Day Twelve in Tokyo. Leonid has the makushita update here. Takasago beya is setting itself up for a pretty good senshuraku party since Asanoyama AND Asahakuryu now lead the Juryo yusho race. They obviously can’t be paired against each other unless there is a playoff. Asahakuryu will fight Oshoumi tomorrow and Asanoyama will fight Nishikifuji.
Many of you are starting to think about the Kyushu banzuke and promotions. Asanoyama will still be in Juryo for Kyushu. There is only one instance where someone jumped from Juryo 13 directly into Makuuchi. That was Endo in 2013 when he claimed the yusho on a 14-1 record. So, with two losses already, Tomas was right to point out that Asanoyama will likely remain in Juryo, even with the yusho. Several 13-2 records, even with the yusho, have ended up ranked at Juryo 3 the following basho. This includes Ryuden in 2022 and Terunofuji in 2020.
The makuuchi yusho race is looking to be a great one. It’s not a runaway and it seems like a lot of folks actually want this title. Hoshoryu leads with Onosato one back and Shodai waiting in the wings with Takanosho if the Yokozuna stumble over the next few days.
Makuuchi Action
Kotoeiho (5-7) defeated Tomokaze (7-5). Tomokaze tried this half-assed method of wrapping Kotoeiho up and rocking him over to topple him. But Kotoeiho pressed forward and forced Tomokaze over the bales. Yorikiri.
Tokihayate (6-6) defeated Nishikigi (1-11). Nishikigi pivoted at the tachiai but Tokihayate adjusted and pressed forward into Nishikigi, driving him through the dohyo and over the bales. Yorikiri.
Shishi (8-4) defeated Mitakeumi (5-7). After a lengthy grapple, the pair settled into a lean. Shishi was first to gather his strength and drive forward, forcing Mitakeumi over the bales. Kachi-koshi for Shishi. Oshidashi.
Ryuden (9-3) defeated Shodai (9-3). Ryuden hung with Shodai while tried a few pulling and slapdown attacks at the beginning of the bout. The Lord of Chaos tired quickly so when Shodai settled for a lean, Ryuden got his left hand inside, right hand outside and wasted no time in driving Shodai over the bales. Yorikiri.
Roga (6-6) defeated Hitoshi (5-7). Once Roga got a belt grip, he wrangled Hitoshi, drove forward and walked him over the bales. Roga’s dominant victory should have one message for Hitoshi. “Weight Room.” Yorikiri.
Midorifuji (5-7) defeated Asakoryu (5-7). Midorifuji hit Asakoryu quickly at the tachiai and immediately backed up and slapped Asakoryu down. Hatakikomi.
Fujinokawa (5-7) defeated Shonannoumi (6-6). An ill-timed pull from Shonannoumi gave Fujikawa the opening and momentum he needed to drive forward and force Shonannoumi off the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Ura (8-4) defeated Tobizaru (7-5). Ura drove Tobizaru backwards to the bales, then pulled and slapped Tobizaru to the dohyo. Hatakikomi.
Sadanoumi (5-7) defeated Kinbozan (5-7). Kinbozan quickly drove Sadanoumi to the edge but it may have been a feint from Sadanoumi to draw Kinbozan to the edge. Sadanoumi shifted quickly along the bales, pivoted and turned the tables on Kinbozan. Sadanoumi got his right hand inside, left-hand outside and drove Kinbozan over the edge. Yorikiri.
Oshoma (8-4) defeated Meisei (3-9). Oshoma got his hands on Meisei’s shoulders and pulled down. Meisei dropped like a stone. The crowd was rather quiet. Hatakikomi.
Churanoumi (8-4) defeated Kusano (7-5). Kusano tried to tip Churanoumi over but Churanoumi yanked on Kusano’s belt with his left-hand inside grip and pulled him to the ground. Uwatedashinage.
Halftime
Daieisho (6-6) defeated Ichiyamamoto (3-9). Daieisho set Ichi up with strong tsuppari, then shifted left and pushed him down. Hikiotoshi.
Atamifuji (3-9) defeated Kotoshoho (3-9). Kotoshoho drove Atamifuji toward the bales but Atamifuji shifted at the bales, escaped to Kotoshoho’s right, and shoved Kotoshoho forward and off the dohyo. Kotenage.
Wakamotoharu (7-5) defeated Oho (7-5). Oho forced Wakamotoharu back to the bales but Wakamotoharu resisted and escaped left to get back to the center. Wakamotoharu countered and drove into Oho. Oho thought he would escape to the left but Wakamotoharu dragged him down. Uwatenage.
Tamawashi (5-7) defeated Hakuoho (6-6). Tamawashi’s nodowa forced Hakuoho up and back toward the bales. Tamawashi followed up with a strong shove. Oshidashi.
