Today, we received news that Hokutofuji has retired. He will remain with the Kyokai as a coach, Oyama-oyakata. Chiyootori has shifted to the Nishikijima kabu and Shotenro slides over to the vacant Dekiyama in the sumo world’s version of musical chairs. Other news from the infirmary, Kotoshoho will participate in the tournament from Day 6 and draws Takanosho in tomorrow’s matchup.
Your NHK videos for Day Five are here: Juryo, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.
Makuuchi Action
Nishikigi (5-0) defeated Tochitaikai (3-2). Nishikigi continues to roll. Today he faced Tochitaikai and weathered the initial tsuppari attack from the shin-nyumaku. He brought his arms up to bat away Tochitaikai’s attack, then wrapped up his opponent’s belt and ran downhill, forcing Tochitaikai back and out. Yorikiri.
Kayo (1-4) defeated Takarafuji (2-3). Takarafuji pressured Kayo, driving him to the edge of the dohyo. Kayo retreated inside the bales and sunk the Takarabune with a slapdown. Hatakikomi.
Asakoryu (4-1) defeated Shonannoumi (1-4). Asakoryu got a left-hand inside grip on Shonannoumi’s belt and twisted, pulling Shonannoumi forward, just as Shonannoumi started to charge ahead. Shitatenage.
Roga (4-1) defeated Tamashoho (1-4). Roga had enough of Tamashoho’s tsuppari, charged forward, wrapping up his opponent in a bear hug and running him out of the ring. Yorikiri.
Ryuden (3-2) defeated Tokihayate (2-3). Ryuden reached down and seized the front of Tokihayate’s belt. Tokihayate reacted by pulling backward. Ryuden was like, “Okay,” and pressed forward, using Tokihayate’s momentum to drive him out. Yorikiri.
Sadanoumi (3-2) defeated Atamifuji (3-2). Sadanoumi demonstrated his power by wrapping up Atamifuji quickly with a left-hand outside, right hand inside. He charged forward and forced Atamifuji over the bales. Yorikiri.
Takanosho (3-2) defeated Endo (4-1). Thank you to the random sujo in the crowd for pointing out today is Endo’s 1001st bout in professional sumo. Takanosho spoiled the party, however, by handing Endo his first loss of the tournament. Endo reached forward with his right hand to get a hold of Takanosho’s belt. As he did so, he over extended a bit and Takanosho struck with his own attack. Takanosho shifted left and pressed Endo forward and down, getting in behind Endo. He then ran Endo out of the ring from behind. Okuridashi.
Meisei (3-2) defeated Shishi (0-5). Shishi’s troubles continue as Meisei dispatched the Ukrainian quickly with a shove on Shishi’s left shoulder. Tsukiotoshi.
Aonishiki (4-1) defeated Midorifuji (0-5). What a beautiful finishing move from Aonishiki! He pulled with his left hand inside on Midorifuji’s belt while attacking Midorifuji’s left knee with his right hand. I had been screaming at the TV because Aonishiki’s left-hand outside grip allowed Midorifuji to try his katasukashi. Midorifuji tried to execute but Aonishiki shifted and tried his own slapdown. Then, Aonishiki shifted his left hand inside, down in front and said, “Chill, Andy. Watch this.” Absolutely beautiful uchimuso. Aminishiki must be chuffed to watch that one.
Kinbozan (3-2) defeated Shodai (2-3). Shodai countered Kinbozan’s tsuppari attack by pulling up on Kinbozan’s belt, driving him through the ring. At the edge, however, Kinbozan twisted and turned the tables on Shodai, forcing the Goth King over the tawara. Yorikiri.
Hakuoho (5-0) defeated Churanoumi (1-4). Hakuoho struggled to get a hold of or contain Churanoumi. But Churanoumi’s mistake was to pull. As soon as he did shifted backward, Hakuoho steamrolled and forced Churanoumi out. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Onokatsu defeated Tobizaru. Onokatsu got a solid hold of Tobizaru with a left-hand over-arm grip. Tobizaru’s own grip was unsettled as he kept shifting from the belt to holding Onokatsu’s trunk. While Tobizaru made up his mind, Onokatsu rotated and dragged Tobizaru to the edge. Some gaburi thrusts finished Tobizaru off. Yorikiri.
