Day Four in Tokyo.
Shinmichi picked up his first win in maezumo. Shinmichi is a shin-deshi (new recruit) noted in Japanese press for being “a buck 25.” Well, over there they use metric, so he’s 57kg. They note that his weight is in “the 50s.” Which is rather light for a sumo wrestler and they’re looking forward to his inevitable bout with Ultraman (Urutora).
The Sumo Association had paired him off against a 165 kg 19-year-old from Tottori Johoku High School in his first bout yesterday. The larger Matsunosato easily dispatched the youngster, displaying an appropriate degree of mercy.
Shinmichi’s entry into sumo is really only possible since the sumo association relaxed its height and weight limits, allowing exceptions to enter if they pass a series of physical tests. Shinmichi comes to sumo with a background in MMA and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Well, does it even count as a “background” when you’re 15 years old and you picked it up in sixth grade? I’ve got pimples with more experience.
In the first division, Eisei won his second professional bout against Honda. Honda is 190cm and 140kg. Up in Juryo, Hitoshi flattened Enho with fierce tsuppari. Daiseizan shares the 4-0 lead with Kitanowaka, Kagayaki and Kayo. I would not put much money on those last three remaining undefeated to nakabi, much less featuring in a yusho race. But stranger things have happened.
Makuuchi Action
Asasuiryu (3-1) defeated Kazuto (1-3). Asasuiryu immediately locked on to Kazuto’s shoulder and wrangled him down in the middle of the ring. Katasukashi.
Tobizaru (1-3) defeated Shonannoumi (0-4). Tobizaru got his right-hand hold of Shonannoumi’s belt and was determined to use that grip and spin Shonannoumi down. Shonannoumi struggled to contain Tobizaru and eventually succumbed to the drag-down. Uwatedashinage.
Toshinofuji (3-1) defeated Asakoryu (3-1). Toshinofuji got a firm right hand grip on Asakoryu’s belt and dragged him down at the edge. Gunbai Toshinofuji. Mono-ii. Shimpan wanted to take a closer look to whether Toshinofuji’s foot stepped out first. It did not, though it came close. Uwatenage.
Abi (2-2) defeated Tokihayate (2-2). Abi-zumo of old. Abi battered Tokihayate with tsuppari and drove Tokihayate out with a particularly forceful right hand. Tsukidashi.
Chiyoshoma (2-2) defeated Asahakuryu (2-2). Henka! Chiyoshoma jumped right, grabbed Asahakuryu’s belt and pulled him forward and off the dohyo to a smattering of applause. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (3-1) defeated Shodai (0-4). Kinbozan grabbed Shodai’s belt with both hands, buried his head under Shodai’s chin and drove the former Ozeki back and out. Yorikiri.
Wakamotoharu (3-1) defeated Shishi (1-3). After a brief period of trading slaps, the two settled in the center with hidari-yotsu grips. Wakamotoharu demonstrated the strength and initiative, driving Shishi back. Shishi countered with his own pressure but Wakamotoharu overwhelmed Shishi and crashed the pair out. Overpowering Shishi like that is no small task. Yoritaoshi.
Takerufuji (3-1) defeated Oho (1-3). Gah! Oho showed great strength and drove Takerufuji back to the edge…and then he pulled!! Takerufuji kept his balance as Oho tried to slap him down and forced him out the opposite side. Oshidashi.
Hiradoumi (2-2) defeated Fujiseiun (3-1). Hiradoumi executed what Oho attempted. Hiradoumi slammed into Fujiseiun and drove him back. He then shifted subtly to the left and shoved Fujiseiun down as the latter rushed forward. Tsukiotoshi.
Ura (3-1) defeated Nishikifuji (1-3). Nishikifuji charged forward and Ura retreated around the ring, nearly completing an entire lap before realizing this attack wasn’t getting anywhere. Ura squared up and drove forward, forcing Nishikifuji out. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Roga (3-1) defeated Ichiyamamoto (0-4) Ichiyamamoto got off to a great start with his tsuppari attack but Roga got his right arm under Ichiyamamoto’s left, pivoted and swung him around, nearly scoring a sukuinage at the edge. Though Ichiyamamoto remained upright, he was completely back-footed and Roga drove forward and out. Yorikiri.
