We’ll look at the second division first today. Wakaikari, Shishi, and Aonishiki all won their bouts in Juryo as the three youngsters picked up their ninth wins and edge closer to the yusho. Ryuden is the lone chaser at 8-2.
Your NHK videos are here: Juryo Part I & Part II, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.
The way Wakaikari hit at Shirokuma today reminded me of Hiradoumi. Aonishiki used his ottsuke effectively to keep Sadanoumi from getting a hold with his right hand and then bulled Sadanoumi back and out. Shishi tried to use his right arm under Oshoumi’s left shoulder for a throw at the edge. But his persistence paid off as he finally pressed Oshoumi out.
Jikan desu! Ryotsuite!
Makuuchi Action
Nishikifuji (5-5) defeated Nishikigi (5-5). Nishikifuji won the battle of the brocades by grabbing Nishikigi’s belt with a left-hand inside grip, pivoting, and driving Nishikigi back over the bales. Nishikigi’s only counter attack appeared to be an attempt to topple Nishikifuji as he approached the edge. Otherwise, this was all Nishikifuji. Yorikiri.
Tokihayate (5-5) defeated Onokatsu (6-4). Tokihayate locked in with a left-hand inside grip and spun Onokatsu around the dohyo. He released his left-hand grip and flung Onokatsu out of the ring with his right arm locked under Onokatsu’s shoulder. Kotenage.
Midorifuji (3-7) defeated Kagayaki (3-7). Midorifuji pulled and grabbed Kagayaki’s belth with his left hand as Kagayaki charged forward. Midorifuji helped Kagayaki fall forward by tugging on Kagayaki’s belt as he stumbled forward and flopped at the edge. Uwatedashinage.
Meisei (3-7) defeated Tamashoho (3-7). Tamashoho was too eager and jumped offsides. Five-yard penalty, replay first down. Meisei pressed forward through Tamashoho’s tsuppari and drove him out. Hakuho’s still the only person to take that 5-yard penalty seriously. Tamashoho’s tsuppari just does not seem to hit, here in the top division. It’s like it’s there but it’s one of those rain showers you don’t even need an umbrella for. Oshidashi.
Churanoumi (4-6) defeated Kotoshoho (2-8). The pair had a solid tachiai and traded tsuppari for a few seconds. Churanoumi stepped inside, hit Kotoshoho in the jaw with a headbutt and Kotoshoho immediately dropped to one knee. Tsukiotoshi.
Oshoma (5-5) defeated Hakuoho (6-4). Hakuoho managed a morozashi and rotated Oshoma toward the ground as Oshoma pressed Hakuoho back toward the bales. Both men looked to fall at the same time. Gunbai Oshoma. Mono-ii. The shimpan decide, “Dotai. Torinaoshi,” rematch. On the replay, Hakuoho jumped early. Reset. Strong tachiai. Oshoma tried to slap Hakuoho down but Hakuoho managed to stay up. The two locked in with right-hand belt grips. Hakuoho took the initiative to pull the pair toward the bales. Hakuoho tried to topple the pair but Oshoma pressed forward into Hakuoho and pulled him forward. Uwatenage.
Shonannoumi (5-5) defeated Takarafuji (4-6). Takarafuji sure made an admirable effort. He really wanted that right-hand outside grip and he got it a few times as the two tangoed around the ring. But Shonannoumi knew that was dangerous and would extend his body to pull Takarafuji’s had free. As Takarafuji reached in again, Shonannoumi rotated and pulled him by the left shoulder, forcing Takarafuji to fall forward. Kotenage.
Takerufuji (8-2) defeated Ichiyamamoto (6-4). Takerufuji henka! Ichiyamamoto charged forward to the ground. Tsukiotoshi.
Shodai (5-5) defeated Mitakeumi (2-8). The Shodozer rolled through Mitakeumi, forcing him to the edge, quickly. Mitakeumi tried to slip right and throw Shodai at the edge but the Shodozer’s brakes were up to the task as the Shodozer stopped right at the edge. Mitakeumi’s momentum carried him over the tawara. Oshidashi.
