A quiet day in the infirmary today. YAY!
Day 6 Makuuchi Action.
Kitanowaka (Juryo 3-3) defeated Roga (3-3). Really solid yotsu from Kitanowaka here. He nearly had a beautiful uwatenage but Roga fought hard to stay on his feet and inbounds. But from there Kitanowaka just shoved him out. Yorikiri.
Kagayaki (3-3) defeated Wakatakakage (4-2). Wakatakakage charged forward and won a belt grip. Kagayaki wrenched himself free and held WTK at bay with his elbow. Wakatakakage charged forward nonetheless. Kagayaki deftly slipped to the left and Wakatakakage stumbled forward at the dohyogiwa. From there it was a simple shove for Kagayaki to finish him off. What an upset! Oshidashi.
Endo (2-4) defeated Bushozan (3-3). Endo actually making forward progress? What bizarre alternate universe have I fallen into? The oshi shoves did not really faze Bushozan until Endo started leading with the elbow. From there he backed Bushozan out. Oshidashi.
Hokutofuji (3-3) defeated Nishikifuji (3-3). Hokutofuji was even on the belt for a bit in this match. As others have noted in the comments, his sumo is evolving away from using his noggin so much. That’s a very good thing. Nishikifuji worked him to the edge today but Hokutofuji wrapped up Nishikifuji’s left arm and threw him forward. Kotenage.
Chiyoshoma (1-0-5) defeated Takarafuji (2-4). I think Takarafuji was hedging his bets about a henka because he kind of stood up at the tachiai. Chiyoshoma drove forward aggressively and with Takarafuji’s high position, he was able to use his advantage to force Takarafuji back. Takarafuji tried to circle around the edge but ‘Shoma stayed with him. Oshidashi.
Churanoumi (4-2) defeated Ichiyamamoto (3-3). Churanoumi was not affected by Ichiyamamoto’s tsuppari and Ichiyamamoto’s slapdowns were never a threat. Churanoumi kept up the tsuppari and eventually drove Ichiyamamoto out. Oshidashi.
Midorifuji (4-2) defeated Nishikigi (0-6). Nishikigi turned Midorifuji’s usual inside grip into a trap as he squeezed Midorifuji’s left arm and used it to drag Midorifuji around the ring. Midorifuji extracted his arm in time and took on Nishikigi with effective tsuppari. He nearly spun Nishikigi around but still shoved him out. Oshidashi.
Shodai (4-2) defeated Oshoma (4-2). This one looked easy for Shodai. Oshoma tried to pull but Shodai does not really move fast enough to lose that way. As Shodai was moving forward and not in reverse, as Oshoma was today, it was really a solid win for him. Oshidashi.
Kotoshoho (4-2) defeated Tamawashi (4-2). This was a great, wild brawl that saw Kotoshoho get spun around. Tamawashi could not take advantage, though. Kotoshoho recovered and drove Tamawashi back to the edge and over. Oshidashi.
Takanosho (4-2) defeated Sadanoumi (2-4). Takanosho kept Sadanoumi at bay with a thrust to the head at the tachiai. This asserted an oshi-style bout as the two traded tsuppari. Takanosho landed a slap and ducked out of the way as Sadanoumi charged forward for revenge. Takanosho then finished Sadanoumi off with a shove. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Ryuden (2-4) defeated Oho (3-3). Ryuden did not fight hard to get a belt grip. Instead, he fought an oshi bout which should favor Oho. Oho was also moving forward and not retreating, which should favor Oho. However, Ryuden caught Oho with a well-timed, well-executed slapdown. Both hands to the back of the head and with a sidestep, rather than the backwards pull which catches so many guys out of bounds. Hatakikomi.
Kinbozan (1-5) defeated Shonannoumi (4-2). Kinbozan finally gets one in the win column, despite looking like a mess. His footwork was terrible at the tachiai. I do not know how he stayed up. Shonannoumi would try to sneak to the side for a belt grip but spent most of the bout in retreat. Kinbozan just pressed ahead and eventually caught up with Shonannoumi and shoved him out. Oshidashi.
Sanyaku
Mitakeumi (3-3) defeated Atamifuji (2-4). Atamifuji tried hard to keep Mitakeumi’s left arm from getting inside but not hard enough. The pressure from his ottsuke lessened for a moment and Mitakeumi wormed his arm inside for a morozashi. Mitakeumi’s legs kept churning forward and he drove Atamifuji over the bales. Sanyaku Mitakeumi is back? Yorikiri.
