Sometimes sumo leaves you lost for words. In yesterday’s case, it wasn’t the sumo itself but the fact that the Yokozuna was present. Do we bother previewing his match today? Why is he still here? What is the meaning of life? I think it’s probably a buttery, silky, generous slab of otoro, but that’s just me.

I’ll leave the banzuke calculus to our buddy lksumo, but it’s looking increasingly likely that we could have a large number of demotion candidates from Makuuchi, but a paucity of convincing Juryo rikishi pushing for promotion.

The penultimate division has a sea of 2-4s, 3-3s and 4-2s in the upper half, with the bottom half pair of Wakatakakage and Asakoryu the lone rangers without a black star. I would love to see Wakatakakage hit 14 or 15 wins in this basho and push his way up from J10 as Takerufuji did in the last basho, because another big injection of quality would really ramp up the excitement levels in Makuuchi. Let’s hope he can keep it up.

Day 7 Matchups

Endo (2-4) vs Tohakuryu (1-5 in Juryo): Today’s Juryo visitor is Tohakuryu, who is probably a really nice guy but possibly has one of the least attractive, weirdly defensive sumo styles I’ve seen. I find a lot of his bouts like watching a catcher trying to block home plate. Endo continues to look out of gas. This match could never end. Let’s hope it does because there’s more interesting stuff happening later.

Nishikifuji (4-2) vs Myogiryu (3-3): Nishikifuji has recently found some source of genki power. Perhaps he has discovered and then consumed that big sack of rotten miso that Bruce used to write about. Myogiryu picked up a handy win on day 6 against a similarly feisty opponent. The aging fan favourite has won 4 of 7 career tussles against the Isegahama upstart.

Daiamami (2-4) vs Churanoumi (3-3): I guess what Daiamami is teaching us is that even in a bad basho, if you have the willpower to see off a stubborn yet struggling opponent, you can still give yourself a fighting chance. Takarafuji just didn’t have anything going forward against him though, whereas Churanoumi should be a more formidable opponent. So, I fancy the Kise beya man here.

Ryuden (4-2) vs Roga (3-3): Roga should really have won yesterday, and I do wonder how much of what’s holding him back career-wise is self-inflicted, or down to lack of good training partners to push him on, or what. These two have similar styles and will be looking for a deep grip and a hip wiggle. Ryuden is better at it, so I’ll back him.

Shonannoumi (5-1) vs Takerufuji (6-0): Suffice it to say, one of these scores is more believable than the other and it’s actually the one who’s undefeated. Shonannoumi is doing very, very well. I actually had him for a make-koshi before this tournament, and that certainly seems unlikely now. Takerufuji is just confidently motoring through the basho. This will again be his toughest task so far, but he’s certainly favoured for it.

Shodai (3-3) vs Kitanowaka (1-5): Surely Shodai can’t go and lose this. He’s struggled with oshi-zumo guys, but Kitanowaka is performing like someone he should be able to toss out when he’s finished with it, like the kombu from his dashi. It could even be a little messy.

Sadanoumi (4-2) vs Kotoshoho (2-4): Sadanoumi’s done well, with some workmanlike performances. In a basho where some veterans are flagging, he deserves credit. Kotoshoho just can’t seem to put it together lately. Sadanoumi leads their rivalry 5-4 (surprisingly, with nine different kimarite), although Kotoshoho won the most recent contest. Sadanoumi is probably the favourite here, in a match that just kind of feels like it’s a sukuinage for someone.

Hokutofuji (1-5) vs Mitakeumi (4-2): How these guys have these scores I’ll never know. Hokutofuji has been having to do too much defending, while opponents have been giving Mitakeumi too much freedom to attack. OK, maybe I do know. Anyway, it seems like a rather predictable recipe for this match. Short of a backwards-moving tsukiotoshi at the edge, you’d back Mitakeumi on current form to pick up a win here. Mitakeumi’s won 15 from 26 in this rivalry, including the last three in a row.

Ichiyamamoto (3-3) vs Takayasu (4-2): Takayasu’s loss yesterday was the first time I actually said “WHAT!?” out loud while watching sumo during this basho. Maybe that’s surprising given some of the other results, but then again the whole point of this exercise is that I’m supposed to have considered all of the outcomes that could happen when two guys go up against each other. Ichiyamamoto could blast off from the tachiai, but Takayasu, who has better balance, also seems like a good candidate to just slap him down. Takayasu was victorious in their only prior meeting.

Onosho (4-2) vs Onosato (6-0): Onosho has been very impressive in this basho, but it feels like this is going to be an impossible ask. Onosato has faced and done very, very well against a number of rikishi already in this basho who attack with a blazing fast tachiai. So with that recent track record, one would think it’s going to need a herculean effort from Onosho for him to have any chance. It’s still a potential banana skin as every match is at this level, but Onosato has to be the presumptive favourite until he tastes the clay.

Midorifuji (2-4) vs Tamawashi (2-4): We got the good version of Tamawashi on Day 6, which is always nice to see! Surprisingly, these two have never met before. Tamawashi really doesn’t seem like a massive candidate for Midorifuji’s signature katasukashi, although you never know what can happen if he over-commits to the thrusting attack and Midorifuji can dance out of the way. I don’t think Tamawashi will go to the nodowa here, he will probably just try and push the lighter man out as quickly as possible.