Oho (8-2) defeated Tamawashi (6-4). Rough tachiai as the two banged heads repeatedly while trading tsuppari. Oho tried a brief pull but that would have been bad so he reached in for a belt grip. Belt grip acquired, Oho pulled up, charged forward and overpowered Tamawashi forcing him back and over the edge. Yorikiri.
Halftime
Endo (5-5) defeated Atamifuji (2-8). Atamifuji had no defense today. Endo wrapped up Atamifuji and drove forward, forcing Atamifuji out. Yorikiri.
Newsbreak. It’s a long one. Thankfully these second half bouts take a bit more time.
Takanosho (3-7) defeated Takayasu (6-4). The pair traded tsuppari as Takanosho walked back toward the bales. Takayasu did not heed Admiral Ackbar’s warning. Takanosho rotated as he approached the edge and turned the tables. Once Takayasu’s back was to the edge, Takanosho pushed Takayasu out. Oshidashi.
Kirishima (7-3) defeated Chiyoshoma (8-2). Brawl here as Chiyoshoma did not allow Kirishima access to his belt. Kirishima reached in but Chiyoshoma rotated away while keeping up the tsuppari. As Chiyoshoma pressed forward into Kirishima’s tsuppari, Kirishima stepped back and pulled Chiyoshoma forward. The Chiyoshoma yusho fears abate as he rolled across the dohyo. Hikiotoshi.
Sanyaku
Abi (6-4) defeated Kinbozan (9-1). Kinbozan, did you not read the brief? Abi dropped Kinbozan quickly by hitting him hard at the tachiai to bait Kinbozan into pressing forward. Abi then immediately stepped right and deflected Kinbozan’s forward momentum to Abi’s left. Kinbozan fell forward. Tsukiotoshi.
Wakatakakage (5-5) defeated Tobizaru (5-5). Wakatakakage stepped left and used his left hand to press Tobizaru to the side and down. Hatakikomi.
A Second Newsbreak. A first-floor arcade (game center) near the Tsutenkaku shotengai, a landmark in Osaka, is on fire. Maybe someone is finally venting their frustrations against the claw.
Wakamotoharu (3-7) defeated Ura (5-5). As the dust settled after the initial exchange, Ura literally put up his dukes. That was hilarious. I don’t think he appreciated WMH’s kachiage at the tachiai. He tried to rotate and pull Wakamotoharu’s left arm but Wakamotoharu slipped away and shoved Ura from behind. Oshitaoshi.
Onosato (7-3) defeated Gonoyama (5-5). Gonoyama charged forward early. Reset. Onosato henka?! But a matta? What the hell is going on? The NHK video will only show the legit tachiai so hat tip to Lulit on Twitter to show the full bout with all the hijinks, below. On the third attempt, Onosato met Gonoyama head on but rotated right and slapped Gonoyama down with both hands at the back of Gonoyama’s head. Hatakikomi.
#初場所2025十日目
— Lulit (@OneLoveLulit) January 21, 2025
豪ノ山ー大の里
叩き込みで大の里！七勝目☆
立合いがなんとも pic.twitter.com/au9y3UWChM
Hoshoryu (7-3) defeated Daieisho (6-4). Hoshoryu quickly seized Daieisho’s belt with his right hand and pulled him forward to the ground. Uwatedashinage.
Kotozakura (4-6) defeated Hiradoumi (5-5). Someone got Kotozakura some smelling salts as he finally moved forward. He hit Hiradoumi square at the tachiai and pressed forward. Hiradoumi tried to rotate back to his left but Kotozakura pursued and shoved him over the bales. Oshidashi.
