In the early action, Nishikikuni won the Jonidan playoff and Kinbozan defeated Aonishiki to win the Juryo yusho. We will certainly see Kinbozan back in the top division next tournament. Meanwhile, Aonishiki had one heck of a debut tournament, finishing 10-5. He will jump up the banzuke. Hakuoho also finished on 10-5 and should make his much awaited return to the top division. Oshomi even came back today, beat Hidenoumi and earned his 10th win, too.
NHK Video Links: Juryo Part I and Part II, Makuuchi Part I and Part II
Special Prize Announcement
We received our Bi-monthly proof of life from the Kyokai. “Yes, we have your champion. He is here and he is alive.” And we put him to work today to show you the special prizes.
Since the Twitter embeds seem to be broken (shocker), here’s a screenshot. Abi earned the Outstanding Performance Prize, unconditionally. Takanosho must beat Wakatakakage today to earn the Fighting Spirit Prize. Wakatakakage, however, earned his own unconditional Technique Prize.
Makuuchi Action
Bushozan (3-8-4) defeated Ryuden (4-11). Bushozan pressed forward into Ryuden and faced little resistance. He tried a slapdown but Ryuden did not fall for it. So, Bushozan charged ahead and shoved Ryuden out. Oshidashi.
Asakoryu (6-9) defeated Meisei (8-7). Meisei spent the first part of this bout trying to hold Asakoryu at arm’s length. Eventually, Meisei charged forward and Asakoryu slapped him down. Hatakikomi.
Takerufuji (10-5) defeated Tamawashi (8-7). Tamawashi charged forward into Takerufuji. This allowed Takerufuji to wrap up Tamawashi. Once he did, he spun the Iron Man around, putting him close to the bales. Tamawashi resisted so Takerufuji pulled and thrust the old man down.Tsukiotoshi.
Shishi (5-10) defeated Takarafuji (8-7). Takarafuji made a mistake by reaching in and grabbing Shishi’s belt. Shishi immediately worked his right hand inside, pulling Takarafuji’s left off. Shishi kept pressing forward and forced Takarafuji back and out. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto (8-7) defeated Sadanoumi (4-11). Ichiyamamoto used his tsuppari effectively, shoved Sadanoumi back and forced him down at the bales. Not a good tournament for Sadanoumi. Tsukitaoshi.
Hokutofuji (7-8) defeated Takayasu (8-7). Hokutofuji pressed Takayasu back to the bales with his hazu-oshi. When Takayasu reached the bales, Hokutofuji pulled and thrust Takayasu down to the ground. An exasperated Takayasu seemed upset with himself that he fell for that. Tsukiotoshi.
Midorifuji (7-8) defeated Onokatsu (9-6). Onokatsu did well to force Midorifuji back. Midorifuji used the bales to brace and make his own charge forward. Midorifuji spun Onokatsu around and Onokatsu lost his ring presence for a moment, a fatal mistake. He thought he was further away from the bales so when Midorifuji pressed forward, Onokatsu slid backwards, right over the bales and out. It seemed like Onokatsu had wanted the brace against the bales but was closer than he thought. Yorikiri.
Roga (7-8) defeated Tokihayate (6-9). Roga wrapped up Tokihayate and dispatched him rather easily. Roga charged forward and walked Tokihayate over the bales. Yorikiri.
Endo (7-8) defeated Nishikifuji (6-9). Endo weathered Nishikifuji’s tsuppari and earned himself a lefthand inside belt grip. That settled Nishikifuji’s tsuppari attack. Endo charged forward and forced Nishikifuji over the bales, in spite of Nishikifuji’s super loose belt. Yorikiri.
Tobizaru (9-6) defeated Shonannoumi (8-7). Tobizaru started this bout trying to stay arm’s length from Shonannoumi. Shonannoumi would push forward enough to pull and try a slapdown. Tobizaru defeated this attack every time so he gained confidence to move in closer to Shonannoumi. Tobizaru quickly put Shonannoumi into a headlock and tried to trip him, but that failed. Tobizaru steadily pressed in closer and eventually worked Shonannoumi to the edge and simply shoved him over the bales. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Atamifuji (8-7) defeated Mitakeumi (7-8). In our sole Darwin bout, Atamifuji grabbed Mitakeumi and used gaburi-zumo, the hip pumping action made famous by Kotoshogiku, to force Mitakeumi back and over the edge. Yorikiri.
