News from the infirmary today that Abi will sit out from Day Three. He was a non-factor against the steady, bureaucratic ways of Ichiyamamoto. Oshoma will receive the default win. An interview with Homasho indicated Abi will likely return to the tournament after resting to heal for a few days. As Herbern pointed out in the comments yesterday, he likely needs at least a win or two to maintain a position in Makuuchi.
Enho did not fight today but he’s scheduled to take on fellow former Makuuchi wrestler, Shimanoumi, tomorrow. It’s not going to be an easy path this tournament, that’s for sure. Gambare, Enho!!
Makuuchi Action
Fujiryoga (2-1) defeated Kotoeiho (1-2). Kotoeiho forced a grapple by getting his left-hand inside belt grip. Fujiryoga quickly switched from tsuppari to acquiring his own belt grip. He grabbed Kotoeiho’s belt with his left-hand inside, hauled him up and rotated, forcing his opponent to the bales. He then shoved him out. Oshitaoshi.
Kinbozan (2-1) defeated Asasuiryu (1-2). Kinbozan’s thrust hard into Asasuiryu, battering him and disrupting Asasuiryu’s yotsu attack. Kinbozan’s first slapdown attempt missed but the second worked. Hatakikomi.
Asahakuryu (2-1) defeated Nishikifuji (2-1). Nishikifuji tried a pushing-thrusting attack, trying to shove Asahakuryu back. But Asahakuryu dug in and wasn’t yielding space. Nishikifuji then retreated and tried to slap Asahakuryu down but Asahakuryu kept his balance and chased Nishikifuji out of the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Chiyoshoma (2-1) defeated Mitakeumi (2-1). Immediately after the tachiai, Chiyoshoma grabbed Mitakeumi’s belt with his right-hand over arm grip, spun and wrangled Mitakeumi to the ground and hogtied him in record time. Rodeo champion. Uwatenage.
Tobizaru (1-2) defeated Asanoyama (1-2). Tobizaru’s lateral movement nearly caught Asanoyama out early, so he grabbed him in a big bear hug and forced him to the edge. Tobizaru dug in, “you’re going to have to crush me out.” So Asanoyama pressed forward and crushed Tobizaru out. Gunbai Tobizaru. Mono-ii. A quick conference checked the replay, Asanoyama’s foot stepped out while Tobizaru was clearly still in bounds. Gunbai-dori. The non-winning technique of Isamiashi. “Dude stepped out.”
Fujiseiun (2-1) defeated Asakoryu (2-1). Fujiseiun wrapped up Asakoryu and forced him out. Yorikiri.
Roga (2-1) defeated Oshoumi (0-3). Roga drove Oshoumi to the edge but Oshoumi dug deep to resist and force Roga back through the dohyo. The two had a great yotsu grapple, trading the advantage. Finally, in the center of the ring Roga used his right-hand inside grip and rotated, dragging Oshoumi to the ground. Great bout. Shitatenage.
Gonoyama (3-0) defeated Shishi (1-2). Gonoyama slammed Shishi and overpowered him, quickly shoving him back and out. Oshidashi.
Shodai (2-1) defeated Tamawashi (0-3). By climbing onto the dohyo today, Tamawashi tied with Kyokutenho for the most Makuuchi bouts at 1470. Shodai rained on Tamawashi’s parade by really dominating, despite Tamawashi’s nodowa. Shodai chugged forward and shoved Tamawashi back and out. Oshidashi.
Ura (3-0) defeated Tokihayate (1-2). Tokihayate tried over and over to get his left hand inside and pull Ura up. Ura would stay low, shove Tokihayate off his belt and re-engage to try to get his own left hand inside. On the third or fourth engagement, Ura knocked Tokihayate off balance and thrust him down. Tsukiotoshi.
Halftime
Kotoshoho defeated Ichiyamamoto. Kotoshoho met Ichiyamamoto with a firm tachiai, shoving his hands into Ichiyamamoto’s face. But then Kotoshoho pivoted to the side and slapped Ichi down. Ichiyamamoto’s momentum carried him, stumbling to the edge, where he landed in a heap. Hatakikomi.
