No kyujo news. In Juryo, Fujiseiun heads a group of five undefeated. He’s joined by Sadanoumi, Meisei, Wakanosho and Dewanoryu. Also, maezumo started today. Oshima-beya’s Kyokugosei looks pretty strong, shoving out Chiyoryusei, a young lad who’s been plagued by injury but is making another go of it.
Day Three NHK videos are here.
Makuuchi Action
Oshoumi (2-1) defeated Hatsuyama (0-3). Oshoumi immediately got a left arm overarm grip and guided Hatsuyama back over the bales. Yorikiri.
Asahakuryu (3-0) defeated Ryuden (1-2). Asahakuryu shifted to his left at the tachiai and shoved Ryuden as the latter steamrolled through the dohyo. Asahakuryu followed up with a shove from behind to send Ryuden sprawling into the second row. Okuridashi.
Asanoyama (2-1) defeated Mitakeumi (1-2). Asanoyama locked up Mitakeumi’s mawashi with a left-hand overarm grip. Mitakeumi tried an ill-advised half pull to his left, ceding space to his opponent. Asanoyama quickly pressed forward and ushered Mitakeumi over the bales. Yorikiri.
Asakoryu (1-2) defeated Tomokaze (1-2). Three Takasago-beya bouts, three white stars. Tomokaze retreated with his slapdown attempt but Asakoryu was unfazed. He blitzed Tomokaze and helped him find his way to the hanamichi. Oshidashi.
Shishi (3-0) defeated Tobizaru (1-2). Shishi landed blow after blow against Tobizaru. Tobizaru tried to charge inside but Shishi blasted him with another shove, keeping the Flying Monkey at arms’ length. Bam, Bam, Bam, and Shishi sent Tobizaru flying. He landed in the lap of a woman in the second row. Oshidashi.
NHK decided to break into sumo coverage to show a press conference with the Japanese Prime Minister and South Korean President. Thanks to the live scoreboard at sumo.or.jp, I got to learn who won. I might need to use those NHK videos myself, later.
Abi (3-0) defeated Nishikifuji (2-1). Uwatenage.
Chiyoshoma (2-1) defeated Midorifuji (0-3). Yorikiri.
Kotoshoho (1-2) defeated Roga (1-2). Yorikiri.
If this press conference lasts any longer, I’ll be firing up the VPN.
Gonoyama (1-2) defeated Tokihayate (1-2). Oshidashi.
VPN engaged..ah, Abema, my old friend…久しぶりです
Fujinokawa (2-1) defeated Kinbozan (1-2). Kinbozan laid into Fujinokawa and thrust his head back but Fujinokawa shifted left and slapped Kinbozan down. Tsukiotoshi.
Oshoma defeated Shodai. Oshoma kept up his assault longer than Shodai was willing to bear it. He slammed into Shodai with headbutts, then shoved him with powerful thrusts, slaps, and a fierce nodowa. At the edge, Shodai tried to grab Oshoma’s arm and pull him over the bales but Oshoma just increased the severity of his beat-down until Shodai could take no more. Tsukidashi.
Halftime
…and Abema commercials, let’s check NHK. Press conference is over!! Yay!! So, what did I miss? I noticed these videos were up pretty quickly during the press conference. Sometimes it takes quite a while for them to be posted but today it’s pretty quick.
Abi over Nishikifuji: Nishikifuji actually got the jump on Abi and did really well to force him to the bales. However, Abi used those long arms to get his left hand on Nishikifuji’s mawashi. In an impressive show of strength, Abi then flung Nishikifuji around the ring until he hauled him down. Uwatenage.
Chiyoshoma over Midorifuji: Chiyoshoma was all over Midorifuji like white on rice, as they say. He quickly overpowered Midorifuji, got firm grips with both hands and hauled Midorifuji out. Yorikiri.
Kotoshoho over Roga: Roga shifted left after the tachiai but Kotoshoho followed, wrapped him up and dropped him. Yorikiri.
Gonoyama destroyed Tokihayate, driving him straight back and off the cliff. Oshidashi.
The Live Action
Onokatsu (1-2) defeated Churanoumi (2-1). After a flurry of tsuppari and a long, great yotsu battle, Onokatsu wore Churanoumi down and helped him over the edge of the tawara. Bout of the Day contender. Yorikiri.
NEWS BREAK?!?!?! You still do the usual news break?!?!?!
Hiradoumi (2-1) defeated Tamawashi (1-2). Hiradoumi blitzed the veteran and quickly hauled him backward and over the bales. Yorikiri.
Atamifuji (1-2) defeated Takanosho (0-3). Takanosho forced Atamifuji to the bales but Atamifuji was able to free his left arm, pivot and pull, slapping Takanosho down. Hatakikomi.
Sanyaku
Wakatakakage (2-1) defeated Oho (0-3). Wakatakakage slammed into Oho with incredible speed and power. He used his right hand inside grip and left hand outside to force Oho back and out quickly. Yorikiri.
ANOTHER NEWS BREAK?!?! You’ve got to be kidding me. Thank God this was a quick one. I hope Japan-China relations don’t get much worse. Just think about what it would do to sumo coverage. Peace on Earth!! War on the Dohyo!!