Onosato (3-3) defeated Meisei (2-4). Onosato landed a right-hand grip fairly quickly. But like Mitakeumi, he wanted both hands inside. He tried a slapdown attempt that went nowhere and then slipped his left hand inside. Once he got that morozashi, Meisei was toast. He drove Meisei over the edge. Yorikiri.
Daieisho (4-2) defeated Abi (2-4). Daieisho’s brand of oshi was more powerful than Abi-zumo. Abi launched the first several volleys of tsuppari and Daieisho just took the punishment. When Daieisho started his attack, he quickly bulled Abi through the ring and over the side. Oshidashi.
Hiradoumi (3-3) defeated Kirishima (3-3). Hiradoumi’s timing was off but his power was unstoppable. Kirishima hit Hiradoumi hard at the tachiai and tried to brawl but he was headed in the wrong direction pretty quickly. Hiradoumi charged forward and drove the Ozeki from the ring with relative ease. I wonder if Kirishima had been able to bait Hiradoumi into the initial two matta in order to force Hiradoumi to wait a beat at the tachiai, giving Kirishima the advantage there. But Hiradoumi erased whatever advantage Kirishima won rather quickly there. Oshidashi.
Hoshoryu (4-2) defeated Ura (3-3). Ura drove Hoshoryu back and down. Gunbai Hoshoryu? What the hell? Thank God a shimpan raised his hand because I did not know how Ura had lost that. Oh, somehow Hoshoryu’s slight lateral movement and his right foot flex deflected Ura’s foot out. Mono-ii. Shimpan decided both were done at the same time, so a rematch was in order: torinaoshi. This time, Hoshoryu launched himself forward and propelled Ura into Robocop with powerful tsuppari. Tsukidashi.
Kotozakura (4-2) defeated Gonoyama (2-4). Gonoyama’s aggressiveness had the Ozeki in trouble quickly and back against the bales. Kotozakura shifted to the side at the edge and used his big right hand on Gonoyama’s shoulder to force Gonoyama forward. Tsukiotoshi.
Wakamotoharu (3-3) defeated Takakeisho (2-4). Wakamotoharu recovered from Takakeisho’s slapdown attempt, locked his right arm on Takakeisho’s mawashi and spun him around. Now behind the Ozeki, it was easy to bowl Takakeisho forward from behind. Okuridashi.
Terunofuji (6-0) defeated Tobizaru (4-2). Terunofuji was just too powerful. Oshidashi.
Wrap-up
Terunofuji leads, undefeated. He’s even building separation between himself and the field as his closest competitors are 2-wins back. It’s still far too early to look at yusho races but if he stays healthy upright, he should be a force in the eventual yusho race next week.
Takakeisho is out of it, though, and Kirishima is looking increasingly shaky. For a change, no one is over-performing. I somehow doubt this will end up a runaway yusho for Terunofuji but he has been fundamentally steady + fierce. Who will challenge him?
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If Takakeisho loses his Ozeki title, he will look back at today and smash his head against a wall enough to take down the Great Chinese wall full length;-) letting this bout slip away is inexcusable if you are already in a tight spot, but he might not even get close to 8 anyways.
Hoshoryu had a really lucky escape today. I think it was ok to call a torinaoshi, but it was more luck than anything that Ura slipped out at the same time. The redo put Ura in the difficult position to surprise Hoshoryu again and he wasn’t able to do that.
Abi looks like he is on his way out of Sanyaku. He lost to anyone actually there with his head (doesn’t include you, Atamifuji) so far. That fusen he picked up might be valuable in the end.
Oho had a good loss today. I know there are no good losses, but he lost attacking and going forward.
The Hokutofuji bout had me wince multiple times. Right at the start I think Nishikifuji is very close to rolling his ankle and then this lengthy kotenage … I had bad Tamawashi flashbacks.
Wakatakakage apparently wants to make sure he doesn’t get called up too high.
Terunofuji can probably rest after day 12. Doesn’t look like anybody else will get 12 wins;-)
Kirishima vs Hoshoryu tomorrow is already a do or die bout for Kirishima.
Gotta agree with your Wrap Up, it’s not looking good for Takakeisho and Kirishima.