Gonoyama (4-2) vs Hiradoumi (3-3): These two talents are both looking good, despite the losses. Gonoyama has racked up four in a row now (albeit one via fusen), while Hiradoumi won their only prior meeting. This comes down to Hiradoumi’s desire to get his arms inside vs Gonoyama’s ability to keep him away. Whoever executes that, wins.

Atamifuji (4-2) vs Oho (2-4): You really can’t say enough good things right now about Atamifuji’s approach, and he is looking like a eager child young man that wants to be in san’yaku as soon as possible (although there probably will only be one slot). Oho won their only prior meeting. I still think Oho is going to end up with a deep make-koshi, though. I wouldn’t be fooled by the kinboshi – the four guys who beat the Yokozuna are a combined 3-17 in their other matches. It’s that line of difficult to forensically defend logic that adds to the feeling that Atamifuji should win.

Ura (3-3) vs Wakamotoharu (4-2): Wakamotoharu has almost complete dominance over Ura, having won 7 of 8. Ura has really been having a nice tournament, but it will get more interesting in the second week when he’s not having to face literally the top ranked opposition every single day. I don’t think Wakamotoharu will easily establish the mawashi grip that he wants here, but this is a lottery ticket match for Ura. The numbers on the ticket could come up, and wouldn’t that be nice for everyone in his corner, but probably not.

Daieisho (3-3) vs Asanoyama (2-4): Asanoyama doesn’t feel like he should be sitting 2-4, although he has made some strange choices so far in these bouts. These guys have had a see-saw rivalry, with Asanoyama on top for a brief period while he was Ozeki and the run leading up to it, but otherwise Daieisho has completely dominated him over their careers in the period before and after. If Asanoyama continues to attack with Plan A in this match, he will be a wide open target for Daieisho. For Daieisho this is just about not over-committing at the tachiai and keeping his balance and moving forward, and he should be favoured for the win.

Abi (5-1) vs Hoshoryu (4-2): It gave me no pleasure to call Abi’s defeat correctly yesterday, but I really didn’t see Hoshoryu going down. It felt like today’s match was really the more difficult match for him. He bounced back very authoritatively from his Day 1 loss, but historically his losses do tend to come in pairs and I just think Abi, chasing silverware, might have it in for him here. I could also see a henka from either side. I’m going to tip Abi, but this feels like a match where there might be some hijinks, and I think it could also be the bout of the day, and a potentially pivotal moment in the title race.

Kirishima (2-4) vs Takanosho (2-4): Kirishima continues to make a somewhat unconvincing case that he can escape a kadoban scenario. Takanosho collected a kinboshi that is still a kinboshi, but maybe the saddest ever kinboshi from a Yokozuna who everyone knew shouldn’t have been there. He’ll still dine out on it for the rest of his career and he can tell stories about twice beating the great Yokozuna forever. Somehow, Takanosho absolutely makes the Ozeki look like a small child when they meet, as Kirishima has won only 2 of the 14 encounters dating back to their Juryo days. Takanosho just kind of has his number, but Kirishima is going to be running out of winnable matches when you’re below par if he can’t win this. He probably knows that, so I expect a bigger performance from him today.

Meisei (2-4) vs Kotonowaka (4-2): Kotonowaka is looking like he might just about bundle himself over the line in the end. If facing all the top guys in week 1 wasn’t bad enough for Meisei, they threw Onosato at him as well. He just needs to keep it respectable until he finishes with san’yaku and then hopefully he has enough gas in the tank to get out of danger against the likes of Midorifuji and Oho (no disrespect meant by that!). Kotonowaka very narrowly leads this series at 6-5, but he’s won the last two and he’s developed into someone who should have the beating of Meisei’s style of sumo. I like the look of the Ozeki to just smother Meisei’s inside movement from the tachiai.

Takakeisho (4-2) vs Nishikigi (1-5): Nishikigi has had a rotten time with the other san’yaku guys. Takakeisho has won 8 from 10 against him, and this really comes down to Nishikigi’s ability to hang in the match and extend it until Takakeisho runs out of puff. If he can deflect the Ozeki’s attempts to move him back then he’s got a shot, but there’s a reason why even though Takakeisho is not fully fit, he’s still the favourite.

Terunofuji (2-4) vs Tobizaru (3-3): Surely he can’t, can he? There are many compelling arguments for why Terunofuji shouldn’t have been involved yesterday, but putting him back on the dohyo against a guy whose sumo style is built on embarrassing larger, higher pedigree opponents seems criminal. Especially when, and it bears repeating, the four rikishi who have already beat him have combined to go 3-17 against their other opponents. Tobizaru has taken two kinboshi from him in the past (five basho ago, and five basho before that, for those of you who like patterns).

It’s crazy to say that Tobizaru is the overwhelming favourite in his next match when he’s up against Terunofuji but that is in large part due to the fact that there’s a high likelihood of the Yokozuna withdrawing, which he hasn’t at the time of writing. I do want to enjoy seeing Tobizaru giving the Yokozuna a run around the dohyo, but not like this… please?