I didn’t get absolutely everything wrong yesterday, but it wasn’t a vintage day for predictions, that’s for sure. However, Isegahama and Terunofuji must be avid readers of Tachiai because they mercifully heeded our pleas for the Yokozuna to do the right thing and take the rest of the basho to recuperate.

The big headline, of course, is Onosato’s loss to Onosho. It was hardly unprecedented, but as our friend Kintamayama noted in his recap, completely down to experience or a lack of it on Onosato’s part. We should also give Onosho credit for some very, very good ring sense and a thoughtful and deliberate approach to the bout.

The gyoji made a number of highly impressive correct calls yesterday, but it did feel as though they let a number of matta go. I’d be surprised if that’s not something that’s corrected in the coming days. It was an accurate characterisation of Endo’s situation to see him being the one to seemingly jump the gun, and yet still find a way to lose.

Kinbozan returns as we head into the Day 8, nakabi, quite literally the middle day:

Day 8 Matches

Mitoryu (5-2 in Juryo) vs Roga (4-3): Mitoryu has put a good record together in Juryo and makes his first appearance above the fold in the Haru basho. It probably won’t be the last if Juryo rikishi are still needed to make up the numbers and an exchange bout is a possibility late on. Somewhat curiously, he’s beaten Roga 3 out of the 4 times that they’ve previously lined up against one another.

Ryuden (4-3) vs Takerufuji (7-0): This is a first time meeting of these two. Takerufuji has had it all his own way so far, and now it’s lonely at the top. I do wonder if the spotlight coming off of Abi and then Onosato and now onto him will be a help or a hindrance. I think Ryuden has a big, big shot at an upset (if you can call it that) here, although Roga was much the better against him yesterday.

Myogiryu (3-4) vs Churanoumi (3-4): I do wonder if we’d be talking about Myogiryu’s lack of energy if Endo hadn’t been quite as disappointing. Churanoumi got thoroughly outfought by Daiamami, but both of these guys need to stop the bleeding. This is a real coin flip, Churanoumi winning their only past meeting.

Shonannoumi (5-2) vs Kitanowaka (1-6): Shonannoumi was well beaten yesterday, but he gets an immediate chance to turn things around against the very disappointing Kitanowaka. The latter has some really fantastic experience to call upon in his heya who can hopefully help get him back on track. So far, it looks like his physicality has been lacking.

Ichiyamamoto (3-4) vs Endo (2-5): Ichiyamamoto got absolutely torched by Takayasu yesterday, but if he brings the same energy to his match against Endo, I think he’ll get the same result that he got against Shodai. Endo has got to be nervously looking over his shoulder at this point, he needs to go on a real run now, as he can lose three more matches at the absolute most. In Endo’s favour, however, is that he has won all three prior meetings.

Shodai (4-3) vs Daiamami (3-4): I tell you what, I’ve been pretty harsh on Daiamami to this point, but he deserves a lot of respect for the way he took the game to Churanoumi in what was easily his best performance of this basho so far. Shodai also deserves credit for the manner of his Day 7 victory. This isn’t really a match on paper, but if Daiamami brings the energy that we saw from him yesterday, it will make things interesting. Shodai is the favourite though, and won in their only previous encounter.

Nishikifuji (5-2) vs Mitakeumi (5-2): Mitakeumi made short work of Hokutofuji after an opponent – not for the first time – gave him room to attack. I don’t think Nishikifuji will be as respectful as Hokutofuji was, however. He’s on a very good run and has history of beating the former Ozeki (2 from 3), and I just don’t see Mitakeumi continuing to put himself in the yusho or even the sansho conversation.

Hokutofuji (1-6) vs Sadanoumi (5-2): Hokutofuji has made me look a bit foolish in the last couple of days for saying that he hadn’t been that bad. He was awful yesterday. He has a 6-4 lead in his matchups with Sadanoumi, though, and I think if he can get himself extended then this is a good opponent to potentially beat. Sadanoumi did very well to see off Kotoshoho, but he rarely keeps his foot on the gas when he’s in a strong position like this, so I’m going to go for an upset.

Onosho (5-2) vs Kotoshoho (2-5): Well, he’s that guy now, the only one to knock off big scary Onosato, and Onosho will want to keep the good times rolling. I think he will do that against an opponent who seems a bit to have lost his way and who is also a good target for Onosho’s style of sumo. Onosho leads their rivalry 6-2 and if he can win here, will probably start to believe that Kotoshoho is an opponent he can dominate.

Takayasu (5-2) vs Gonoyama (4-3): Gonoyama just got beaten by an opponent with an opposing sumo style. The problem with Takayasu as a matchup is that Takayasu can beat you in many different styles, so long as he’s physically up for it. He is looking fairly genki. These two have come face to face twice, and have each taken a win in oshi-zumo battles. For me, Gonoyama will win or lose this at the tachiai. If he can get extended then he’s got a chance of getting things going, but if Takayasu can deflect his opening thrusts at all, then he can dictate how he wants this game to be played.

Midorifuji (3-4) vs Kinbozan (1-4-2): These guys have traded wins over their four previous meetings, with Midorifuji being due the next one. A lot of folks might ask why Kinbozan is back if he was badly injured, and the biggest reason is that if he doesn’t come back, he will go straight down to Juryo. While he is almost certain to end up with a make-koshi, every win from here will pad his fall and he probably just needs at most a couple wins to stay up in Makuuchi. You never really know what you’re going to get with Midorifuji, but the onus is really on Kinbozan to prove his fitness.