Oshoma (2-1) default win over Abi (0-3).
Oho (1-2) defeated Daieisho (0-3). Since Daieisho’s thrusts seem to be at 60% power, he switched quickly to trying to slap Oho down. Oho chased Daieisho and kept his balance, shoving Daieisho out. Oshidashi.
Takanosho (3-0) defeated Hiradoumi (2-1). Takanosho slammed into Hiradoumi but quickly slapped him down. Quick bout, using Hiradoumi’s hyperactivity against him to devastating effect. Takanosho has never attracted a big fan base, seemingly always getting very few kensho. And today the crowd barely acknowledged the bout happened. Takanosho is one of my faves, but he’s got wild swings lately. There was a stretch where he was always in sanyaku or the joi, but quietly performing under stablemate, Takakeisho. Hatakikomi.
Sanyaku
Takayasu (3-0) defeated Wakamotoharu (0-3). Takayasu forced Wakamotoharu to the tawara and then suddenly backed up, letting a rather listless Wakamotoharu fall to the floor. Tsukiotoshi.
Kirishima (2-1) defeated Atamifuji (1-2). Kirishima nearly threw Atamifuji with his left-hand overarm grip. It seemed he needed a bit more leverage so he took a big gamble to switch his grip. He quickly released his left hand and immediately Atamifuji began charging forward. Kirishima worked his left hand inside around Atamifuji’s trunk, pivoted and dumped the big man on his face. Sukuinage.
Kotozakura (3-0) defeated Churanoumi (1-2). Kotozakura loves being up against the bales. He immediately reversed himself, backing to the edge, and tried over and over to slap Churanoumi down. Those slapdowns were not working so he wrapped up Churanoumi’s trunk and twisted him to the ground. Sukuinage.
Aonishiki (2-1) defeated Wakatakakage (1-2). Aonishiki slapped Wakatakakage hard. You could hear that land. I’ve got jokes about pimps and hustlers but will keep them to myself. Maybe if we were back in the 90s… Anyway, Wakatakakage then decided to pull. So, Aonishiki chased him out. WTK just noped himself out of there. Hilarious. Oshidashi.
Fujinokawa (1-2) defeated Onosato (0-3). Hatsu-Kinboshi Fujinokawa! Onosato drove forward into Fujinokawa’s nodowa. Fujinokawa slipped to his left and Onosato fell forward. Hikiotoshi.
Hoshoryu (3-0) defeated Yoshinofuji (1-2). Yoshinofuji did great to get his hands inside and hold Hoshoryu at bay. He seemed to think he had time to get a better grip and launch an attack. The Yokozuna wasn’t going to wait, wrapped his arms around Yoshinofuji’s head and twisted, dragging Yoshinofuji down. Kubinage.
Wrap-up
The kyujo train might have more passengers after today’s action. Will Onosato tough it out? This Fujinokawa bout was certainly “a must win.” Given the Yokozuna’s size advantage, it was great to see him moving forward and not retreating as he had done the first two days. The fact that he had to sit and wait for Hoshoryu’s bout to end before leaving…oh, that must have been an uncomfortable few minutes.
The komusubi will face each other on Day Four, Wakamotoharu versus Atamifuji. Wakamotoharu owns a 6-1 advantage in this rivalry. Might this give him confidence to turn things around? Atamifuji is fighting well, despite only having one win. As lost as Wakamotoharu has been, I’ve got to favor Atamifuji in tomorrow’s matchup.
Kirishima will fight Wakatakakage, Aonishiki will fight Churanoumi, Kotozakura faces Takayasu in a “Bout of the Unbeatens.” Finally Hoshoryu fights Fujinokawa and Onosato is scheduled to take on Yoshinofuji.
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Congrats to Fujinokawa, he did what I was writting about yesterday – winning by moving sideways. His nodowa was sharp. Those practice bouts against Yokozune served him well.
