Glad to hear many of you like the idea of the somenuki yusho. That will give me something to do during June, after the big haircuts. Yesterday, I had posted Heat 2 and I was rather surprised at the outcome. I knew it would be tight but I expected Mitakeumi to claim this one, maybe with Shodai in second. I liked Tsurugisho’s simple kimono which featured his first name, Momotaro. But Shonannoumi’s tiger claimed the heat.
Don’t worry, after the first round heats, I will bring these onto the site directly for the final poll, rather than on Elmo’s “Free Spam, I mean, Free Speech” platform. It was a spur of the moment thing the other day but I can do this properly in the future.
Videos of the Makuuchi and Juryo Action are here. Makuuchi Part I & Part II, Juryo Part I & Part II.
That was a bit more important today since NHK allowed the Tokyo Derby to pre-empt the first several bouts of Makuuchi. I am sure folks fired up their VPNs and did not miss any action. Although, if you blinked at the wrong time, you would have missed Wakatakakage’s henka to secure the Juryo yusho.
Special Prize Announcements:
Fighting spirit prizes for Oshoma and Shonannoumi are conditional on each wrestler winning today. Onosato won the technique prize, unconditionally. He, Abi, and Daieisho are also contending for Outstanding Performance prizes, conditional upon winning the yusho. No prize consideration for the Ozeki. They’re expected to be in contention (and occasionally win these things…ahem!!!).
The Action
Roga (7-8) defeated Tokihayate (6-9). Roga just enveloped Tokihayate and drove him to the ground. Oshitaoshi.
Hokutofuji (7-8) defeated Takarafuji (9-6). Hokutofuji’s tsuppari was too much for Takarafuji today. Oshidashi.
Ryuden (10-5) defeated Sadanoumi (9-6). Positional victory for Ryuden as he worked Sadanoumi over the bales. Both had established solid belt grips and this is a great yotsu battle. But it is one where Ryuden’s footwork and strength won the day. Yorikiri.
Oshoma (10-5) defeated Kinbozan (8-7). Oshoma shoved a soft Kinbozan over the bales. Maybe Oshoma’s fighting spirit was enough for both of them today. Yorikiri.
Shodai (7-8) defeated Tomokaze (2-13). Tomokaze could barely put weight on his right leg. Easy win for Shodai as he pressed forward and shoved Tomokaze over the bales. Oshidashi
Ichiyamamoto (8-7) defeated Tamawashi (7-8). One of two Darwin bouts today. Tamawashi’s thrusts overpowered Ichiyamamoto’s tsuppari but Ichiyamamoto slipped to his right as he reached the straw bales and the misdirection was enough to see Tamawashi flop to his belly. Tsukiotoshi.
Nishikigi (5-10) defeated Tsurugisho (3-12). The obvious outcome occurred. Tsurugisho will get some much needed rest and may be able to drink from the fountain of youth in Juryo. Results may vary, however. Myogiryu and Kotoeko were not as energized as Endo and Takarafuji have been. Yorikiri.
Meisei (10-5) defeated Shonannoumi (9-6). Meisei overpowered Shonannoumi and did not succumb to Shonannoumi’s kotenage attempt. Denied of his special prize, Shonannoumi walked into Meisei after the bell. Meisei seemed nonplussed. I would not be surprised if Meisei is waiting for Shonannoumi in the parking lot afterwards. Yorikiri.
Onosho (7-8) defeated Nishikifuji (5-10). Poorly timed and executed pull from Nishikifuji. Onosho kept pace in pursuit and drove Nishikifuji over the bales. Yorikiri.
Halftime.
Oho (6-9) defeated Midorifuji (5-10). No pull from Oho today. Instead, Midorifuji attempted the slapdown but Oho kept his balance and finished Midorifuji off with a final thrust. Tsukidashi.
Tobizaru (6-9) defeated Churanoumi (8-7). Quick slapdown after the tachiai. Tobizaru caught Churanoumi on the arm and thrust him to the ground. Tsukiotoshi.
Takayasu (7-3-5) defeated Gonoyama (6-9). Takayasu absorbed Gonoyama’s attack and then waited him out in the center of the ring with a left-hand over-arm belt grip. Uwatedashinage.
Hiradoumi (9-6) defeated Mitakeumi (8-7). Mitakeumi hit Hiradoumi hard at the tachiai. I was a bit surprised by his forward progress. Hiradoumi quickly wrapped up his belt and from his low position was able to turn Mitakeumi and drive him back through the dohyo and over the bales. Yorikiri.
