Please see this post for an intro to my third-division coverage. None of the quarterfinals bouts disappointed! Former sekitori and salt thrower extraordinaire Akua bested Nobehara and still has automatic Juryo promotion on the line if he can take the yusho. The bout between former mega-prospect Oshoryu and fan favorite Enho, both coming back from injury, was thisclose but the gunbai went to Oshoryu and the ensuing monoii confirmed it. Kawazoe showed why he’s a former sekitori by outlasting newcomer Goshima in a great bout, but Goshima’s heya-mate and fellow Ms60TD debutant Fukuzaki got the better of Kawazoe’s heya-mate Seihakuho. So we have a straightforward semifinal bracket with four undefeated rikishi from four different heya; someone will take the yusho in regulation with a 7-0 score on day 13.
In the regular promotion zone (Ms1-Ms5), things are still pretty muddy. Ms1e Miyagi (3-2) is the frontrunner for promotion, needing one more win. Ms1w Ishizaki (2-3) and Ms3w Mudoho (3-2) are in a virtual tie, followed closely by Ms2e Daiamami (2-3), Ms2w Tochimaru (2-3), and Ms4w Mita (3-2). Obviously, no one is moving up without reaching kachi-koshi. Injury victim Kiryuko is certain to go down, absent J2w Kitanowaka is likely to join him depending on the number and strength of the promotion cases, and J14e Otsuji (3-6) better start picking up wins in a hurry. Oh, and former Ozeki Asanoyama is 5-0 and has to be the favorite in the Sandanme yusho race.
Stay tuned for continued coverage as the third-division yusho and promotion races unfold! There’s no relevant action tomorrow, so the next update will likely be posted on day 11.
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Asanoyama is one of two over 30 rikishi in one Sandanme semifinal while in the other two under 20 fighters meet. One of them, Uzumaza is even a sweet sixteen to cite one of your titles. Do U know anything about him? It seems he was demoted before the last basho but came back with a 5-2.
Nope, I don’t follow wrestlers below Makushita much, unless it’s someone like Asanoyama coming back up or a hot prospect with a lot of hype coming in.
“Hell” in the sumo banzuke continues to earn it’s reputation by dashing the hopes of rikishi who are looking for a yusho. If Endo gets a 6-1 record, will he automatically move into the top 10? Or will that mostly depend on how everyone else above him does?
Thanks again for making these updates!
From Ms30, Enho would end up around Ms11 with a 6-1, so in the extended promotion zone (where he’d need a 7-0) but not Ms1-Ms5; he needed to go undefeated for that. Interestingly, he went exactly 6-1 in each of his 4 comeback basho prior to this one.
I think it‘s more hell to rikishi who are just fighting their way up, simply according to their age and sumo education background, but it’s less brutal to people who had their chance and carreer already, and are now challenged to shove away rikishi who actually belong in their recent places by moving up in the ‚normal’ and inevitable way.
Those rikishes coming up banzukes remind me of the myth of Sisyphus, rolling boulders uphill..
Especially, Asanoyama who made all the way from that penalty he got, then fall down again by injury, and start another rolling uphill.
Based on the names alone, I am pulling for Mudoho and Miyagi.