Asanoyama (3-1) defeated Oshoma (2-2). Asanoyama drove into Oshoma and got his powerful left-hand uwate. Oshoma planted his foot at the bales and would not go over so Asanoyama swung him down with that uwatenage.
Churanoumi (3-1) defeated Takanosho (3-1). Churanoumi retreated from Takanosho’s tsuppari then charged inside and used his morozashi to force Takanosho out. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Daieisho (1-3) defeated Yoshinofuji (0-4). This was the most composed I’ve seen Daieisho in that he seemed to understand balance. He used his normal attack but did not get out too far over his feet. A simple shift caught Yoshinofuji off balance and Daieisho pounced, blasting Yoshinofuji from the ring. Tsukiotoshi.
Atamifuji (3-1) defeated Fujiryoga (1-3). Pull at your peril! Fujiryoga put in a great attack but then decided to pull. Atamifuji chased and shoved Fujiryoga down. Oshitaoshi.
Kotoshoho (1-3) defeated Fujinokawa (2-2). What did I just say? “Pull at your peril!” Fujinokawa pulled and became immediately imperiled. Fujinokawa met a strong tachiai from Kotoshoho and decided to pull. Kotoshoho rushed him out of the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Hakunofuji (1-3) defeated Aonishiki (3-1). Hakunofuji charged forward well, forcing Aonishiki back to the tawara. Aonishiki got his left hand grip but lost the initiative as he tried to slow the Juggernaut in front of him. Aonishiki decided to pull. What.did.I.just.say??? Hakunofuji charged forward. The delayed gunbai pointed at Hakunofuji. No Mono-ii. An extremely out-of-breath Hakunofuji headed to the interview room. Give the man some oxygen! Oshidashi.
Kotozakura (4-0) defeated Gonoyama (1-3). Kotozakura shifted left after the initial charge, grabbed Gonoyama’s belt and dragged him down. Uwatenage.
Kirishima defeated Kotoeiho. Kirishima got both hands inside. That makikae was a bit of a gamble because it allowed Kotoeiho an opportunity to charge ahead. Kirishima stopped Kotoeiho’s momentum, shuffled to regain position at the center of the ring, and used that morozashi to force Kotoeiho out. Yorikiri.
Takayasu defeated Onosato. WHAT.DID.I.SAY? Onosato completely abandoned the forward-moving sumo of the last couple of bouts. He pulled and leapt from the dohyo while trying to slap Takayasu down or pull him out. Takayasu nearly lost his balance but pirouetted on the tawara as he watched Onosato dive into the crowd. Pay Day!! Tsukiotoshi.
Wrap-up
I think I’ve said enough about today’s bouts. I’ll let my cousin’s voice echo through the interwebs. “MOVE FORWARD!!!”
Tomorrow’s big bout is Onosato versus Yoshinofuji. Yoshinofuji has beaten Onosato three.times.running. He’s 4-0 against the Yokozuna if you count the fusen. However, Yoshinofuji is 0-4 in this tournament. Either the Yokozuna will be another black star in a bad losing streak or his first white star will be white-gold. Onosato is probably in the market for a quality voodoo doll.
Other sanyaku bouts are Kotozakura against Churanoumi, Aonishiki versus Gonoyama, Kirishima-Takanosho, Atamifuji versus Daieisho, and Hakunofuji versus Fujinokawa. That last bout could be a real barnstormer. Hakunofuji won their only previous bout.
Days like today are why I watch live. I just don’t get the same drama from watching replays. Holy moly that was immensely frustrating but a great day of sumo.
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There are probably a few who could have beaten Abi on day four. No more than a few and having watched it again, maybe none of them. He was kind of magnificent. He used those long arms, putting some velocity into them. And accurately too. What Tokihayate saw for the last 1.5 seconds, was hand hand HAND hand HAND HAND!
Oh and “MOVE FORWARD!!!” Well put!
Does Onosato just forget what he’s supposed to do? Does he get forwards and backwards mixed up? That pitiful moment when he was doing the ballerina routine with his tip toes on the bales, every member of the Yokozuna Council yelling to just fall over. Why do you prolong our pain with this circus?
A very disappointing day in sumo, even Kotozakura is not what he used to be.