Takakeisho needs to go 6-3 down the strech and I don’t see that happening
Kirishima needs to go 7-2 down the strech and I don’t see that happening either
On the other hand, it’s nice to see Terunofuji wrecking shop at 6-0 and 2 up on the chasers. Not sure he can keep it up but if Hoshoryu can’t take the yusho I’d like to see the Yokozuna get his 10th.
I’m fairly new to sumo, (how have I gotten this old without discovering sumo?!), and I very much enjoy your summation of each day’s bouts, and the comments that follow! I’m constantly learning more about the subtleties of this amazing sport. Personally, I would like Hoshoryu to win this yusho, and be a touch more consistent in his sumo. If however Terenofuji wins his tenth yusho to be a ‘great Yokozuna’, and retires, how long before one, or more, of the sanyaku gets promoted do you think? Or is it just too unpredictable to hazard a guess?
Also, may I ask…..yusho or honbasho?
I don’t know why Terunofuji would retire suddenly. People think he’s favored to inherit the Isegahama kabu but Isegahama will probably want that until he’s 70. I just figure there’s no rush and he’s still winning…why retire? Takakeisho, otoh, is not winning much of late.
Are you looking for the definition of yusho and honbasho? Yusho means championship. Honbasho refers to one of the 6 annual tournaments.
Welcome to sumo fandom!
Ex-Asahifuji can’t be Isegahama until age 70 unless the stable undergoes a renaming when he needs to give it up at 65, and that appears highly unlikely as it’s the ichimon’s namesake heya.
But of course it’s still not necessarily Terunofuji who will hold the Isegahama name next.
He will need to retire next year and as you said, it’s not 100% that Terunofuji will be the next Isegahama. (Minds will be blown if it’s Hakuho.)
But the Isegahama Ichimon used to be Tatsunami. I’ve been curious why it doesn’t become the Asakayama Ichimon since Kaio seems to be running things now. It used to be the Tatsunami Ichimon then switched. On SumoDB it’s still Tatsunami.
Anyway, I have no idea if he will be like Michinoku and keep the kabu after retirement or Miyagino and trade it away and possibly not stay on as sanyo for the full 5 years. I guess I just don’t get why Terunofuji would retire at the magic number of 10.
It’s very messy. It used to be the Tatsunami-Isegahama rengo, technically a permanent association of two ichimon-like groups. Then Isegahama-beya folded (the Kiyokuni version), so the name made no sense anymore and they changed to Tatsunami-ichimon. Then Tatsunami-oyakata/beya bolted to Takanohana’s renegade group, so that name made no sense anymore either. They briefly went with Kasugayama-Isegahama rengo (Asahifuji had reinstablished Isegahama-beya in the meantime) for fairly unfathomable reasons, and then changed to just Isegahama-ichimon a few months later.
Anyway, all that just so I can express my skepticism that they’ll be in the mood for yet another group name change. It’s not a given that the acknowledged leader of a group should be the namesake shisho, anyway. None of the most recent three Tokitsukaze-oyakata has played any significant role in that ichimon, and of course nobody thinks the current Takasago is more important than Hakkaku (or even than Kokonoe). That’s why it was so unusual what the Nishonoseki group did a couple of years ago, when they specifically maneuvered to put the name on Kisenosato as a forward-looking “he’ll be our #1 guy soon” measure.
I’m fairly sure the future of both Isegahama-beya (the actual entity, not the name) and the Isegahama kabu have been decided already, and they could well end up going to separate people, but they’re clearly keeping things under wraps for the time being.
A great Yokozuna or Dai Yokozuna is not an official title and it’s not something achieved by simply winning 10 tournaments. It’s the public perception. He sure has a great story coming back from injury etc., but personally I don’t think he matches up well with other greats. He is taking advantage of very weak competition and a very lenient treatment of his absences.
Nevertheless, 10 is obviously some milestone.
The Hoshoryu-Ura match (take 1, that is) was quite something…. I can’t recall ever seeing a gyoji call a match both ways at the end, watch it back – I’m sure he pointed for Hoshoryu and then quick-as-a-flash swivelled to point for Ura (or was it the other way round,… I’m easily confused). FWIW, I thought the rematch was the correct call from the Mono-ii… just a shame that take 2 was less competitive. If gyoji don’t already have a signal to use for ‘I don’t know’, maybe this double point thing might catch on.
I’ve seen the double point happen before but if you watch bouts with the younger gyoji in the lower divisions you’ll pretty much see everything. Don’t usually see uncertainty in the top division but it happens.
