Down in Juryo Onokatsu defeated Endo and Wakatakakage beat Shiden, setting up a great Wakatakakage/Onokatsu bout tomorrow. Some hijinks in the Chiyosakae bout with Bushozan awarded the win when Chiyosakae’s foot was clearly still on the dohyo. Bushozan bowed and was about to leave the dohyo when he was recalled by the gyoji to do his sonkyo squat and acknowledge his victory. (Andy contemplates bringing up Tobizaru and corpses with their feet on tawara but bites his tongue. The thing is he types with his fingers, not his tongue.)
NHK videos here. Makuuchi Part I & Part II. Juryo Part I & Part II.
Highlights
Ichiyamamoto (7-6) defeated Tsurugisho (4-9) Ichiyamamoto’s brand of sumo dictated this bout. Tsurugisho attempted a pivot and pulldown at the edge but it did not work. Tsukidashi.
Roga (6-7) defeated Hokutofuji (6-7) Henka! Roga slipped to the side and Hokutofuji steamed by. Okuridashi.
Sadanoumi (8-5) defeated Tokihayate (5-8). Sadanoumi was just too solid. Tokihayate tried to change direction but Sadanoumi moved with him and kept moving forward. But what did Sadanoumi do to his left foot? It was bandaged and bleeding, pre-bout. Sadanoumi kachi-koshi, Tokihayate make-koshi. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (8-5) defeated Takarafuji (8-5). Kinbozan’s thrusting attack, aided by a forearm to the jaw, shoved Takarafuji back. Takarafuji retreated along the tawara but Kinbozan remained low in pursuit and thrust Takarafuji out. Kinbozan kachi-koshi. Tsukidashi.
Ryuden (8-5) defeated Shodai (5-8) Shodai tried his best to counter Ryuden’s belt grip with an aggressive (I could hardly believe it, myself) move forward. Ryuden used his right-hand outside and his left hand up front to rotate Shodai back through the ring and over the edge. Ryuden kachi-koshi; Shodai make-koshi. Yorikiri.
Churanoumi (8-5) defeated Kotoshoho (8-5). Churanoumi locked onto Kotoshoho’s belt and quickly brought the action to the edge. Kotoshoho ripped Churanoumi’s hand away but Churanoumi pressed forward, undeterred, and drove Kotoshoho out. Oshidashi.
Takanosho (6-7) defeated Tomokaze (2-11). Takanosho put his head down and drove forward, forcing Tomokaze off the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Tamawashi (6-7) defeated Oho (4-9). Oho put his head down and slammed back into Tamawashi. It backed Tamawashi up and I start thinking, “OMG, Oho is going to press forward?!?!” No. Of course not. Oho immediately pulls and taps Tamawashi on the back of the neck, expecting that to somehow thrust the old dog to the floor. Instead, Tamawashi propelled Oho from the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Tobizaru (5-8) defeated Nishikifuji (4-9). Tobizaru absorbed Nishikifuji’s tachiai, corralled him with a bear hug and drove him out. Nishikifuji did not put up much offense but I am not sure how hampered he was from yesterday’s finger injury. According to Murray, it was a dislocation. Ouch. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Nishikigi (4-9) defeated Gonoyama (5-8). Nishikigi used his size advantage well to press Gonoyama ahead. Gonoyama resisted at the edge but Nishikigi just spun around and drove him out the other side. Gonoyama makekoshi. Yorikiri.
Hiradoumi (7-6) defeated Takayasu (6-2-5). Hiradoumi slipped away at the edge and Takayasu dropped off the edge of the dohyo. Tsukiotoshi.
Daieisho (9-4) defeated Mitakeumi (8-5). Daieisho blasted Mitakeumi from the dohyo, as expected by everyone in the building, including Mitakeumi. Oshidashi.
Atamifuji (6-7) defeated Onosho (5-8). Onosho drove forward and Atamifuji rotated around the dohyo. Onosho pursued but allowed his body to get ahead of his feet. Atamifuji slapped him down. Onosho makekoshi. Hatakikomi.
Sanyaku
Onosato (10-3) destroyed Ura (6-7). Ura tried to slip a bit to the left but Onosato adjusted and ejected Ura from the fighting surface. Oshidashi.
Abi (9-4) defeated Meisei (8-5). Fantastic bout. Standard Abi-zumo to open, shifted into a great little brawl with hands and elbows flying. Meisei pressed forward and Abi tried a slapdown. Then, Abi wrapped up Meisei at the edge and twisted him down. Beautiful throw. That was awesome. Tsukiotoshi.