Takayasu (2-1) defeated Daieisho (1-2). We thought the Onokatsu/Churanoumi bout was going to be bout-of-the-day. Not so fast. This fierce brawl was fantastic. At last, Takayasu grabs Daieisho by the arm with both hands and swings him down at the edge. Kainahineri.
Kirishima (3-0) defeated Hakunofuji (2-1). What a thrilling belt battle! Hakunofuji gains the edge and brings Kirishima back. Both men took a tumble from the dohyo as Kirishima refused to step out easily. Gunbai Hakunofuji. Mono-ii? Oh, dear…Hakunofuji’s toe goes over the bales as Kirishima comes down. Meanwhile, Hakunofuji is slow to get up, possibly breaking his nose. Both were out. Judges rule a rematch! Wow, sometimes this sport is cruel. On the rematch, Kirishima pulls along the bales and thrusts Hakunofuji down at the edge. Gunbai Kirishima, no mono-ii. Tsukiotoshi.
Aonishiki (3-0) defeated Ichiyamamoto (0-3). Aonishiki almost played this to Ichiyamamoto’s advantage with the early hazu-oshi. Ichiyamamoto forced Aonishiki back to the edge with his thrusts but Aonishiki was determined. He tried a slapdown and then reached in to grab Ichiyamamoto’s mawashi with his left-hand inside. From there, he charged forward and bulldozed Ichiyamamoto out. Yorikiri.
These last few bouts have been absolute fire. I called for War on the Dohyo and that’s what we’ve been getting.
Kotozakura (3-0) defeated Wakamotoharu (0-3). Wakamotoharu drove forward with his right-hand over-arm grip but Kotozakura twisted and hauled him down at the edge. Gunbai Kotozakura. Mono-ii. They wanted to check if both came out at the same time but Wakamotoharu’s left calf was clearly down. Sukuinage.
Onosato (3-0) defeated Ura (0-3). Why did Onosato pull? Instead of dominating, Onosato charged ahead initially but then pulled. As the two tussled, Ura fell back but grabbed Onosato’s right leg and pulled him down while falling on his backside. Ura immediately spun to check the gunbai and when he saw it pointed to the Yokozuna, he was furious. Mono-ii. Judges ruled both down and demanded another rematch! This one will be controversial, I know. Onosato’s hands were down while Ura was still hovering over the dohyo. In the rematch, Onosato bulled forward and flung Ura into ex-Tochiozan’s lap. Oshitaoshi.
It’s 6:00pm, NHK. This is what you get for interrupting sumo coverage. Sumo coverage interrupts the news. Nya!
Yoshinofuji (1-2) defeated Hoshoryu (2-1). The first upset of this basho goes to Yoshinofuji. He powered into Hoshoryu, blasted him high and then wrapped up his trunk. Hoshoryu twisted and tried to throw Yoshinofuji down but couldn’t disrupt Yoshinofuji’s balance. Yoshinofuji got a grip of Hoshoryu’s thong and plowed straight ahead. Kinboshi with the Yokozuna wedgie kicker. Yorikiri.
Wrap-up
What a wild day. Seeing those Mr. Donut banners before the Hoshoryu bout has me craving a donut. I have a Dr. appointment to check my blood pressure today and today’s absolute chaos just won’t be good for it. Why not pile a donut on top? I deserve it. There aren’t any Mr. Donuts here but I will find a reasonable facsimile. Maybe two.
For tomorrow’s bouts, if there aren’t any more press conferences we should be able to see Shishi fight Asanoyama. Shishi has been fighting well so this could be an interesting matchup. He’s still rather lumbering but he has been feisty. Fujinokawa versus Onokatsu could be another good one, just after the halftime break.
In sanyaku, Kirishima will fight Wakamotoharu and Takayasu will take on the remains of Hakunofuji. Kotozakura will run away from Ichiyamamoto, Aonishiki will be challenged by Oho, Hoshoryu will try to bounce back against Ura and Onosato will try not to give up another kinboshi to Yoshinofuji who walked away with a double-fisted stack of donut money today.
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Ura was robbed. Clearly Yokazuna bias.
That’s right.
There was something close to crowd unrest in the arena
Yes they whistled, never heard that before since I started following Sumo in the eighties.
Ura clearly won that with an amazing leg grab takedown of Onosato. We should start a go fund me for Ura to replace the stolen kinboshi winnings…..
I thought so, too, but now that I‘ve seen the NHK highlights I am with Murray Johnson who declared that the decision was right, because Ura’s heel had turned over. I didn’t notice that in the video, but the slow motion proved it quite clearly.
Kirishima won the first time around, as did Ura. The judges seem consumed by subjective garbage. Who touches down first? That’s it. That’s all they exist to decide.
It’s not that simple.
Come on Andy, yes you are right, it’s not that simple and Aonishiki’s match was a perfect example of how a deadbody rule should be applied. You are 100% correct.
But not on that match, when you grab the leg of your opponent and they touch down first before you do because of your takedown, you win. That’s always that simple and somehow the managed to pull off a torinaoshi which was going to end in an obvious win for the Yokozuna since the odds of Ura winning twice were close to none.
