News from the infirmary that Tohakuryu has checked in and gone kyujo. Hidenoumi picked up the fusen sho. Perhaps Tohakuryu has the additional duty of trying to find Kawazoe. Kawazoe has been kyujo for the last few days but there has been no news. Maybe he got lost trying to find the check-in desk? Our sincere hope is that there is no news here. He had won his bout and appeared uninjured but has been kyujo for several days.
Oshomi continues to press ahead in Juryo and remains undefeated.
Your video links are here: Juryo Part I and Part II, Makuuchi Part I and Part II.
Makuuchi Action
Asakoryu (3-3) defeated Shishi (2-4). Shishi quickly yielded a morozashi, double inside belt grip to his opponent. Asakoryu took advantage by swinging Shishi over to the edge. Somehow Shishi kept his balance but Asakoryu reached in again and executed a second throw attempt. This time he brought the lumbering Shishi down. Shitatenage.
Onokatsu (6-0) defeated Kayo (4-2). Onokatsu just kept Kayo in front of him and maintained steady pressure on Kayo with that left hand grip. Onokatsu ushered Kayo over the bales with ease. Yorikiri.
Takerufuji (4-2) defeated Chiyoshoma (3-3). Takerufuji hit Chiyoshoma hard and shoved him over the bales. Oshidashi.
Bushozan (1-5) defeated Nishikifuji (1-5). The two exchanged tsuppari for a few seconds and Nishikifuji finished himself off with a poorly executed pull. Bushozan gladly pressed forward and shoved the Isegahama sekitori out of the ring. Bushozan appeared to tweak his left ankle, unable to hide a bit of a limp. Both men are certainly struggling in the top division at the moment. Oshidashi.
Shonannoumi (4-2) defeated Tokihayate (2-4). Shonannoumi got a deep grip on Tokihayate’s belt and quickly pulled him down. Uwatenage.
Tamawashi (3-3) defeated Ryuden (3-3). Tamawashi assaulted Ryuden about the head and neck, quickly driving Ryuden back. Oshidashi.
Ichiyamamoto (4-2) defeated Hokutofuji (1-5). Ichiyamamoto got himself into a pickle with his back to the edge of the dohyo. But as Hokutofuji charged forward to finishi him, Ichiyamamoto slipped to the side and slapped Hokutofuji down. Hokutofuji’s momentum carried him past the black tassel and into the third row of spectators. Hatakikomi.
Takarafuji (4-2) defeated Sadanoumi (3-3). Sadanoumi put in a great effort to stave off Takarafuji’s multiple attacks but Takarafuji succeeded in forcing Sadanoumi over the bales. Yorikiri.
Takayasu (3-3) defeated Meisei (3-3). Meisei charged forward, forcing Takayasu to the edge but Takayasu pivoted and thrust Meisei down as he fell out of the ring himself. Gunbai Takayasu. Mono-ii to make sure. The conference confirmed the gyoji’s decision. Tsukiotoshi.
Midorifuji (3-3) defeated Endo (3-3). Both men had worked themselves into a bit of a stalemate in their right-hand inside grapple. Midorifuji tried a shitatenage. Endo resisted but Midorifuji slipped his left-hand inside and secured a morozashi. From there, he was able to get low and forced Endo to stay high. With that leverage, Midorifuji ushered Endo back and out. Yorikiri.
Gonoyama (5-1) defeated Takanosho (5-1). Takanosho tried a pull at the tachiai, but that got him into trouble at the edge. Takanosho then charged forward and Gonoyama slipped to his right, pushing Takanosho down as Takanosho got full extension in his Superman belly flop under the black tassel. Hikiotoshi.
Halftime
Tobizaru (4-2) defeated Roga (2-4). Tobizaru with the side-step at the tachiai seemed to completely disrupt Roga’s attack. Tobizaru followed up by charging into Roga and he succeed in shoving Roga to the floor. Oshitaoshi.
Mitakeumi (5-1) defeated Kotoshoho (1-5). Kotoshoho drove into Mitakeumi. Mitakeumi shifted to the side and pulled Kotoshoho down while tumbling out, himself. Mitakeumi landed hard on his shoulder as he fell off the dohyo. In obvious pain, the blue jacket brigade assembled ringside to secure Mitakeumi onto the back-board and stretcher him away. In a bizarre scene, Kotoshoho bowed to no one and the gyoji turned to an empty dohyo. Tsukiotoshi.