Wrap-up
Suddenly, the race is flung wide open. Kinbozan still leads with one loss. Chiyoshoma joins Oho and Takerufuji at 8-2. Hoshoryu, Onosato and Kirishima sneak back into the race at 7-3. We might be looking at a big playoff with an 11- or 12-win yusho. I’m not sure why they’re so worried about Tsutenkaku when there’s a dumpster fire right here on the dohyo in front of us. If we’re not careful, the Shodozer will get into this yusho race, somehow. Maybe we should just focus on Juryo now?
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s action, Kinbozan will fight Onosato, Takerufuji will face Daieisho and Chiyoshoma will fight Hoshoryu in the musubi-no-ichiban. I’ve got my popcorn at the ready. To be honest, y’all, I’m going back to bed. This is a lot to process at 4am. The good news is that both rally towels worked today, even if Onosato’s performance was a bit shaky. If he pulls the same thing against Kinbozan tomorrow, I will die laughing. It will be a good death.
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Today was fun, crazy things happened! Shameless henka by Takerufuji, Ura trying the next tsutaezori, Abi fastest win of carreer maybe, and so on and on! Shodai most solid man of the whole panel, imagine that! I laughed so much at the tawara slapstick scene with Mitakeumi, ‚you go out’ – no, YOU go out!‘ Ozeki getting things right, Kinbozan and Chiyoshoma met their first high rank doom already.
Don’t know about fastest win for Abi as he often does it that way, but probably fastest loss for Kinbozan? Anyway, thanks to Abi for opening up the yusho race. Now even Hoshoryu and Onosato are back in it. What great five days of Sumo are ahead of us!
Abi dispatched Kinbozan far faster than it took to read the description of the match. Welcome to the big time, kid!
Dear Andy, it would be great fun to have Taka is in the yusho race, but it’s Take…
One of these days I will get it right.
U‘re much too modest: U get it right every day and if it happens to be wrong it‘s the text systems fault, of course. Btw. what impact has this one-letter-difference between the two names on their meaning?
Hi, just looked this up for us on Google search…. Takara is a name for precious gem signifying a true treasure, a precious object. Takeru is a name with multiple positive connotations: warrior, leader of fearless tribe, hero, dragon, noble, fierce and mountain.
Thanks Karen.
So a fierce and noble warrior hero jumped aside in fear of… Ichiyamamoto!
I think fierce applies today Herbern, Takeru has his sights on a 2nd yusho, apparently at any cost…..
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like Ura’s so-called sumo (today). Awful, slapstick…and, I suppose, very funny.
This was actually my favorite fight of the day, from our ever innovative Ura. At the tachiai, Ura attempted an arm bar throw which was countered by WMH with a fore arm blast to Ura’s face or neck, which I think really pissed him off. At the point after Ura’s spin on the edge and his dukes go up, I think he was trying to prevent himself from hitting or even slapping WMH’s face in response…. Just my viewpoint. If he pulled off yet another rare move like the one to flatten Takayasu last week, would it still have been slapstick, or genius?
Yesterday there was disappointment expressed here because one of the three showings of the highlights on NHK was cancelled in favour of the 47th. (I would have loved to see DT wearing only a mawashi though; an orange one, of course.)
What bothers me instead is that for the second consecutive day the SumoDB was down during the action. One finds the live results on the JSA site, but not worked into the banzuke, which I miss very much.
Ah, now herbern did you have to put that image in my head…I can’t unsee it either.😱
and yes, there are three showings, however, the time here in Europe for the next highlight show was at at about 12:30am after the cancelled one at 1730. There’s another early morning one, which isn’t suitable for me timewise either. Much as I love sumo I’m not staying up on a work night until 0100!! Those days are gone, sadly. Thankfully it was shown 3 hours late, so I caught most it! 😁
Andy, your dedication to the early morning rising to catch the sumo and report on it deserves more than a round of applause 👏 👍 but that all I’ve got right now!!
Ah the yusho race started to break open today didn’t it, I’ve just watched the highlights. Nice to see Kirishima keeping it together. Oho is going to get a scar over his eye there where it keeps breaking open and bleeding, and yay, Hoshoryu won his match.
