A busy day in the infirmary today as Hokutofuji went kyujo in the top division and the pair of Shimazuumi and Tsurugisho went kyujo in Juryo. Takerufuji picked up a forfeit victory over Shimazuumi. Chiyoshoma lost to Hidenoumi so Takerufuji is in sole possession of the lead. Tomorrow Takerufuji will fight Chiyoshoma.
Your NHK videos for Day 11 are here: Juryo Part I and Part II, Makuuchi Part I and Part II.
Makuuchi Action
Shirokuma (4-7) defeated Onokatsu (4-7). Shirokuma established his hidari-yotsu hold around Onokatsu’s trunk and drove forward. Onokatsu tried to escape left along the bales but Shirokuma stayed with him and forced him out. Yorikiri.
Kitanowaka (5-6) defeated Kinbozan (4-7). Kitanowaka got a hold of Kinbozan’s belt, swung him back to the edge and pressed him out. Yorikiri.
Takarafuji (7-4) defeated Bushozan (4-7). After a strong start, Bushozan has been terrible. Today, Takarafuji avoided Bushozan’s weak pull and pressed forward behind his tsuppari. This was enough to end Bushozan’s day. Oshidashi.
Nishikifuji (5-6) defeated Kagayaki (1-10). Kagayaki tried to get the train moving forward with hazuoshi driving into Nishikifuji’s right armpit. But Nishikifuji turned the tables by cycling backward along the bales and then shifting inside to put Kagayaki in trouble. A few simple blasts and he forced Kagayaki out. Oshidashi.
Tamawashi (5-6) default win over Hokutofuji (6-5).
Ichiyamamoto (5-6) defeated Ryuden (6-5). Ichiyama-zumo completely disrupted Ryuden. The pull nearly got Ryuden but Ichiyamamoto followed with strong tsuppari and then just launched himself into Ryuden, driving him back and out. Yorikiri.
Sadanoumi (6-5) defeated Midorifuji (4-7). Sadanoumi corralled Midorifuji, drove him backwards and out. Yorikiri.
Takayasu (9-2) defeated Endo (7-4). Takayasu’s headshot tsuppari was too intimidating for Endo, who quickly found the exit. Tsukidashi.
Roga (6-5) defeated Churanoumi (6-5). Churanoumi tried an escape at the edge but Roga pressed forward and forced him over. Oshidashi.
Nishikigi (9-2) defeated Wakatakakage (8-3). Nishikigi used his size advantage well to contain WTK. He pressed forward to get a good hold of Wakatakakage’s left arm, then pulled back, yanking WTK to the ground. Kotenage.
Halftime
Oshoma (8-3) defeated Meisei (2-9). Meisei was just completely overpowered by Oshoma. Oshoma had a solid overarm grip and threw Meisei out at the edge. Uwatenage.
Shodai (7-4) defeated Gonoyama (3-8). Shodai fought through Gonoyama’s nodowa and did not allow himself to be shoved back to the bales. Instead, he batted Gonoyama’s hands down and latched on with a deep left-hand overarm grip at the back of Gonoyama’s belt. With that strong grip he rotated backwards and swung Gonoyama down. Uwatenage.
Wakamotoharu (7-4) defeated Shonannoumi (2-9). Hidari-yotsu. Wakamotoharu was able to easily drive forward and force Shonannoumi over the bales. Yorikiri.
Tobizaru (4-7) defeated Mitakeumi (3-8). Tobizaru with the migi-yotsu here. He slipped to Mitakeumi’s right side and secured a deep left-hand belt grip. Mitakeumi didn’t appear to know how to counter-attack someone who was so mobile and attacking from the side. Tobizaru kept hold of Mitakeumi’s belt and rotating backwards until he got Mitakeumi to the edge and pressed him over. Yorikiri.
Oho (7-4) defeated Takanosho (3-8). Takanosho gave Oho quite the puzzle today. He resisted Oho’s slapdowns and his forward thrusts. For every forward thrust, Takanosho gave Oho a scare with a slapdown attempt. As a result, Oho relied on his own slapdown attempts. What I liked about Oho’s pulls was they were short. If Takanosho resisted, he didn’t run the length of the dohyo, trying to pull Takanosho down. Oho finally “cornered” an exhausted Takanosho and shoved him out. Oshidashi.
Sanyaku
Atamifuji (5-6) defeated Hiradoumi (6-5). Hiradoumi hit a wall. Atamifuji used his migi-yotsu well, drove forward, and forced HIradoumi out. Yorikiri.