The final bout showed how psyhology is important in ozumo – it seems that Isegahama boy is still not fully confident against Hoshoryu. Young Yoshi had advantegious position (could pull another dashinage?!) but, unlike yesterday, he was hesitant to attack from there and got kubinagied (the kimarite he lost to Ao last basho). Smart and excellent move by Yokozuna.
If Onosato fights tomorrow, he should change stables
A one-armed Onosato did as good as could be expected at Hatsu. Now he needs to get that shoulder fixed, time to stop toughing it out.
Good to see Kirishima and Aonishiki get back on the winning track.
Ura loves the home cooking here, and he’s getting huge kensho with each win!
Takanosho is looking impressive, too bad he can’t string together his winning ways because when he’s good, he’s really tough to beat. With his new Oyakata and heya, perhaps he’ll have better winning consistency.
Has Father Time finally caught Tamawashi?
I hate to write it but that might be the final year of Tamawashi. I feel if demoted to juryo he will intai.
Final basho even. He needs what – probably 4 wins to stay up. Its only three bouts in, but 4 wins is looking a LONG way off already. I really hope he can somehow make it (in related news, I’m almost outraged he hasn’t been one of the fusensho recipients!!).
Onosato has to get surgery or retire, and if surgery, he may as well start now. Otherwise, he could go 0-15 here. Fujinokawa showed the blueprint for beating him basically 100% of the time – grab the right arm, move, and don’t do anything stupid. Anyone who doesn’t do that must be intellectually limited, to put it politely. But, I imagine he’ll be kyujo from now.
Would be nice to find an unexpected title contender next week. So far, Takanosho looks good. Gonoyama looks even better and has the advantage of matching up with lower-ranked opponents.
It’s a happy day when all your faves are winning, and so well! Ura, Takanosho, Takayasu and Hoshoryu! Keep it going boys!
Beware two of the renowned Yoyo rikishes, Takanosho and Kotoshoho are on their positive wave. Let’s see how far they go.
Poor Asanoyama, he forgot to slide step at the tawara.
Takayasu looks gooood~ maybe another jun-yusho basho?
ps. I would like to hear that pimp joke, Andy?
Ah, maybe if someone invents a time machine. Once you’ve lived the life the jokes just don’t slap anymore.
We’ll see if Tamawashi just stays in the basho to obtain his record. Daiesho has more “oomph” in his sumo right now and that’s with Daiesho moving backwards.
Kudos to Roga for his win today. Definitely a “dig deep for the win” victory there.
If Takanosho can sort out his mental inconsistency he’s going to be fearsome. Fingers crossed he’s on the up and up.
No idea what’s going on with Wakamotoharu at the moment. You don’t henka on the first day for no reason, though.
Poor Atamifuji! Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
I’m 75% sure that when Kotozakura backs up like a dump truck his knees are giving him problems. We’ll see what he looks like in week 2.
WTK has done his homework, but he can’t solve Aonishiki yet. It wouldn’t surprise me that those slaps are tone setters based on how things have gone in a previous basho or two.
If Onosato doesn’t go kyujo from shame I don’t know what will keep him off the dohyo. Timmmmbbbeerrrrrrrrrrrr!
The reactions from both Hoshoryu and Yoshinofuji at the end of their match really told the tale. Hosh’s “Hey, I’ll take the win however I get it” head tilt and Yoshi’s “Noooooo, I had him!” short lie down on the dohyo said it all. It’s interesting to see how cerebral Hoshoryu is when he’s fighting and this is a great example of that. His opponents really need to think their way through everything if they want to beat him.
Am speechless re: Onosato. 0-3! Right off the bat? I didn’t notice any injury today. He just got beat.
Kotozakura: I’ve got him pegged in the Shodai category. This basho it’s Good Shodai. So far.
Oh, Shodai is a good comparison for Kotozakura. I’d not thought of that. The biggest difference being that I don’t think Shodai gives a hoot.
