Andy already touched on the key events in Juryo, so let’s take a quick look at the third division. We are down to 5 wrestlers with 4-0 records, and they’ll be joined in the quarterfinals by the two winners of the Day 8 bouts between the remaining 3-0 rikishi, as well as by the highest-ranked undefeated man in Sandanme. Here’s the yusho bracket:
- Ms8w Kiriyuko (Tatsunami beya) vs. the winner of Ms10e Wakaikari (Isenoumi) against Ms13w Kazekeno (Oshiogawa)
- Ms20 Yago (Oshiogawa) vs. Ms27 Asahakuryu (Takasago)
- Ms40 Asakoki (Takasago) vs. the winner of Ms43 Wakatakamoto (Arashio) against Ms49 Suzaki (Otake)
- Ms51 Nihonyanagi (Onomatsu) vs. Sd3 Nagamura (Kise)
The winners of these four bouts should get matched up in the semifinals in rank order, unless that results in the forbidden Kazekeno vs. Yago same-heya matchup, in which case some creativity will be needed. Only the first three rikishi still in the race (who are ranked above Ms15) can claim an automatic Juryo promotion by winning out.
In the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone, Ms1e Chiyomaru and Ms1w Tenshoho are both 2-2, and need to win 2 of 3 to regain their salaries. Ms2w Onokatsu and Ms3w Kayo, both 3-1, are also in good shape. Ms2e Yuma (1-3), Ms4w Tsukahara (2-2), and Ms5w Nabatame (3-1) probably need to win out, while everyone else is out of luck. It’s too early to tell how many openings we’ll see in Juryo, but one is certain due to Hokuseiho’s “retirement”, and J12e Kotoeko (1-6) and J14e Kitaharima (3-4) need to start piling up wins in a hurry if they want to avoid a ticket to Makushita.
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Been looking at the J’s again…Asakoryu and Waka are both 7-0..Much as i’m rooting for Asakoryu i don’t think he’ll beat Waka…if they end up matched…
They should definitely get matched up, probably would have been already but I’m guessing the schedulers are keeping them apart to maintain suspense in the yusho race.
Would love to see Ms5 Nabatame get the promotion – he comes across as such a good level-headed guy on the Futagoyama Beya channel.
If you want a real wacky scenario, how about Asahakuryu and Asakoki both winning their quarterfinal and semifinal matches and then needing to face some 5-1 rikishi instead of each other in their final match, then winning that before fighting each other in a playoff?
(edited to add that on reflection, the same could be true for Kazekeno and Yago)
Let’s say that the Takasago or Oshiogawa pair both do go to 6-0 then both lose their final match to a 5-1 guy, we could have a bonkers playoff full of 6-1s.
Kazekeno won, so these are still in play.
Hmmm. Asakoryo got the freebee and Waka got done down in the J,s…
It was a remarkably easy win for Chiyosakae, too. He’s a crafty old dude and took instant advantage of WTK’s footwork error at the tachiai.
WTK’s head hit Chiyosakae hard, right at the shoulder, so I wonder if he was momentarily stunned.
Hmmm…One of todays (Day 9) matchups in the J’s
Juryo #13 Akua（5-3）
Juryo #10 Wakatakakage 7-1）
Juryo is pretty constrained, only 27 guys even started, which means only 26 potential opponents for 15 days. Looks like they’re starting to pay a little attention to records on day 9 and going with some bigger differences in rank, but Akua is the only guy below J8 with a winning record WTK hasn’t fought yet, so it makes sense.