Aki Basho 2022

Nagoya 2024: Nakabi Highlights

Andy Aki Basho 2022

Takerufuji came back from kyujo and beat Onokatsu on one leg. Shishi now has sole possession of the lead. He will fight Fujiseiun, who is 6-2. I wonder how many days he will fight? Aside from his return, there are no further updates on kyujo, so let’s turn to Makuuchi.

Nakabi Makuuchi Action

Endo (4-4) defeated Asakoryu (Juryo 4-4): Strong, forward moving oshi-zumo from Endo. That’s rare to see these days. Oshidashi.

Roga (5-3) defeated Hokutofuji (3-5): Roga charged forward and locked in with his left-hand inside. Hokutofuji needs to work on his ottsuke. He was still fumbling around for a belt grip while Roga secured his quickly. Hokutofuji’s makikae shift, bringing his right arm inside of Roga, was far too late to help. Yorikiri

Bushozan (5-3) defeated Takarafuji (2-6): Bushozan pressed forward while Takarafuji was in full-on retreat mode. As Takarafuji turned back toward center, Bushozan pulled down on his arm forcing him to lose his balance and fall forward. It just seems like the Takarabune has been rigged improperly this basho, everything in reverse. Hikiotoshi

Churanoumi (6-2) defeated Nishikifuji (3-5): Churanoumi shoved Nishikifuji to the side in order to get a better line of attack and secure that left paw on Nishikifuji’s belt. Once secured, Churanoumi pressed forward and ushered Nishikifuji out. Powerful yotsu. Might we see Churanoumi further up the banzuke in the future? Or is this more evidence Nishikifuji is rightly in line for Juryo? Yorikiri

Ichiyamamoto (4-4) defeated Kagayaki (4-4): Ichiyamamoto put his head down and drove Kagayaki backward and out. Yorikiri? There was a lot of oshi shoving there but right at the end Ichiyamamoto had wrapped his arms inside Kagayaki’s own to bear hug him over the bales. So yes, yorikiri.

Chiyoshoma (3-0-5) defeated Nishikigi (0-8): Chiyoshoma bested Nishikigi in this belt battle with a nice throw in the middle of the ring. Nishikigi had tried to throw Chiyoshoma at the edge by rocking to his right. Chiyoshoma said “not so fast,” and rocked Nishikigi back the other way and down. Shitatenage

Shodai (6-2) defeated Wakatakakage (5-3): This whole bout was a wild tussle for the best belt grip. Each man would land a grip and the other would knock it off or slip away. Shodai slipped inside to get a brief morozashi, but Wakatakakage released and spun Shodai around. As he followed up to shove Shodai over, Shodai shifted to Wakatakakage’s right. Wakatakakage’s knee did not appear to want to move laterally, so he moved down to the ground. Tsukiotoshi

Midorifuji (5-3) defeated Ryuden (2-6): A long grapple. Ryuden could not get low enough to really get inside Midorifuji. He was far too high and when Midorifuji pressed forward, Ryuden lost his balance and slid. Midorifuji then pulled him down with his left hand. Shitatenage

Kinbozan (3-5) defeated Kotoshoho (5-3): Kotoshoho tried to over power Kinbozan and drive him out but Kinbozan pivoted at the bales, twisted, and brought down Kotoshoho. Nice throw. Uwatenage

Sadanoumi (3-5) defeated Tamawashi (4-4): Tamawashi gave Sadanoumi the full-frontal treatment. He plowed in high with a hand to the face, forcing Sadanoumi to the bales. But Sadanoumi arched his back and rotated, bringing Tamawashi down. How the tables do turn with startling regularity in this sport. Ain’t it great?! Tsukiotoshi

Halftime

Oho (5-3) defeated Oshoma (4-4): Oho moved forward. Good things happened. Pretty simple this win. Yorikiri

Takanosho (5-3) defeated Mitakeumi (3-5): Takanosho, head down, slammed into Mitakeumi and drove him backwards. Mitakeumi shifted direction but Takanosho redoubled his efforts and plowed through the dohyo. Yorikiri

Atamifuji (3-5) defeated Wakamotoharu (4-4): Atamifuji locked in with the left hand and used the right to bat Wakamotoharu’s hand away. He pressed forward with all of his weight and might and forced Wakamotoharu from the dohyo. Yorikiri

Sanyaku

Hiradoumi (5-3) defeated Meisei (2-6): A good brawl here from Hiradoumi as he battered Meisei. Once he got inside and secured a belt grip, he easily walked Meisei out. Hiradoumi’s tachiai and brawler mode make me think of Yoshikaze. Yorikiri

Abi (4-4) defeated Gonoyama (2-6): Abi is finding new ways to win. He used his reach and a slight lateral movement to quickly lock on to Gonoyama with his left hand. Then the attack started by rotating backwards, yanking powerfully on with the left while using the right hand to shove Gonoyama down. Uwatenage.

