Well, hello again. Having been motivated by a fairly spectacular basho, I figured I’d run the red ink over the performances of the 41 makuuchi rikishi who took part. This could have been an exhaustive exercise, but I decided to keep it brief. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to sound off in the comments.
M16W Asakoryu 9-6 – Rebounded well after a shaky start had him staring down demotion. Too early to say if he’s settled into the higher level, but he’ll be joined by his little brother in the next basho. Understood the assignment. B
M16E Daiseizan 6-9 – Didn’t show much in his debut basho, and will get another crack at promotion from upper tiers of Juryo next time out. 6-9 would be respectable if he had been 1-2 ranks higher, but a demotion is a demotion. C-
M15W Kazuma 5-10 – Looked like an absolute destroyer in previous tournaments, but announced himself in the top division in the wrong way. Will hope his demotion isn’t too harsh. D
M15E Onokatsu 4-11 – Clearly not over the injury that knocked him from his comfortable position in makuuchi two tournaments ago. Gave it his diminished best. C-
M14W Shishi 10-5 – Much like the last time he was in a yusho race, tailed off badly towards the end, losing his last 3 and 4 of 6 after being drawn against higher ranked opponents. B-
M14E Kinbozan 9-6 – Got the job done. B
M13W Takerufuji 10-5 – Also lost his last 3, but against tougher opponents in sum than Shishi, including a desperate Yokozuna and the eventual champion. B+
M13E Nishikifuji 10-5 – This is why you really have to contextualise these scores for strength of schedule and the pattern of the basho. Nishikifuji had a similar final result but without facing the week 2 opposition of his stablemate Takerufuji. Probably his best all around performance in recent memory and definitely his best result in the top division for over 3 years. B
M12W Abi 7-8 – I think Kintamayama made a comment to the effect that you’d expect Abi to dominate at this rank. Threw away a promising position for kachikoshi with only 2 wins in the final 7 days. C
M12E Asahakuryu 7-8 – Picked up a couple impressive wins, albeit with the pressure off. C+
M11W Mitakeumi 2-13 – The only framing of a record like this that isn’t a disaster is that you have to show respect for competing all 15 days, some losses being with quite some intent. Hard to watch the former champion at times. D-
M11E Wakanosho 5-2-8 – Looked good early on before injury forced him to withdraw. Should remain in the division for another go, if he’s healthy for September. INC
M10W Chiyoshoma 5-10 – The great enigma won his two toughest matches by rank, but otherwise had a pretty forgettable basho. Turned 35 during the basho and probably just about looked it. Would have wanted to be closer to kachikoshi. C-
M10E Asanoyama 9-6 – Tough to know what exactly we’ve got with the former Ozeki. Looked to be in the yusho race before losing 4 of the last 5, a couple that he probably should have won. Next basho will be at his highest rank for almost 3 years, so that will tell us more about where he’s at. B-
M9W Tobizaru 5-10 – The 34 year old looks to be on a downward trend and didn’t have much of the high octane sumo we’ve come to associate with him over the years. C-
M9E Fujiryoga 10-5 – A pair of 10 win tournaments, and he looks to have started to settle into the level, winning against a few gifted opponents. Missed out on a special prize on the last day, but can feel good about this basho in terms of performance and results. B+
M8W Roga 9-6 – Reeled off six straight wins in the final week to clinch kachikoshi. Wasn’t really tested, most of his matches felt like making up the numbers. Wins largely came against weaker/injured opponents while the losses came against opponents you’d say are mostly a step up, so perhaps this is his level. B-
M8E Wakamotoharu 6-9 – If I had to guess his record just from watching his performances, I wouldn’t have thought he won as many as 6. Has been on a brutal run this year, and won’t have totally arrested the slide. Perhaps not having his brother to prepare with has hurt him in this tournament. D+
M7W Takayasu 11-4 – Picked up one of the five special prizes handed out after racking up 11 wins and hanging in the yusho race until late. Never truly felt like the yusho challenge was going to happen for him, but good to see him looking mobile and strong at 36. A-
