The big news from the infirmary is no surprise. Terunofuji is kyujo after suffering his second loss yesterday on Day Four to Tobizaru. The grimace on his face when he landed below the dohyo.

The NHK videos for today are here: Juryo Part I & Part II, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.

Hakuyozan is the lone wrestler in Juryo with an undefeated record. Trailing him with one loss are a whole cast of characters, Ryuden, Shirokuma, Shishi, Aonishiki, Tomokaze, Oshoumi, Wakaikari, Kotoeiho and the entire ensemble of A Streetcar Named Desire. The field will be whittled down by the weekend. Wakaikari takes on Hkuyozan tomorrow.

Makuuchi Action

Sadanoumi (Juryo 3-2) defeated Tokihayate (3-2). Sadanoumi quickly obtained a left-hand inside, right-hand outside grip on Tokihayate’s belt and just overpowered the youngster. Sadanoumi pivoted and drove Tokihayate back and over the bales. Yorikiri.

Kitanowaka (3-2) defeated Tamashoho (1-4). Kitanowaka weathered Tamashoho’s torrent of tsuppari as if it was a gentle summer shower. After a failed slapdown attempt, Kitanowaka traded tsuppari for a while. Kitanowaka reached in with his left hand to grab Tamashoho’s belt, pivoted, and threw Tamashoho to the ground. Uwatenage.

Kagayaki (1-4) defeated Hakuoho (3-2). Kagayaki charged forward and pressed Hakuoho to the edge. Hakuoho countered along the bales and forced the action back toward the center of the ring. After Kagayaki caught his breath he charged forward again. Hakuoho tried to pivot and force Kagayaki down but he could not derail the shinkansen. Kagayaki forced him back to the bales and kept the pressure up until Hakuoho stepped out. Yorikiri.

Kinbozan (5-0) defeated Nishikifuji (2-3). Kinbozan chased Nishikifuji to the bales with his powerful tsuppari. Nishikifuji spun like a whirling dervish to try to escape. Kinbozan had enough of the wascly wabbit, locked onto Nishikifuji’s mawashi and escorted him over the edge. Yorikiri.

Nishikigi (4-1) defeated Onokatsu (2-3). Nishikigi overpowered the young Onokatsu with his left hand belt grip and forced him out, under the white tassel. Yorikiri.

Takerufuji (4-1) defeated Kotoshoho (1-4). After a brief oshi tussle, Takerufuji grabbed Kotoshoho with a strong left-hand outside belt grip and his right arm inside around Kotoshoho’s trunk. He stood Kotoshoho up and drove him back to the bales where Kotoshoho tried to counter. Takerufuji released his grip and shoved Kotoshoho to finish him off. He got enough of Kotoshoho to force him over the bales before he, himself, fell into the lap of Nishonoseki-oyakata. Oshidashi.

Shonannoumi (2-3) defeated Midorifuji (1-4). Midorifuji reached inside with both arms, his right arm snaked up around Shonannoumi’s shoulder. Shonannoumi stayed close and enveloped Midorifuji with both arms. His first attempt to swing Midorifuji out failed. But he collected his thoughts and caught his breath for a second try. This time he was successful as he forced Midorifuji out. Kimedashi.

Tamawashi (5-0) defeated Meisei (1-4). Tamawashi charged forward and Meisei tried to slide back to the bales. Meisei’s legs splayed out a little too far so Tamawashi brought his hand up over Meisei and shoved Meisei down to the ground. Hikiotoshi.

Oshoma (3-2) defeated Churanoumi (2-3). Oshoma kept Churanoumi away from his belt with effective pushing and shoving, never allowing Churanoumi to get inside. Oshoma slammed his left hand into Churanoumi’s head. As Churanoumi pressed his weight forward to resist, Oshoma slipped to the side and released with his left hand. Churanoumi stumbled forward and Oshoma pushed him down. Hikiotoshi.

