Huge, late developing news from the infirmary is that Onosato is kyujo. He was wincing in pain after yesterday’s loss. Sounds like a dislocated shoulder. That hands Hoshoryu the default victory. Aonishiki has to win his bout to earn the right to contest the yusho against Hoshoryu. Sometimes the sumo kami are as cruel as the golf gods.
Just to add insult to injury, early Makuuchi bout coverage was pre-empted by coverage of the Keio/Waseda rugby game where my Keio boys got absolutely thrashed. When I was an English teacher in Hiyoshi, some of my students played rugby for Keio HS. Some of their kids might have played in today’s game.
Entering today’s action, the Association announced the Special Prize winners. Aonishiki and Yoshinofuji were awarded Technique prizes. Other Special Prizes came with conditions. Kirishima and Ichiyamamoto could each win Fighting Spirit prizes if they win today. Kirishima will face Ura and Ichiyamamoto will face Wakamotoharu. Aonishiki was also given a chance to win an Outstanding Performance Prize if he wins the yusho.
Fujiryoga defeated Hatsuyama to win the Juryo yusho in his debut. Asanoyama won his bout against Kitanowaka to finish 12-3. Leonid will have a better idea of who earned promotion as well as who has to be demoted. There seem to be a lot of demotion candidates and promotion candidates, without enough folks to take their places.
NHK videos of senshuraku action are here. This includes the first six bouts which we missed in the Live coverage.
Makuuchi Action
Asakoryu (8-7) defeated Kotoeiho (9-6). Uwatenage.
Oshoumi (7-8) defeated Fujiseiun (8-7). Okuridashi.
Shishi (6-9) defeated Meisei (1-5-9). Oshitaoshi.
Chiyoshoma (10-5) defeated Kotoshoho (7-8). Uwatenage.
Daieisho (10-5) defeated Tokihayate (9-6). Oshidashi.
Nishikifuji defeated Tobizaru (6-9) Oshidashi.
Tomokaze (7-8) defeated Midorifuji (6-9). Tomokaze slapped Midorifuji down. Hatakikomi.
Kinbozan (6-8) defeated Sadanoumi (4-10). Sadanoumi pulled on Kinbozan’s right arm but Kinbozan spun and slapped Sadanoumi down. Hatakikomi.
Gonoyama (9-6) defeated Abi (5-10). Gonoyama assaulted Abi with tsuppari. Gonoyama thrust hard into Abi’s right shoulder, turning Abi around. Abi was just able to get righted but had no way to counter as Gonoyama shoved him out. Oshidashi.
Churanoumi (8-7) defeated Ryuden (7-8). Darwin bout. Churanoumi earned his kachi-koshi by getting a good belt grip and twisting Ryuden down. Shitatehineri.
Onokatsu (7-8) defeated Shonannoumi (3-12). Onokatsu was able to overpower Shonannoumi along the edge and walked him out. Yorikiri.
Atamifuji (8-7) defeated Mitakeumi (7-8). Our second, and last Darwin bout of the evening. Mitakeumi tried a pull but Atamifuji didn’t fall for it. Atamifuji drove Mitakeumi back and over the bales. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Tamawashi (7-8) defeated Fujinokawa (9-6). Tamawashi’s tsuppari was to powerful for Fujinokawa and Tamawashi thrust him out. Fujinokawa spent most of the bout running away. With the win, Tamawashi passed Takanohana for the 10th most makuuchi victories, at 702. Oshidashi.
Oshoma (4-11) defeated Hiradoumi (4-11). Hiradoumi got a migi-sashi and drove forward. However, Oshoma slapped him down as he leapt into the air. Gunbai Oshoma. Mono-ii. After a review, Hiradoumi’s body was determined to have touched first, confirming the gyoji’s call. I’m not going to say anything about Aonishiki/Onosato here. I’ll let dead bodies lie. Tsukiotoshi.