M7E Kotoeiho 11-4 – Led the basho after 10 days before running into trouble, having adjusted to the higher level of competition at his highest ever rank. Despite being knocked out of the race, finished strong with wins against two impressive opponents to clinch a special prize. A
M6W Fujiseiun 7-8 – Showed decent application if mostly unmemorable. C+
M6E Shodai 5-10 – Continued to baffle with which version of the former Ozeki should show up on any given day. Usually he’s a pretty good watch, but was more bad than good this time. C-
M5W Oshoma 7-8 – A bit of grim reading, if you see where most of his wins came from. I tend to think Fujiseiun’s record was a slightly better achievement. C
M5E Ura 5-10 – Turned 34 before the basho, attempted gamely to conjure some magic but was a diminished and less powerful version of the rikishi we’ve seen in recent years. C-
M4W Ichiyamamoto 6-9 – Managed a sanyaku upset of Kotoshoho but otherwise looked mostly overmatched at this rank. C-
M4E Daieisho 10-5 – racked up 3 upsets against sanyaku opponents and at times looked indistinguishable from his peak. Wasn’t ever in the yusho conversation, but put himself in the discussion for a likely/possible promotion to sanyaku in the next tournament, which would have been the aim before the tournament. B+
M3W Hakunofuji 9-6 – Struggles a bit with consistency but seems to be developing into a powerful all-around talent who is able to hold his own around top rankers, fitness permitting. There’s a case to be made that this is actually his most impressive result in any basho, given the rank and opposition. Notched his fifth kinboshi, and possibly is headed for sanyaku for the first time. B+
M3E Hiradoumi 4-11 – Had a pretty brutal fixture list in the first seven days and was always playing from behind – while not a carbon copy of past and present stablemates Sadanoumi, Myogiryu and Goeido, all of them rely on a speedy tachiai and establishing an inside position and he was just never able to reliably execute that in this tournament. C-
M2W Churanoumi 7-8 – Felt he gave a good account of himself at his career high rank having looked very overmatched on previous trips to these heights, knocking out both Ozeki and both Komusubi. B-
M2E Gonoyama 7-8 – Had a terribly difficult start with no rank and filers until Day 8, but still managed to recover and score his first career kinboshi, in addition to matching his best performance at his career high rank. B
M1W Takanosho 6-9 – A streaky performance, he looked buried after starting 0-4 against the top rankers but recovered well to notch a creditable score. Did not look close to his previous best, but there’s not a big gap between this result and that of the two previous guys. C+
M1E Fujinokawa 8-7 – Looks set for sanyaku after raising his record to 4-0 against the Yokozuna with another pair of kinboshi, which netted him a special prize. Might have replaced Ryuden as the matta king, as almost every match starts with some kind of timing issue. Otherwise seems to have adjusted well to the level without projecting necessarily as someone who will go higher than Sekiwake. Didn’t face another rank and filer until Day 10 and only faced 2 opponents ranked lower than M3, so did well to get kachikoshi. A-
KW Oho 2-13 – Looked completely overmatched for almost the entire tournament. Only the fifth time since the turn of the century that a Komusubi has finished a basho with no more than 2 wins while competing every day – the first was his dad. D-
KE Yoshinofuji 6-9 – Hung in there for most of the tournament but was always in too deep of a hole to look like grabbing a winning record, despite beating both Yokozuna and the schedule advantage provided by not having to face Atamifuji or Hakunofuji. But as sanyaku debuts go, it could have been a lot worse. C+
S2W Aonishiki 12-3 Yusho – So hobbled was the sekiwake by the injury which struck him from his ozeki rank that it looked in the first week that he’d do well to reach the 10 win mark to reclaim it. To not only stay in the yusho race, but then win two bouts in short order on the senshuraku playoff, was a remarkable achievement. Has now competed in 8 top division basho (excluding the kyujo tournament) and won 3. An unqualified success. A+
S2E Wakatakakage 0-0-15 – Sat out due to serious injury. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.