Gonoyama (1-11) defeated Abi (2-10). Gonoyama plowed through Abi’s tsuppari and shoved him over the bales. Oshidashi.
Sanyaku
Takayasu (4-8) defeated Hiradoumi (6-6). Takayasu got Hiradoumi turned with a slapdown attempt. Hiradoumi stumbled forward to the edge and Takayasu followed up with a shove. Oshidashi.
Wakatakakage (6-6) defeated Onokatsu (5-7). Wakatakakage pulled suddenly and Onokatsu fell forward. Hatakikomi.
Takanosho (10-2) defeated Kotozakura (8-4). Kotozakura forced Takanosho to the edge behind a strong nodowa. Takanosho stayed in and shifted left along the bales to relieve the pressure. When Takanosho re-engaged, a simple shove seems to be all it took to force Kotozakura off the bales. Oshidashi.
Onosato (11-1) defeated Kirishima (5-7). Onosato traded tsuppari with Kirishima but Onosato is just on a completely different level and easily overpowered the former Ozeki and shoved him out. Oshidashi.
Aonishiki (9-3) defeated Hoshoryu (11-1). Hoshoryu tried a pull but that served to give Aonishiki an opening and great position. With Hoshoryu at the bales, Aonishiki was able to get his right hand inside, deep on Hoshoryu’s belt. Hoshoryu retreated but Aonishiki followed. Hoshoryu tried to throw Aonishiki but Aonishiki used his right hand to shove Hoshoryu over Aonishiki’s extended left leg. Hoshoryu fell backward to the roar from the crowd. A smattering of purple zabuton found their way down near the dohyo. Kirikaeshi.
Wrap up
The Lord of Chaos broke a nail and called it a basho. Ryuden was just too overwhelming. Still, Shodai will face Kirishima tomorrow. Ryuden will fight Oho. Takanosho, though, continues to have a barn-stormer tournament. We should have seen it coming because he had been in sanyaku for a decent spell. He’d been thrown off his horse a bit lately, though. I wasn’t expecting him to roar back like this as he’s had rather quiet tournaments at M12 and M11.
And count on Aonishiki to make a statement and have an impact on the yusho race. Hoshoryu falls to 11-1, level with Onosato. Takanosho is one loss behind the leaders at 10-2. Aonishiki will fight Takanosho tomorrow. Hoshoryu will face Kotozakura and Onosato will take on Wakatakakage.
Hoshoryu’s remaining fight card should look like this. With Kotozakura tomorrow, Wakatakakage should be his Day 14 match and Onosato on Senshuraku. *Ugh. Lack of coffee update #2.
For Onosato, he will fight Wakatakakage tomorrow which means Kotozakura on Day 14 and Hoshoryu on Senshuraku. Kotozakura has Hoshoryu tomorrow, likely Onosato* on Day 14 and then he would probably be pitted against Wakatakakage on senshuraku. *No matter how much I want a rematch, Kotozakura/Takanosho will not be repeated.
So, I guess that means you all have plans for this weekend.
*And I have plans for today: buying more coffee.
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Kotozakura’s fighting himself on Day 14?
…and then Takanosho a second time?
.. and Asakoryu is a leader in juryo? He will prefer makekoshi in makuuchi than yusho in juryo.
u need to drink more coffee, haha.
It made so much more sense this morning. 😅
Aonishki at his aggressive and energetic best! He was the unstoppable tsunami today, WOW! Just the jolt of electricity this basho needed!
Aonishiki has quickly become Hosh’s kryptonite. Or Hosh simply hasn’t figured out the winning fight strategy to use against Aonishiki that Shodai did a couple days ago, to keep him upright so he doesn’t burrow in close to grab the belt and then do all kinds of twisting turning judo-esque harm…. Loved loved loved this match, fierce sumo elite technician v technician.
Bollocks. I knew it. As I went off to sleep last night, I just had a feeling. Damn.
Oh well, hopefully neither of the Yokozuna will lose any more matches, and Hosh and Onosato can fight one another on Sunday. Hosh FTW.
At the same time though, I like Aonishiki, and want him to gain promotion up Sanyaku, so not entirely sad, I just wanted Hosh to go as far as possible without losing a match – which, I suppose, he did. I just wanted it to be more than 11. Still, hopefully that will shut his detractors up somewhat. 11 straight days? Even golden boy Onosato (whom I also like) didn’t manage that.
I’m with you Betty. So want Hoshoryu, our beloved dragon prince, to take this Yusho! There’s always tomorrow, and we may have this play out to the final day and perhaps a playoff to boot! Makes me eager to jump out of bed like a Midorifuji vertical henka, to see what happened overnight my time east coast USA!
