The semifinals were held today. The undercard bout barely lasted a second. Fukai came in way too low at the tachiai, and Nobehara was happy to escort him the rest of the way down to the dohyo. In the headline bout, Enho withstood Tochimaru’s initial tsuppari barrage, used his lateral movement well, worked his way inside, and kept his feet as he drove his opponent off the dohyo and out of the yusho race. So it’ll be Ms11e Enho vs. Ms54e Nobehara for all the marbles on day 13. Enho, of course, is a longtime fan favorite who is trying to work his way back up to the sekitori ranks for the first time in almost two years following a neck injury that many thought was career-ending. One more win will send him to Juryo and give him 30 sekitori basho, which is a requirement for becoming an oyakata. His 23-year-old opponent entered ozumo in 2021, reaching a career-high rank of Ms13. Nobehara won their one prior meeting last May by hatakikomi.

Here are the updated standings in the promotion zone.

Tochimusashi paid a visit to Juryo only to be forcefully ejected from the promotion race by Kazuma. The promotion queue is roughly as follows: Enho with a win, Toshinofuji, Fukuzaki, Shimazuumi, Himukamaru, Takakento, Inami. The only relevant action tomorrow is Himukamaru’s visit to Juryo to fight J14e Hakuyozan, who at 5-6 is in danger of demotion. So come back on day 13, when we crown the champion, to see how the division exchange picture is shaping up.

I covered the round of sixteen yesterday; the quarterfinals were held today. Here was the bracket:

Everyone on the East side won. Enho was in control in his bout with Gonoumi, patiently working to acquire a belt grip and then immediately finishing off his opponent with a nifty underarm throw. His heya-mate Toshinofuji held off Tochimaru’s initial tsuppari attack, but fell for the first hand pulldown attempt. So we’ll have a straightforward 4-man elimination race to the yusho, with Nobehara vs. Fukai on the undercard and Enho vs. Tochimaru in the headline bout. They split their two prior meetings, which took place in Juryo back in 2022.

Here are the updated standings in the promotion zone. As usual, all the relevant round 6 action is being saved for Day 11, so come back then to see where things stand.

Since our first post covering the third division, the 4th round of bouts has been completed. Here’s how it played out:

In notable bouts, promising newcomer Ms60TD Wakanofuji was upset by Tsurubayashi, who has never risen above Makushita in 100 career basho. Tochimaru used a big ole henka to get past an overeager Matsui Arashifuji, while Seihakuho Toshinofuji took a big step toward Juryo by getting the better of Mineyaiba on the belt. And Enho displayed excellent footwork in keeping Haruyama moving around the dohyo until the latter couldn’t keep up and tumbled to the dirt. So here’s what’s in store on Day 9:

The two highest-ranked 4-0 men, Isegahama heya-mates Toshinofuji and Enho, can’t face each other, so they will instead face the next two undefeated rikishi. Former sekitori Tochimaru has already eliminated Kaki and Arashifuji from the race; let’s see if Toshinofuji can figure out an answer to his unique style. Tochimaru will do his best to keep his opponent off his belt with his rapid-fire tsuppari and finish him off with a pull-push attack; if Toshinofuji can survive that and get on the belt, the bout should go his way. Enho defeated Gonoumi by yoritaoshi in their one previous meeting in November. I don’t have much to say about the two undercard bouts.

Toshinofuji leads the promotion race, though he could use another win to pretty much guarantee a Juryo debut. Enho, of course, must finish 7-0 to make his long-awaited sekitori return. I would love nothing more than for the two to go undefeated and face off in a title playoff. In the rest of the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone, no one is exactly beating down the door:

As a very rough rule of thumb, a 4-3 record usually suffices at Ms1-Ms2, a 5-2 is needed at Ms3-Ms4, and a 6-1 at Ms5, though of course this depends on banzuke luck and the demotion picture in Juryo. In any case, everyone except Toshinofuji has either been eliminated from contention already or needs at least two more wins to stake a claim.

Welcome to Tachiai’s coverage of third-division yusho and promotion races. Three rounds of bouts have been completed, and 15 rikishi made it through unscathed. Here’s the yusho bracket:

Normally, the undefeated men would be paired up in rank order on days 7 and 8. However, the top trio hails from Isegahama beya: Toshinofuji (Seihakuho), Arashifuji (Matsui), and Enho. So they will instead face the next three undefeated rikishi. Arashifuji and Enho are the only rikishi in the extended promotion zone (Ms6-Ms15) who can earn automatic Juryo promotion by going 7-0; a sekitori return has been Enho’s long-standing goal for his comeback. Toshinofuji’s opponent, Mineyaiba, is a near-sekitori-caliber rikishi on his own comeback from injury. Arashifuji gets former sekitori Tochimaru, whose unique style is characterized by rapid-fire tsuppari. Enho will fight Haruyama, a 25-year-old prospect whose progress has been stalled in Makushita for the past couple of years.

I think that covers most of the notable names. Our latest impressive Ms60 tsukedashi debutant, Wakanofuji, will round out the round of sixteen by facing Sd11e Tsurubayashi. Come back on Sunday for the next update on the yusho race.