S1W Kotoshoho 6-9 – Having started 3-0, will be bitterly disappointed to have potentially lost his sanyaku rank. Looked strong out of the gate in those early wins, but became too easy to beat in a basho where the fixtures lined up somewhat kindly for him to hold serve. C-
S1E Atamifuji 12-3 – Two early losses looked to scratch him from the running, but appeared and acted unbeatable down the final stretch, winning his last seven and 10 of 11 before going down to Aonishiki in the second playoff bout. Is now on the cusp of Ozeki promotion. A
OW Kotozakura 8-7 – Looked like he might be in trouble early on, but recovered in the second week (with a bit of fixture luck, getting to face the likes of M14 Shishi) to erase his kadoban status and preserve his position. Seemed to be very far from his best and less mobile than in previous tournaments. Still, he achieved the minimum aim. B-
OE Kirishima 12-3 – Had this yusho in his grasp at various points, and performed almost flawlessly against the top rankers: it was losses to Hiradoumi and Churanoumi that likely cost him the title – and the rope. Still, it was a second straight playoff defeat, and third straight 12 win record for the man who has comfortably been the best and most consistent competitor in 2026. Will be on a rope run again in September. A
YW Onosato 9-6 – On the plus side, he completed his first basho since January, and secured a winning record despite it looking like we might see the rare Yokozuna makekoshi. Still, this was uneasy stuff from the brightest talent to enter sumo in recent years. This basho could have been really bad for him, instead it will probably be forgotten. Showed signs of his best in a couple dominant wins, hopefully he can fully recover before September. C
YE Hoshoryu 7-7-1 – Maybe he was wise to pull out and spare us a senshuraku showdown between two potentially 7-7 Yokozuna. Still, questions will linger. He started well enough but dropped 4 of 5 before his withdrawal, and hasn’t won a tournament since his Yokozuna promotion (only being competitive in one this year), having withdrawn in 4 of 9 tournaments. It’s frustrating because few are more technically gifted when he’s on song. When the pair of Yokozuna were promoted, the association probably expected a bit better than we’d seen from the previous generation of Yokozuna over the past several years. C-
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Good idea, that recap. Grades, as U say, are highly subjective but still I absolutely don’t understand how U can give the M14 with a win more and much stronger opponents a better note than the other? My only explanation would be an unhealthy bias against Shishi. I do hope I‘m wrong.
Same though here…
Subjective yes, but as I noted – context. For me it wasn’t about a 10-5 vs a 9-6
Kinbozan puttered along and did the job. Shishi led the yusho race at points, as he did in a prior tournament, and as he did in a prior tournament, did not press home. He doesn’t lose points for me for losing to an Ozeki, for me he loses points due to what I analysed in his performance (which again is subjective), and not challenging for the yusho in the second week again, or a special prize, losing to Roga and Asahakuryu. In the context of where he was after the first week, the second week was a disappointment. In the context of what Kinbozan was expected to deliver, Kinbozan did adequately. I think Shishi will be more disappointed with the 10-5 than Kinbozan will with the 9-6.
It‘s news to me that grades are somehow dependent on the rated‘s disappointment…
Maybe I‘m simplistic but imo a in every which way U look at it better basho deserves a better grade.
If in a math test pupil A had 27 points and pupil B 24, hardly any teacher would grade the 24 points better than the 27 because he thought pupil A capable of 30 points.
An appeal against that seemed certain.
I think we have different ways of assessing performance and that’s totally ok. I don’t think anyone here is going to make the argument here that 9-6 Roga had a better basho than 8-7 Fujinokawa. There are a lot of things that factor into it – for me it’s not just the wins. If it were only about how many wins everyone got, there wouldn’t be much point to writing an article :)
The only thing that remains to be said from my point of view to your rather shocking „argumentation“ is that I‘m very glad U‘re not fixing the banzuke with your soft influencing factors. I‘m preferring facts.
As i recall Shishi beat Kinbozan in their head to head match ..
However, i am not confident he can hold rank at 8 or 9 ..
He did employ a new (a la Ao?) strategy .. i.e. kept his head below the chin of his opponents .. but failed to do so in all his later matches .. Perhaps he will surprise us ..
The question is should potential of the sekitori be considered as well? And how about injuries? In general, following the logic of the ratins you shared, I’ll not give Kinbozan or Takerufuji better mark then Shishi.
I try to contextualise all of those things, but mostly the content of the matches and the level of performance comes into play, as well as how the tournament develops. I also think about injuries, but I think a 2-13 is a devastating result for Mitakeumi regardless of his fitness level. Some are more banged up than others, but it has been said if you do sumo, you are injured. That being said, Aonishiki’s situation absolutely factored into what I (and most others) felt was an incredible achievement.
It’s an interesting thought exercise: If we think Shishi is a less skilled rikishi than Takerufuji, does that mean he deserves a better score than Takerufuji for achieving similar results? I’m not really sure. So that’s why I try to keep it to what I see in the performance.
I was surprised by your B- for Kotozakura though that’s exactly the grade I‘d give him myself.
When he loses his wobblyness often looks very bad and when he wins one often gets the impression that it is rather the opponent who throws the bout away. I guess it’s his style of sumo which has many underestimate him.