Wakamotoharu (4-6-3) defeated Oshoma (9-4). Wakamotoharu was patient with Oshoma and he could afford to be. At the tachiai, Wakamotoharu lodged his left arm under Oshoma’s armpit, effectively pulling Oshoma’s right arm at bay. He twisted and yanked Oshoma’s left arm away and drove forward, pushing Oshoma over the edge. Oshidashi.
Kotozakura (10-3) defeated Shonannoumi (9-4). Kotozakura moved laterally at the tachiai (often called a “henka” around these parts). This gave him access to Shonannoumi’s belt, which he touched briefly as Shonannoumi steamrolled by. Uwatedashinage.
Hoshoryu (9-4) defeated Midorifuji (5-8). Hoshoryu twisted Midorifuji down to his makekoshi. Kotenage.
Wrap-up
We do not have the Day 14 matchups at press time so I will follow up later today with an update on tomorrow’s bouts. Importantly, Shonannoumi and Oshoma both lost leaving Kotozakura and Onosato atop the leaderboard. Hoshoryu, Abi, and Daieisho remain with Shonannoumi and Oshoma.
Kotozakura and Onosato have already fought and the Kotozakura/Hoshoryu bout is likely the final matchup on Senshuraku. Neither Onosato nor Kotozakura have faced Abi, so I’m guessing Kotozakura vs Abi tomorrow and Onosato vs Abi on senshuraku. I wonder if they will throw or Shonannoumi at Onosato tomorrow to knock the rank-and-filers back.
With the successes of the lower maegashira and the absences from the top ranks, there are definitely some weak bouts here in the final days. Hoshoryu’s bout with Midorifuji today is a great example of a bout which would not have happened without all of the kyujo.
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I’ve seen enough, it’s Onosato’s yusho. He has the easier path to victory from here, owing to the way the matches have fallen and Kotozakura hasn’t been fighting his best sumo throughout the basho.
Ozeki and henka don’t go very well.. oops we got one lately. Takakeisho!
A Henka against a lower rank. He should remember he is using the shikona of the 53rd Yokozuna
That same 53rd yokozuna who young Koto used to hide his silver or bronze medals from, because the old man was only interested in one thing – winning.
Said lower rank comes barreling in head down and not looking where he is going. What’s an Ozeki to do?
I think I’m seeing this right: Hōshoryu seems to have given up his sour protruding face pout for just a hard intense stare.
I think it‘s hard to do this face against Midorifuji. Sure Hoshoryu remembered the katasukashi from Haru basho. Today the answer was kind of crocodile style.
I see the final 3 matches on Senshuraku being Onosato-Abi for the arrows, Wakamotoharu-Shonannoumi for the bowstring, and of course Hoshoryu-Kotozakura in the musubino ichiban.
A playoff is not out of the question, how many involved is the question.
Agree that the spate of kyujo’s diminishes the quality of the matches that should be sanyaku heavy. Hopefully Nagoya sees a full slate for the whole tournament.
Wakamotoharu-Shonannoumi would be an odd choice, IMHO. Either Shonannoumi is out of the yusho race and there’s no reason to give him that high an opponent, or he’s in and there’s no real justification to give him a makekoshi opponent.
I’m still shaking my head over that Bushozan “win”. Good grief!
You can tell Chiyosakae wasn’t dead because he never actually went out: he pivoted on that foot, and landed back on the dohyo. Clearly recoverable. The gyoji just got it wrong, and I guess none of the shimpan saw it clearly enough to call for a monoii, which surely would have reversed the call. I don’t know my shimpan well enough to identify the bald-headed fellow who was sitting right there, but he clearly wasn’t doing his job.
I’ll have to check that one again. I thought he went out and then back in.
He definitely hopped off that foot on the tawara back onto the dohyo; it’s hard to tell whether the foot just touched outside at some point during that (long after Bushozan was out), but either way, he certainly had a chance to recover; his center of gravity wasn’t outside the ring.
Ok, let’s start with Juryo. The Bushozan vs. Chiyosakae call was an absolute shocker. This wasn’t even close. How did the men in black not see that Chiyosakae’s foot was miles from touching any ground outside.
On the bright side Onokatsu beat Endo in a belt fight and a lengthy one. Really looking forward to tomorrow’s match with Wakatakakage, who made quick work today. Chiyoshoma vs. Shimanoumi was a really dynamic bout. Is there a fountain of youth somewhere in Juryo?