All is not yet lost Karen, if Hosh can remain focused and not be rattled by the defeat. I want him to win – no disrespect to the other contenders, but they’re not, if I may borrow your phrase, our beloved dragon prince.
I’m sitting here mulling over the results, waiting for the highlights show, with a nice cup of Guatamalan dark roast coffee – hope you’ve stocked up Andy! You can’t run out of joe at this late stage of the basho!
I know, typo. Sorry, it should have read “Guatemalan”.
Gonoyama! Looked to me as if he was breathing a sigh of relief 😮💨 afterwards. Kagayaki also with a win in Juryo (6-6). Day twelve, what a wonderful day of sumo.
For me, there’s a different feeling between Onosato and Hoshoryu. And it might be because I’m a fan of Hoshoryu but with Onosato there’s this feeling of inevitability. Even when he’s on the defensive, it feels like it’s a matter of time before he turns it around. And nine times out of ten, he simply bulldozes the opponent like they’re nothing.
Hoshoryu doesn’t have that. For one, it’s hard to say what Hoshoryu is going to show up for a tournament. I don’t know if it’s confidence issues or if it was a legitimate injury and not some Yokozuna smoke and mirrors but the Hoshoryu of this tournament has been a completely different beast from the July tournament. But even when Hoshoryu is winning a match, there’s a feeling like he could lose at any moment. And today was a good example. He survived early, got overanxious with his throw, and got dumped for it. That’s not to take anything from Aonishiki who is going to be at least an Ozeki very soon, but it always feels like Hoshoryu is at the cusp of beating himself.
As a fan I’m worried that this loss is going to shatter the confidence Hoshoryu’s had all tournament, and he won’t finish strong, and I really hope I’m wrong.
Since January 2024 (when Onosato entered makuuchi) Hoshoryu has won 28 of 37 bouts on the last five days. That’s better than Onosato’s 36-16 record.
On the last three days Hoshoryu is slightly better (14-5 vs 21-9) and he leads the head-to-head with 6-2. So the numbers give hope to the nephew‘s fans.
Interesting stats Herbert, thanks.
Yes, hoping Hosh doubles down tomorrow!
Herbern, sorry, autocorrect
Astute observations Hawk. Nicely done, and I agree. Hosh is mercurial and the more exciting fighter, imo, but as you wrote, there’s that feeling of ‘he could lose any second’. NHK showed Onosato walking away down the hanumichi after Hosh’s defeat, and I have to say he looked a little smug.
This day of sumo started as the Day of Discarded Sagari, and ended with the Day of High Ranking Upsets. Takanosho might finally be healthy again AND in the right mental space (which cannot be said of, say, Kirishima, Atamifuji, Kotoshoho, or Gonoyama at the moment) to get back to sanyaku. Aonishiki is showing he is the future, alongside the inevitability that is Onosato overwhelming you.
I wanted to call this a young guns tournament, but when only some of them are living up to expectations and some old stalwarts are rediscovering themselves (hello, Ura and Shodai!), this tournament seems to be yet another in the turbulent transition period, rather than the settling down of a new order. I have faith Onosato will have long staying power; any of the others in the sanyaku ranks do not feel safe in their spots.
It seems like some rikishi lose focus at the most critical point in their match .. and lose .. others know what they have to do + perhaps as important ..what not to do .. eg Ryuden and Shodai were hand fighting .. Ryuden was only going to settle for a front belt grab .. he was not going to let Shodai lock his arm in place under his own .. Shishi kept his head down low to keep his belt untouched .. and of course Aonishiki kept to his knitting + low posture despite an initial tachiai that straightened him up .. meanwhile Kusano got sloppy near the bales and got put down .. WMH kept his arms under Ohio’s .. it opened an escape hatch at the bakes w a sidestep + reversal .. meanwhile Kirishima looked to have bailed out from one more go at Onosato while on the bales .. Onosato must now be the betting favorite for the yusho .. I’d love to see Hosh win or a playoff of 13-2 rikishi ..
In terms of promotions/demotions, we’ll definitely have Takerufuji and Nishikigi dropping and Oshoumi and Nishikifuji replacing them (observing the conservation of “Nishiki” law). As things stand right now, Chiyoshoma and Mita would get exchanged with Meisei and Hitoshi, but a lot can change in the last three days
I love the conservation of Nishiki law! It does make me wonder what a Nishiki is, though. Any translators?
I don’t know if we can trust online translation, but FWIW: 錦 (nishiki): This character means “brocade” and is used to describe beautiful, colorful patterns, like those on fine silk.
I always seem to attend on days when the cushions fly. Last year I was there for a pre-ozeki Onosato defeating Terunofuji, and yesterday I see Hoshoryu fall. Excellent basho! My only regret is not scheduling things to where I could attend on Sunday, because that’s going to be an excellent one.