Welcome to nakabi, the middle Sunday of the tournament. As is customary, we have our first yusho arasoi (leaderboard).
Leaders (7-1): S1w Kirishima, M4w Tamawashi, M8w Ichiyamamoto, M14e Kusano.
Chasers (6-2): Y1w Onosato, K1w Takayasu, M1e Aonishiki, M9e Ura, M15e Kotoshoho, M16w Mitakeumi.
There is also a seven-man group of 5-3 rikishi, but only O1e Kotozakura seems worth mentioning, and he dropped out of the chase pack by allowing Oshoma to pick up only his second win of the tournament, and on the belt no less.
Today’s headline has to be Onosato picking up his second loss against M4e Hakuoho (4-4), who earned a huge stack of kensho envelopes to go along with his first career kinboshi. Hakuoho effectively stalemated the Yokozuna at the tachiai, which few manage to do. Onosato pulled, which was all the invitation Hakuoho needed to rush him out of the dohyo. This upset certainly opens up the yusho race.
In other key bouts, Kirishima outlasted Onokatsu and seemed to take umbrage at the amount of resistance his fellow Mongolian offered. Tamawashi easily disposed of Abi. Ichiyamamoto prevailed in a back-and-forth affair against Atamifuji, while Kusano had his hands full with Hidenoumi but ultimately got the better of a wrestler returning from injury after withdrawing on day 5.
Wakamotoharu had the advantage early in his bout against Takayasu but went for an ill-advised kotenage attempt, which allowed the former Ozeki to turn the tables and power the maegashira out. Aonishiki, who remarkably went 5-2 against the entire sanyaku in his first basho in the joi, never looked in trouble in his yorikiri win over Oho, and will face only lower-ranked opponents from here. No offense intended, but I am pretty much discounting the chances of the other 6-2 guys, especially after Ura’s last-second escape act against one-armed Takerufuji and Mitakeumi’s meek loss to Takanosho.
The big bout tomorrow pits Onosato against Takayasu! The former Ozeki won his first two meetings with the current Yokozuna but dropped the last two, including a memorable playoff loss in March. Kirishima will look to foil another upset bid by Hakuoho, Aonishiki will meet Wakamotoharu for the first time, Tamawashi will fight Onokatsu, whom he’s dominated so far, Ichiyamamoto has Gonoyama, and Kusano will try his luck against Takanosho.
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These Yokozuna are expensive! Kinboshi R Us.
anyone notice the fan wearing a Deep Space 9 t shirt in the second row. respect
Speaking of a fan, anyone noticed a BIG mouth guy waring red shirt the other day? Right out of a comic cartoon.
Onosato is starting to remind me a tad of Takakeisho, in that if their opponent even gets close to getting on their belt, the yokozuna’s win chances go way down. Of course, Onosato’s tachiai is a huge deterrent, but he is also young enough to correct this disastrous habit in the making. Resorting to a slow, very telegraphed pull when the start of the bout doesn’t go his way won’t lead to long-term success. My hope is that, by the end of the year, he’ll have built confidence in his new rank and feel worthy of it, and start truly dominating. Right now, the skill is there, but the mental fortitude (split-second decision making) is lagging behind.
As for the others, go Tamawashi! If only Mitakeumi and Takayasu looked as young as you do, and we’d have two grizzled veterans in the title hunt. Still like my earlier podium prediction of Onosato, Kirishima and Aonishiki, though.
Onosato is perfectly capable on the belt, he has 38 yorikiri wins to 59 oshidashi (Takakeisho’s career totals were 9 to 205). It’s more an ill-advised tendency to pull when his tachiai is neutralized (and he might want to add some throws to his repertoire, he only has 2 uwatenage wins).
He loses all ring sense when he moves backwards. Ergo, move forward, lad!!!
Onosato did not look to have the eye of the tiger .. that is all it took to open the door for Hakuoho .. Kusano needs stronger competition .. He’s shown good recovery skills/strength .. WTK was v impressive in recovering from being pressed to the bales .. Oshoma kept Kotozkura off his belt until he was ready for his move .. smart sumo ., Watching the hand fighting of Aonishiki v Oho (or anyone is fun) .. It’s like dueling rattlers .. slo mo is called for + hard to see the subtleties . Mitakeumi’s forward roll stopped + he had no lateral counter moves v Takanosho ., He is finding his new spot on the banzuke .
My special mention today goes to the Hiradoumi vs Gonoyama bout. Not Hiradoumi‘s win per se was surprising, but that he got it with Gonoyama/Goeido style sumo.
And I liked the ending of Asakoryu vs Roga though I didn’t like it as I cheered for the smaller rikishi. And it looked good; Asakoryu dragged Roga over the whole dohyo, but finally it was him who flew through the air because Roga hit the brakes at the right time.
I wonder if Takerufuji is that badly injured. To be honest I can’t say that yesterday’s and today’s bouts looked different from other Takerufuji fights without bandaged bizep. And he even stopped his fall with the hurt arm.
Hiradoumi v Gonoyama was a classic .. matching styles + no let up by either rikishi .. Gonoyama showed respect afterwards .. Asakoryu was the aggressor + deserved a win .. Roga got caught up in their whirling dervish match + made the last fateful throw ., Asakoryu ‘s sumo is a bit more confident + aggressive than before .. he tries to keep his moves one step ahead of his larger opponents .. Those two winners don’t flinch w their tachiai’s ..
This will jinx him, but imho Kotoshoho is showing more intent + aggression + follow through .. Maybe having little Koto in the rank motivated him .. he’s always struck me as an under performer ., his ceiling has not been reached ..
This yusho has quickly moved to wide open ., Onasato should remain the favorite .. But he just showed he’s human between the ears .,
Nakabi greetings!
Today‘s bouts were amazing, nearly every of them. Shouting amd screaming my way through the sanyaku encounters! I hardly believed what I saw happening between WTK and Kinbozan. What a mighty twist!
Onosato switched into the false gear. Once going backwards he never gets out of it. Congratulations to Hakuoho for the kinboshi, decorated with a huge stack of kensho.
Roga sliding half a meter through the sand to a lucky victory. That was a funny stunt. Please continue, everyone!
That WTK bout was amazing. I really like both of these rikishi. Kinbozan lifted him off the clay, swept him 180 degrees and then ended up airborne himself at the end. He is a big guy, that is some serious strength on top of the agility from the youngest Waka. Entertainment at is finest
I bet Tamawashi’s run will slow once he meets rikishi who can stymie his tachiai .. he odds of winning drop off the longer a match lasts .. being 40 has its downside .. but he knows this + will plan accordingly ..
I hear the wailing of the head of the JSA Payroll Department. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Wakatakakage win was fantastic.
Thank you, again, Leonid! My Internet is terrible here. The hotel has NHK World so I hope I can catch highlights tonight. They were doing election results when we got back to the room last night.
No worries, I’m enjoying my brief stint of recaps :)
This early yusho race is crazy, too. I am loving Hakuoho as spoiler. Ichiyamamoto FTW!
I DO NOT want to see an IYM yusho!
All I can say in addition to everyone’s comments is ‘What a glorious day of sumo’! I too was yelling at the TV, all in all, not just glorious, but satisfying, entertaining, and amazing!