Hakuoho won a fight, which he probably should have lost at least 5 times before. That one win could already be enough to save his Sekitori rank. One more should be safe for sure. Tochitaikai got his kachikoshi today, while Kazekeno lost and had to win out, if he doesn’t want to drop down right back.
In Makuuchi the picture got a lot clearer today. Takarafuji and Kotoshoho lost and dropped out. Mitakeumi and Meisei were paired within the chaser group and lost, so 4 people dropping out of the Yusho race, while both Maegashira fell from the leader to the chaser group.
Roga’s henka today means that he is probably safe from demotion risk, but with Daiamami, Kagayaki winning today and Bushozan getting his gifted win, the could still end up with promotable records alongside Endo, Chiyoshoma and Wakatakakage.
Tokihayate gave a good effort against Sadanoumi, but still needs one more to likely be safe. Sadanoumi kachikoshi.
Nishikifuji didn’t put up much of a fight today, but he better gets one more win too for his safety.
The Oho bout I have to rewatch. Sure he tried a pull at the edge, but for once I think that was the result of Tamawashi overpowering him instead of Oho putting in the reverse gear.
Kotoshoho sure had a nice mid basho win streak, but today he was ran around the ring by Churanoumi, not really looking like someone with higher aspirations.
Gonoyama decided to enter a belt match with Nishikigi and that decision was questionable. At least he lacked a plan from there on, unlike Nishikigi.
Atamifuji has been flopping a few times on his belly this basho. Today he took advantage of Onosho’s balance problems und could still secure a kachikoshi and a Sanyaku promotion with two more wins.
Daieisho removed Mitakeumi from the chaser group in what wasn’t really a match and maybe Mitakeumi should rest his foot these last two days, now that a Yusho is out of question.
Ura managed to stay 2s in the ring. I thought a first time match with Ura could be tricky … it wasn’t for Onosato.
I would say had this bout against Abi, but Abi pulls off a lot of escapes with exactly this move. Still it feels like a missed opportunity and Meisei eliminated from contention as well.
Wakamotoharu showed his solid form and Oshoma in his first match against a Sanyaku opponent never really had a chance. Down to the chaser group and tomorrow he has to face Hoshoryu.
Shonannoumi’s tachiai had nothing of a cannonball. Still he managed to look away from Kotozakura, so he didn’t notice him sliding to the side in slow motion. It’s a henka, but that was also a very careless tachiai. Still Kotozakura isn’t exactly impressive so far.
Midorifuji got both hands inside at the tachiai, but he didn’t manage to grab a belt. Instead he got stuck in a bit of an awkward position and Hoshoryu yanked him down quickly.
Tomorrow the chaser and leader group are matched with each other, with the exception of Daieisho, who meets Takayasu. Daieisho has already secured his return to Sekiwake, so this is all about the Yusho race.
Abi meets Kotozakura and likely Onosato on day 15, so he has his fate in his own hands. Two wins and there will be a playoff.
Hoshoryu got the task to remove Oshoma from contention. He will have Kotozakura on Senshuraku, but has to hope for someone else to put dirt on Onosato.
Onosato gets Shonannoumi tomorrow and should be the clear favourite as well.
Kotozakura, Abi and Onosato all have their fate in their own hand’s. Win out and you are at least in a playoff. Hoshoryu and Daieisho need help from others. The same goes for Oshoma and Shonannoumi, but the will likely be out of contention after tomorrow. I guess the will be fighting for double digits and a prize on final day. Oshoma maybe has done enough already for a fighting spirit?
I hope Onosato can bring it home. He has the easiest schedule. Despite my sympathies for Daieisho, I hope he doesn’t stand in the way of a kachikoshi for Takayasu.
Aside from the Yusho race, there is also a 4men race for the last Komusubi slot. Atamifuji is in the pole position, but needs to win out. He got Ura tomorrow. Hiradoumi needs one more win (or 2 if Meisei gets to 10) and has Tobizaru tomorrow. Takayasu needs to win out starting with Daieisho tomorrow and hope for neither Atamifuji nor Hiradoumi reach a kachikoshi and Meisei losing one more. Meisei will make it if none of the above reaches a kachikoshi and he would probably overtake Hiradoumi and Takayasu if he had two more wins. Meisei has Kinbozan tomorrow. He also didn’t fight Atamifuji yet, so maybe there will be a decider on day 15.
At the moment we have six demotable rikishi in Makuuchi but only three Juryo men to replace them. That means an exciting finish not only at the top.
