“Ura, Mitakeumi, and Takarafuji walk into a bar…”
I would not have picked these three to be in the lead one-third of the way through this tournament. Ura and Mitakeumi will face off today so we will likely have rather unlikely leader(s) heading into the middle weekend. This was supposed to be the easy part of the schedule for our Sanyaku wrestlers. Instead, they’re being picked off by wrestlers from the joi. Day Five bout videos are here.
The bottom third of the maegashira does seem to be very weak. We’ve seen this in earlier tournaments, as well where a handful of guys down at the bottom are obviously on their way out of the division and it leaves a lot of easy wins for some of the more solid competitors. Tomokaze, Mitoryu, and likely Tokihayate will be heading back to Juryo, handing Ryuden, Oshoma, and Takarafuji some extra soft competition, thus, low-rankers among the leaders.
For Juryo videos, you may like to check this page for the action from NHK. Endo leads with six wins.
The Action
Makuuchi bout videos are here.
Bushozan (4-2) defeated Tomokaze (0-6). Tomokaze nearly caught Bushozan with quick misdirection after the tachiai. Bushozan recovered and kept up effective forward pressure and eventually worked Tomokaze over the edge. Oshidashi.
Ryuden (5-1) defeated Tsurugisho (2-4). Tsurugisho attempted a quick pull and slapdown but Ryuden stayed with him and walked him out. Yorikiri.
Oshoma (5-1) defeated Takarafuji (5-1). Oshoma caught Takarafuji too far forward while in pursuit and slapped him down. Hatakikomi.
Churanoumi (4-2) defeated Roga (3-3). This was a thrilling, up-tempo back and forth bout. Seems perfect for some “Yaketty Sax.” Churanoumi hung in there with a belt grip at the back of Roga’s mawashi. He eventually caught Roga while spinning and pushed him out from behind. Okuridashi.
Tokihayate (2-4) defeated Ichiyamamoto (3-3). An off-balance Ichiyamamoto stumbled while retreating. Tokihayate survived for his second win. Tsukiotoshi.
Hokutofuji (3-3) defeated Mitoryu (1-5). Mitoryu tried a slapdown attempt but Hokutofuji kept his balance and drove Mitoryu backwards and out. Oshidashi.
Shonannoumi (5-1) defeated Nishikifuji (1-5). Shonannoumi effectively leveraged his size advantage to hoist Nishikifuji toward the bales, several times. I’m not sure why there is not a more exotic kimarite on this because the winning move was Shonannoumi’s kick. He deftly kicked Nishikifuji’s leg out of the ring. “Yorikiri.”
Kinbozan (4-2) defeated Tamawashi (2-4). Kinbozan assaulted a defenseless old man and battered him until he backed out of the ring. Oshidashi.
Takanosho (2-4) defeated Shodai (2-4). Takanosho walked a listless and defenseless blocking sled, nicknamed Masayo, over the bales. One hand to the face and Shodai just did not want to play anymore. Oshidashi.
Kotoshoho (3-3) defeated Sadanoumi (3-3). An aggressive Kotoshoho yanked Sadanoumi around to the bales and threw him to the ground. Sadanoumi was slow to get up and limped away gingerly on that ankle. Uwatenage.
Halftime.
Onosho (3-3) defeated Nishikigi (1-5). Onosho bear-hugged Nishikigi and ushered him out. Yorikiri.
Meisei (4-2) defeated Midorifuji (2-4). The bout started with the two locking horns at the center of the ring. Then Meisei backed-pedaled, again and again, and eventually brought Midorifuji down. Hatakikomi.
Ura (6-0) defeated Mitakeumi (5-1). Ura timed his pull perfectly. Ura powered into Mitakeumi and Mitakeumi powered right back. Mitakeumi As soon as Mitakeumi pressed Ura back to his shikirisen, Ura shifted direction and Mitakeumi flew past. Ura grabbed the back of Mitakeumi’s belt and forced him out from behind. Uwatedashinage? Not Okuridashi? Someone (other than me) got into the plum wine tonight.
Gonoyama (3-3) defeated Atamifuji (2-4). What a surprise. Gonoyama caught Atamifuji off-balance and slapped him down. After a long grapple, Atamifuji attempted to change his grip, slipping his right-hand inside. Gonoyama then grabbed Atamifuji by the shoulder and yanked him forward. Tsukiotoshi…maybe with a heaping side of katasukashi.
Sanyaku
Daieisho (5-1) defeated Wakamotoharu (3-3). As Daieisho pressed forward, Wakamotoharu’s right leg stretched back to meet the bales…but he wasn’t back far enough and stumbled. Tsukiotoshi.
Hiradoumi (2-4) defeated Abi (3-3). Hiradoumi was ready for this. His left hand came up and deflected Abi’s right arm, allowing Abi’s momentum to carry him forward to the floor. Tsukiotoshi.
Onosato (5-1) defeated Kotozakura (4-2). Kotozakura used his left-hand overarm grip to drag Onosato over toward the bales. But rather than try to pitch the Ozeki forward, Onosato drove his body into Kotozakura’s side, forcing him over the bales. Brilliant move by the youngster. You often see this where two guys have their arms behind their opponents and they’re both pitched forward over the tawara, desperately trying to throw the other. From now on, I want to see guys attempt this lateral move. Yorikiri.
Hoshoryu (4-2) defeated Tobizaru (2-4). Fundamentals. Hoshoryu went for Tobizaru’s arm at first but Tobizaru spun away. Then Hoshoryu secured Tobizaru with a left-hand inside, right-hand outside, and walked Tobizaru out.
Oho (2-4) defeated Kirishima (1-5). This big guy here is named Oho. His thing, his brand of sumo is to back away and slap down his opponents. And he just did it to a soon to be former Ozeki. Hikiotoshi.
Wrap-up
It’s only Day Six and the Ozeki appear to be effectively out of contention. There is such a pile-up of rank-and-filers (plus Onosato) one loss behind the undefeated Ura that it will take a lot of help to get either Kotozakura or Hoshoryu back in this contest. I’m sure there will be a lot of fans happy to see Ura doing well and eager to see how far he can take this – especially given some of the beatings he had been taking in the past few tournaments. I’m eager to see how far he rides this.