His numbers on the other hand are not bad at all. That was his 15th basho as an ozeki and he won 128 bouts. Of the current ozeki or ex-ozeki only Hoshoryu had more wins in the 15 tournaments after his promotion (140). Kirishima (126) was at the same level as the former Kotonowaka and the other four reached less. So Kotozakura is a very solid ozeki.
Kotozakura has been a solid ozeki so far, but that said I fear he now could be in permanent danger of demotion, because the competition quite obviously, at least in my opinion, has gotten much stronger than it was two years ago with all those young guns rising.
Kotozakura has the problem that Goeido had when he was on the dohyo. He is skilled, but as you said the competition is fierce. My current problem with Kotozakura, however, is that he reminds me more of Shodai than of Goeido. He gave almost no resistance to Onosato in their bout when his opponent was fighting for KK. The majority of his sumo occurs when he moves backward. This is where the “Do we want an Ozeki to behave this way?” discussion shows up whether we want it too or not. Believe me, I’m aware that Kotozakura’s knees are probably held together by duct tape, chewing gum, or something similar. His record also speaks for itself. But, that spark that he had before is sadly missing. I do not doubt that he is doing his best, and his record reflects that, but I believe that missing extra piece that used to shine has either dulled or is currently missing. That’s the main reason why I would give him a lower grade (probably a C or a C+) for this basho. I shouldn’t be saying, “He got his KK by beating Shishi” about an Ozeki. There’s no “Oh, he could have won that match” with Kotozakura. It is “all or nothing” for him right now and I wish we knew why.
Ratings are always tough as it often boils down to a combination of a rating vs themselves and a rating vs others. Shishi is a great example. He probably gets a very high rating vs himself (possible breakout) but obviously a lower rating vs the other 41. Another complication is some rikishi are in the ascent, some on the way down (Juryo is heavily ex Makuuchi these days) and others are at their peak or just plain old injured. I think you threaded the needle well and for the most part gave us a nice retrospective of the tournament. Well done!
I suppose by definition the kinboshi are overachievements. It does seem this time that those gold stars became extra weight (ballast) in the mawashi, creating much difficulty in the succeeding days. Many of the Yokozuna beaters this time had a tough time putting together wins later in the Basho.
Shishi gets „obviously a lower rating vs the other 41“.
Try to explain that phrase. Just now it sounds like utter nonsense to me.
And btw please consider his 10-5…
Oops, had a word that begins with „non“ and ends with „sense“ in my original reply, which seems not to be allowed here.
U write that Shishi gets „obviously a lower rating vs the other 41“.
Try to explain that imo very strange phrase. And doing so, please consider his 10-5 record.
Now my original text has been accepted after all.
Therefore I have to apologize for the redundancy.
He gets a great rating vs himself (he outperformed himself) and a lesser rating vs others. It was a great leap for him. at M14 he was 7-0 against M13 and below, and 3-5 against those ranked higher. That’s all. A solid performance. At approximately M9 in September he will be at a good level to judge where he is really at. Looking forward to that.
I’m sorry but just don’t get U. What’s that „a lesser rating vs others“ crap when he is 10-5? Please try to explain and not just use the same words a third time.
Let’s be respectful. I understood his point: Not all records are equal.
The reason why we analyse is because otherwise all of the same records would viewed the same: clearly Asakoryu’s 9-6 is not the same as Onosato’s 9-6 and Shishi’s 10-5 is not the same as Daieisho’s 10-5, there wouldn’t be much of a piece to write if it were! Relative to Shishi’s own prior achievements to this point he did well and deserves much credit for that. But that, like the final record, for all of these guys, is not the only metric in how we assess performance. The title race factors into it, the content of the sumo factors into it, the opponents factor into it, etc.
If that was meant by „a lesser rating vs others“ then it‘s a platitude.
Your examples are correct but if U had compered the results of two, let‘s say M14s and pretended that the weaker record stood for the better tournament U would have been completely wrong…
Thanks for the kind words.
As you point out, worth bearing in mind a kinboshi carries weight not only in the basho, but for the rikishi’s whole career. It’s a big accomplishment. If you’ve got two guys at let’s say M3 who performed mostly the same, but one finishes 8-7 with no chance of sanyaku promotion and one finishes 7-8 with a kinboshi, I’d probably say the 7-8 kinboshi guy had a better basho.