Not only my two favorites in makuuchi, Aonishiki and Kotoeiho lost today, but also Shoketsu down in jonidan. It was his first loss as a fifty-years old and he is now 652-652. If Tamawashi is the iron man, Shoketsu has to be the carbon man: he‘s never missed a single day of sumo in 31 years!
And Andy, I think U forgot to mention who is our sole leader. As Tomas said, „even Kotozakura is not what he used to be“…
Ura: side-pedal, side-pedal…and side-pedal some more, feet churning like a scene out of a Roadrunner clip. I love watching this guy despite the dizziness.
Asanoyama: now was that good sumo or what?! Uwatenage. Damn right.
Aonishiki bout: Did Hakunofuji jump the gun on the tachiai? I’ll have to watch again.
Takayasu vs Onosato: Bam! A mutually explosive tachiai but, wow, Takayasu absolutely destroyed the Yokozuna.
Hakunofuji cant matta, Ao was ready with both hands on clay. But yeah, he overslept and was loosing from the start, never recovered.
I can’t see that Hakunofuji touched the clay on tachiai.
An interesting time for viewers: no wrestler currently looks strong enough to dominate the field. It may take some time before we see another 14–1 or zensho-yusho performance.
Onosato reacted poorly again today. When he could not drive his opponent back, he fell into the bad habit of retreating himself, as if he had no backup plan. His jump at the end looked laughable and also dangerous for him, and I’m sure this habit will draw criticism.
Aonishiki first allowed Hakunofuji to win the tachiai. In my view, there was a matta, but Aonishiki’s tachiai has not looked convincing for the past four days. He has changed it compared with previous tournament: instead of taking a small sweeping step and immediately going for the left-hand grip, he now jumps in, blocks his opponent’s hands, and only then goes for the grip. That may work defensively, but not when he needs an aggressive start, as he did today. He loses time, gets pushed back, and has to fight from a difficult position. Unless he polishes his tachiai, more problems are likely to follow.
Kirishima bounced back today, but his anxiety is still clearly visible. The pressure will only grow as senshuraku approaches.
Asasuiryu with a determined win today. I hope he sticks around in the top division.
Tobizaru had a “kitchen sink” match today. His elbow is taped, but I’m betting he’s more banged up than he looks.
A+ execution from Toshinofuji to win his match. The camera crew, like me, thought the monoii was potentially for a hair pull. Nope. All fingers visible and a completely flat hand.
Chiyoshoma does not want to go back into Juryo. He also might have some injury that makes taking a tachiai painful. Who knows?
Shodai is definitely hurt. I’m guessing it’s his lower back because he stayed ram rod straight and as soon as he hit the bales he eased up.
I chuckled at Wakamotoharu’s face when he and ShiShi finally settled in the middle of the dohyo. I can’t blame him. A dude over 6’3″ constantly attempting to get lower than you must be frustrating to deal with. If ShiShi learns to do more defensive throws (or maybe how to set his feet more quickly?) he’s going to level up his sumo again.
Hiradoumi is living and dying by the slippiotoshi at the moment. Lost yesterday and won today.
Thanks for the lesson in physics today, Ura. Sneaky, unexpected move too. Well done.
Asanoyama just might make a Cup run if he keeps this up. Fingers crossed.
I agree with Andy that Daiesho definitely learned his lesson from yesterday’s bout. Now we’ll see if he remembers it for the rest of the basho.
I think the crowd expected more out of Fujinokawa’s bout. That was mild applause for Kotoshoho’s win there.
Gonoyama didn’t watch Daiesho’s match against Kot-ole!-zakura yesterday. Ay carumba!
Well, hello there, Takayasu! Apparently, Onosato completely crumbles mentally when he can’t overpower someone at the tachiai. Nice job using the ballerina shoes too, Sir.
Great summary. Two remarks though: I don’t think that Asanoyama is in the shape to think about the silverware; a kachikoshi would be quite good for him already. And a minor point, because we all know who is meant, but it’s Daieisho with two „i“s.
Correction: The kimarite for both Daieisho and Takayasu was tsukitaoshi, not tsukiotoshi
General remark: in most cases sumotori are not “decided” to pull their opponent. They are forced in position when the pull is the last option to win.
Good remark, I think, though the „most cases“ may be disputable.
But today especially for Fujiryoga it really seemed to be his last resort.