Ichiyamamoto (11-4) defeated Wakamotoharu (8-7). Ichiyamamoto came out swinging for Wakamotoharu’s throat. He thrust Wakamotoharu’s left shoulder as Wakamotoharu tried to throw a slap, forcing Wakamotoharu to stumble forward and off the dohyo. Ichiyamamoto won his second Fighting Spirit prize. Okuritaoshi.
Kirishima (11-4) defeated Ura (8-7). Ura’s pull attempt ceded position but allowed him to brace along the edge. Kirishima pursued and tried to shove him out. Ura slipped right to escape but stumbled and rolled out. Kirishima won his third Fighting Spirit prize. Oshitaoshi.
Wakatakakage (7-8) defeated Roga (8-7). Hazu-oshi start with both guys thrusting into each other. Wakatakakage backed to the right and tried to slap Roga down. Roga caught his footing and tried to re-engage but WTK was in hot-pursuit and shoved Roga out. Oshidashi.
Hakuoho (6-9) defeated Shodai (4-11). Hakuoho hit Shodai hard at the tachiai, rocking Shodai back. Hakuoho pressed quickly and forced Shodai out. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Hoshoryu (12-3) default win over Onosato (11-4). If there’s an absence in the final scheduled bout, they shuffle it a few bouts early so the action doesn’t end with a fusen. This meant neither Yokozuna were present for the kore-yori-sanyaku which is a cool ceremony before the final three bouts on senshuraku.
Takayasu (8-7) defeated Yoshinofuji (9-6). The bout started with a brawl, tsuppari flying. Yoshinofuji tried to settle into a grapple with a left-hand inside grip. Takayasu’s left-hand grip seemed more secure and he drove forward as Yoshinofuji tried to pull. Takayasu threw Yoshinofuji off the dohyo. Takayasu won the arrows and saves a spot in sanyaku. He might even move up to Sekiwake? Oshitaoshi.
Oho (7-8) defeated Takanosho (5-10). Oho used good tsuppari and footwork to earn position at the center of the ring and force Takanosho to the edge. Takanosho tried a pull and wanted to escape to his left but Oho shoved him out. Oho got the bow strings. Oshidashi.
A consequence of shifting the musubi-no-ichiban was that Kotozakura/Aonishiki suddenly was musubi-no-ichiban and had a ton of kensho. The yobidashi would walk around the ring, step down, and grab another set of banners to display. I don’t know why but the guy with the One Cup Ozeki banner always seems to be a couple of steps slower than everyone else. Anyway, the winner will get a bigger pay day than they were expecting. Will that make Kotozakura fight harder for the win?
Aonishiki (12-3) defeated Kotozakura (8-7). Solid tachiai and the two men settled into a grapple. Kotozakura had a left-hand uwate while Aonishiki had his right-hand inside. Kotohachinana’s right knee was within range of Aonishiki’s left hand so Aonishiki swept the knee and forced the Ozeki forward. (Hat tip to jbipes for the brilliant nickname.) What a way to force a playoff. Uchimuso!
Playoff
Aonishiki defeated Hoshoryu! Aonishiki did it again! Aonishiki Yusho!!!! Hoshoryu pulled after trading tsuppari. Aonishiki sprung forward and wrapped up Hoshoryu from behind, dragging him to the deck. What the hell was that?
Wrap-up
Well, Aonishiki broke his string of 11-wins by picking up #12 against Kotozakura. He claimed an Outstanding Performance Prize for the mantle, next to the yusho. This will be absolutely heart-breaking for Hoshoryu. He missed out on his first yusho as Yokozuna and gets beaten again by the Sekiwake.
And even better, Aonishiki has earned promotion to Ozeki. We’ll bring more of the official announcement when it comes before Thanksgiving, hopefully grab some tai from the butcher to celebrate…or at least some taiyaki from the freezer.
Time to revisit an old post about the Japanese phrase, “aikuchi ga warui” and “aikuchi ga ii.” Aonishiki certainly has Hoshoryu’s number, so we should say, “aikuchi ga ii” when we talk about Aonishiki’s record against Hoshoryu. He does very well facing Hoshoryu, doesn’t he?
