Nakabi. No kyujo updates. Kusano continues to roll in Juryo, picking up his seventh consecutive win. With Tohakuryu’s defeat at the hands of Miyanokaze, Kusano leads by himself. He will fight Hitoshi tomorrow.
Your NHK videos are here: Juryo, Makuuchi Part I & Part II.
Makuuchi Action
Tamashoho (3-5) defeated Nishikigi (5-3). Tamashoho backed to the edge and slapped Nishikigi down while jumping off the dohyo. Hatakikomi.
Roga (6-2) defeated Tochitaikai (3-5). Tochitaikai tried to slap Roga down but Roga’s footwork and balance were solid. That jump was a huge gambit because it left Tochitaikai with no space to maneuver. Roga wrapped up Tochitaikai with a right hand inside and drove him through the ring and over the edge. Yorikiri.
Kayo (4-4) defeated Tokihayate (3-5). Kayo retreated and retreated, repeatedly trying to slap Tokihayate down. Tokihayate was in constant pursuit. Kayo grabbed Tokihayate’s right arm and pulled it forward, gaining access to his belt which Kayo yanked on to finish Tokihayate off. Uwatenage.
Asakoryu (6-2) defeated Sadanoumi (5-3). Asakoryu slipped to his left after the tachiai. As Sadanoumi stumbled forward, Asakoryu attacked from the side and shoved Sadanoumi out. Clearly not a henka but just as effective. Oshidashi.
Shonannoumi (3-5) defeated Atamifuji (5-3). Shonannoumi’s gameplan was similar to Kayo. Retreat and slapdown. Atamifuji constantly moved forward to keep the pressure on. Eventually, Shonannoumi ran out of room at the edge and had no choice but to reach for Atamifuji’s belt and try to grapple. Shonannoumi grabbed Atamifuji’s belt with his right hand outside. Rather than press forward, though, or use gaburi yotsu, he shifted laterally along the bales and threw Atamifuji. Uwatenage.
Endo (5-3) defeated Ryuden (4-4). Endo grabbed at Ryuden’s left arm. This made Ryuden stumble forward. Endo then attacked from the side as Ryuden tried to recover. Endo grabbed Ryuden’s belt and put everything into throwing Ryuden. He succeeded and won but still ended up stumbling off the dohyo and into the third row. “These were great tickets, Junpei!” Uwatenage.
Kotoshoho (2-1-5) defeated Shishi (1-7). Kotoshoho had a right arm inside grip and drove forward as Shishi pulled backward and both men went down. Gunbai Kotoshoho. No mono-ii. Yoritaoshi.
Shodai (3-5) defeated Takanosho (4-4). Shodai backed away along the bales and pulled Takanosho down. Sukuinage.
Meisei (5-3) defeated Hakuoho (7-1). While Hakuoho bulled forward, Meisei grabbed Hakuoho’s right arm and pulled him down along the bales. Their combined momentum carried both men off the dohyo. Gunbai Meisei. Both men looked incredulous. Meisei even took his time getting back to the dohyo, like, “y’all want to look at that, right? No?” No, dude. You won. Kotenage.
Oshoma (5-3) defeated Midorifuji (0-8). Oshoma’s style is rather boring. He kept Midorifuji at arms length, not allowing him to come inside and attempt his famous katasukashi. But he couldn’t slap him down, either, after numerous attempts. He eventually caught Midorifuji a bit off balance and ran him out from behind. Midorifuji makekoshi. Okuridashi.
Aonishiki (7-1) defeated Tobizaru (4-4). Solid tsuppari from Aonishiki forced Tobizaru to the edge but he wouldn’t go over. He pulled and tried a slapdown, but Tobizaru didn’t go down. Aonishiki then followed with a nodowa and a trip but Tobizaru wouldn’t go out. He pulled again and Tobizaru took two steps forward. Aonishiki grabbed Tobizaru’s thong and ran him out.
Halftime
Onokatsu (4-4) defeated Ura (2-6). After an initial pull, Ura took it to Onokatsu. Maybe he had built some confidence with his yotsu win against Tobizaru yesterday. Well, it was a mistake today. As Ura pressed forward, Onokatsu got a right hand inside, left hand outside grip. Once he settled Ura down, he drove forward and out. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (6-2) defeated Chiyoshoma (2-6). Kinbozan overpowered Chiyoshoma after a lengthy yotsu battle that required a mawashi adjustment. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto (4-4) defeated Churanoumi (1-7). Ichiyamamoto had to give it three attempts with the tsuppari/slapdown combo but finally pulled Churanoumi down with the help of a belt grip. Uwatenage.
