Day Two in Fukuoka.
Hitoshi is kyujo with a broken eye socket and bleeding in his eye, injuries suffered in his Day One bout against Tanji. He will likely join Shirokuma in Makushita in January. Brutal sport.
It will be a while before we have a yusho race to follow in Juryo but Tobizaru and Wakatakakage are making an early case for their return to the top division. Wakatakakage defeated Nabatame and Tobizaru took out Onokatsu. Shodai gave it his all against Kayo (that was sarcasm, he basically gave up) and Enho wrangled Tomokaze. Asahifuji got his first win, and so did Eisei, down in Jonidan. Unfortunately, Hikarumusashi couldn’t outmaneuver Ikazuchihayate in Sandanme.
I am gutted to see the comment from sumosquirrel that JME will shutter in the spring of 2027. Sorry I didn’t notice that first; must’ve been asleep at the wheel but I’ll see if I can find more details. Sumosquirrel pointed to Sling as an option. I don’t mean to rant but I hate cable with a passion and I see Sling as another iteration of cable. These silly packages charge for things which are free, over-the-air, and/or just lame as hell. I wasn’t just watching sumo on JME. I’d watch news, documentaries, Japanese dramas, etc. So, I am sad to see it coming to an end.
It looks like the base Sling package is ESPN, Disney, and some worthless freebies. Grit? I’ve got that free with my digital antenna and it’s only worth watching when A Fistful of Dollars happens to be on. You still have to put up with five minutes of ads for gold and reverse mortgages for every 10 minutes of actual programming. And I’m not going to subsidize the talking heads on Cable TV. We won’t get into the reasons I think they’re the worst thing to happen to Western Civilization since Autotune.
Say what you will about NHK, I actually really respect the quality of their news when compared to what we have in the States. They actually cover the world and don’t waste time with silly viral videos and irrelevant garbage or “human interest.” Anyway, I hope I’ll be able to find a new service and I’ll keep you all up-to-date on my search. /Rant
NHK videos are here. Today’s videos include interviews with our newly promoted tate-gyoji pair, Shonosuke and Inosuke.
Makuuchi Action
Arashifuji (2-0) defeated Daiseizan (0-2). Forward sumo defeated Backward sumo. Both men attacked each other with tsuppari. However, Arashifuji advanced behind his blasts while Daiseizan tried to pull and use side-to-side shifting to catch Arashifuji off guard. The storm was never caught off-guard. Oshidashi.
Kitanowaka (1-1) defeated Kyokukaiyu (1-1). Kyokukaiyu tried to duck under Kitanowaka’s blasts to get inside. Eventually, he could only wrap him up with a desperate kubinage. Then he tried Bill Murray’s love-making move from the movie Scrooged, wrapping his leg around Kitanowaka. Kyokukaiyu’s awkward position allowed Kitanowaka to get behind him and blast him off the dohyo and into the third row. Okuridashi.
Tamawashi (1-1) defeated Tokihayate (0-2). Good Old Tom O’Washi brawled with Tokihayate and battered the poor lad until he kicked him out the pub. With the win, Tamawashi moves ahead of Kisenosato into seventh place, three wins behind Kotoshogiku on the all-time makuuchi win list. Tsukidashi.
Dewanoryu (2-0) defeated Asasuiryu (1-1). Play silly games, win silly prizes. Asasuiryu tried to play with Dewanoryu before the tachiai as if he were Hoshoryu. Dewanoryu quickly wrapped him up and rushed him out. Yorikiri.
Ichiyamamoto (1-1) defeated Toshinofuji (0-2). Ichiyamamoto caught Toshinofuji when Toshinofuji tried to pull. Ichiyamamoto blasted forward with tsuppari and shoved him out. I must say, these opening bouts have been much more entertaining than yesterday’s. Oshidashi.
Asahakuryu (2-0) defeated Abi (1-1). Well, this wasn’t entertaining and was actually quite concerning. Abi may have rolled his right ankle as he braced against the tawara. He crumpled awkwardly under pressure from Asahakuryu, had difficulty getting up and limped his way back up the hanamichi. He’s now on kyujo watch. At this rank, he would be Barge Captain. Oshitaoshi.
