Day Five. No kyujo news, which is not a surprise. NHK coverage was diverted again for a press conference, this time with Noda Yoshihiko, leader of the opposition CDP. So, we’re firing up the VPN to get Abema coverage to start the day. Myogiryu is their commentator today, over on NHK they have Endo and Mainoumi.
In Juryo action, Nishikigi defeated Dewanoryu and Fujiseiun beat Sadanoumi. And then there was one. This means Fujiseiun is the lone wrestler still undefeated in the second division.
Your Day Five NHK videos are here.
Makuuchi Action
Asanoyama (4-1) defeated Ryuden (1-4). Ryuden looks bigger than Asanoyama. But Asanoyama got both hands wrapped around Ryuden’s trunk, stood him up and shoved him out. Yorikiri.
Mitakeumi (3-2) defeated Hatsuyama (0-5). Hatsuyama got a left hand uwate grip, pulled but could not throw Mitakeumi. Mitakeumi quickly drove Hatsuyama back and out. Yorikiri.
Oshoumi (4-1) defeated Shishi (3-2). Shishi wrapped up Oshoumi’s left arm and held it aloft. As he wrapped up Oshoumi, he began to pull him toward the edge. Oshoumi used his free right arm to reach Shishi’s belt with a right hand shitate, (inside grip). As the pair neared the bales, Oshoumi pulled up hard with that right-hand grip and toppled Shishi over the bales and off the dohyo. Shitatenage.
Tomokaze (2-3) defeated Asahakuryu (3-2). Tomokaze drove into Asahakuryu with a strong right hand nodowa. He never pulled, he just plowed ahead and shoved Asahakuryu off the edge. Taking a page out of Takanosho’s playbook will get me to sit up and take notice. Oshidashi.
Midorifuji (2-3) defeated Asakoryu (3-2). Asakoryu jammed his right arm into Midorifuji’s jaw but as they neared the edge, Midorifuji knocked Asakoryu’s hand away and shoved him forward. This gave Midorifuji access to the back of Asakoryu’s belt and he quickly seized it. Midorifuji got behind Asakoryu and walked him out. Okuridashi.
Nishikifuji (3-2) defeated Tobizaru (1-4). Nishikifuji laid into Tobizaru with relentless tsuppari and Tobizaru had no answers. Nishikifuji assaulted him over and over, walking through Tobizaru’s own shoves until the Flying Monkey was sent Flying into the crowd. Tobizaru has been having a terrible start to the tournament. Oshidashi.
Abi (5-0) defeated Chiyoshoma (2-3). Chiyoshoma tried to get his migi-yotsu attack going but Abi blocked his hands from getting a firm grip. Nevertheless, Chiyoshoma pressured Abi to the edge. Abi shifted to his left along the bales and dragged Chiyoshoma down. Chiyoshoma slow to get up, favoring his heavily taped right ankle. Tsukiotoshi.
Tokihayate (3-2) defeated Roga (2-3) Despite Roga’s firm left-hand uwate, Tokihayate wrapped him up with a bear hug and drove him back and out. Yorikiri.
Kotoshoho (3-2) defeated Gonoyama (1-4). As Gonoyama plowed forward, Kotoshoho brought his right arm up around Gonoyama’s head and twisted, bringing Gonoyama down at the edge. Kubinage.
Fujinokawa (4-1) defeated Shodai (3-2). Fujinokawa henka! This is Shodai, though. He just turned left as he stood up. Duh. Why henka? The hyper-caffeinated Fujinokawa then laid into poor Shodai, driving him back to the bales and out. Oshidashi.
Oshoma (5-0) defeated Kinbozan (1-4). Oshoma stood Kinbozan up with strong tsuppari, then grabbed a hold of his belt with a left hand uwate. Oshoma then pulled and threw Kinbozan over the edge. Uwatedashinage.
Halftime
Hiradoumi (3-2) defeated Churanoumi (2-3). Hiradoumi overpowered Churanoumi, pressed him back with his migi-yotsu and walked him out. Yorikiri.
Onokatsu (2-3) defeated Tamawashi (2-3). Tamawashi lashed out with his tsuppari but Onokatsu ducked his head down, stepped inside and grabbed Tamawashi’s belt with both hands inside. That’s one way to end the tsuppari. Onokatsu then chugged forward and forced Tamawashi out. The tachiai appeared to open a gash on Onokatsu’s forehead. Bloodied, he accepted his kensho. Yorikiri.