Wakamotoharu (3-5) defeated Gonoyama (1-7). Gonoyama tried an il-advised pull and slapdown. Wakamotoharu kept his footing and rushed him out. Oshidashi.
Sanyaku
Abi (4-4) defeated Takayasu (2-6). Abi did Abi things and blasted Takayasu with a nodowa at the tachiai. Takayasu finally relieved the pressure by batting Abi’s hands away. Takayasu then pulled, and pulled, and pulled himself right out of the ring. Oshidashi.
Wakatakakage (7-1) defeated Oho (3-5). Oho is back to his reversing sumo and Wakatakakage made him pay. Oho pulled and WTK charged forward, keeping his balance and forcing him off the edge. Oshitaoshi.
Daieisho (6-2) defeated Kirishima (5-3). Daieisho forced Kirishima backwards with his thrusts. Kirishima retreated to the bales and Daieisho shoved him out. Tsukidashi.
Onosato (8-0) defeated Hiradoumi (3-5). Onosato charged forward and forced Hiradoumi back with ease. Oshidashi.
Kotozakura (5-3) defeated Tamawashi (2-6). No tsuppari or thrusts from Tamawashi. He tried to take on Kotozakura, chest to chest, and Kotozakura forced him out. Yorikiri.
Hoshoryu (6-2) defeated Takerufuji (3-5). Takerufuji henka! Hoshoryu adjusted well. Shonosuke did not as he stumbled over his own feet trying to move out of the way. Hoshoryu advanced and wrapped up Takerufuji’s left arm, twisted, and threw him to the ground. Kotenage.
Wrap-up
Onosato has dominated his Week One competition. He will face Ura tomorrow and that should be an easy bout for him if he sticks to his fundamentals. But the five other sanyaku bouts are ahead of him this week, culminating in a fight with the Yokozuna on senshuraku. These rank-and-filers, and Takayasu, were the appetizers. After he finishes his final chicken wing tomorrow, it will be on to the main course.
Hoshoryu had a bit of a stumble today. That win over Takerufuji was close. Takerufuji was looking for a mono-ii but it was the right call. Hakuoho’s loss was the result of a great move from Meisei. He and Aonishiki might get pulled up to face sanyaku competition later this week but we clearly saw cracks in Hakuoho’s attack today.
Tomorrow, Hoshoryu will fight Ichiyamamoto. I mentioned Onosato vs Ura, which should be fun. Kotozakura versus Takayasu, though? Let’s just say I think Daieisho versus Tamawashi will be a better match. Wakatakakage will fight Abi, Aonishiki will fight Chiyoshoma and Hakuoho will take on Shodai.
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So, this doesn’t have anything to do with today in particular, but I’m wondering what the luminaries here think about Takerufuji at this point. I was blown away by his out-of-the-blue yusho, and have to admit I was thinking of him as Gojira on the clay. Well, it took me a while to admit it, but he’s not Gojira, and at this point I’m not sure if he’s even Baragon.
I’m not writing him off obviously; if he stays healthy he’ll likely be a solid sekitori for years to come. But does he have the potential to mature into ozeki-class?
(Regarding today vs. Hoshoryu: yeah, it was a close call strictly chronologically – nephew hit dirt only a moment later than T – but it was a successfully executed throw by the yokozuna and a good , no-doubt win, imho. And the henka from my erstwhile kaiju made me a little sad.)
His yusho was at the end of a period where we had several basho in a row with rookies competing for the title into the last weekend. The san’yaku during that time were inconsistent/injured a lot. I don’t think his performance was a fluke, he has real potential but he does really need to stop skipping leg day at the gym :)
I like the subtle move by Onosato after he finishes his opponents, wushu like followthrough. So graceful.
Match of the day was down at juryo- Oshomi vs Mita. They started with exchanging machine gun tsupari (like Tochimaru, remember him?), followed by yots grappling. It was a beauty.
Agreed, it’s a really enjoyable finishing move!