Takanosho (2-0) defeated Shishi (0-2). Takanosho’s tsuppari attack was too powerful for Shishi but in all honesty Shishi’s footwork was terrible. He staggered all over the edge of the ring as if he’d been out late with Good Ole Tom. I don’t know how he didn’t break his ankles. Yorikiri.
Oho (1-1) defeated Asakoryu (1-1). Oho used his mass to stop Asakoryu’s initial charge. As Asakoryu pressed forward, Oho quickly slapped him down. Hatakikomi.
Roga (1-1) defeated Oshoma (1-1). Oshoma got a good left-hand overarm grip and tried to pull Roga over the edge. Roga was able to resist the uwatenage and forced action back to the center of the ring. Oshoma decided to pull and Roga took advantage, forcing him over the edge. Yorikiri.
Kinbozan (2-0) defeated Nishikifuji (0-2). Another half-assed pull attempt gone wrong. Nishikifuji tried to pull and shift but Kinbozan kept him well-centered and shoved him off the dohyo. Oshidashi.
Halftime
Kotoeiho (1-1) defeated Gonoyama (1-1). Kotoeiho got his left-hand inside and Gonoyama freaked out, rearing backward. That wasn’t wise as Kotoeiho shuffled with Gonoyama’s momentum and forced him out. Yorikiri.
Takerufuji (1-1) defeated Daieisho (1-1). Takerufuji didn’t get caught leaning too far forward today. He weathered Daieisho’s initial advance and pressed forward when Daieisho reverted to his “reverse” mode. Oshidashi.
Hakunofuji (1-1) defeated Hiradoumi (1-1). Hakunofuji stood up to Hiradoumi, drove him back and powered him out. Hiradoumi tried the pull-and-shift out of desperation but Hakunofuji rode him out. Yorikiri.
Sanyaku
Takayasu (1-1) defeated Fujinokawa (0-2). Takayasu got Fujinokawa’s right arm and did not let go until Fujinokawa was flying off the dohyo. Kimedashi.
Atamifuji (2-0) defeated Ura (0-2). Ura just stood up instead of charging forward. He tried to figure out a way to sneak inside on Atamifuji but Atamifuji drove Ura back to the edge. Ura planted his feet in the bales and wouldn’t go over. So Atamifuji backed across the ring and pulled Ura down. Gunbai Atamifuji. No mono-ii. Ura looked around hoping Atamifuji had stepped out and the judges would confer but they made the right call. Ura was down. Kotenage.
Aonishiki (1-1) defeated Yoshinofuji (1-1). It’s back! It’s been a while since we’ve seen this move from Aonishiki. He last did it here in Fukuoka last year against Kotozakura on his way to the yusho. Aonishiki got his left-hand grip and then chopped at Yoshinofuji’s forward left knee with his right hand while pulling with the left. Uchimuso.
Kirishima (2-0) defeated Fujiseiun (1-1). I wouldn’t allow an Ozeki to get both hands inside. Unfortunately for Fujiseiun, that’s exactly what he did. Kirishima wrapped him up and forced him out. Elementary. Yorikiri.
Kotozakura (1-1) defeated Churanoumi (0-2). Kotozakura shifted left as Churanoumi was pressing forward and that was all she wrote as Churanoumi’s momentum forced him to flop to the clay, with some help from Kotozakura’s slapdown. Hatakikomi.
Onosato (1-1) defeated Fujiryoga (1-1). STOP RUNNING AWAY! Oh, yay, he stopped. Now he’s pressing forward and easily forcing Fujiryoga out. The Yokozuna pressed forward, hooked his arms inside Fujiryoga’s arms and bodied him out. Yorikiri.
Hoshoryu (2-0) defeated Asanoyama (1-1). Not only do these guys have matching knee braces and foot wraps, they have matching orange budgies. Damn. Hoshoryu seized Asanoyama’s belt with his right hand inside, swung him around to the edge and then slammed him back on his butt. Yoritaoshi.
Wrap-up
No more yelling from me today. And I swear, no more griping about cable tv or autotune. I’ve got that out of my system, so thank you for indulging me. But I will fill you all in on whatever I find as an alternative over the course of the next few months.
As we turn to tomorrow’s bouts, we’ve got some real barnstormers. Onosato will fight Asanoyama in the musubi-no-ichiban and Hoshoryu will fight Fujiryoga. Both are first time match-ups, if you believe it.