It felt as if there were a lot of slap downs today and tricky moves right on the tawara. Let’s not mention the henka (half-henka?) by Takerufuji. Did he just want an easy kachi-koshi?
All to play for….as others have said, an exciting 5 days of sumo ahead!
Be careful what you wish for-The current President of the United States is a huge sumo fan (so are Tom Brady and Steph Curry as well). He created an absolutely beautiful President’s Cup that he presented himself to Asanoyama when he won the Yusho!
This is a Sumo web site NOT a political one. Politics do not belong here. Besides, Sumo has plenty of politics to go around if that’s what you’re interested in.
Everyone should take the time to read this wonderful web site – it is full of painstakingly gathered, updated, revised and 100% accurate information, for Sumo fans, new or otherwise.
Interesting. Trump at the Kokugikan passed me by somehow (or, probably nearer to the truth, I had already forgotten it). But it’s great because if I should happen to meet him in public transport, for example, I now know which topic to chat about with him!
Yeah, he was there and it was wild. They brought in these big chairs and they made special arrangements for him and Abe to present trophies.
Ha! Love it!
Prince William is supposedly a big fan, too.
Yes he is!
Wakaikari strikes me as a poor man’s Waka- brother. Which, this basho, might not be saying too much. But they both won today to secure the Waka-koshi.
I am so here for the 3, 4, 5(?) man playoff!! I think it would be hilarious for Hoshoryu to get another day-15 JY so we can argue about his “worthiness” all over again next basho.
It might also be Onosato who gets the JY. Hoshoryu and Onosato cannot both get 12-3 since they should have a match against each other. 12-3D did let to a Yokozuna promotion chance to Takakeisho but he only won 12-3Y in the next basho and that was not enough.
What would be the requirement for Hoshoryu or Onosato if either of them get 12-3D?
Probably at least 13-2Y or would it be 14-1Y?
I think Hoshoryu’s run is toast and bith would need to win outright to start a run.
That is what I thought November 2022 when Takakeisho got 12-3 D in 3-way playoff that Abi won, and Takayasu … I do not want to remember any more of that. Against all odds Takakeisho was given a chance to become Yokozuna after January 2023 with a high level championship but he only won it with 12-3 and that was not enough. It was a bit unclear what result would have been enough. That is why I am wondering could they do that again if either Hoshoryu or Onosato get to a playoff but do not win there.
He had a chance the next tournament, which is what I think will happen in that scenario here. If Hoshoryu makes it to a playoff and loses, I think that will restart a rope run for March.
It wasn’t “against all odds”. One of the enduring misconceptions about how the YDC works is the assumption that when they say, “you can get promoted after the next tournament” (= you’re on tsunatori now), they always mean that the result that led into the decision has already been counted for one-half of a successful run. They don’t mean that. All it means is that the result wasn’t bad enough to immediately exclude the rikishi from consideration, and they want to see what sort of follow-up he’s capable of, because the sum total of both results might be sufficient.
So, people hold this rather strange notion that promotion to yokozuna is essentially a two-step process when it’s not double-yusho: You take one step, the YDC acknowledges that step and issues a binding judgement of your performance (“yusho-equivalent”), then you take a second similar step, and then they have no choice but to promote you. And that’s just not how it works. The only time they’re holding a comprehensive discussion is after both results are in the books, and both results are then being judged together, not separately. Neither Takakeisho after 12-3 D nor Hoshoryu after 13-2 J were entering their tsunatori basho with 50% of the work done, not by a longshot. It was merely enough that 100% was still theoretically possible to achieve.
Are U implying that a double yusho is enough for promotion?
Even if they were both 11-4 yusho?
I found two promotions with double yusho and 24 or 25 wins.
And there is one Ozeki who wasn’t promoted though he had double yusho (25 wins), but that was back in 1950.