“These were great tickets, Junpei!” Uwatenage
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Spewed my morning coffee. Very funny .
That’s the goal. Thank you.
“No kidding, these were definitely the best tickets ever, Yuji”, after The Flying Monkey flies into the exact same spot.
Takerufuji‘s henka was a bad joke. I guess he‘s rather desperate because he‘s been running against a brick wall when meeting the top dogs (this basho and last). But it seems U can’t simply use the coward‘s move, U have to train it before. Does anybody know whether the „champs of the jumps“ are practicing it at their heyas?
Let’s wait for Chiyoshoma to become oyakata.
I haven’t seen any from Aonishiki, yet. Aminishiki might be waiting for him to reach sanyaku before passing along the wisdom.
I’ll make sure to add “Thong Throw” to my kimarite list, Andy. Thanks for that one!
Quite a few hesitant rikishi because they were expecting the judges to look closer at things. I was definitely giggling at Mesei, for sure.
We’ve talked about Aonishiki’s fundamentals, but Onosato is doing exactly the same thing with exactly the same results. There were calls previously for him to “do more training” and based on his results, but more importantly, how he’s winning I think he took that idea to heart.
Nakabi greetings!
I was surprised by Asakoryu going 6-2. Great progress so far for his third makuuchi season! Bit sad for Midorifuji though as another small fighter – his straight makekoshi irritates. Has everyone got his number now, or is it something else going on?
Tobizaru even forgot about his usual ‚smile when losing‘ today, after Aonishiki blew him into the crowd at the end of a persistent pursuit.
I noticed a really nice move from Abi, as he held Takayasu‘s arm to prevent him from stumbling off the dohyo. As it comes to the H-word again: I don‘t remember seeing Daieisho ever doing a sidestep at the tachiai. It‘s not his thing, right?
Looking forward to to the Yokuzuna and the top Ozeki both winning out.
Hopefully Daieisho also wins out so we can have two ozeki – wait – he cannot win out if the other two win out. Ugh.
What I meant is that I want to see Onosato & Hoshoryu win all through Saturday & then Hoshoryu win on Sunday. That way Onosato wins the basho and Hoshoryu shows his Yokozuna pride. As for two Ozeki – that will have to wait…
Takerufuji typically uses a human missle tachiai/attack which played perfectly into Hoshoryu’s throw + those skinny legs have to limit him at some point .. Onosato’s sumo is a perfect picture of strong legs + a balanced stance does not get pushed/pulled off balance .. Takerfuji can’t do that but one has to think he could learn from it .. Hoshoryu looks to be wrestling within himself .. e.g. not sucked in by the henka + instincts/reflexes won the match .. Aonishiki is showing all sorts of skills .. Atamifuji was wrestling a focussed + disciplined match but lost to good reactions ..
Asakoryu showed us an interesting variation on the hit-and-shift tachiai — the deflecting hit done with a morote-zuki instead of a closer approach. It worked really well for him.
Kinbozan was cheating a bit during the pause, adjusting the position of his left foot out of sight of the gyoji and his opponent. Chiyoshoma also shifted his feet but in fairness the gyoji was reefing on his mawashi at the time.
Backward-moving sumo from Ichiyamamoto today. Sure, you beat Churanoumi but if you can’t move forward against him what chance can you have against the upper echelon?
The Oho who stood up to Kotozakura hasn’t been seen on the dohyo since Day 3. Don’t worry Oho, I still believe in you — you’ll recover from whatever this is and ozeki will be yours before too long.
Gyoji so shocked at Takerufuji’s henka that he fell right over!
My center square of my bingo card had a zensho week to go 0-8; what a start. And he’s not alone; my card is full on under-performing rikishi this basho. I know make-koshi bingos are a thing, but I wish I had a chance at a kachi-kochi bingo. My only three wrestlers who I feel are certain to nab winning records are all blocked by those with poor records.
As for the basho itself, yokozuna in all-but-name Onosato has it covered, at least judging by his performance and comportment this first week. Daieisho, Hoshoryu, and Wakatakakage might give him some trouble (in that order of likelihood, too), but Onosato otherwise seems to be on a level more akin to Hakuho that any we’ve seen since the GOAT’s retirement. It’ll be nice to see sumo go back to the top rankers holding down the fort if Onosato can follow through with winning this basho.