Yeah it is a good comparison now. But before Hoshoryu made yokozuna Kotozakura was right there with him. IIRC they were on a dual rope run. But when he didn’t get it (didn’t even come close) he’s been Shodai+. Shodai was always alternating between kadoban and safe while Kotozakura has been a solid bet to hit 8-7, so a tiny bit better.
I’m with you on being a Takanosho fan Andy, hoping that under the leadership of Takakeisho his confidence and performance will stay consistent.
It almost looks like Onosato’s shoulder has actually gotten worse, not better. Or maybe the other wrestlers have gotten better at targeting it. Right now he’s quite clearly not at his Yokozuna level, so I’m hoping he takes the time and does whatever it takes (and I really think that might include surgery at this point) to get back there.
Boy do I feel sorry for Churanoumi. He fought so well but couldn’t quite pierce Kotozakura’s defense enough to secure the win.
It’s hard to say because he always fights with incredible intensity, but man Hoshoryu seems to really want to win his first title as Yokozuna. I don’t think he likes the idea of two new Yokozuna before winning his first title at the rank. He almost slipped up today against an admittedly dangerous Yoshinofuji, so we’ll see if he can continue to avoid the mistakes that have cost him.
It does seem like Tamawashi might finally have reached the twilight. He hasn’t totally fallen off a cliff, but he seems to have lost enough power to make matches much more of a struggle. I’d love for him to turn it around and get the undisputed record of oldest wrestler with a kachi-koshi in makuuchi, but that’s not looking likely right now.
Some thoughts:
1) Andy, you nailed Shodai. He’s just happy to collect a paycheck without any pressure and when he retires he’ll always be referred to as the “former” Ozeki.
2) Onosato is way off his game and out of the yusho hunt unless he runs the table now and others implode.
3) Atamifuji, no surprise, he’s just not one of the elite and last basho was a fluke for him.
4) The Evil Nephew (Hoshoryu) knows he got away with one today. Loved that sly smile from him after the match.
5) Kotozakura is winning but is it just me or does his sumo currently not impress?
6) Aonishiki bounced back nicely today.
7) Ura, who doesn’t like to see this guy win?
8) Asanoyama, ah what might have been had he not been stupid with the whole Covid fiasco.
9) Nice to see The Bear (Takayasu) at 3-0.
10) I liked seeing Kirishima bounce back and keeping the Ozeki run going.
11) Shishi, how can you be that big and strong and yet be so lackluster?
12) Takanosho appears to be rejuvenated at 3-0, thumbs up.
13) Daieisho, what has happened to you? Is he on the very trailing end of his career? I always thought that he’d bounce back quickly to Sekiwake.
Nishikifuji was forced to do a second bow but the gyoji wasn’t even looking at him. We’ve seen worse get by.
I think the issue was that he (barley) bowed & left before the gyoji even had the kensho packets in hand. Too quick a getaway.
Isegahama-rikishi didn‘t bow correctly?
It‘s like not using the turn signal when you are driving an impressive car.
Hokutofuji always had the best bow.
I miss him.
If you ever get a chance to watch a Homasho bout (Abi’s current coach, Shikoroyama-oyakata) he always had the best bow, even if he won.
Why the moniker of ‘evil’ for Hosh (I get the nephew bit obvs). Shishi is a lumbering ungainly, bottom heavy plodder. I feel a little sorry for him, being outclassed by his fellow countryman to such an extent. As for Atamifuji, I hope this IS the start of better times for him, where his oyakata and team helps him to make progress. Kotozakura, well, much like Takakeisho, could do with losing a few pounds of wobble I think 🤔 Bulk does not equal power.
It’s the nick-name I gave him several years ago, a term of endearment. He’s the one I ALWAYS root for no matter who his opponent is, my #1 favorite.
ah, thank you! Hosh for the win, always!
that’s Takakeisho BEFORE he retired obviously. The new healthier looking man looks half the age he did. I forget how young most of them are.
and that should have read ‘bulk does not always equal power’, sometimes bulk is just that.
The funny thing is that even as slender as he looks now, he is still quite a bit larger than us civilians.