From the top of my head I could mention only a handful of current sekitori who has a pull down as a base strategy: Tomokaze, Abi, Daieisho (classical pusher-thustres) and more rarely Takanosho and Kotozakura (for those two it’s more like plan C, especially for Ozeki as he mostly prefers working on the belt).
I’d add Shodai, Ichiyamamoto, Wakamotoharu to that list. But there’s a difference between trying to use lateral movement and throws when compared with the kind of blind retreat that we’re talking about. Onosato had a number of things he could have tried against Takayasu yesterday but he chose to run and jump and pray Takayasu would stumble out first. He lost, hilariously.
I disagree. Hakuho seemed to always have an answer, always another option to try. Many of these rikishi seem to try one thing and if it doesn’t work, they pull straight back. Takayasu just lost to Kotoshoho in this way. His tsuppari was not effective at driving Kotoshoho out, so he backed away. It was his decision. He certainly could have tried to get a bet grip or a number of other tactics.
One of Ura’s super powers is his ability to transition from pushing to pulling to pushing .. he should give lessons in it ..he knows how to absorb a strong tachiai/charge + brace at the bales + wear down larger rikishi + change angles of attack + swope in for the kill with 77 different moves .. Nobody does it better .. Fujinokawa is the leading student of his art ..
Takanosho nicely exposes Atamifuji’s limited repetoire with his bloated forward moving sumo .. i am not a fan ..
Hakunofuji jumped .. it was blatant .. Ao demonstrated his superpower of salvaging a lousy situation into an almost win ..
KTZ is an acquired taste .. he is Shodai with a plan .. other than not getting any concussions .. push on his jelly belly + fall on your face ..
I love Kiri’s sumo .. an excellent Ozeki .. i am not sure he is Yokozuna-worthy .. there are already two Yokozuna’s w dubious ideas about how to be a Yokozuna ..
Ao’s sumo might be Yokozuna worthy .. TBD .. he is winning despite not being healthy .. but not really showing it .. i like his ability to recover from difficult circumstances ..
Maybe Hosh has Byron Nelson syndrome .. Nelson was a dominant force in golf for years .. a great example/leader in his sport .. but he suddenly plateaued + did not win .. the back story was he had a goal to some day be able to buy a ranch .. once he could, he lost the competitive edge .. .. Hosh’s drive for Yokozuna may have a similar arc ..
Day 1: Onosato what are you doing?
Day 2: There we go. Back to what got him there.
Day 3: Okay, he’s on a mission now.
Day 4: Onosato what are you doing?
The looney tunes leaps are getting exponentially funnier. I’m not trying to be mean, but this jumping at the edge needs to stop. I’m sure he’s being yelled at royally by Nisonoseki oyakata. Poor guy, he is so nervous with all his pre-bout eye twitching and creepy staring exercises, he needs to relax and take a page from Takayasu’s book… Despite the state of your body and sumo, be confident, if possible. It will make your losses look stronger and more Yokozuna-like.
Proper Abi sumo followed by proper Chiyoshōma sumo…
Chiyoshoma‘s full henka/yorikiri move was over in a flash, it would have fit three times in the sentence describing it. Can‘t help, I like it – even against dear Asahakuryu.
It’s such a pleasure to watch Asanoyama in his current form. Oshoma did one and a half circle rolling from the uwatenage. Oddly satisfying stuff :)
Yoshinofuji definitely doesn‘t like tsuppari to the face. He‘s not able to react to it. Takayasu got him several times beaten, and Daieisho went easily on with it, too.
I would have been very mad at Takayasu if he hadn‘t done the same to Onosato as he did yesterday to Kirishima. So I decided to forgive him. And it‘s not the worst compensation for always missing yusho to make seven kinboshi, I think.
Kotozakura unbeaten in the lead feels strange. Let‘s see how he fares.
I feel horrible saying it, but Hakunofuji’s future seems brighter without the spectre of Hakuho looming over him. He’s still so young, has room to grow, and seems to have mentally adjusted to the lumps of top division life. He’ll be a 2027 sanyaku bulwark. So many young guns around to scrap with each other; Hakunofuji and Atamifuji are the two who have proven to me that they can stand up to the top competition, who are versatile enough to not have their “one trick” figured out. Can’t even say that about Onosato – he is either win the tachiai or bust.