Nishikigi (1-5) defeated Oshoma (1-5). Nishikigi switched up his grip and when he locked in with his right hand inside and left hand outside, he drove Oshoma to the edge and over for his first win of the tournament. Yorikiri.
Ura (2-4) defeated Oho (2-4). Oho was doing a good job of shoving Ura and keeping him in front. Oho shoved Ura to the edge but Ura slipped to the side and got behind Oho. Oho turned around to find Ura charging into him.
Sanyaku
Shodai (2-4) defeated Wakamotoharu (3-3). Shodai needs no rally towels. Shodai hit Wakamotoharu and drove him back. When Wakamotoharu hit the bales Shodai pulled and Wakamotoharu rolled to the floor. Hikiotoshi.
Kirishima (1-5) defeated Hiradoumi (1-5). Hiradoumi shifted to the left at the tachiai and then drove into Kirishima from the side. He forced the action to the bales. The two danced together along the tawara but Kirishima, with the right hand inside, swung Hiradoumi down to the ground. Kirishima rolled his ankle when landing and limped back down the hanamichi. Shitatedashinage.
Churanoumi (2-4) defeated Daieisho (3-3). A wild brawl as the two men traded thrusting attacks. Churanoumi suddenly pulled Daieisho forward and down. Hatakikomi.
Hoshoryu (6-0) defeated Atamifuji (4-2). Atamifuji fought very well, made great use of his size and had the Ozeki cornered at the bales. Atamifuji charged forward and knocked Hoshoryu out. Gunbai Hoshoryu? Mono-ii. On review, that was much closer than I thought. The gyoji got the right call. Atamifuji’s toe touched out as he pushed Hoshoryu, whose heel remained on the tawara. Asamiashi.
Kotozakura (5-1) defeated Abi (4-2). Pulling Abi was back today and Kotozakura was not going to fall for it. As Abi retreated, Kotozakura helped him get extra air with a hearty shove. Oshidashi.
Wakatakakage (4-2) defeated Onosato (4-2). Wakatakakage hit Onosato hard. As WTK pressed forward, Onosato obliged with a pull and slapdown attempt. Huge mistake as Wakatakakage maintained his balance, continued to press forward and drove Onosato out. Oshidashi.
Wrap-up
Wow, what a day of ups and downs. We definitely expect Mitakeumi to be kyujo. I hope there’s not a fracture there but it did not look good. Kirishima picked up his first win but may have injured his ankle. Atamifuji lost a heart breaker. He was inches from a great upset but fell to one of the rare “losing moves” rather than a kimarite.
Our Ozeki are performing well, though Onosato falls further from the lead.
Discover more from Tachiai (立合い)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hello Andy,
greetings from Czech repulic, Europe. Thank you for your news articles. Im relatively new sumo fan, I have been watching just from Haru basho this year and you helped me a lot to understand sumo basics. This is great basho so far, just today I was heartbreaked for Atamifuji, he was better of the two rikishi, but still lost…
What an unhealthy day for some rikishi! Mitakeumi made me holding my breath. Yeah – it looked like the shoulder but also could have been the hip, thus no way to get up by himself.
Oho‘s Happy Headbutt Game will make him blind some day. It‘s not completely wrong to avoid it by the Slappy Slap, instead of going for the same. Ura prefered the latter today but obviously had not much fun with it.
Makuuchi Man Of The Day once again: Midorifuji. Great performance!
There’s an old saying in Korea. Men should always take good care of three tips.. tongue, pen, and uhh.. for Atamifuzi, it is toe! BTW, doesn’t ‘dead body rule’ apply here? I thought at least torinaoshi there. Any way, a big boost for Hosh in the yusho race.
Onosato’s problem is short memory. He is losing to the same opponents with the same kimarite. Remember losses in the last basho..? To Abi on the senshurak with the perfect nodowa? To WTK after busting a couple of pulls, that almost got him?
I can predict him to lose to Hoshoryu with you know what.. big throw.