Kirishima (9-2) defeated Abi (2-9). No henka from Kirishima today but he took on Abi from the side. Abi did not let Kirishima come inside to get a belt grip but was very unsteady as Kirishima rotated to get behind him. As Kirishima charged forward, Abi jumped to the side, nearly catching Kirishima off-guard. But Kirishima caught up with Abi and slapped him down at the edge. Hatakikomi.
Onosato (11-0) defeated Kotoshoho (4-6). Onosato drove forward as Kotoshoho pulled back. Gunbai Onosato. Quick mono-ii as video replay showed Kotoshoho had stepped out. If Kotoshoho had better ring awareness, he had a chance to win. Oshidashi.
Ura (7-4) defeated Hoshoryu (6-5). Hoshoryu took Ura head on but Ura managed a better position, attacking Hoshoryu from the side. Hoshoryu tried a terrible pull, circling back to the bales. Ura stayed standing and shoved Hoshoryu out of a short ring. Okuridashi.
Daieisho (6-5) defeated Kotozakura (7-4). Kotozakura gave up at the edge and let Daieisho shove him over. The Ozeki ran away from Daieisho’s powerful thrusts. Oshidashi.
Wrap-up
Shaky Day Eleven. Disappointing results from our observer Ozeki and Onosato had quite the scare. Perhaps he was over-confident in his ability to drive Kotoshoho out. Tomorrow, Onosato will face Wakatakakage. The pair of rank-and-filers with two losses will fight the pair of Komusubi. Nishikigi will take on Daieisho and Takayasu will fight Hiradoumi. Meanwhile, Kirishima will fight the lethargic Kotozakura.
I guess rather than have Takayasu and Nishikigi pair up, they want to try to put an end to both men’s runs at the same time. I would have done this differently but I’m not scheduling these things.
The demotion story is changing a bit as Shirokuma and Kitanowaka have found a few wins. They had both been staring at certain demotion. Could they escape and keep their ranks? Kagayaki seems done, even from his high position. But he could probably save himself with two or three wins here at the end of the tournament.
The key difference will be who makes their case for promotion from Juryo. Chiyoshoma is in. Tokihayate and Shishi are putting together their case. Each will likely need one more win but two or more will be better and are well within reach. Down at Juryo 11, Takerufuji likely needs a strong, 13-2 or 14-1 yusho to earn promotion now. It would be a shame to see him left in the cold if Nishikifuji racks up another win.
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Takara —> Takeru
High time for Takarafuji to retire, otherwise that confusion will never stop!
On the other hand the oldie is on a little high at the moment, therefore a new shikona for Takerufuji would be advisable.
How about he comes in as Takayafuji (which probably means nothing in Japanese), the younger adopted sibling of Takayasu? LOL
x 3 !!! Yikes. Thank you.
Interesting for the links:
They do not works when clicking on a link from the site. But then if you copy paste them in another tab, the link work. They have a criteria to prevent launching the videos from another site, but the link in themselves are working fine
Weird isn’t it? For me I can do the following (Chrome on Android):
Long press on the link to open in new tab, go to the new tab, select the URL bar and Copy, then press Paste + Return.
I am wondering, what happened to Gonoyama.
He was doing well in the past bashos, the way he went up the ranks, I was thinking him as a Sanyaku rikishi.
But he is looks like struggling in the joi.
May be he is in bad form and hopefully recover in the coming Bashos
I expected him to have a good basho from outside the joi, but no.
He‘s a one trick pony and maybe the others know that trick by now?
Not sure if widespread inconsistency is good or bad –take Takanosho and Nishikigi. Only if Onosato will have to face both Ozeki in closing days, there might be a slight chance for one of the three followers to catch up. Cannot justify clearly why Onosato’s progress looks too easy to me, without serious challenge except for today’s bout against Kotoshoho.
If Takayasu and/or Nishikigi win on Day 12 that would presumably earn them the right to go head to head with Onosato. Otherwise, Onosato might get an
easier route through Abi and the two Ozeki.
IMO he needs to fight the 2 ozekis plus the closest followers. Abi, regardless of rank, is not a good match to pair to a yusho contender.
I just think you have to, “tick the box” and go through the high rankers first. So Abi before Takayasu or Nishikigi, for example.
Why does Big Onosato need to fight the two Ozeki’s if he is way ahead of them? IF he maintainw his undefeated status after Day 12 then that’s 12-0. How far behind are Koto and Hosh behind him if ever?