Tamawashi (2-5) vs Onosato (6-1): Tamawashi will at least feel now that Onosato can be got at. The veteran has fought and won against big stars and big names in the past, as his pair of yusho and seven kinboshi are testament. So he’s not going to be overawed by the phenom as some others clearly have been, but he’s also aware more than others that a fit rikishi on a strong run is hard to stop. This will almost certainly be an oshi battle head-on. Onosato’s face showed he knew that he lost a match he could and perhaps should have won, and I imagine he’s been preparing to put it right since before he left the arena. He looks like a real competitor that hates to lose, and that’s a good thing for the sport.

Hiradoumi (4-3) vs Meisei (2-5): Meisei has had a real tough run of fixtures, but that will start to lighten up at least a little bit in the coming days. We should see him get some winnable matches soon, and he will feel he can win this. Hiradoumi was masterful in the ease of his victory against Gonoyama and looked like a much more experienced and composed veteran. This is probably the kind of match that will show us what Meisei is made of, when he’s at risk of running a deep make-koshi and we learn whether his form against the top guys carries over against less vaunted opposition.

Abi (5-2) vs Ura (3-4): I was disappointed yesterday that Abi’s clash with Hoshoryu was fairly straightforward and didn’t deliver any kind of hijinks. Here’s an immediate opportunity for that to be corrected. Abi, coming off two straight losses, is certainly a candidate to try and henka, although I could see the crowd becoming openly mutinous if he did that against Ura in Osaka. But maybe Abi would like that, who knows. Ura will be thinking he’s done very well if he can find a 4th or even 5th win against the 9 san’yaku opponents. I would agree with that, but Abi has beaten him 7 times out of 10 and will be considered the favourite again here.

Asanoyama (3-4) vs Nishikigi (1-6): Nishikigi’s rotten first week has finally drawn to a close, and while he only has an Ozeki left to face from the san’yaku opponents, the bad news is that that Ozeki’s form is also so bad that Nishikigi probably will have to face him as well. And today, he gets an opponent who also desperately needs wins in order to try for a kachi-koshi. While Asanoyama continues to improve, it’s also becoming clear he’s not the force he was prior to his suspension. That, and/or the quality at the top end of the division is just higher now. Both may be true, but in any case he’d be the tip to take this anyway.

Daieisho (3-4) vs Atamifuji (4-3): Just when you think Daieisho is back, he goes and loses to a noted yotsu-expert by his preferred kimarite of oshidashi. The mind boggles. Atamifuji is having a good basho, but I thought there was some funny business at the tachiai yesterday and Oho maybe got away with one. They’ve faced each other twice and each won one, and I think this is anyone’s guess, mostly due to Daieisho’s inconsistency and the fact he’s showing flashes of brilliance and incompetence in the same basho.

Takakeisho (5-2) vs Oho (3-4): Oho is already doing better than I thought he would or should, but Takakeisho should not be allowing him to win this if he wants to call himself an Ozeki. Unlike Terunofuji (who even a dead blind man could see was deeply injured), Takakeisho is an exclusive oshi-zumo specialist, and is normally able to both deflect oncoming thrusting attacks as well as deal with these kinds of characters quite quickly. One imagines this will be a blink and you’ll miss it encounter. No one should be betting against an upset in this basho, but Takakeisho is as big of a favourite as any Ozeki today.

Takanosho (3-4) vs Hoshoryu (5-2): This is a replay of one of Hoshoryu’s signature matches of the last basho. I couldn’t believe how naive Takanosho was in that match, as Hoshoryu gave Takanosho his favourited two arms inside in order to set himself up for a beautiful pivot and throw. Takanosho made Kirishima look silly yesterday and controls that rivalry, but Hoshoryu controls this rivalry (albeit at a less emphatic 5-2) and he will have looked at Onosato’s loss and thought “I can get myself back into this race and win it.”

Kirishima (2-5) vs Tobizaru (4-3): Kirishima got humiliated yesterday and faces another opponent against whom he somehow has a losing record in 20 matches (11-9 to Tobizaru) going all the way back to their time in Makushita. Tobizaru will be rested, and remarkably always seems to be fit and raring to go. There is still a path to 8 wins here for Kirishima, who doesn’t have a bad record against the other Ozeki and will get another Maegashira opponent to replace Terunofuji. But it’s not going to be easy. There’s no understating that he has to win this if he wants any chance of avoiding kadoban.

Wakamotoharu (5-2) vs Kotonowaka (5-2): We’ve got a real big time match in the musubi-no-ichiban today, as the Ozeki and Sekiwake rankers begin their matchups with a battle between a pair of guys on the outside of the title race. Neither has really looked to be in yusho form, but they’ve both had a couple impressive wins. This will undoubtedly be a belt battle unless Kotonowaka just wants to try and bully the veteran Sekiwake out of the ring. Like the previous pair, these guys have also been getting into it since their Makushita days: Kotonowaka narrowly edges out his opponent historically, with a 7-5 record against Wakamotoharu. I think Kotonowaka will find three wins from somewhere and isn’t expected to challenge for the yusho, so this match will mean more for Wakamotoharu to try and position himself on the Ozeki track. It should be a close call and a riveting match.