News from the infirmary is that Tobizaru is back after his one day stomach bug. His brother had the same issue earlier this week. I would not go near their Nana’s pudding. Down in Juryo, Shirokuma is back, as well.
Takerufuji leads, undefeated. Onosato is two losses back, tied with Kotonowaka. This is such a surreal time. I can’t tell if I want the Yokozuna here, or if it is more fitting that he is absent. But if anyone is going to stop the freight train that is Takerufuji as he rolls toward Yusho station, the will need to do it quick. He has a two-win cushion against Onosato and KNW with a three-win cushion on the rest of the field and only five bouts remain.
Makuuchi Action
Roga (6-5) defeated Myogiryu (5-6). The two men locked in on a right-hand inside grip. Once Roga got this grip and was comfortable, he pulled up and walked Myogiryu out. Yorikiri.
Nishikifuji (6-5) defeated Oshoma (7-4). Oshoma visited from Juryo and hoped to pick up his kachi-koshi. Thankfully, this retreating style of sumo that he presented today was soundly defeated by Nishikifuji. Nishikifuji pressed forward and shoved Oshoma out. Oshidashi.
Ichiyamamoto (6-5) defeated Churanoumi (5-6). Ichiyamamoto jumped too soon, matta. Reset. When they got a solid tachiai, Churanoumi pressed Ichiyamamoto deep to the edge of the dohyo. However, Ichiyamamoto kept up his tsuppari and executed his pulldown with his back on the tawara. Hatakikomi.
Kotoshoho (5-6) defeated Daiamami (6-5). Kotoshoho quickly pivoted and twisted Daiamami down. Sukuinage.
Hokutofuji (3-8) defeated Endo (2-9) with a rapid slapdown. Despite the kiddies calling out their support for Endo, he’s already packing his akeni to be loaded on the barge to Juryo. Tsukiotoshi.
Takayasu (8-3) defeated Sadanoumi (6-5). Sadanoumi tried to switch his grip for a right-hand inside grip. As he slid in, Takayasu struck and threw Sadanoumi down. Takayasu picked up his kachi-koshi. Uwatenage.
Tamawashi (5-6) defeated Ryuden (5-6). Tamawashi plowed forward and drove Ryuden to the edge. Ryuden resisted on the tawara but Tamawashi was having none of it and hefted Ryuden up and over the bales. Both men tumbled into the crowd. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (4-5-2) defeated Kitanowaka (2-9). Kinbozan shoved Kitanowaka to the edge. Kitanowaka used the resistance offered by the bales to wrap up Kinbozan. Paying Kitanowaka no mind, Kinbozan pivoted with Kitanowaka and bulldozed him across the ring and out quickly. Yorikiri.
Gonoyama (8-3) defeated a blocking sled with a cardboard cutout of Mitakeumi (7-4) pasted to the front. Thrilling sumo this. Thank you for blessing us with your time, cardboard cutout of Mitakeumi. Tsukidashi.
Midorifuji (6-5) defeated Shodai (5-6) by katasukashi. Because, of course. It’s his thing and who is Shodai to keep a man from doing his thing?
Halftime
Hiradoumi (6-5) defeated Onosho (6-5). Hiradoumi baited Onosho into pressing forward while he reached inside with his right hand. At the edge, Hiradoumi struck. With the support of the straw bales at his feet, Hiradoumi twisted to pull Onosho down. Tsukiotoshi.
Tobizaru (6-5) defeated Meisei (4-7). Meisei attempted an uwatenage and threw Tobizaru with his left-hand overarm grip. Both men tumbled, Meisei landing beneath the dohyo and shocked to see Hisanosuke’s gunbai pointed toward Tobizaru. Yes, Tobizaru used his right-hand inside to pull Meisei and remain in the air a few beats longer. No mono-ii. Meisei, everyone in the stadium could see that you landed first, no need to slow roll your exit. Get moving. Yoritaoshi.
Asanoyama (6-5) defeated Oho (4-7). In the boring, sumo-themed variant of “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” there are only two options: forward and backward. Forward sumo always beats Backward sumo. Asanoyama and his forward sumo defeated Oho and his backward sumo. Yorikiri.