Wakatakakage‘s win over Endo was much easier than Onokatsu‘s. Therefore and because of his greater experience he has to be the favourite in tomorrow‘s showdown. I‘m looking forward to it and hoping for the young gun and his promotion to Makuuchi!
(Daieisho has secured his return to Sanyaku, not Sekiwake, of course.)
You are of course right. I was pretty sure I had edited that, because I spotted that mistake too. Apparently Onosato must already be an Ozeki in my head, as he was overlooked 😉 But for that we will have to see in upcoming tournaments.
There are indeed a lot of scenarios for demotion/promoion. Daiamami reaching kachikoshi could crush a lot of hopes by automatically blocking a promotion ticket.
He’s already a Yokozuna in mine…if the scandals stay away.
This entire tournament I’d been shouting “OMG this could’ve been Takayasu’s yusho if he wasn’t injured!” and then I saw him run off the dohyo and I then remembered that he’s still classic Takayasu. :(
Well, Ura v Onosato was exactly as exciting as I thought it would be… Shonannoumi should be no harder tomorrow, so as a Hoshoryu fan, I’ll be rooting for Abi to take Onosato down on the last day. Hosh is probably as angry with himself as he should be, with those bouts he threw away in the beginning. Just like March – smoothly beating the young ace no-one else can beat, but what for?
One question: I know “henka” is not a kimarite, so they usually class it as a hatakikomi or whatever – today Roga’s henka was called as an okuridashi because he slightly patted Hokutofuji on the rear as he was on his way out, but he really barely touched him and so it made me wonder: has there ever been a henka where the person executing it did not touch his opponent at all? What would they call that?
Hikiotoshi is the unofficial kimarite of choice for undefinable minimal contact that leads to a rikishi touching down, so between that and today’s okuridashi call they probably have the running-past-the-henka scenario covered.
Would it technically be an isamiashi if someone ran forward out of the ring with no contact at all?
The closest might actually be fumidashi; contrary to its English translation “rear step out”, Japanese sources say that it can be applied to any sort of stepping out that does not include an offensive action towards the opponent (like isamiashi does). I’m not sure if the tachiai motion alone would constitute such action, if there’s no opponent to hit.
But that convoluted reasoning in the preceding paragraph is probably good evidence for why they prefer to call a “real” kimarite over the five non-techniques if at all possible. :)
This is very interesting! Some rewarding aspect in that, so henka move is encouraged as a sly method of fighting. Therefore, why not? As long as it‘s not used to avoid confrontation with a possibly dangerous opponent.
So, once the results of this tournament are finalized, I have something for the lovely Tachiai commenters to discuss:
While I have no doubts that Wakamotoharu will make a San’yaku return by the end of the year, do you think he will ever win a Yusho?
While Wakatakakage has essentially secured his Makuuchi return, will we ever see both him and Wakamotoharu as Sekiwake? If so, how long will it be before that happens?
And what about the eldest brother, Wakatakamoto? Will he ever escape Makushita, or even make it to Maegashira? How high is his ceiling?
Both Wakatakakage & Wakamotoharu as Sekiwake – Yes I do not see why not. But Wakatakakage will go on to Ozeki and WMH will not. And Wakatakamoto? Well, there is a total Makuuchi banzuke syllable limit, so sadly he will not make it up to the top level.
Will Wakatakakage really go on to Ozeki? He nearly made it last year, but since then Hoshoryu and Kotozakura have established themselves in the rank, Kiribayama may also come back and then there are now Onosato, of course, Atamifuji, Onokatsu, Takerufuji plus, if he recovers, Hakuoho. Frankly, I don‘t see Wakatakakage get his 33 against this stronger competition.
I agree with that. Wakatakakage already lacked the consistency against weaker competition. He is older now and already had a serious injury that probably has some lingering effects too.
Would be rather surprising, if he made it to Ozeki.
Wakatakamoto is 32. His highest rank of Ms7 was in 2018, and he went 2-5. Could lightning strike and get him to juryo somehow? Maybe, but I don’t a long stay there, and would be very surprised to see him in the top division. As for the other question, I don’t see Wakamotoharu as a strong yusho contender, but he’s capable of 10-11 wins, and as we’ve seen in the current environment, one or two lucky breaks on top of that, and you’re holding the Emperor’s cup! I would not be surprised to see WTK rise to Sekiwake, but it’s a hard rank to hold, so a lot would have to line up for them both to be there at the same time.
I don’t use Twitter and would love to see some polls here in the future, just for fun :-)
Thank you for the great coverage as always!