Atamifuji (3-2) defeated Ura (0-5). Ura picked a terrible time to jump backward and try a slapdown. Atamifuji was chugging forward when Ura leapt into the air, coming down on the other side of the bales. Yorikiri.
Yoshinofuji (3-2) defeated Ichiyamamoto (1-4). Yoshinofuji greeted Ichiyamamoto with a great shove at the tachiai, blasting the oshi-tsuki specialist deep into his own half of the dohyo. Yoshinofuji then pressed forward, wrapped Ichi up and walked him over the bales. The most impressive thing for me was that you would expect Ichiyamamoto to be the one blasting Yoshinofuji and shoving him backwards. When Yoshinofuji used Ichiyamamoto’s favored technique against him to drive him back to the bales, I am impressed. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Takayasu (4-1) defeated Wakamotoharu (0-5). Wakamotoharu did not appear to have a plan so Takayasu blasted him from the dohyo with forceful tsuppari. Tsukidashi.
Oho (2-3) defeated Kirishima (4-1). Oho forced Kirishima into a brawl. As Oho lashed out with head-butts and tsuppari, Kirishima countered with blows of his own but he really wanted to duck inside and force a grapple. As Kirishima pressed to get inside, Oho suddenly pulled and slapped Kirishima down. Beautifully played. When I think of amateur sumo, I wonder how many folks bring that kind of intensity to practice? You probably can’t without catching an assault charge or creating tons of injuries. Most probably don’t even bring this intensity to competition. The Heya Life is just a different world. (But I digress.) Hatakikomi.
Aonishiki (4-1) defeated Daieisho (1-4). Daieisho lashed out with his tsuppari but Aonishiki moved inside, grabbed Daieisho’s belt and drove him back and over the edge. Yorikiri.
Hakunofuji (3-2) defeated Kotozakura (3-2). Hakunofuji held Kotozakura high with his left hand inside, under Kotozakura’s shoulder. Kotozakura got a left-hand inside grip but Hakunofuji pressed ahead with his right hand uwate and forced the Ozeki out. Yorikiri.
Onosato (4-1) defeated Takanosho (0-5). Takanosho pulled and caught the Yokozuna carelessly charging forward. I’m certain Onosato did not prepare. He did not read the brief. Wide-eyed Takanosho tried to chase but only caught Onosato with a glancing blow as the Yokozuna deflected his attack and he fell forward. Onosato fell off the edge. Gunbai Onosato. No mono-ii. Good call but so unsatisfying. Takanosho might relive that moment for the rest of his life. Three lifetime kinboshi against Terunofuji but this one against Onosato slipped away. Tsukiotoshi.
Hoshoryu (4-1) defeated Wakatakakage (3-2). Hoshoryu sprung forward and used his left hand to rip Wakatakakage’s hand away while grasping Wakatakakage’ belt with the right. Hoshoryu charged forward and ushered Wakatakakage over the edge. Yorikiri.
Wrap-up
Kirishima picked up his first loss. Abi and Oshoma remain in the lead. Abi will fight Asakoryu tomorrow and Oshoma will take on Churanoumi. In sanyaku, the komusubi will face off, Oho versus Wakamotoharu. Kirishima will fight Ichiyamamoto and Kotozakura will fight Daieisho in what feels like a must-win bout. Aonishiki battles Takayasu, Hoshoryu will fight the ghost of Takanosho and Onosato will take on Wakatakakage.
I’ll be watching the kyujo news tomorrow. We’ll see if Chiyoshoma ducks out early. Down in Makushita, Enho will fight Fujisodai as he tries to pick up a third straight win. Down in Jonokuchi, Asahifuji will have the day off as he picked up his third win today. As a bit of an aside, the female announcer voice at Kokugikan has a bit of a Squid Game edge in her cheerful voice as she tells people to head for the exits.
Well, we’ll be back tomorrow!
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I first thought there we go again, but looking at the slowmotion Onsatu’s foot clearly stayed in.
I really should stop with that.
I was right there with you, though. None of the judges were getting up and I was like, c’mon guys… mono-ii?!
Now I saw it again on DonDon. Even Onosato couldn’t believe his luck.