Atamifuji (6-5) defeated Ura (5-6). Atamifuji wrapped up Ura immediately. Ura accepted it and pulled back, seeking the support of the tawara so he could try a throw. Annoyed by Ura’s refusal to go out and his impertinence to attempt a throw, Atamifuji settled back to the center and used gabburi-yotsu to back Ura to the bales, again. This time, Atamifuji left no doubt. He hefted Ura clear from the dohyo and plopped him down on the other side of the bales. Tsuridashi…aka, the “pick him up like a baby” kimarite.
Sanyaku
Takanosho (4-7) defeated Nishikigi (1-10). Takanosho slipped his right hand inside and ushered a lost and confused Nishikigi toward the exit. Yorikiri.
Abi (7-4) defeated Shonannoumi (7-4). Abi’s tsuppari pressed Shonannoumi out. Oshidashi.
Hoshoryu (7-4) defeated Daieisho (5-6), eventually. As the length of the bout increases, the probability of Daieisho flopping onto his belly approaches 1. It’s simple math. Hoshoryu ran around for a good long while and Daieisho flopped into the center. Tsukiotoshi.
Wakamotoharu (6-5) defeated Kirishima (3-8). I forgot which one was Ozeki. The one on the left of the screen gave a half-assed throw attempt on his way back and then let himself get perp-walked out after it failed. The Ozeki is officially kadoban. He could have done that from his couch. Yorikiri.
Takerufuji (11-0) defeated Kotonowaka (8-3)! Takerufuji pulled back and to his right, trying to swipe for Kotonowaka’s belt. Kotonowaka was not going to fall for the quick throw down. So Takerufuji squared up to Kotonowaka and drove him through the ring like a raging bull. Kotonowaka pitched to the side to try a last-ditch throw but Takerufuji just kept his legs churning forward. Yorikiri.
Onosato (9-2) defeated Takakeisho (7-4). Takakeisho’s tsuppari made no impact as Onosato drove him backwards. Takakeisho tried a pull and Onosato just blasted him into the third row. Onosato quickly got in place to accept his win…and stood there for a few seconds before looking back, “We’re waiting on you, ‘Ozeki.’ You’re still kadoban.”
Wrap-up
The young-guns have arrived. Takerufuji has tied the great Taiho with 11 wins in his makuuchi debut. He will go for the record tomorrow against Hoshoryu. I am sure Hoshoryu will get some counsel from his Uncle before tomorrow’s bout. It would be something if Asashoryu flies in to Osaka tomorrow to watch. Meanwhile, Onosato barely broke a sweat against Takakeisho.
These hiramaku wrestlers completely dominated two Ozeki today. Let me be clear. They didn’t beat them, they dominated them. To make it even worse, it was two Ozeki not named, “Kirishima.” As for Kirishima, he just seemed resigned to his eighth loss today. He will need to come back strong in May. He will have the support of Otowayama-beya.
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Wow, what a day. Impressive dominant performances from Takerufuji and Onosato indeed. I was wondering if Takayasu and Gonoyama could be tricky opponents for Takerufuji (and Nishikigi, if he was healthy). However, if he beats Hoshoryu tomorrow and Onosato loses to Kotonowaka (not a particularly implausible scenario) he would have an advantage of 3. Quite mind-blowing. Who do you think would be best placed to beat him in the last three days?
Hoshoryu would have to step up and beat him tomorrow and then run the table… The crazy thing is that Hoshoryu could actually do that and still only claim a jun-yusho.
Hoshoryu is probably the best bet. Peak Asanoyama I’m sure would have stopped him, but Peak Asanoyama is nowhere to be seen.
Takerufuji looks incredibly dominant, but also everyone is on the retreat against him from the tachiai. Even Onosato kinda gift-wrapped his bout to Takerufuji.
I don’t see any of the yotsu guys in particularly good form this basho, so I would go with someone agile and disruptive. Ura or Tobizaru maybe.
I would love for Takayasu to put a little dirt on him, but I feel like he lost that 5 or 10% in strength and he will probably lose a straight belt battle .