Gonoyama (11-4) defeated Abi (11-4). Abi tried to pull, right after the tachiai. Fatal mistake as Gonoyama was ready, charged forward and chased Abi out. Oshidashi.
Chiyoshoma (11-4) defeated Ura (5-10). At the tachiai, Chiyoshoma tried to grab Ura’s belt but missed. As Ura charged ahead, Chiyoshoma grabbed Ura’s shoulder, and pulled Ura to the ground. Katasukashi.
Takanosho (11-4) defeated Wakatakakage (10-5). Wakatakakage tried to slap Takanosho down but Takanosho retaliated by slapping Wakatakakage down, winning the bout and the Fighting Spirit Prize. Hatakikomi.
Hiradoumi (4-11) defeated Churanoumi (4-11). Hiradoumi wrapped up Churanoumi and used a rather hyper-active gaburi-zumo technique to force Churanoumi over the edge. Yorikiri.
Oho (6-9) defeated Nishikigi (5-10). Oho charged forward but Nishikigi twisted and nearly pulled Oho down. Oho recovered and pulled but Nishikigi was ready and charged forward, forcing Oho to the bales. Oho put on the brakes and decided he needed to get aggressive. So, Oho slammed his way forward with a hefty headbutt and drove Nishikigi over the bales. Oshidashi.
Oshoma (4-11) defeated Shodai (4-11). Oshoma’s early pull and slapdown failed. But Oshoma was unafraid of Shodai. Why should he be, frankly? So, he pressed forward, gave Shodai a nodowa to start moving him back, and shoved Shodai over the bales. Oshidashi.
Kore Yori Sanyaku
Wakamotoharu (10-5) defeated Daieisho (8-7). Wakamotoharu met Daieisho head on but moved laterally, quickly and slapped Daieisho down. Tsukiotoshi.
Onosato (9-6) defeated Kirishima (6-9). Kirishima reached inside, grabbed at Onosato’s belt and spun the Ozeki around. Kirishima slapped Onosato but that only served to anger him. Onosato charged forward and shoved Kirishima out. Oshidashi.
Kotozakura (14-1) defeated Hoshoryu (13-2). Hoshoryu took his attack to Kotozakura. Nodowa, Nodowa. Hoshoryu shoved forward and saw an opening for Kotozakura’s belt. He reached over, seized Kotozakura’s belt and dragged him around. Kotozakura hopped around to maintain his balance. Kotozakura reacted almost reflexively, casually to slap Hoshoryu down with his right hand. Hatakikomi.
Wrap-up
Welp. It’s over. Kotozakura won his first yusho in spectacular fashion. He was certainly challenged by Hoshoryu. Hoshoryu likely tasted victory as he yanked Kotozakura around by his belt. The taste was fleeting however, and quickly replaced with a face full of dirt.
It was Kotozakura’s first yusho, so he was understandably unsure of where to go and what to do…but it felt like it was Hakkaku’s first yusho, too. Like he and the other oyakata forgot what to do and where to stand. We have to wait until January for more? Well, let’s let these guys dust themselves off, heal up, and get ready for Hatsu!
What of our other Ozeki? You know, Mr. Hype Machine turned Major Disappointment, Onosato. Well, I think the hype is still intact. He finished this, quote-unquote, “disappointing” tournament with a 9-6 record! He has yet to do worse than 9-6 in any tournament so far. Yeah, that’s not Ozeki Kachi-koshi and he lost to both of his peers, but shoot…the kid just got the rank. Let’s see what happens in January.
Add to that, we have Hoshoryu and Kotozakura with dominant performances, Takerufuji on the rise, Wakatakakage in sanyaku with Wakamotoharu. Hakuoho ready for his return…I think it’s fair to say the new era is upon us. I am very excited to see what happens.
Thanks to you all for enjoying this action with me. It was an awesome tournament, made even better since I got to share it with y’all.