I normaly am not the type of fan to complain about these things, but this one was pretty damn horrible. It’s the fact that we were robbed of a beautiful upset win with an incredible technique by a rikishi everybody loves.
No, it’s not that simple. Watch Ura‘s heel turn and U‘ll understand why the rematch was the correct decision.
That said I‘m not a fan of the soles of the feet rule, but still it comes into play here unfortunately.
I just don’t think a big “maybe” on Ura’s heel in any way overrules the objective, non-arguable fact of Onosato touching down inside and outside the bales.
Only it wasn’t a „maybe“ at all, but at least a „likely“ if not an „obviously“ after the slow motions.
Soles of the feet weren’t toching but neither were any other parts of the feet. Ura’s side of his foot had yet to touch down before Onosato. It was clear.
The gyoji saw Onosato as the winner.
The judges and the slow motion people couldn’t decide.
But for U it is clear (!) that Ura won…
No bias, of course?
“It’s not that simple.”
Of course it isn’t. But that should be their sentiment, that it should take an awful lot to go beyond objectivity in their decisions. They shouldn’t treat judging like an interpretive art. In Ura vs Onosato I would like to know where that objectivity was. And in Kirishima vs Hakinofuji, you can see a judge watching the latter’s toe touch the clay on the wrong side of the bale. If he told the other judges what he saw, that should pretty much be it.
I know,I know, I misspelled yokozuna.
Shishi! Takayasu! Ura!
And of course Yoshinofuji! Very entertaining day, with a little controversy too…
What was the ruling of the monoii?
Was it same time touch down? or any mention of ‘sinitai(dead body)’?
For which bout? There were a bunch of mono-ii. A couple were “do-tai”.
Sorry, Ura vs Onosato.
What was reason for rematch?
I read people talking about dead-body rule against Ura.. but I don’t think this is the case that you force that rule. And the video clearly showed that Ura was still on his feet when Onosato touched the dohyo.
Kinbosh without zabudon flying is like.. Prince concert without purple rain.
People knew it was a matter of Hoshoryu‘s knee injury. But normally, yes! Voting for purple rain :)
Saw a little of Hosh’s injured knee crop up in yesterday’s bout, but today you could really see it. He was unable to execute his throw soley due to his inability to put weight on the injured knee, which led to him bunny-hopping sideways off the dohyo under pressure from Yoshinofuji. This is not a good omen for his completion of the basho.
Murray Johnson intimated at the start of coverage that the news would be a problem, he wasn’t wrong. I was just as frustrated with the news breaks as you were. Aaaaaagggghhhh!
I need to switch to the English audio. I miss a lot with the Japanese but I like to try to listen to the oyakata commentators and rikishi interviews.
Yoshinofuji can beat anyone. No shame for Hoshoryu. Playing hurt is part of the sport. It’s a brutal endeavor. I hope both of the Yokozuna are able to finish the basho though.
It was nearly a perfect sumo day, full of great action! Bonus: today I finally came to see newcomer Bukhchuluun, now Wakanofuji, doing his second bout as Makushita TD60. Bit nervous at the tachiai, but what a convincing show! He won with uwatenage against Nishonoseki’s Rakanji (also first-timer in Makushita, but he had the long way). Wakanofuji is from Kasugano-beya, not an Isegahama-Fuji. They have 16 rikishi there, with six(!) coaches plus stablemaster. I wonder who might be his special trainer. Aoiyama?
Except for the Ura match robbery, it has been a pretty cool basho so far. I like how Kotosakura looks good again. Confident, maybe he can do some damage in this tournament.
Aonishiki is also looking the part.
I think either of those two wins this basho, but if they are going to keep giving gifts to Onosato (as it happened last basho as well) then we can add him to the mix. I don’t think Hoshoryu is winning this one, maybe not even finishing.
Hard to disagree with any of that.
Not that hard.
There was no match robbery today.
And to make Kotozakura one of two (or three) yusho contenders seems premature.
After his 2025 record of 46-44 he should be quite happy with double digits wins.
Shishi has added upper body strength .. Ask Tobizaru .. KTZ shows you can succeed at sumo while standing erect .. Daiesho v Takayasu was a classic match of two old bulls not giving an inch .. Wow .. Kirishima is fighting better each basho since his dip a year or so ago .. The young rikishi are raising the level of sumo across the board ..
No way Hosh finishes this basho .. He needs to get his knee scoped + start rehab .. His sumo requires speed + ability to pirouette + turn an aggressive attacker into a frizzbee into the cushions .. He can’t pirouette on that cranky cartilage .. Anyone who has had that condition knows it is not a matter of will .. The body has its own way with this stuff .. We saw it today ..
Has anyone broken down the odds of rikishi winning by how long their match lasts? .. Clearly some can be dominant for a few seconds (Gonoyama) but quickly fade .. Others try to survive the tachiai then work for leverage + hope their opponent has a lapse of attention/energy (Ura) .. While watching matches, a mental clock ticks on with odds of wInning switching depending on how long the match lasts ..