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It was a really anticlimatic way to start senshuraku (although the way Onosato was fighting the last days, I didn’t expect more than token resistance against Hoshoryu from him anyways), but it really finished on peak.
I’m however quite dissapointed how this board so quickly turns into a the world against Aonishiki – JSA vs. Aonishiki place. Its totally okay for a vastly international audience to root for the up and coming international hope, but that is no reason to turn every twist that doesn’t fall Aonishikis way into a conspiracy.
For starters the bout against Onosato might have been controversional, but it was nowhere near a clear cut robbery. There have been outright wrong calls in the past as well, this one was just controversial. My understanding of the mono-ii system is that it doesn’t work like a VAR in soccer where some referee can scrutinize video footage and interfere, but one of the guys ring side who doesn’t have any video or slow motion needs to raise a hand after the bout. It’s always easy to call out something with all the technical help we have, but mono-ii are not something used “just to be sure”. It needs at least one judge to doubt the call.
With that being said, it was a very exciting basho to watch. We had a runaway winner in Onosato still halfaway in week two despite him showing some of the worst sumo of his career (at least from my point of view). This came crushing down on him during the final stretch of the basho and some guys almost written off early took charge.
Kotozakura most of the time looks like he can’t even throw over and empty bucket, but he showed up against both Yokozuna and Aonishiki. He lost to both Hoshoryu and Aonishiki, but he looked like an Ozeki in those bouts. Is this a mental thing needing pressure/high profile opponents or did he finally overcome some lingering issues in those last days of the tournament?
I had no preference who to win the playoff kinda liking both guys, but seeing Aonishiki blitz Hoshoryu after this hard earned win against Kotozakura was a really great finish. Especially with this Yusho virtually guaranteeing his Ozeki promotion.
Also happy about my boy Oho turning corner and at least staying in Sanyaku this time. Outside of his loss to Hiradoumi (who we didn’t know would end 4-11 at that point) and the loss to Kotozakura, who was fighting like a wet sack of rice at that point, there weren’t too many plunders, just him walking backwards almost all bouts this basho. Maybe walking backwards against Ura is a plunder by definition too;)
I’m super happy for Takayasu too. He started strong, crashed down hard mid-basho, but rose back in the final chapter to not only preserve his rank with a kachi-koshi, but return to Sekiwake.
A similar comeback story somewhat under the radar was Oshoumi. After day 9 he was done and dusted sitting at 1-8, but he finished with 6 wins (think that included 2 henka, but you need to be prepared for that against a desparate rikishi) pretty much securing his stay in makuuchi.
I’m really impressed (and since a while) with Ichiyamamoto. Unlike one trick Abi, he has developed his sumo and isn’t hapless anymore when opponets get to this belt. With this more versatile sumo he is also a lot more fun to watch.
It was also a really good basho by the artist formerly known as Kusano. His 9-6 record might not fully reflect this. Still he could end up all the way up at M1e next basho.
I really like Kirishima and he had a great basho. Not sure he will ever make it back to Ozeki (although he could), but I really hope he can stick at Sekiwake in January.
I didn’t have time to watch Juryo this basho, but happy that Asanoyama climbed back. Takerufuji also managed a kachikoshi, but 8-7 seems to be telling that he is not fully recovered yet.
Really looking forward to next basho. Would be a blast if all the Yokozuna&Ozeki corps could fight at full strength, however I hope the Onosato heals that shoulder as much as needed and not returns prematurely.
I don’t think there was any embarrassment in Oho losing to Hiradoumi. Hiradoumi looked pretty good to me this basho, seemed to be doing his sumo; it just didn’t come together for him this time.
I’m not a native english speaker, so to me using the word plunder doesn’t nearly equal embarassing. It is more like a mistake that could have been avoided. in that match against Hiradoumi he lost the tachiai or the initiative at the tachiai and was walking backwards (which he did way too often) with both having the others belt. He was initially circling inwards but very quickly changed direction turning his back straight to the tawara and having hiradoumi walk him out easily.
Hiradoumi unless injured always looks good even when losing due to this dynamic and aggressive style, but sometimes like this basho his timing is a bit off and he takes a lot of close losses.