Takarafuji (1-4) defeated Mitakeumi (2-3). Mitakeumi let Takarafuji drive him back to the edge where he tried to shift right along the bales to topple Takarafuji. Mitakeumi’s choice of a retreating attack was made in order to enrage Andy. “Move forward, man! Gahh!” Predictably, Uncle Takara wasn’t falling for it. He had a solid left-hand hold under Mitakeumi’s shoulder and secured a firm right-hand overarm belt grip. Mitakeumi retreated but Takarafuji forced him over the edge. Yorikiri.

Endo (2-3) defeated Roga (0-1-4). Endo’s left-hand ottsuke was the story here. Roga tried to reach in with his right-hand grip to mirror Endo’s. However, Endo pressed in hard and kept Roga off his belt. Roga let up to start plugging away with tsuppari and Endo reacted by driving forward and forcing Roga out. Yorikiri.

Halftime

Chiyoshoma (5-0) defeated Takayasu (2-3). Takayasu batted Chiyoshoma’s right hand away but Chiyoshoma still locked on with his left. Chiyoshoma spun and followed up by driving into Takayasu from the left side. This got Papa Bear suitably off-balance so Chiyoshoma pressed ahead and forced Takayasu out. Yorikiri.

Cue an ill-timed News Break during the Ichiyamamoto/Hiradoumi bout. I love the JME service but sometimes NHK decisions are just…GAH!

Ichiyamamoto (4-1) defeated Hiradoumi (1-4) On the replay we see that Ichiyamamoto did his thing and battered Hiradoumi, keeping him at bay and away from his belt. After several exchanges of tsuppari, Ichiyamamoto had worked Hiradoumi to the bales. Ichiyamamoto grabbed Hiradoumi and threw him to the ground. Sukuinage.

Tobizaru (4-1) defeated Ura (2-3). What did you expect from Ura and Tobizaru? Well, I figure we got exactly what we expected. Ura drove into Tobizaru and Tobizaru pulled. Tobizaru leapt at the edge, as is his wont, pressing Ura down. Gunbai Tobizaru. On the replay we saw Ura’s hand touching the ground as Tobizaru went flying. Decision upheld. Hatakikomi.

Kirishima (2-3) defeated Takanosho (0-5). Kirishima and Takanosho traded tsuppari. When Takanosho tired, Kishirima was able to press his way inside for a left-hand grip and he droe Takanosho out. Yorikiri.

Sanyaku

Daieisho (4-1) defeated Wakatakakage (2-3). Daieisho did his thing. Wakatakakage wanted to react at the edge, cycling to his left, but Daieisho took his time and gave him no opening. Tsukidashi.

Abi (4-1) defeated Wakamotoharu (1-4). Abi’s slap down failed so Abi followed up with his tsuppari and forced Wakamotoharu out. Oshidashi.

Shodai (2-3) defeated Kotozakura (1-4). Firm right-hand inside, left-hand outside. Kotozakura’s only attack seems to have been a counter at the edge as he tried to pivot and pull Shodai right. Shodai did not have any of it and drove Kotozakura to the floor. Yoritaoshi.

Gonoyama (4-1) fusen over Terunofuji (2-3-10).

Oho (5-0) defeated Onosato (2-3). Onosato charged forward. At the bales, Oho slipped to his left and Onosato stumbled forward and out. On the replay, you will notice that after a quick exchange of tsuppari, Oho slipped his left hand up behind Onosato’s shoulder, telegraphing a katasukashi attempt. As Onosato neared the edge, Oho executed his katasukashi. This pulled Onosato further forward but did not finish him. Oho only had to shove him out from behind to hand Onosato his third loss. Okuridashi.

Atamifuji (1-4) defeated Hoshoryu (4-1). Hoshoryu locked on with his right-hand inside and with a singlemindedness to use that belt grip, dragged Atamifuji to and fro. Atamifuji is a big boy, though, not so easy to throw. Atamifuji hung on for the ride, doing what he needed to keep his balance and avoid the edge. He also had his own left hand belt grip to counter Hoshoryu’s. He wisely released the belt grip to wrap up Hoshoryu’s right arm. Right arm secured, he rotated and flung Hoshoryu to the floor with a rough kotenage.