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I hate the Sumo Gods for the way they tease us Hoshoryu fans. I curse them with a bad case of heartburn, stomach nausea, and diarrhea. May they not recover until they relent and Hoshoryu is a Yokozuna.
First of all big congratultations to Kotozakura for winning his first Yusho as Ozeki. Also job well done with your coverage this basho, as usual.
You said “What of our other Ozeki? You know, Mr. Hype Machine turned Major Disappointment, Onosato”.
Seriously??? Head to head
Makuuchi Titles
Kotozakura – 1
Onosato – 2
Nothing disappointing about 2 yusho’s especially if you are comparing Onosato’s with Kotozakura’s. Enough said.
Ozeki Promotion
Kotozakura – March 2024
Onosato – November 2024
It took Kotozakura 10 months to win a yusho as Ozeki. He had zero yusho leading up to his promotion whereas Onosato had 2 yushos which I believe was the basis for his Ozeki promotion. What was Kotozakura’s ?
Another thing what’s with the “Mr Hype Machine” business? Never heard Onosato hyping himself up, do you? If anything its the punters who have been dumping on him all this time even when he was riding a peak before the November.
Anyways that’s that eh. You are awesome for your tireless efforts. Please keep it up.
Of course there is nothing disappointing with two yusho for Onosato. And nobody says so.
Disappointing at a very high level is his yo-yo pattern: yusho, „only“ 9 wins, yusho, 9 wins.
Either he falters a little bit when expectations are ultra high after a yusho or he is at his best only in Tokyo (so far).
Oh, I don’t even consider it “faltering”. He has a great tournament and gets promoted which brings more responsibility and more challenges. So it should be expected to follow up with fewer wins.
Not to ment that his bout against Hoshoryu was a 98% Onosato win and vs. Kotozakura maybe a 75-80% win. Not based on pre bout expectation, but the actual bouts that got turned at the edge.
He had some really bad bouts especially regarding his ill advised pulls, but apparently some things you have to experience repeatedly, before they sink in.
Overall some up and downs should be normal when moving up. Others adjust to you, you adjust on this experience on the other hand it was about time for the other Ozeki to have a break out tournament as Ozeki.
Sarcasm is very difficult to express in writing. I agree with you. He’s the real deal.
Kotozakura was the deserving winner of this basho. He had less close bouts or should have been losses than Hoshoryu, but Hoshoryu had a great basho as well. His throws are a thing of beauty. He was sharp and focussed all basho and won in a variety of ways.
The top rikishi on the banzuke being in Yusho competition and finishing with a strong score has been something mostly absent those last 3 or 4 years. In all of the 2000s there were only 3 Yusho with less than 12 wins and none with less. In the 2010s we had only 4, 2 of the 4 in 2019 and since 2021 we had a whopping 11 12-win Yusho and even one with 11 wins. I hope this basho becomes the new normal.
Those strong scores are also great as it opens the door for two simultaneous rope runs and even with Onosato not having a stellar tournament, he could easily join there soon.
Wakatakakage had a decent showing this basho, but needs to further improve, if he wants to become an Ozeki, as some here hope.
Kirishima looked so off at the start of the basho that there has to be something. He recovered a bit and softened his fall, but ultimately couldn’t prevent demotion. I hope he can consistently return to Ozeki form Kiribayama.
Takerufuji finished with a modest (given some expectations here) 10-5 score, which will nicely bump him up the banzuke, but should have him still outside the joiin.
My friend Oho had a disappointing tournament. 6-9 is an okay record for that, but do you really need to pick up losses against Shodai, Ura and Oshoma? All having an off-basho?
Hiradoumi was the sad story of the tournament. In front of his home crowd he was somehow cursed. Fighting well and spirited, but somehow picking up lots after loss.
The other sad story was Shishi. He started strong, then lost this epic bout with Onokatsu and that started a downward spiral. He looked a bit disheartened at times in week two, but at least softened his fall a bit with two wins in the last two days.
Onokatsu was a pleasant surprise looking calm and collected and with a plan in most bouts. Drastic change to last basho. He would deserved double digits, but this tepid matchmaking disturbed his run a bit.
Speaking of positive surprises, little Goeido had a really good basho. Hopefully he can consistently perform like this.