Ura (1-4) defeated Chiyoshoma (0-5). Chiyoshoma went for the belt today and Ura showed him the error of his ways. Ura locked on with his own belt grip and bowled Chiyoshoma over. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto (3-2) defeated Oshoma (2-3). Ichiyamamoto pounded away at Oshoma and drove him over the bales. Oshidashi.
Abi (2-3) defeated Takerufuji (3-2). Abi blasted forward with forceful blasts to Takerufuji’s face. He then shoved Takerufuji down with a powerful thrust. Tsukiotoshi.
Sanyaku
Wakamotoharu (1-4) defeated Takayasu (1-4). I’m not sure if it was just bad timing or if Takayasu is broken. Either way, Takayasu tried to stand Wakamotoharu up at the tachiai. Wakamotoharu stayed low so Takayasu tried to reach over and grab at the back of Wakamotoharu’s belt. Takayasu failed to grab it, though, and Wakamotoharu bumrushed him and blasted him off the dohyo. All of this in the span of a few seconds. Oshidashi.
Wakatakakage (4-1) defeated Kirishima (3-2). Kirishima got a morozashi, double-inside grip and pressed forward. Wakatakakage reached up around Kirishima’s head with his right arm and twisted, pulling Kirishima down along the bales. Kubinage.
Daieisho (5-0) defeated Oho (3-2). Daieisho just plain overpowered Oho with his thrusts, driving the youngster back and out. Dominant. Tsukidashi.
Kotozakura (3-2) defeated Hiradoumi (2-3). Hiradoumi stayed low but Kotozakura pulled back and used his weight to press down, forcing Hiradoumi to eat clay. I’m sure it’s full of vitamins and minerals. Ouch. Hikiotoshi.
Onosato (5-0) defeated Tamawashi (2-3). Tamawashi attacked Onosato with a powerful nodowa but Onosato wrapped him up and chugged forward. More dominance. Love to see it at this rank. Yorikiri.
Hoshoryu (3-2) defeated Gonoyama (0-5). After a brief exchange of tsuppari, Gonoyama hit Hoshoryu with a nodowa. Hoshoryu worked his way inside and eventually contained Gonoyama with a firm left-hand overarm grip. He then rotated and pulled Gonoyama to the ground in the center of the ring. Uwatedashinage.
Wrap-up
Wins from Hoshoryu, Onosato, Kotozakura and Daieisho restore balance in the force. Today should be a good day. Hoshoryu will get his turn against Tamawashi tomorrow, though. You know the veteran will be taking his chance at a kinboshi seriously. Meanwhile, Takerufuji will face Kotozakura, Onosato will fight Gonoyama and Daieisho will take on Hiradoumi.
Further down the banzuke, Hakuoho is paired with Ura and Nishikigi will fight Asakoryu to kick off Day Six in the top division. Aonishiki will face Shodai.
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Ganbare Nishikigi! It will be awesome if we have a daieisho Onosato yusho playoff, i’d love to see daieisho ozeki and onosato yokozuna this basho, that would really balance the force
If these are really Day Six results, I’m getting some bets down now!
Crap! I really shouldn’t be allowed near a keyboard at 4am. But here we are.
Watched the clips, Onosato seems to have gotten back to his form which was somewhat lacking the first couple of days (even though he won.)
Hoshoryu seems like maybe he is having a similar situation as January where he lost one match to someone who is fairly predictable he has seen a bunch of times, let it get into his head and cause him to lose the next day before he gets his head back straight. His performance today was just way better in showing that he can use his technical skill to neutralize an opponent when they are trying to do their thing.
That Aonishiki win was great, the kid really is something to watch. I would be surprised if he doesn’t end up knocking on the doors of san’yaku come New Year’s.
Looks like Nishkigi has sorted out any injuries that he’s been dealing with and he’s at 100%. Glad to see that.
I’m officially worried about Endo after watching him dismount from the dohyo today, land on his hands and knees…and then need a minute or so to get his bearings and stand up. That’s behavior from someone who is not okay. He’s not limping or being gentle with his arms, so I suspect he has some sort of head injury. He’s been around awhile and definitely has had his bell rung more than once.
Aonishiki is winning because he’s a technician instead of winning with brute force. I hope we keep getting different kimarite from him as he wins. Lovely stuff!
Ura wasn’t messing around today. Straightforward sumo and no smiles after winning.