Daieisho (11-4) defeated Kotoshoho (8-7). Daieisho’s thrusting, brawling brand of sumo was on full display here. It was like he could smell yusho. Kotoshoho did his best and nearly got Daieisho with a bit of misdirection but Daieisho locked on and beat Kotoshoho down. Depending on the outcome of Onosato/Abi, Daieisho may have earned a spot in a playoff. Tsukiotoshi.
Takanosho (8-7) defeated Atamifuji (7-8). Our second Darwin bout. Takanosho punished Atamifuji for his uninspired pull attempt and earned his kachi-koshi. Atamifuji will need to retool if he hopes to crack sanyaku. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Ura (7-8) defeated Wakamotoharu (4-8-3). Ura fought back, charged forward, and drove Wakamotoharu out. Yorikiri.
Onosato (12-3) defeated Abi (10-5) and won his first Top Division yusho. Abi came out blasting straight ahead with his tsuppari. Onosato had planned for this, however. He blasted Abi’s right shoulder as hard as he could from the left. This threw Abi off balance and Onosato followed up with blasts of his own. Abi fell from the dohyo and Onosato stood, victorious. Makuuchi Champion. Oshidashi.
Kotozakura (11-4) defeated Hoshoryu (10-5). Oh. You’re still here? It’s not over? Oh, that’s right, we have another bout left between the remaining Ozeki. At least there is a massive stack of cash awaiting the winner of this. Hoshoryu pressed forward into Kotozakura. Kotozakura released his left-hand belt grip and wrapped up Hoshoryu’s right arm, then dragged Hoshoryu down to the ground for an anti-climactic kotenage.
Wrap-up
Congratulations to Onosato on winning his first Top Division title! Onosato will lock up his Sekiwake promotion and may have kicked off his Ozeki run. Depending on how desperate the Kyokai is for a solid Ozeki, he might be two legs deep, already. Despite being M5 in Osaka, usually just outside the joi, he did face the sanyaku and even took down an Ozeki, two Sekiwake and a Komusubi on his way to a jun-yusho. With three Ozeki, though, I do not think the Kyokai will be chomping at the bit to promote too quickly. But two more double-digit performances and we could have a new Ozeki by Kyushu.
We will dive deeper into the implications and outcomes of Natsu soon. Along with his title, Onosato claimed two more special prizes. Oshoma also earned his Fighting Spirit prize.
Thank you to all Tachiai readers for riding this roller-coaster, yet again. June will be fairly quiet, event-wise. No Jungyo there are a few items to track early, including the retirement ceremonies for Ishiura (6/1), Akiseyama (6/2) and Chiyonokuni (6/8). I will also keep my eyes open for any reports from Isegahama Ichimon regarding updates to the status of Miyagino-beya and its hopeful re-opening. Fingers crossed!
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Thank as always for the coverage Andy!
No week 2 fade for Takayasu. Maybe he should try forfeiting 1 and sitting out 2 (instead of 5) next time. Could be his path back to Ozeki. :)
Over the past few Basho, a visible Changing of the Guard has been occuring. With that, I think it would be interesting if we could get a post detailing the potentials of rikishi such as Onosato, Takerufuji, Atamifuji, Hiradoumi, Onokatsu, Gonoyama, Hakuoho, and the other young ones!
Maybe Josh will oblige :) Injuries are obviously a huge wildcard. If fully fit, Onosato, Takerufuji, and Hakuoho have incredibly high ceilings. Atamifuji needs to improve, but may get there as well. I’d put Hiradoumi and Gonoyama a little lower, and I need to see more of Onokatsu, but he certainly got off to about as good a start as possible in his first sekitori basho. Lots to be excited about! It’ll take them at least a couple more tournaments to get to Juryo, but I am also very high on Aonishiki and Kusano.
Hi Andy! I’m a huge fan of Japanese Sumo and I’ve been a long-time reader of your Tachiai blog and love it! Thanks so much for all of the time and work you and your team put into the blog. Quick question: I used to receive immediate emails whenever a new Tachiai blog entry was posted but I haven’t received any emails since the “Sumo News Round-up 2024.2.3” entry. Can you please check to see if I’m still setup to receive emails whenever you and your team post a new entry? Or, please let me know when I can check this on my own? Thanks so much! Regards, Glenn Bottomly
Hi, Glenn! So you were the one!
Just kidding. I discontinued the emails a few weeks ago. I get a report on how many are sent out and how many people actually open it and how many people click to go to the website. My intention was not to spam people it was to, as you said, notify people of a post. But it seems it’s going out to far more people than those who still wanted it. So I discontinued it. At the very least, I will clean out the addresses and stop sending to those who don’t want it.
Do you use any social media, like Instagram, BlueSky, or Facebook and the like? I am always trying to gage other ways to notify folks of blog posts.