For he most part of this basho it looked like no one wanted to move up from Juryo, but thanks to some strong finishes, it looks like we will have a rather big exchange here too.
I really enjoyed this basho. Thanks for the coverage. Looking forward to January.
Great summary. But I‘m not sure if I agree with U that the top rikishi should always dominate like that. I‘m exaggerating a little bit here, but if it was so one would practically only wait for the last few days when the Yokozuna and Ozeki meet.
And there remains the unanswerable question whether a relatively small number of wins means that the best ranked fighters were weak or that their opposition was strong which I think would be desirable.
In my opinion the top guys should be at least in contention in most if not all basho and the ones to beat. But this isn’t the case in the last 4 or 5 years unless a healthy Terunofuji is around with the emphasis on healthy.
The scores of the last years are not the result of strong competition, but of comparatively weak and inconsistent rikishi in the top ranks. The fact that someone like Shodai with no tachiai at all made it to Ozeki speaks volumes. He wouldn’t even have made sanyaku in the last decade (let’s say till 2017), unless he fixed that. And I like shodai;-)
Well, I‘ve heard that song many times before and in earlier decades, too…
U might be surprised what the database says: in the 8 „strong“ years up to your 2017 there were 69 Ozeki kadoban records and in the 8 „weak“ years since then there have been 38. I know, this doesn’t prove very much, because the respective number of Yokozuna and Ozeki isn’t taken in account, but it surely gives a strong hint. U simply cannot compare different epochs.
The ozeki weren’t really the top guys back when we had multiple fit yokozuna. In 2009-2016, yokozuna collected 37 yusho, ozeki 8, and others 2 (one of which was Terunofuji in the basho that got him promoted to ozeki). Since then, it’s 19 for yokozuna, 7 for ozeki, and 21 for others.
BTW there were a total of 193 ozeki basho in the earlier 8-year span and 124 in the later one, so the kadoban rate is not so different, and in 2009-2016 they were regularly picking up several losses per tournament against yokozuna and fellow ozeki. In 2009-2016, there were 243 O v. O bouts and 309 O v. Y bouts, 552 total. In 2017-2024, that dropped to 55 and 56, or about 5X lower.
I would be interested to see how many Ozeki jun-yusho. Kisenosato has 12 jun-yusho before he finally won.
15 and 19 in the two 8-year periods
I think Iksumo nicely summed it up. With more Yokozuna and more Ozeki and some strong Sanyaku guys like Tochiozan or Miyogiryu back in their days, the likelihood of Ozeki kadoban is higher.
For reference, Terunofuji has a 4-10 record vs Hakuho. He is 4-8 vs. Kakuryu (but 12-0 vs. Kirishima, who kinda went to the same school of sumo) and 3-12 vs. Kisenosato. And the bouts against kakuryu and Kisenosato were against pre injury Terunofuji. He is 9-8 vs. Kotoshogiku and 5-10 vs. Goes do, the mad Oban Ozeki number one. He was frequently beaten at the belt. Who does that in the 2020s?
He has about even records with guys like Shohozan, Yoshikaze or a 3-6 record against Takekaze and 3-8 vs. Ikioi. Those were upper maegashira guys. Takayasu still leads 13-12 against him and he is not the same guy anymore (1-5) the last 6 bouts.
Compare that to 9-0 vs. Hoshoryu, 12-0 vs. Kirishima, 7-1 vs. Kotozakura, 7-0 vs. Asanoyama … . He is only 7-4 vs. Takakeisho, although 3 of the losses were to pre injury Takakeisho. But only 11 bouts also tells a story about how often we actually had all the top guys on board for a basho. Surprisingly it’s Takanosho, who holds the best record of the current rikishi with a close 8-7 in favour of Teru.
Kadoban master goeido btw. has a streak of 13 consecutive basho at sekiwake (with 5 jun-yusho ) before his promotion to Ozeki and while he has 9 kadoban to his name (4 where he pulled out due to injury), he also has a zensho-yusho and a total of 33 straight Ozeki basho.
Kotoshogiku had 32 straight Ozeki basho with 7 kadoban ( 3 where he had to pull out).