But in saying that, I’m specultaing that it will be 11 – 1 (Wakatakakage) after today, I hope I am terribly wrong and I’m wishing that Big Onosato proves me dead wrong.
Cheers
The Ozeki are still “the best” wrestlers on the dohyo. He’s got to go through them. They have definitely had a harder schedule than Takayasu or Nishikigi. They’re the men to beat.
That‘s right, but there have been exceptions, I seem to remember.
And it doesn’t apply to the future ex-Sanyaku Abi.
I expect Nishikigi or Takayasu as Onosato’s opponent on day 13.
And if the other one still had a chance to win the basho after day 13, he might actually fight the youngster instead of one of the Ozeki IMO.
He has to meet the Ozeki in day 13 and 14, because the last match of day 15 needs to be, by tradition and honor, Hoshoryu vs Kotozakura, the 2 highest ranking rikishi on the banzuke.
I totally agree the Ozeki are still “the best” wrestlers on the dohyo and he has to go through them to win the Yusho (and the promotion)
but Abi? his September record is terrible, I would prefer to see Onosato fighting someone with chances to win, and even in the scenario of the yusho already won by day 14, to meet the best of the contenders
Ah, yes, I forgot about that day 15 condition. Or rather, Onosato is already an Ozeki in my head!
Churanoumi’s flamingo pose at the edge was beautiful. It almost worked!!
Bittersweet win for Ura, he didn‘t have fun at all going against mentally shaken Hoshoryu. Never saw the Man in Pink so dimmed down and serious in pre-bout routine.
I was looking out for a feisty and unimpressed Kotoshoho to upset Onosato. A slightly better timing might have done it.
Happy that Kirishima didn‘t ‚go out on the shield‘ early on Day 10. I would really have missed his amusing corrida against Abi.
Daieisho was great against Kotozakura, but I didn‘t like to see the Ozeki lose another one.
Hiradoumi was short of tricks to disturb Atamifuji, who seems to imitate Onosato‘s marching-on style.
Oho on the way to fame and glory! I hope he doesn‘t have to give his right eye for it.
I was hoping to see Kotozakura be more challenging Onosato for the cup than that. Oh well. At least i am pretty sure he’ll be able to get his kachikochi.
And we have Kirishima who is somewhat there to challenge him.
I am happy to see him “bouce back” after his terrible string on basho that made him lose Ozeki. I do hope he’ll be able to regain this rank.
But i must say, i am very happy with Onosato’s sumo overall and dohyo demeanor.
While i have plenty of other rikishi that i found great and interesting, i haven’t been as much impress from a sumo style and dominance since Hakuho and Harumafuji. (Even if it is still yet really early to compare Onosato to those two great sumo tactician.)
Wow, Oho! Taking angles, fast switches between pushing and pulling (and not just attempts at tsukiotoshi, katasukashi and tottari were in there too), lots of action… all of that won him the initiative, but not the bout. Somehow it’s Oho’s endurance which has given him the edge, both in this match and in his victory over Kotozakura. He’s starting to remind me of Takayasu. (” For every forward thrust, Takanosho gave Oho a scare with a slapdown attempt” seems wrong to me — Takanosho tried it exactly once, just before the leaning started.)
Atamifuji was 1 and 7 against Hiradoumi going in and was at 4-6 to Hiradoumi’s 6-4 so I was a bit surprised at how dominant he was in that match.
Takayasu will tie it up somehow and win the yusho in a playoff. Clearly. Why is no one talking about this. Go Yasu!
Now that’s an outcome that I would like to see.
Nishikigi already beat Takayasu on day 4, which is why they’re not matched up.
anyone cheering for Papayasu?
I would like to see him winning, but I don’t know if I can bear the heartbreak of seeing him losing (another) playoff
Kirishima possibly could have won the match earlier if he didn’t do something I’ve also seen him do in the past: Sometimes he gives a great push to his opponent, but remains stationary with feet glued to the floor. It’s like the upper body is doing offense and the lower body is doing defense. Unless you have 2 meter long arms, you gotta move forward man :)
Takerufuji has never lost more than twice in a tournament in his entire career!
Shodai had one of the smoothest throws I’ve ever seen. Perfect leverage and body turn; he got Gonoyama moving off balance and then finished the throw. He was walking off before Gonoyama finished hitting the clay.
Wait until you see Day 13.