Ozeki Watch

Kadoban Ozeki Takakeisho (6-4) needs to go 2-3 or better in the closing 5 days to save his rank. With the meat of his schedule coming up, today’s loss to Kinbozan might make this a close-run thing. Sekiwake Kiribayama (8-2) is two wins from the promotion target he was set; let’s see if he can close the deal. The other three Sekiwake all have 7 wins; Daieisho could still reach the 11-12 wins he probably needs, but has little room for error, while Wakamotoharu and Hoshoryu will be looking to post double-digit totals to keep their runs going into July.

San’yaku

All four Sekiwake have done enough to remain in san’yaku, and barring a complete collapse down the stretch, should at the very least hold their ranks. But we might be looking for some new Komusubi, with absent Wakatakakage guaranteed to fall deep into the rank and file, while Kotonowaka and Shodai, both 4-6, can only afford a single loss apiece from here on out. At the moment, M6e Meisei (8-2) and M1e Abi (5-5) lead the potential promotion queue.

Makuuchi Men in Danger

M13w Ichinojo has retired. Bottom-ranked M17e Kagayaki (4-6) is two losses away from punching his ticket to Juryo. Others who need to start winning in a hurry are Ms15e Ichiyamamoto (3-7) and Ms16e Mitoryu (4-6). While a few others are not completely out of the woods yet, I don’t expect more than four slots to open.

Juryo Promotion Contenders

Wunderkind J8w Ochiai (10-0) is now the sole undefeated Juryo leader. He should be a lock for promotion if he can reach 13 wins. Anything less, and it will come down to the number of open slots—Hiradoumi was promoted from J8 with 10 wins, but even 12 hasn’t always been a guarantee. Tomorrow we finally get the big showdown between Ochiai and J1e Gonoyama (9-1), who did not look 100% after today’s loss to Atamifuji. Gonoyama has done enough to secure his top-division debut; most likely, so has J1w Shonannoumi (8-2), who could use one more win to be sure. J3e Bushozan (7-3) rounds out the list of realistic promotion contenders.

Juryo Men in Danger

J5e Tochinoshin has retired. His intai and Ichinojo’s create two openings in the second division. Winless veteran J9w Chiyonokuni (0-10-1), who may be next on the intai watch, has pulled out, and is facing certain demotion. The other winless rikishi, J3w Enho, is also kyujo, though his higher rank holds out some hope that he could survive, depending on the number of promotion cases in Makushita. Last tournament’s lucky escapee, J14w Tsushimanada (4-6), still needs 4 more wins for safety. The others in most danger are injured J11e Hidenoumi (3-7) and J10e Chiyomaru (3-7). As for who is vying to replace them, see my Makushita post. The next round of key bouts for the Makushita contenders takes place tomorrow, so look for another update then.