I don’t think I’ve ever admired someone’s fighting spirit as much as Hokutofuji’s. He always tries, and he’s willing to adapt on the fly (unlike many of his junior cohorts). I’ve watched him age prematurely throughout his career (he broke into the top division right about when I was first getting into sumo), as his high-intensity style causes a tremendous strain on his body. But Hokutofuji always seems to hang around. Just like I admired Tochiozan’s decorum, and Kisenosato’s well of talent (without seeming to flaunt it), Hokutofuji is, to my mind, the prototypical sumo wrestler one should aim for. Not the most well-rounded in what’s in his toolbox, but what he does he does well.
I gushed about all that above because Terunofuji did his thing again, and now the chasers are even more distant in his rearview mirror. It’s great to see the yokozuna get back to his core basics and dominate with them.
I would add Ikioi and Homasho to that short list.
“…propelled Ura into Robocop…” Lovely. It’s nice to notice Takamisakari/Azumazeki at judging duty. Brings back memories of days when I first started to watch sumo around 2000, as narrated by Syd Hoare. Likewise, such pleasure to see Kyokutenho/Oshima sitting by the dohyo, ever so keen to crack a joke.
Chanced upon this website a few days ago, while searching for news about Asanoyama’s injury. If I may ask a question… Highly subjective, but it seems like there is a difference between wrestlers from abovementioned period and today; as if the average strength, stamina, toughness of that generation was much higher. Every now and then, I see user comments on Youtube along that line. Could be common nostalgia. I wondered if it’s worth discussion, and, if this sentiment would perhaps resonate among local (Japanese) audience as well.
I think there’s just always nostalgia. In 10 years we’ll be looking back on this era and…well… maybe not. I do think the sport is different now than 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. Konishiki kicked off the non-Japanese era and may have kicked off the growth of sumo bodies, physically. I imagine the bullying crackdown and Yakuza/yaocho crackdowns have had an impact. COVID definitely had an impact. There’s a lot of great quality coming from Universities and there’s a lot of great quality in smaller wrestlers. I wonder if that hurts their durability, though. Then you look at the state of development and the economy in Japan…the 1990s saw a lot of recruitment into Sumo, possibly due to rising unemployment?
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.NE.ZS?locations=JP
It’s a very interesting, multifaceted question. A lot of it may boil down to personal preference. Justin liked the Akebono/Takanohana/Wakanohana era precisely because there was that great rivalry. Seems a lot of people enjoyed the unparalleled dominance of Hakuho. I can see both points.
Unless he reaggravates his injuries in a big way, I don’t see anyone taking this from Teru. Guys like Tobizaru and Meisei usually give him more trouble than our current ozeki but this time he dispatched them both in a pretty authoritative manner.
Do we know anything about Takayasu’s injury? Is he definitely kyujo for the remainder?
Yeah, tear in his pec. I think they were saying he’s out for three weeks.
Too bad. Thanks
Agree w/Savaros re Terunofuji. A mediocre Yokozuna at best, altho we may have been spoiled by the cast of 3-4 Yokozuna a few years ago. And his dropping out after loses on day 1 or 2 is not all that impressive. Nor is his necessity of firing off on the tachiai. Maybe I’m spoiled and things have changed, but that used to be a no-no for Yokozuna.
I’d disagree. Kisenosato and Kakuryu were mediocre Yokozuna (GOAT Ozeki) but Terunofuji is very talented and accomplished. I only wonder what his career would have looked like if he had sat out earlier in his career the first time around and hadn’t tried to fight through the pain until he was demoted from Juryo.
Ok, as long as I’m on the “how good really is Terunofuji” subject, it seems his opponent for day #8 is #5 Shonannumi. He is a good up&comer, however filling that spot at this point, unless I’m wrong, should be left to one of the Sanyaku, of whom there remain 8, none of whom, unless I’m wrong again, are members of Isegahama – Terunofuji’s stable. Might it be that the Kyokai might be going just a wee bit overboard in trying to push Terunofuji into his 10th Yusho? Doesn’t the Yokozuna have to fight all Sanyaku, provided they are not a relative or stablemate? Seriously, I’d like to know. And with #5 Onosho out, does that mean Terunofuji’s Monday opponent will be #6 Freida…sorry, Takanosho?
Terunofuji had day 1 match against West Komusubi Hiradoumi, so only 7 Sanyaku opponents left for him to go through.