After all those replays in slow motion I expected at least a rematch, too. How can they be sure that Hoshoryu‘s foot in the air wasn‘t already lower than the dohyo‘s surface?
I’m not sure if having a foot lower than the dohyo surface is significant. This isn’t like American football with the “plane of the goal line”. I am not sure if “the plane of the dohyo” is a thing or not. I will check.
What I do know is that Hoshoryu’s heel was in contact with the tawara. It looked to me like he was still actively trying to pull Atamifuji so I was a little surprised that he didn’t earn an outright with with a legit kimarite for pulling Atamifuji forward.
I’ve just watched the highlight programme on NHK, what a day! I saw poor Mitakeumi put his hand out to break his fall and then land so heavily on his shoulder. I fear for his wrist and his rotator cuff at the very least, hopefully not worse, though that’s a horrible injury. I hope he didn’t actually break his fall with his wrist, bad move for anyone. I hope is OK, though going off on a gurney is never good.
Re Hoshoryu, he basically lost to Atamifuji didn’t he, except for the technicality of Atamifuji putting his toe on the clay outside the Tamara bales first. Hoshoryu seems to have problems beating Atamifuji…anyone got any ideas as to why?
Tawara, sorry, autocorrect.😔
So many matches are decided by whose heel or toe touches down first outside the ring, and you can see how actively they try to avoid it. Where I would call it a technicality is where someone loses because their topknot touches first (which has happened) – there are no muscles in hair that let you counter gravity!
Wishing the best for Mitakeumi, that looked awful. And Kirishima, rolling an ankle is never fun.
I should confess that I have never understood the dead body rule well. But when Murray Johnson says it was a great call by the gyoji, I will take his word for it.
If Hoshoryu had been in the air, I think he would have been dead, no doubt. He was obviously still actively engaged in the bout, though and pulling Atamifuji forward.
I don’t recall seeing Atamifuji get thrown. He seems to use his size very well.
It’s definitely not a thing, but even the NHK (English) commentators have been known to make reference to that bogus idea of an “extended plane”, so it’s been very hard to stamp out this particular urban legend.
WTK returned with resistance to pull downs. The pattern with Hoshoryu throwing Onosato was broken in fourth attempt. Onosato definitely makes progress, but he lost his new-opponent-effect for sure.
do we have any news from Mitakeumi?
I hope it is nothing serious
Nikkan Sports mentions that “according to a source, Mitakeumi suffered a strong blow to his left hip and left shoulder. After receiving treatment in the medical room, he was able to climb into an ambulance on his own, with the help of someone from the hospital, and left the venue.”
I’ve tried to find news about whether there was a fracture or further damage, like ligiments/tendons. He was in incredible pain.
What a turbulent day. Mitakeumi’s horrible fall. Ryuden’s mild concussion. Show of strength by Asakoryu and Midorifuji. Gonoyama’s ebb-and-flow tactic against Takanosho. Ura’s hypnotic act of shrinking. Atamifuji’s clumsy toes. Finally, Onosato’s last ditch effort to jump at the edge –“if I can only manage to float long enough”, he must have thought.
LOL, Onosato would have needed to float his butt back to the dohyo to not be a dead body. With that rule, I really think it makes less sense to do those silly leaps.
If you convince a judge that your “leap” is a “pull” and they touch outside first, then you have a chance to win. It happens most often when an opponent firmly plants a foot outside the ring after being “pulled”. I agree with you that leaping makes no sense, Andy. But, the judges have previously handed wins to some airborne rikishi.
Best wishes to Mitakeumi and Krishima – hope both recover quickly!
Wish Atamafuji would have won – that was a heartbreaker! At least there are two 6-0 rikishi. It will be interesting to see Onokatsu fight in the upper part of the banzuke.
My towel theory is totally off! Onosato was suppose to win in spectacular fashion like WTK did last basho – oh well. I guess I am just going to display them. When in the wash though, they both lost!
Thanks for the update on Mitakeumi!
I still don’t get the dead body rule – it seems variable to me.
The future is bright for Onokatsu. He’s quickly becoming one of my favourite rikishi.
Mitakeumi is one of the truely good guys in Grand Sumo and has fought like hell to recover from injuries to both shoulders. Was saddened to see him laying there writhing in pain. Big loss for Grand Sumo.