Kisenosato had 31 before his promotion to Yokozuna and gis career ending injury. He was a Yokozuna in the disguise of an Ozeki during that time. He had one 7-8 basho (his 8th loss was his only pre Yokozuna absence), 6 times a 9-6 record and all other basho were double digits.
In the early 2010s Baruto also was an absolute beast. Think of Tochinoshin, but also with an Oshi-sumo game. Unfortunately his career got cut short by injury.
I picked Terunofuji as an example because he spans both periods and is breezing through 2020s as if he was fighting only Jonidan competition. He was having significant trouble with the Ozeki crowd back then. And there were 3 Yokozuna on top still. He didn’t fight Harumafuji as they were in the same heya.
It’s pretty clear to me, when the competition/overall level was stronger, however we could be at a turning point now with a new generation establishing themselves the same way we had this Hakuho-led generation.
Terunofuji is a difficult choice, especially during his first Ozeki reign because it was so poor due to his injury. He had a rough go of it against the likes of Endo, Okinoumi and Ikioi back then. He’s dominated Endo since his second rise.
I don’t think his knees are bothering him significantly less now than they did back then. There is a reason he is sitting out so much. Still he made it to Yokozuna after the departure of the old guard.
There is also not really anyone else bridging that span. But for the sake of the argument, if it was the strength of competition preventing guys from getting more dominant, you would at least expect this strong group of competitors to exchange punches, but it’s a free for all shop since a while.
There are 15 different yusho winners since 2020 and 13 since 2022. Of those 7 are one hit wonders so far. Only Hakuho, Teru, Takakeisho, Onosato and Kirishima won more than once in that period.
Oh, I think Terunofuji’s knees were in MUCH better condition between 2020-2022 than they were in 2016-2017. Now? He can take significant breaks that he couldn’t take in when he was only Ozeki.
Very interesting debate, very interesting facts.
For me the essence remains the same: U cannot really compare different times and U certainly cannot prove that one decade was better than another.
When Savaros claims that Shodai before 2017 never even could have made it to Sanyaku he may be right and he may be wrong, no one really can tell.
And if I said that Shodai before 2017 would have made it to Yokozuna, no one really can tell as well, because these are simply opinions, not facts.
Thanks to Andy and Tachiai for the coverage and companionship. See you in January
For those of you old enough, you may remember an earlier expert at gaburi-zumo: Ozeki Kotokaze, who was one of five Ozeki in July 1983 (Chiyonofuji was Yokozuna). He later started Oguruma-beya. Kotoeko recently inherited the Oguruma name (not the stable). Here’s a link to a youtube video of Sekiwake Kotokaze beating Yokozuna Wakanohana on his way to the Aki 1981 yusho and promotion to Ozeki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xT3FAXZLhk
Lol. Different times. Hands didn’t get closer than one meter to the ground. Interesting to see. The frequency of the gaburi is really high.
Wow, yeah they were not at all concerned about getting their hands down! I’d heard that it didn’t used to be strictly enforced, but I had no idea it was that different!
That was typical Kotokaze win. Once he got hold of an opponent he kept thrusting until he got his yorikiri.
I like Kotozakura but I’ve never thought of him as yokozuna material, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this yusho is the only one he wins. I’ve always thought he lacks aggressiveness and tends to play defence too much.
I agree .. Kotozakura has great balance + core strength + often gets his opponent into forced mistakes .. e.g. in title match Horshoryu flew around attacking from all sides .. until his feet did not keep up with him .. Onasato’s aggressiveness is an obvious counter point to Kotozakura’s approach (but also Onasato’s predictrable weakness) .. Watching how rikishi adapt strategies between basho’s is intriguing .. It would be interesting if there were analyses/quantitation of such trends .. fwiw .. Shishi’s on-the-job growth is fun to watch .. imho .. he needs upper body strength + avoid getting his weight forward on his toes .. especially w shorter opponents ..
Shishi‘s toes are a thing of their own. I can‘t but smile when I see them bendig upwards in 90 degree angle. And they seem to be so many, can‘t count them
Andy, basho is over ;)
Yes. The basho is over and I am sad. We have Jungyo!
Aw, too sad to remind the ticker? Lol, I‘m sorry to be the one again :D
Yikes! Thank you!