Yeah, there’s “you gotta beat The Champ” and then there’s “not even considering that The Champ can lose”. It feels like the judges are leaning more towards the latter and the whole crowd in the room can tell. Not good.
Abi is winning without even Abi-ing too much. His footwork tonight was amazing for such a big dude. Good on him. Hoshoryu better be in top form when they meet or he’ll get Abi’d sure as death and taxes.
Abi’s picking up the wins he needs to get. That’s a big difference between him this week and folks like Kotozakura who give up too many first week wins.
I love love love ❤️ seeing Abi in such beautiful fighting form! Skirting the edge of the tawara with nimbleness and grace like a world class primo ballerino! Here’s hoping he keeps it going.
Abi yusho, I told you so :-) Onosato looks vulnerable, and Kotozakura like 8-7 if everything goes his way… Oshoma is doing great too (why everyone hates him?). And, fingers crossed, Takayasu? If he tomorrow somehow defeats Aonishiki, maybe?
Oshoma is said to be a bully, that’s why, I guess.
He was accused to bully the young ones in his bayo. Actually more than once…
I’ll get on the Abi yusho bandwagon around Day 11-12 if he’s still undefeated. If he’s healthy, he should be destroying folks as low as he is.
As for Oshoma, there was a scandal a couple of years ago that he was the reason a few promising recruits had cut their careers short and left Naruto beya (and sumo altogether, obvs). His sumo style isn’t exactly electrifying. He’s been rather steady and not exactly lighting up the banzuke. That in an age of massive change and a crop of new guys flying up.
I do not mention Takayasu until the macaron is in his pocket.
Yesterday I couldn’t help being disappointed by Aonishiki‘s loss, but then Oho can beat everyone when he gets his act together.
The two wins against Daieisho and especially Yoshinofuji do more than compensate for it, because he had a combined head to heads of 0-5 against them before the bouts.
So, though he seems a bit shaky to me, the Ukrainian is 4-1 after five days and on a good way to an „ozeki kashikoshi“ (10 wins), though the yusho would rather surprise me.
I like surprises like this a lot, btw!
My boy Oho has a case of Goeido-itis.
There are worse conditions to have…like Kisenoscoliosis. I fear Takayasu might have an incurable case.
I really don’t know how the idea that 10 is an ozeki kachi-koshi took hold. I know it’s something the proprietor of this blog has written but as far as I can recall the idea that 10 is any kind of threshold comes from expectations for yokozuna — in particular Harumafuji explicitly named it as “a yokozuna’s kachi-koshi”. We all went ozeki to be in contention but frankly if you’re ozeki-ing it up at the top of the division with 8s and 9s you’re incredibly good at sumo! If you’re the kind of ozeki for whom single-digit kachi koshi scores qualify as failing to meet expectations it’s only because you’re consistently knocking yokozuna over and ought to be on a run.
I thought Harumafuji’s Yokozuna kachi-koshi was 12, or maybe it came from Hakuho. I’ll dig into that. But I think that would change with 4 Yokozuna or 4 Ozeki compared to today.
It comes from the reality of the banzuke. Right now, the joi is basically the M4 and above. (The top 16 ranks.) 8 wins against the maegashira + only half of the wins against sanyaku opponents below them. Do you get the sense Kotozakura’s rather consistent 8 wins has been “enough”? They should be beating rank-and-file wrestlers and securing kachi-koshi before they hit their final weekend bouts. Yokozuna seem to have a higher bar of competing in the yusho race, which seems to be ~12, give or take.
https://tachiai.org/2017/09/21/day-12-welcome-back-to-makuuchi-gramps/
This should help with your digging 🙂
😂 Thank you!
Unfortunately, the link’s broken. Not the link you sent but the link in Herouth’s post to the original article. I’ll see if I can find it.
Found one: https://www.nikkansports.com/m/battle/sumo/news/201709210000744_m.html?mode=all
Oh of course it was during Wacky Aki.
Oh, and I completely forgot about the promotion criteria! For Ozeki, 10 wins seems to be the baseline for the rank and for Yokozuna, that yusho equivalency mark seems to be above 12. But keep in mind it’s an ideal. I mean, you don’t promote someone and expect them to fall-off afterwards.
This part, exactly Andi.