As we turn to the Ozeki, Kirishima will fight Yoshinofuji, Aonishiki will fight Ura, and Kotozakura will take on Fujiseiun. To close out sanyaku pairings, Fujinokawa will fight Churanoumi and Atamifuji will battle Daieisho.
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Wakamotoharu x Kotosoho?
Oh, that’s funny. I remember it happening but I think I was still writing another summary and forgot to write that one. Probably one Wakamotoharu would want forgotten, anyway. From what I remember he was overwhelmed by Kotoshoho.
Ura vs Atamifuji: one of the worst tachiais pretty much ever. The gyoji blocked the view so I’m going to assume Atamifuji must have been inside that little extra space that juts out the side of the circular ring as no monoii.
Asanoyama vs Hoshoryu: I’m an Asanoyama guy all the way but he was beaten fair and square. Hoshoryu is looking good so far.
Yeah, Atamifuji being in was clear as day from their perspective. It was wishful thinking from a disoriented Ura. There was one replay that clearly showed Atamifuji was inside the edge of the dohyo and it wasn’t as close as we probably thought from the main camera’s vantage point.
It is a welcoming sight that Aonishiki use uchimuso successfully against no other than Yoshinofuji, who has been a tough opponent.
I hope he uses more of that during this basho.
Actually, there is a Sling option to just buy NHK premium for $10 a month (along with all their junk 600 “free TV” channels) instead of the big package.
https://www.sling.com/international/eastasian/japanese
Not having the other content that JME provides is going to be the biggest downside for me. (Not that I took enough advantage of it, of course.)
That would appear to clinch it, as a standalone. And it’s cheaper than JME at $10/mo.
Yeah, and it can be paid for on a month by month basis so if you just want to watch sumo you can subscribe for just January, March, May, July, September, and November.
I probably won’t mess with it until after JME goes dark simply because I am lazy. :)
Same. I also probably wouldn’t bother cancelling and restarting every other month. Thank you for this, though. I can’t believe I missed that JME was dying. The $10 price is more in line with what I would expect, too. Admittedly, JME was pricey but there are some crazy expensive options out there, like Fubo.
And you can record/DVR on sling which you couldn’t on JME. it’s definitely superior.
Not important to those of you who speak Japanese, but Sling doesn’t give you the English commentary, only Japanese.
Really?!?! Oh, that stinks. I know quite a lot of folks like the English commentary.
There isn’t an alternate/SAP audio option?
That is surprising.
Haha, I don’t even get upset seeing Onosato run anymore. I just figure that’s what he does. But yeah, someone should tell him he’s actually a big guy and can just go toe to toe with most of these guys. He is a yokozuna for a reason after all, and it’s not because he’s the best at retreating.
And yeah that Aonishiki move was just too slick. You barely see him doing anything he’s so low to the ground and next thing you see is his opponent spinning and landing on his back.
Kayo and Shodai looked like they’d rather have a drink together at Alice’s Restaurant than fighting it out on the clay. I wouldn’t be sad if TV coverage cut to their bar seats inbetween the other bouts. If they’d do it twice it could be a double fusen to share…
OK now, let’s get serious. Kirishima’s both introduction wins looked fine. He has completlely regained his speed optimum. I’d like to see more of this. And I bet we all would let an Ozeki get a double inside grip! Or maybe even allow Moriurara to come along with it :)
I would not like to see Abi joining all our other Ex Makuuchi in Juryo. I sure feel for him, he just had overcome bigger problems with long lasting injuries to get on the train again. Remember his broken vertebra and all. In Paris he was darling of the audience, it was funny and impressive.
Love the Alice’s Restaurant reference.
Think the rikishi with the best record against Onosato is going to be Onosato.
A rolled ankle is better than what I thought was Abi’s problem which was a busted knee. Here’s hoping it’s not too bad and/or he’ll take a day or two off at least.
Did you notice that Onosato jumped while backing up in the middle of the ring? It wouldn’t surprise me if he realized where he was and that’s why he bulldozed forward. Weirder things have happened, to be sure.
I’ve despised autotune since Cher’s Believe although I remember Army by Ben Folds 5 being one of the first times I heard a band I liked using it. But it’s nothing now compared to the scourge that is generative AI in music/art.