“Gonoyama defeated a blocking sled with a cardboard cutout of Mitakeumi” :)
I genuine wondered why Mitakeumi was sliding that much and Gonoyama had good adhesion to the ring?
Two rookies scattered around two ozekis. This is something I haven’t seen yet.
That Mitakeumi bout looked like butsukari.
Midorifuji’s opponents should really watch the films.
If we had known Nishikigi would lose the next ten straight, the yokozuna’s day 1 loss to him would have set off alarms right away.
Takerufuji is throwing off some young Mike Tyson vibes.
I’m not sure my alarm bells would be for Terunofuji after that bout. Nishikigi seems injured, possibly from that win. He’s not even been competitive in some of these bouts.
Kirishima Kadoban! didn’t expected before the start of the basho.
I had forgotten that Takakeisho is Kadoban. Today in his fight, he was not able to move forward at all, he was just backing away.
In the remaining four days he will be facing much toucher opponents: Hoshoryu, Kotonowaka, Takerufuji and may be Kirishima.
Today he had a very bad fall, I am just hoping that he clears his Kadoban.
From Yusho race two days back, now I am worried whether he will clear his Kadoban.
Midorifuji bout was good, he was fast and Shodai had no chance to build any offense.
I’m quite certain he’ll clear his kadoban but he is cutting it close and I won’t be surprised if he finishes on 8 or 9 wins.
“He has a two-win cushion against Onosato with a three-win cushion on the rest of the field and only five bouts remain.”
I guess you are expecting there to be a playoff after all?
Although I am usually for playoffs, in this case I would prefer Takerufuji to take care of business without it.
At the beginning of the day, five bouts were left. At the end of the day, only four. It is a much more difficult proposition now.
You are right that there was a beginning of the day. But there was also a beginning of the sentence.
I’m confused. I write the beginning section before the action takes place, so that sentence was giving the scenario at the beginning of Day 11, before action occurred. For the wrap-up, I summarize the situation after the action is complete.
I am referring to this part
“He has a two-win cushion against Onosato with a three-win cushion on the rest of the field …”.
If indeed the five refers to the situation at beginning of the day, then you have started the sentence describing the end of the day, because Kotonowaka had only two losses at the beginning of the day.
You are correct. I was mistaken. I thought Kotonowaka was behind Onosato but they were tied to start the day.
Updated, a bit clumsily but I will try to adjust it later.
Those last two bouts left me the most surprised I’ve been since I’ve been watching sumo. It’s possible that the yusho will be won by someone other than these two, indeed I’m expecting something special (or sneaky) from Hoshoryu. Undoubtedly these two have much to learn. But the sheer raw power on display was awesome. Kotonowaka is in great form but was blown away by Takerufuji. The push from Onosato that sent Takakeisho flying like a rubber ball was incredible! And neither of them yet able to sport a proper top knot!
Kirishima must be injured. He had nothing when Wakamotoharu started pushing forward. Sad sumo.
I agree that Hoshoryu is best placed to give Takerufuji a loss. Hoshoryu executed a wonderful planned move to stop Onosato last time – intelligent and effective. Hoshoryu has been doing a bit of that of late – lightning execution of what look to be pre-planned, strategic sumo…recalling Harumafuji? (before my time).
Kirishima had taped elbows since the Tobizaru bout. On Day 11 somewhat bigger bandage. Hope it won‘t come worse for the last few days.
There’s zero reason for him to continue…
Besides being a deft technician, Hoshoryuzeki has some Houdini in him. Last Basho’s (January) win against Wakamotoharu was one of the slickest escape to throw sequences that I’ve witnessed. This Basho needs some drama, I’m hoping the Blazing Dragon can bring the smoke to Osaka tomorrow. If not, Takerufuji is about to become the Victor Wembenyama of Ozumo. That also wouldn’t be so bad, a big story is good for the sport. But, I’d like to see some fireworks, especially in light of Krishima’s Sumo having gone AWOL this March.
Go the Blazing Dragon!
What is the opinion on Wakatakakage?
He is doing worse than expected, 4th loss on 12th today.
Is he simply not yet ready for 15 days?
Probably? Same with Hakuoho (plus the obvious distractions)?