I didn’t watch any of his matches, but it seems Tamawashi put in a decent performance at 9-6 in Juryo. Maybe a solid B. At J7E he had to fight nearly every rank and gets a nice bump for his efforts. He will benefit from four guys above him moving up to the top division. At J3E (my guess) he will need another 9-6 record to just squeak back in to makuuchi, but probably a 10-5 is more assurance. At that level, he will be fighting a lot of his old (demoted) friends from makuuchi, so it looks possible. Or maybe I am just hopelessly hopeful.
I saw all of his matches. I’d give him a B -. He looked good in his wins and made mistakes in his losses. Agree on the possible promotion. Look forward to Mr. O’ Washi bouncing back up.
Just here to quibble over a few grades, Professor. BTW, did you ever teach Chem 10 ? I’m getting flashbacks. I think if any M10 faces a sanyaku opponent, they had an A tournament. A+ or A++ or A* if they actually win and/or take a special prize. Also, any Ozeki or Yokozuna who doesn’t hit 10 gets an F, especially if they hit their 8 and coast into their next kadoban.
Overachiever/underachiever scale!
What I’ve always admired about you is that you’re kinder than me ;)
“M14W Shishi 10-5 – Much like the last time he was in a yusho race, tailed off badly towards the end, losing his last 3 and 4 of 6 after being drawn against higher ranked opponents. B-”
For his level, and for his previous performances, Shishi’s results were astonishing.
Of course he lost in the second week to the higher rankers. He’s only M14. His previous tournaments, he performed at that level. This tournament something clicked, and he improved dramatically. Steady improvement earns him an A with a bullet–meaning he’s headed higher.
Oho: Think you missed something here. Not in the grade assigned, but in the reasons for his performance. Something was badly wrong with him. Not clear if it’s physical or mental/emotional. Seemed like he was about to cry in many of his losses. And in nearly all of those losses, he appeared to just give up. Seems to be in acute pain, and it doesn’t seem to be physical. Demoralized, depressed, giving up. Let’s hope he gets over it.
I agree in both your cases. Oho was a sad enigma.
Everyone’s entitled an opinion which is the great thing! Have to say I wasn’t astonished though, I felt I was watching a re-run of Shishi’s hatsu basho. Hope he can prove me wrong and put together a good tournament next time out at M9/M8 or wherever he lands, he will deserve his career high rank.
This was a good idea to give a letter grade after the basho. I would like to see the grades for juryo if possible? Hit the mark on Aonishiki and unfortunately Mitakeumi.
I saw every match in Makuuchi this time out but unfortunately didn’t watch enough Juryo to be able to confidently assess it, since I look at the content of the sumo and the context of the performances as well as the final results.
Shonnanoumi probably deserved the yusho but I’m not a big fan of his style of sumo, I’d probably grade him a touch lower than someone like Arashifuji reaching a playoff in his first basho at the level. I imagine Shonannoumi, Toshinofuji, Tokihayate and Asasuiryu will be coming up and I think they’re all good value for the promotion in terms of what I did see.
Totally agree.
Anyone who pulled a henka should get an automatic one grade deduction.
Oh, that’s a good rule. Though there should be exceptions for extra spectacular henkas.
Yes, they should get an automatic two grade deduction. ;-)
I’d go for an A+ but I guess we have our own grading scales. Mine gives bonus points for height and form/technique. 😎
If you outhenka “captain henka” Abi. You should get an exception.
Love a flying henka but tbh there were very few that I would say were notably poorly timed in this basho
The gold standard for this is arguably Terunofuji on Kotoshogiku, and I believe Hakunofuji was reprimanded recently (might have been someone else, please correct me if I’m wrong) for pulling a henka when already kachi-koshi
Abi would get a grade G, H, or I!
For me the most memorable henka in this basho was Fujinokawa v Aonishiki (assuming am recalling correctly) .. Fujinokawa had truly superior elevation .. but Ao looked like a major league second baseman catching a pop up .. a routine catch .. Fujinokawa was caught with his hand in the cookie jar with no where to go ..
Henka is an essential part of sumo
Seem like fair grades, nice even. We had a henka count going at one point, but there were a whole bunch the final weekend so I’m not sure where we ended up on that. There were many, many, not as many as the monies being handed out for kensho, but there were a lot. Exciting tournament, I still don’t know how Aonishiki pulled it off, but he did. Looked like he tweaked his shoulder falling off the dohyo in the playoff finale, he’s so young I guess it doesn’t even matter. Amazing really what the kid has done thus far in his short career. I hope he can stay healthy, I also hope the other dinged and less than 100% sekitori are able to get themselves fit for 15 days. I can’t imagine it to be an easy task, seems like will power is the most important trait for a wrestler, to be able to focus no matter how hurt or stressed. All of these guys are crazy, but to be able to consistently win while battling your own body and mind is next level. What a sport, thanks as always to Andy and Team Tachiai, you guys provide a great resource to us English speaking Ozumo fans.
