Day Ten in Tokyo.
Apologies for the abbreviated coverage today. I overslept and only caught the second half of today’s action live.
Today’s NHK videos include a five-minute feature on Aki 1986 which is really worth checking-out. That tournament featured two brothers who both earned special prizes that tournament for their performance, Terao and Sakahoko. With all of the brother-pairs in this tournament, it’s cool to see. The real feature is Chiyonofuji, though. Chiyonofuji won the title and the video has great footage of that historical tournament.
Makuuchi Action
Arashifuji (5-5) defeated Asasuiryu (4-6). Oshitaoshi.
Shonannoumi (3-7) defeated Asakoryu (5-5). Kotenage.
Asahakuryu (5-5) defeated Shodai (2-8). Oshidashi.
Kinbozan (8-2) defeated Toshinofuji (6-4). Shitatenage.
Tokihayate (7-3) defeated Takerufuji (6-4). Uwatenage.
Hiradoumi (6-4) defeated Chiyoshoma (4-6). Hikiotoshi.
Wakamotoharu (6-4) defeated Fujiseiun (6-4). Hatakikomi.
Nishikifuji (4-6) defeated Tobizaru (4-6). Oshidashi.
Asanoyama (7-3) defeated Abi (6-4). Oshidashi.
Ichiyamamoto (2-8) defeated Oho (3-7). Yorikiri.
Halftime
Ura (7-3) defeated Roga (5-5). Ura charged ahead, driving Roga half-way to the bales. Ura wrapped his left arm around Roga’s head, right arm around his shoulder and dragged him down. Ura pivoted and shifted laterally as he dragged Roga down. Katasukashi.
Oshoma (6-4) defeated Shishi (4-6). Oshoma shoved Shishi in the head and got him turned around. Shishi turned back around to face Oshoma but the damage had been done as Oshoma shove him out. Oshidashi.
Yoshinofuji (4-4) defeated Takayasu (3-7). Yoshinofuji got a right-hand outside grip and overpowered Takayasu. Yorikiri.
Gonoyama (3-7) defeated Kotoeiho (2-8). Gonoyama hit Kotoeiho with a powerful tachiai and forced Kotoeiho back to the edge. Kotoeiho tried to use his migi-yotsu hold to topple Gonoyama with an uwatenage but he was not able to. Gonoyama kept pressuring Kotoeiho and eventually forced him out. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Kotoshoho (5-5) defeated Daieisho (3-7). Daieisho’s weight was too far forward as his feet tried to plant against the tawara. Kotoshoho pulled him down. Hikiotoshi.
Fujinokawa (8-2) defeated Takanosho (4-6). Flying henka! Fujinokawa jumped left and Takanosho charged across the ring, stumbling onto all fours. Tsukiotoshi.
Aonishiki (7-3) defeated Churanoumi (7-3). Every time Aonishiki would grab Churanoumi’s belt with his left hand, Churanoumi would pull it off or shift his body to get it away. He didn’t pay as much attention to the right hand as it snaked inside as well. When Aonishiki got his right hand grip, he immediately tried to use it and charged ahead, forcing Churanoumi over the edge. Yorikiri.
Atamifuji (8-2) defeated Kotozakura (6-4). Atamifuji was stronger than Kotozakura and drove him to the edge. Kotozakura grabbed Atamifuji’s belt with his left-hand outside and tried to pull him with a last gasp uwatenage. “As if.” Oshidashi.
Fujiryoga (4-6) defeated Kirishima (5-5). Kirishima tried a really bad pull. It was as if he was hitting Fujiryoga with tsuppari and when his left hand was up at Fujiryoga’s head, the fleeting idea popped into his head, “Oh, I can try to pull him forward.” So, he pulled with that left hand and stepped back to the bales. It did not work. Fujiryoga had no forward momentum and his base was solid. Now that Kirishima was moving backward, however, Fujiryoga was able to press forward and shove Kirishima out. Christmas in September as Kirishima hands Fujiryoga a gift. Oshidashi.
Onosato (9-1) defeated Hakunofuji (3-7). Onosato braced with his left foot as he reached inside for Hakunofuji’s belt. He drove forward and forced Hakunofuji out. Yorikiri.
Wrap-up
A rather dominant-looking Onosato today. If he keeps this up, he may run away with the title, leaving the field to fight for rank and special prizes. He will have a challenge tomorrow against Fujinokawa, whom he has yet to beat.
Yusho Race
- 1-Loss: Onosato
- 2-Losses: Atamifuji, Fujinokawa, Kinbozan
Kotozakura didn’t look like he wanted to be here. If he shows up tomorrow, he will fight Roga. Aonishiki will battle Takanosho for his kachi-koshi, the only Ozeki with a chance at kachi-koshi at the moment. Kirishima will fight Atamifuji and needs to win because he won’t want to fall behind the count yet to face the meat of his schedule and his strongest competition.
Hakunofuji will fight Takayasu and Daieisho will face Kotoeiho for the first time, ever. Further down the banzuke, Kinbozan will fight Asanoyama. That should be a great bout.
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If Fujinokawa’s henka wasn’t designed to create doubt in Onosato’s mind for tomorrow’s bout, I’ll eat my hat… not sure if Atamifuji was really solid or Kotozakura was really weak… Kirishima needs to work on his mental game, when a basho no no longer serves his purpose it is painfully obvious he loses interest. I used to give him a pass for this, but since Aonishiki’s arrival it is very hard not to dislike now.