Look, to become an Ozeki, you got to get 33 wins in three consecutive tourneys, yes? That’s the rule of thumb. So that’s an 11 win average, and consistency. To then consider 10 wins as the Ozeki “standard” of competency seems correct to me. Everybody needs 8 to maintain rank. Ozeki is the first rank you get to keep regardless of a single tournament result, precisely because more is expected of you, and thus a little more deference is granted.
I think you are right. I’ve not been able to find a reference to an Ozeki kachi-koshi — or Yokozuna kachi-koshi which differs from Harumafuji’s take. I won’t be using those metrics in the future.
No double henka from Abi and Chiyoshoma. Alas, I will wait to see if it happens next time.
I think one reason Abi is being successful is he isn’t rushing anything during his bouts. If you watch his bouts from the last basho, he’s been over-aggressive which means getting his body off-balance and ahead of his feet (Gonoyama could learn a thing or two here). He’s not doing that now and it helps him tremendously.
Ichiyamamoto needs to come up with a different strategy for bigger, more powerful dudes other than “blast forward and hope for the best”.
Hakunofuji is definitely trying out new things on the doyho. That kick was sneaky! Good on him for being willing to take risks during bouts and improve.
Weird to say, but Hoshoryu looks more solid than Onosato right now. Onosato can’t keep pulling a rabbit out of a hat for wins. This behavior also plays into the idea that Onosato is a “one trick pony” from a strategy perspective. He literally had no other ideas today and it was obvious. I also thought WTK would give Hoshoryu more problems. I’m glad to be wrong, but I hope Hoshoryu doesn’t further damage his knee.
I’ve never seen a double-henka. That must be a sight to behold!
I think it would be the holy grail!
They have happened a handful of times in the lower divisions, but they are incredibly rare. It’s literally a tachiai reset from a different angle when it happens.
There are three possibilities for executing a double henka: 1) they meet and collide to the right from the shikiri-sen 2) they meet to the left 3) they don‘t collide because one is shifting to the left, the other to the right. I wanted to see No. 3! Next time… :)
It’s early, but this basho really feels up for grabs in a good way. Both Yokozuna are limited, but even limited they are getting the wins. Aonishiki is being his consistent self, not dominant but able to work into better positions more often than not. Yoshinofujii and Hakunofuji look like real spoilers and potential contenders if they get on a run. Papa Bear . . . Yeah , I’m going to side with Andy and stay quiet. Let’s wait on him. Kirishima is wrestling well but we’ll need to see if his body holds up. And some former champions at the low end of the banzuke (Abi, Asanoyama) also in for now.
I have to admit, I was skeptical when Hakunofuji made his declaration about winning a title this year. And, while I’m still on the “probably not” side, I have to admit his performance with what looks like a healthy body has been eye opening. He still has to prove he has the stamina to last a full 15 at that level (I don’t think his past falloffs in the second half of the basho were entirely injury based), but the idea doesn’t seem as crazy to me as when I heard that news.
Hoshoryu is playing a dangerous game with that knee. Not only is there a risk of a much more serious tear, but one of the body’s reactions to a more severe injury is to lock the knee. If that happened to him during a bout, he would also run the risk of ligament tears/damage which could end his career. Considering he could take off a basho (to get surgery) without hurting his status, I don’t understand what he is doing here. No one denies his toughness, I hope he isn’t playing with fire out of some image issue.
Sadly I’m pretty sure it’s image, between not having a tournament win after his promotion and the Emperor planning to attend putting a lot of pressure of them to Be There.
I still hope that he withdraws after performing for the Emperor on Day 8.
AND STOP TRYING TO STAND ON YOUR BAD LEG AND THROW
Hosh is not going to pull off a throw + finish the basho .. He started to load up WTK for a throw today, but once his left knee planted he quit that idea.. Luckily WTK had the same idea but Hosh was on to him “like white on rice” .. It is ironic both have knee problems .. one from trying to throw KTZ .. one from “one too many throws?” ..
Abi was in his Shodai-sumo phase today .. gotta love it .. a sumo chameleon .. who would have guessed ? ..
Hakunofuji has grown stronger and smarter .. He was patient w KTZ today .. stood him up + kept below his chin + waited a few beats .. gotta think he was trying to drain some energy from KTZ ,, before getting aggressive .. No sign of those bad shoulder issues ..
Gotta love “hyper-caffeinated Fujinokawa” ..