To me it was against all odds, since I did not think that they would acknowledge 12-3D. I had thought it would have required at least 13-2 like with Hoshoryu after last basho. Clearly I was wrong about 12-3D not being enough. And since it happened then, I would no longer be surprised to see it happen now, too, if either Hoshoryu or Onosato gets to that. Question is just what would be enough for either of them after next basho, or would we find out only after that?
I had to keep rewatching the Wakamotoharu v Ura bout. It made me laugh on a bitterly cold day. Ura really is the great entertainer in sumo. Sorry Tobizaru!
Agreed! When he put up his fists, I laughed.
Reminded me of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz – “Put ’em up, put ’em up…” Which is NOT to say Ura is a coward – he is more like the daring young man on the flying trapeze, who flies through the air with the greatest of ease.
As JBipes pointed out yesterday, yesterday was a great day for sumo fans with the 14 different Kimarites and then there is today – craziest sumo day in a long time. Strange henkas today! The Shodozer is the identical twin! I don’t think Ura was trying to be funny at all – he sure looked angry to me. Both rally towels working but don’t want to add any more even though Wakaikari looks like a Waka relative!
Yeah, I think Ura was legit pissed off.
Striking with a closed fist – wouldn’t that be an automatic disqualification? To your knowledge, has that ever happened?
Yes, it is verboten (禁止/ダメ/NG) but I have not seen it.
I spent most of my time in Osaka in Kita, but I’m sorry that Minami caught fire
Two observations:
Not only Oho has his best basho so far (for he is now the yusho favorite, having met all the highest ranked opponents already) but also his brother Mudoho who is in the Makushita semi-finals.
With today‘s win Onosato has already overtaken Hakuho and is now in third place of the best Makuuchi debuts (after seven basho).
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&columns=7&sum_wins=63&sum_range=7&show_sum=on&form1_m=on&form1_debutd=on&form2_m=on&sort_by=sum_wins
Oho vs. Kirishima has not happened yet.
I know it’s strange but Kirishima isn’t amongst the highest ranked anymore this time.
That said he would of course be a strong opponent (their head to head is 2-2) as would be Gonoyama (0-2), Shodai (3-2), Hiradoumi (6-6), and especially Ura (1-7!). Against the other frontrunners he is 1-1 (Kinbozan), 2-0 (Chiyoshoma) and 0-0 (Takerufuji).
Though he still will have the „easiest“ schedule, he might even lose all his upcoming fights, as we are talking Sumo!
I just do not agree yet with the fact Oho is the Yusho favorite yet, because the matches with Kirishima happened during the past year when Kirishima was not doing very well. In September when Kirishima again was doing better Oho lost. Kirishima started this tournament badly but is now just 1 win behind Oho. This time around Kirishima might well give him a loss and Kirishima has also gone through the top rankers already. Their match is scheduled for tomorrow. If Oho wins that, then I think he might well be Yusho favorite.
Well, Oho having 1 win more than Kirishima he is surely in the better position right now?
But I have to admit that I intended to write „for ME he is the favorite“ and as the pronoun got lost it became the too absolute „FOR he is the favorite“.
Kotozakura is in kadoban danger and running out of bouts
Wow … Onosato has a historic launch ! .. With brief matches + too many henkas .. it feels like some rikishi have lost steam/are pacing themselves .. However, overall health is decent + with young talent, competition is deep .. There is not a long line for the Juryo barge .. I wonder if Atamifuji has a back problem .. he offered his chest today + an adios Endo amigo .. Hope his sumo hero is not Shodai .. Shodai must have an idea what he wants to achieve, he usually looks to be amongst the most physically healthy rikishi .. not a small thing .. If Kinbozan was surprised by Abi’s tachiai, he needs new advice .. Takanosho’s record looks bad, but his sumo has been better than that .. today it paid off ..
People often criticize Shodai for not having a more aggressive tachiai, but I remember reading somewhere that he was afraid of hurting his head. I think that’s reasonable. Maybe he wants to achieve occasional big stacks of kensho, and otherwise use his ability in order to hang out in Makuuchi but avoid running a big risk of injury. If so, he’s doing a good job.