Well said
I agree with all the positive comments made re Andy, this site and this basho .. One does not always have a lingering positive feeling after a big sports event .. In this case there are a host of secondary positive subplots that add to the headlines .. That is rare .. I think the discipline and class of sumo helps make that possible .. Also the heightened level of competition and resulting outcomes are really special .. We are all used to getting stuck in “narratives” + shared presumptions .. eg I thought Onosato was a sure thing .. an unstoppable semi ., unless Hoshoryu could figure out how to stop the semi + try to test its ability to do a U turn .. meanwhile forget about finding a rikishi who could out-quick cat-quick Hosh .. Competition forced another level of perform by all .. Add in the incredible youth + origin of Ao … It is all a very remarkable sports story .. Andy et al have provided a place where those who appreciate all this can share their enthusiasm … and knowledge … How many know Chiyonofuji recovered from a dislocated shoulder? Lucky us .
There was a documentary on Chiyonofuji on NHK recently.
If I remember correctly he had his shoulder dislocated several times.
And I think he was in all the most watched bouts on tv ever. Twice (?) over 40% even.
It’s just amazing to me that Aonishiki was introduced to Sumo in 2019 and rose up through the ranks of some 14-15 Bashos to win the emperors cup at 21 years old❗️
I don’t have any knowledge of what his early training regiment was like as a younger man, but I can’t imagine it’s was the same as in Japan, where young Rikishi start as tweens (or younger!) and literally train their asses off daily to get on the path to a potential sumo career.
This victory is made even more symbolically, sweet in that he is a Ukrainian during Russia’s illegal land grab invasion .
While Aonishiki has not been blatantly political,he surely Is symbolic of the underdog struggle we all like to see come out on top.( I pray Ukraine will in the end &
F**k Putin)
Aonishki has been doing sumo since he was seven years old. He won his first amateur sumo medals in 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aonishiki_Arata
I’ve read (I can’t remember where) that the Japan Sumo Association’s rules forbid rikishi from making political statements. This would prevent Aonishki from talking about the war, and it would also mean that nothing said in public could cause trouble between Aonishki or Shishi and Roga, who is Russian.
Shouldn’t he mention Ukraine during the interview?
I don’t recall it coming up. He mentioned his parents. As Ozeki, I am sure he’ll be on a path to Japanese citizenship. He’ll be able to bring his parents to Japan, if that’s what they want. I remember Konishiki talked about sending money to his parents as soon as he could make it. I’m sure that making Ozeki will be life-changing for him.
I too was waiting for it to be mentioned, but there came nothing.
I guess he was a bit overwhelmed by it all.
It certainly wasn’t an Oscar speech… maybe in January?
I appreciated the fact that the interviewer didn’t go down that path. I thought it was respectful to Aonishiki, as a foreigner in an intensely Japanese sport, to treat him the way he would have treated a Japanese rikishi. We’ve had suspicions that the judges weren’t doing that, so let’s enjoy the discretion of the interviewer.
My preliminary GTB form is looking very interesting so far… the San’yaku are fairly obvious, as it looks like Aonishiki will be joining Kotozakura at Ōzeki. If this indeed happens, Kirishima and Takayasu are the Sekiwake, and Ōhō will likely be joined by, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this… Ichiyamamoto at Komusubi?
I agree .. but if Oho is going to be Komusubi then Ichiyamato deserves his day in the sun .. am not convinced he’ll hold up well in the first week of the January basho .. likely will spend week 2 trying to salvage his kachi-koshi ..
A bit late to the party, but I wondered if anyone knew who that dude dressed like a Roman who gave the magic water to someone in one of the last bouts (maybe musubi no ichiban) was? I don’t recall seeing that before, but maybe its a tradition I’ve just been missing all this time..
The old Instagram picture looks dead but the explanation is still accurate. Herouth has an excellent explanation here: https://tachiai.org/2018/03/14/pearl-of-the-day-chikara-mizu-in-the-musubi-no-ichiban/
Oh, awesome – that’s it!! Tachiai all over it as usual!!