No dominant forward pressure from Hoshoryu today. I’m not sure if there’s something still wrong with him (his back, maybe?), if Gonoyama just refused to be budged, or both. Glad to see Hoshoryu win, though.
On the Hoshoryu point, I hope he was being cautious and didn’t want to get caught out ahead of his feet again. He’ll get it sorted. Takayasu, though…
Endo got a direct hit to his forehead during the tachiai, he may have had a concussion from that.
Endo has been getting up super slowly when he ends up outside of the ring since at least November. There was talk of him maybe getting a concussion back when it started but this is not a new thing for him.
It might just be some kind of inner ear thing where he has trouble getting his balance after tumbling.
That isn’t to say he didn’t suffer a knock to the head in a recent bout that exacerbated the issue.
One thing I really like about Aonishiki is that he’s perfectly happy to win by oshidashi or yorikiri; they make up 43 of his 75 wins, in equal proportion. He’s not fixated on pulling out fancy techniques, but he sure has them when he needs them!
“Hokutofuji has retired. ”
Aww, man, no more Bull? Another of our favs quietly leaves. : ..-(
Hopefully he will be teaching more 🐂 young’uns.
Hokutofuji’s fighting spirit, which lacks in many wrestlers, will be missed. If only he had the physical resilience to continue.
Aonishiki’s adaptability and reaction speed is impressive. It looks like he will not easily lose his place in top division, along with Hakuoho and Onokatsu. Waiting for Kusano to join them.
It’s nice to see less common techniques. Yesterday, it was Nishikigi’s amiuchi. Today, uchimuso by Aonishiki.
Trivial observation: The skin on the right side of Oho’s forehead seems to be prone to open on impact. Cannot tell which tournament, but remember seeing blood on almost the same spot in successive bouts last year.
This basho is Nishikigi’s to lose. ‘Nuff said. ;-)
My man Tamawashi is flying too close to the sun… i hope he doesn’t get injured.
He’s already got a yusho but one or two more won’t hurt!
Iksumo kinda warned us a few days ago. And it look like he just won some money. (whatever amount of money he had placed on that outcome ! ^_^’ )
Let’s all rise up and salute the intai of our dear Hokutofuji. A valiant rikishi who will be known for his resiliant fighting spirit. Which made it earning from us the moniker of “The most powerful Make-koshi of them all” countless time.
(￣^￣ )ゞ
I’m happy to hear that he will be staying as an oyakata (Oyama-Oyakata) and will join his long-time brother-in-arm ex-rikishi Okinoumi (Kimigahama-Oyakata) and all the other coach in Hakkaku Beya.
They will be 5 coachs now in this stable ! Feel like that’s starting to be a lot. Although, one of them is the chairman of the sumo association, Hakkaku. And i suppose with all the many responsability this position entice and afflicts, i am sure he is grateful to have that many coach to help run his stable.
Let’s hope new Oyama-Oyakata will be able to bequeath and pass his incredible fighting spirit on future new youngster pupils.
Their gonna have to reserve their very limited seat though for his danpatsu-shiki.
Because there isn’t a lot of hair available to cut. >_< XD
It‘s hard to say goodbye to Hokutofuji as an active rikishi. He is legend and his prebout ritual stays in my heart forever!
True !
It’s was something to awe at. Watching each time almost knocking himself out. (figuratively speaking)
Midorifuji is having a tough time this basho. But he always provides us beautiful techniques, win or lose.
Ah, Ura’s losses are more spectacular though. lol.
Hokutofuji was one of those rikishes that you feel safe that there will be no henka from him. It is sad that we are losing a warrier.
In the 3 1/2 years since I found a way to watch sumō, I’ve lost a lot of personal favorites to retirement, and Hokutōfuji, or “Ol’ Stompy” (my late father’s nickname for him), is no exception. I’m glad he’s hanging around to coach, maybe he’ll bring us a new “Stompy.”
Nishikigi remembered how to win again! He’s one of my favorite rikishis, so I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the tournament!
I’m going to miss Hokutofuji a lot though. Loved his energy, I hope he enjoys the next part of his journey.
Also, Aonishiki is such a beast I can imagine Shishi is feeling a bit like his thunder was stolen. Add that to his frequently being on the losing side of mono-ii decisions recently and being chided for his jazz hands I can imagine it’s been pretty tough emotionally. Heres to 10 straight wins starting tomorrow!