Satonofuji yumitorishiki.

Wrap-up

Back to the days of wholesale Ozeki losses and Yokozuna kyujo. 懐かしい。

Now that we have Day Five in the books, I want to look back at Wakamotoharu’s performance in particular. With all of the chatter about the dual-Yokozuna promotion chance, before the basho started Patricia Dobashi raised the topic of possible Ozeki promotion for Wakamotoharu that seemed to be overlooked, over on Blue Sky. His previous two tournaments had been fairly strong performances: 11-4 at M3 and 10-5 at K1. Surely, 11+10+12 = the magic 33, no?

There is a reason no Ozeki-run was ever mentioned. It would have taken a spectacular performance from Wakamotoharu to force such a discussion, something that he has never displayed. Yes, Tochinoshin was promoted with a run that started at M3…but that was a 14-1 yusho and a run that totaled a stonking 37 wins (14-10-13)! Before that, Terunofuji’s first promotion run started with 8-7 at M2…but what followed was 13-2 Jun-yusho and 12-3 yusho – both at the rank of Sekiwake.

In neither case were either wrestler ranked Komusubi in their runs. They both went straight from Maegashira to Sekiwake and had two strong performances at that rank before promotion. That is probably a minor point but thanks to the SumoDB, I did find one promotion case since 1958 which followed an M-K-S-O pattern: Tochihikari in 1962. Meanwhile, there are a number of cases which followed the M-S-S-O pattern: Tochinoshin, Terunofuji, Kitao, Asashio, Kaiketsu, and Yutakayama. Personally, I do not start thinking about Ozeki promotions until the wrestler is in their second Sekiwake tournament — and not if they squeak by with an 8-7 or 9-6.

So, while it is possible that Wakamotoharu was on a shadow Ozeki-run, that would have required something much more impressive than 12-wins. Maybe if those 12-wins came with a yusho attached? Regardless, here we are on Day 5 and he suffered his fourth loss to Abi. He would need to turn things around and basically win out if he wants this tournament to count in an promotion run come even in March or May…forget about this tournament.

Getting my mind back out of the clouds and pipe-dreams of promotion races, we see that Kotozakura’s hopes are dead and buried and after Hoshoryu’s loss today, his own promotion chances are likely dashed…or at least on life support. The way he cradled his arm after that kotenage, I have a feeling that he will be happy to end this tournament with a kachi-koshi. Unfortunately, Onosato and Kotozakura would both be happy with a kachi-koshi on senshuraku, as well.

This tournament is shaping up to be a real wake-up call for Onosato while it’s shaping up to be a breakout tournament for Oho. And today’s loss to Shodai should be a splash of cold water into the face of Kotozakura. Hopefully he will wake up. He has not demonstrated much offense this tournament, at all, seemingly too reliant on counter attacks at the edge which have not materialized.

It’s a bit funny that at the start of this tournament we had such high hopes for our healthy, powerful Ozeki, two of whom were on rope runs…all completely dashed by Day Five.

Oh, yeah, and somehow Sir Oho leads our Monty Python-esque squad with Sir Chiyoshoma, Sir Tamawashi, and Sir Kinbozan as they seek the Holy Grail. I’m having fun and can’t wait to see what Holy Hand Grenade gets thrown on Day Six. (You know Shodai’s the rabbit in my metaphor.) How about y’all?

Sir Kinbozan will face a rusted shinkansen (Kagayaki), Sir Tamawashi will take on the leaky Takarabune, and Sir Chiyoshoma will wade into battle with the Sacred Seas (Mitakeumi). This makes all three heavy favorites to move to 6-0. Sir Oho will have a bigger challenge against the Flying Monkey.