He shouldnt loose his interest, he doesnt have his KK yet.
It wouldn’t be the first rope run to end as kadoban this year…
Really good call there. From Onosato’s perspective, he’s got to wonder which tachiai he will get. Does he need to ease up or should he go full bore?
I‘d prefer full boar :)
Leaders List after today’s conclusion of second trimester of Aki must have the JSA beaming with happiness that their participating Yokozuna is in the lead, and 2/3 of chasers 1 win behind are their 2 Sekiwake in Atamufuji and Mr Excitement Fujinokawa. Although not liking that flying Henka from FujinoK…not a dignified way to earn your KK today!
That henka was glorious but I am completely on George’s side. I think it was done to sew doubt in Onosato’s mind. “Will Fujinokawa come in hot or will he henka?” Mind games!
Thank you for covering. I notice how much I appreciate your comments when they are missing, even partially. And I’d count Atamifuji definitely among the meat of Kirishimas schedule … one of the biggest chunks.
Agreed. Not many gizzards served up in sanyaku, especially lately.
Some pregame antics by Fujinokawa against Takanosho were well prepared bait for the henka, I think. I could tell he was over excited, and expected a hard tachiai from him. A trace of smiles on the face of the loser tells it was a perfect henka.
After seeing Aonishiki hobbling after yeaterday’s bout, I was concerned whether he could continue. Glad to see him winning today. He’s a tough dude!
The Atamifuji-Kotozakura fight stood out to me, not because it was good, but because the way Atamifuji is wrestling now is the way people hoped Kotozakura would evolve to, especially after that 14-1 yusho. And we got it, just in a different wrestler. If Atamifuji can keep this up, he’ll be a solid ozeki for quite some time bar injury.
Conversely, Aonishiki can grind wins like few others. Churanoumi isn’t easy for him and was wrestling very well, but Aonishiki managed to push through to victory. At this point, I’m really worried we’ll never see him with a healthy ankle again, so I hope he can get KK tomorrow and take a break. However, I can’t see someone as competitive as him dropping if he has even a sniff of the yusho. Onosato’s current dominance makes the decision a bit easier, but it just doesn’t seem like him.
Onosato looks really good for that yusho, though. He’s got a big (small in size, but big in slipperiness) banana peel tomorrow, and Atamifuji will make him work for it, so it’s not over yet, but he’s looked the most dominant over the last 4 days or so.
Oh yeah, and spare a thought for Asakoryu, who was really hard done by the dead body rule. Even in slow motion, I had to watch several times to see his foot leave the ground before Shonannoumi hits. Thing is, I’d argue Shonannoumi is equally dead at that point, so Asakoryu at least deserved a torinaoshi. Did I miss him stepping out? Because he didn’t even hop to avoid hitting first, as far as I could tell.
I thought Asakoryu was down because his hand touched.
You’re right that his hand hit the ground. In the live shot you couldn’t see it because his outstretched arm was behind the view of Shonannoumi’s leg, but in the replay from the reverse angle it was clear his hand touched the clay just next to the bales.
Quite a few mono-ii today and I don’t mind. I thought Arashifuji was going to lose by hair pull, but I guess the judges thought his fingers in Asasuiryu’s hair was unintentional. Surprising, especially when you can see his fingers flex and pull on camera too.
I feel bad for Asakoryu losing today. If his hand didn’t graze the tawara, he would have won. Sumo is sometimes a game of millimeters.
Tokihayate and Hiradoumi have both stumbled at times during this basho, but they still have quality wins at the moment. They both did well today.
That might be the last time we see the Flying Monkey land in the crowd in the top division. It’s a rare sight these days.
Shishi! Ya gotta keep playing until the bout is actually over! Good grief.
Takayasu was grumpy after his match because his ankle definitely is hurt from yesterday’s bout. I suspect he’ll gimp through the rest of the basho.
I’m waiting for the majority of the rikishi to realize that if you just slam forward into Onosato, then you’re going to lose. No one in the past couple of days has even tried to move him or themselves laterally. We’ll have to see if Fujinokawa can make that happen tomorrow. Quite a rueful smile on Takanosho’s face today, eh?
Today Yoshinofuji managed to get away without catching a single strike or slap from Paps. First win finally, and I‘m proud of him!
It hard to watch Kirishima beginning to crumble mentally. Hopefully Otowayama Oyakata will give advice how to keep composure for the last third of the basho – and even have some fun left on the dohyo? Really going into it on a second try for more than two years and then have it all floating away again must be awful.
The sunshine on Takanosho‘s face reacting to the loss was nice to see, quite contagious.
The powers of youth were shown today by contrasting Aonishiki rebounding after looking very sketchy after his bout yesterday versus Papayazu running on fumes today .. til the fumes ran out ..
KTZ knew he had a challenge today + looked like his solution was to back off the dohyo fast ..
Kiri looksl like one of my fav Ozeki .. but he cannot summon the consistency for a serious rope run ..
Prime time Onosato v Double espresso-okawa will be a blast .. Onosato will try to shrink the dohyo .. Fuki-k is like a slick welterweight .. lands a few punches + disappears .. He will try to make Onosato play whack a mole .. Onosato will want to squash the bug ..
Kotoeiho needs .. some lead in his bucket .. or to work on his lateral movement skills .. He can’t face up on this level of rikishi + not get pushed straight out over the bales ..
Any basho where Ura gets double digit wins is a treat .. my bet is he gets 10 ..