steps later, Tobizaru is out in the zabuton cuddling a fan, and Hoshoryu has the win.

Wakatakakage defeats Meisei – Solid opening attack set from Meisei, he put Wakatakakage on defense for the first moments of the match. Great to see Wakatakakage get a challenge, overcome it, and attack with that kind of focused power. A big yorikiri takes him to a 1-0 start.

Takakeisho defeats Wakamotoharu – Takakeisho did a masterful job of dictating the form of this match, making sure that Wakamotoharu never got the chance to even try to reach for the Ozeki’s mawashi. Once that was settled, it was a question of how many times Takakeisho was going to hit Wakamotoharu before he tumbled out of the ring. The answer was “about three”.