Kotozakura needed 10 wins to get a B-. With only 8, I’d give him a C-.
Hoshoryu: for a Yokozuna, 7-7-1 is an F.
I’m astonished at Hoshoryu. He’s got the strength, the technique, the wiles…appears fearless…but there ya go. Had a horrible tournament.
Yep, and C- might be generous for Kotozakura. Same goes for Onosato – that’s a D – perhaps a C- if we’re being generous for his relatively long time out..
Thank you Josh for your thoughts about ratings! Its always interesting to have light on more facets of a performance than the simple digits on the banzuke. As JMotzi pointed out, it‘s sure important to weigh in the intra-individual progress of a rikishi to get a quality picture of their overall accomplishment.
I want to back up Kent Clizbe‘s evaluation of Oho‘s output. I don‘t think he was overmatched, he had clearly better results against high rankers in the past, and he’s always been matched with them for many basho. Definitely special issues with him at Nagoya.
Let‘s have an eye on the outcome of your grade classification. We have 6 A, 13 B, 17 C and 4 D. That should mean it was a quite meek and mediocre basho. I thought the feeling and perception was definitely more positive. To me it was a real intriguing and intense competition!
Yeah I also thought it was one of the better basho in recent memory. But I probably look at a C as being average rather than being a bad score. If you have 19 out of 41 guys being above average, that sounds about right to me. I’d look at it as there were probably only 4 guys who you’d say were really truly off it, and that’s a reflection of a pretty good tournament. I judged everyone on their own merits and didn’t spread the scores out intentionally. If Wakanosho had finished the basho he probably would have been above average and then you would have had 20 on one side of the line and 21 on the other.
Grading the basho performance of each rikishi is a great idea … Please keep doing it .. One more reason to keep reflecting on each basho + analyzing all those rikishi we love to follow ..
Thank you for the kind words! I’ll think about it although there are certainly some loud voices here who expect every 10-5 to be graded the same and every 9-6 to be graded the same and so on! Always open to intelligent points of view and most folks left room for nuance, but you can’t please everybody :)
Just happened to have some free time after this most recent basho, but we’ll see if I can have another crack in September!
I follow only two sports – Sumo & Formula One. After each Grand Prix, Ed Straw over on The-Race does his driver rankings. They are a bit different than what we can do with Sumo because the car also limits or helps the driver. This past race he had the 12th place guy as the top driver. Same idea however. The difference is that the commenters there are not as nice (understatement) as the friendly group we have here on Tachiai.
It‘s a pity that U still haven’t got my position. Of course is a 10-5 amongst the joi more worth than one in the lower maegashira. No question about that, and that makes the grading worthwhile. But also of course a 10-5 has to earn better grades than a 9-6 from the same rank.
Please take notice that the Shishi/Kinbozan-mistake was the only flaw in your article imo. The idea of a recap with ratings is great, as I already mentioned in my first comment. And there was my even special praise for your B- for Kotozakura.
So all in all in spite of that one difference between us I‘d rate your article very favorably.
A-
A good read; fair grades. I think Onosato should also get a “See me” on his test sheet. There’s some problem there besides an injury, I think.
Would be happy to see him and talk about his sumo but unfortunately his heya is up in Ibakari!!! 🤣
This isn’t the ideal article to comment on today’s juryo promotions, but as it is the most recent one…
Not only Nabatame and Tanji are going up, but also Tokifudo with his 4-3 from Ms2.
That means that one „Nishi“ will join the two injured rikishi who’s demotion was obvious.
But will it be J14 Nishikigi or J9 Nishinoryu? My guess and hope is that the „dinosaur“ will stay. Not only is his record mathematically less poor but he also won his „exchange bout“.
Tp your point about where to post, maybe there could be a “Between the Basho” post so we can have a place to continue conversations on various topics. Or perhaps the Tachiai moderators need a break between basho. What say ye, Andy?
Good idea.
Especially in the first few days after a basho, there is quite a void in my daily routine.
But others, not only the moderator(s), might need a break from sumo.
What do U think, Andy?