Onosato (5-3) defeated Tobizaru (4-4): Henka. Tobizaru shifted left at the tachiai and kicked out. Onosato pursued well, kept Tobizaru in his sights and cast him off the fighting surface. Oshidashi

Kotozakura (6-2) defeated Ura (3-5): Ura may have been gassed from yesterday’s battle with the Yokozuna. He tried to shift but Kotozakura stayed with him. As Ura reversed, Kotozakura helped him find the exit by bowling him through the gap between the time-keeper and waiting gyoji. Tsukidashi

Takakeisho (3-5) defeated Kirishima (4-4): The least battered of the two was Takakeisho. Kirishima tried to execute a pull down at the tachiai but it did not work. Takakeisho rolled forward and Kirishima is likely not long for the sanyaku ranks. Oshidashi

Hoshoryu (5-3) defeated Daieisho (5-3): Hoshoryu exploited Daieisho’s weakness with such efficiency and effectiveness. Daieisho is known for being powerful but for falling forward. So two seconds into their bout, Hoshoryu planted his left hand behind Daieisho’s head and pulled down. As Daieisho tried to plow forward, Hoshoryu moved laterally and used his right hand on Daieisho’s right shoulder to drive him into the tawara. Three seconds from launch to landing. Hatakikomi

Terunofuji (8-0) defeated Shonannoumi (5-3): Terunofuji locked up Shonannoumi quickly at the tachiai. Shonannoumi rotated around the ring, gears stuck in reverse. But Terunofuji stayed with him, mostly pressing ahead with his right leg. I wonder if Shonannoumi could have flipped this by rotating the opposite direction? Oshidashi

Wrap-up

Terunofuji secured his kachi-koshi with ease. Great news as the bulk of his sanyaku-packed schedule is ahead of him. This will be a tough week. Takakeisho and Kirishima are probably the only easy wins this week. Abi and Hokutofuji are finding a certain amount of success this tournament by getting outside of their usual box and evolving their styles. This Abi might even pose a challenge for Terunofuji down the stretch. But the Yokozuna will face Daieisho tomorrow to culminate a day of great matchups as things heat up.

Mitakeumi will fight Takakeisho, Kotozakura will face Hiradoumi and Tobizaru fights Hoshoryu. Kirishima will fight Meisei. And Abi will take on Ura. Onosato will get the sanyaku fights started, though, against Gonoyama. Onosato has been able to quietly turn things around and is suddenly in a position where he might still manage double digits. It will be difficult but he has proven to be up to the challenge before.

New Juryo for Nagoya

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After the banzuke meeting, held earlier today, the Juryo promotions were announced. As expected, there are three. Two are making their sekitori debuts: Kayo (Ms1w, 5-2) from Nishonoseki-beya, and Nabatame (Ms2w, 5-2) from Futagoyama-beya. Returning to Juryo after an injury-related demotion is the third-division champion, Fujiseiun (Ms11e, 7-0) from Fujishima-beya. With limited openings in Juryo, four rikishi who had winning records in the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone missed out, led by Ms3e Kiryuko (5-2), whose rank and record would normally guarantee promotion.

While the corresponding demotions are not announced, we can infer that they are J13w Chiyomaru (4-11), J13e Oshoumi (5-10), and J14w Kazekeno (7-8). Fan favorite Chiyomaru was a sekitori for over a decade before falling to Makushita in March and mounting an immediate comeback that sadly lasted only one basho. Oshoumi’s first stint in Juryo ends after 3 basho, while Kazekeno’s sekitori debut after his Makushita yusho in March was even more short-lived.

Looking Ahead to the Nagoya Banzuke

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Congratulations to Onosato for what we hope is the first of many yusho! Now that the bouts are over and all the hardware has been handed out, let’s take our customary preliminary look at how the results are likely to reshuffle the rankings.

The Named Ranks

Terunofuji will remain the sole Yokozuna; Tachiai wishes him as complete a recovery as possible, with the hope that he can fully participate in the Nagoya basho. The result of the final Natsu bout means that O1e Hoshoryu (10-5) will switch positions with O1w Kotozakura (11-4). O2e Takakeisho (0-2-13) will be kadoban, requiring 8 wins in July to save his rank. And O2w Kirishima (1-6-8) suffered his second losing record in a row, which means that he’ll fall to Sekiwake, with one shot to regain the Ozeki rank with double-digit wins in Nagoya. S1w Abi (10-5) successfully defended his rank with his best san’yaku performance to date, and we’ll have 3 Sekiwake for the first time since November by virtue of our champion forcing a promotion from Komusubi with his 12 wins. That means that two Komusubi slots are open; M1w Daieisho (11-4) is a lock for one, while the second is a close call between M2e Hiradoumi (9-6) and M5w Meisei (10-5). Rank-record combination and schedule strength favor Hiradoumi, so he should make his san’yaku debut, unless Meisei’s prior san’yaku experience wins out. Whichever of them isn’t Komusubi is a lock for the top maegashira slot.

What of Ozeki runs, you ask? Officially, the NSK said that Onosato’s run just started, as his 11 wins at M5w in March came at too low a rank to count. Unofficially, they’d probably have to promote him in July with either a yusho or 13+ wins, though anything less would likely mean waiting for September. Abi posted double-digits in san’yaku, so he’s on a run as well (his 9 wins at Komusubi last time mean that mathematically, he could reach the 33 over 3 threshold with 14 wins in Nagoya). And Daieisho’s 11 wins from M1w, while they aren’t officially a start of anything, could serve as a foundation given sufficiently strong performances in July and September. And before anyone asks, no, Kotozakura’s 11-4 jun-yusho is not the start of a tsuna run!

Filling out the Joi

So, M1e is taken care of, and its current occupant, Atamifuji (7-8), who came thisclose to a san’yaku debut, can slide over to M1w. What do we do from there? The next winning record belongs to [checks notes] M7w Mitakeumi (8-7). I expect him to get a very generous promotion. There’s also demoted Sekiwake Wakamotoharu (4-8-3), whose fall could be very gentle indeed. Likewise, the rikishi with losing records between the ranks of M2 and M5 may find themselves treated very leniently.

Division Exchanges

There are 5 rikishi in Juryo who posted records that warrant promotion: the yusho winner and former Sekiwake J6w Wakatakakage (14-1), J3e Endo (12-3), who’ll be making an immediate return after only his 3rd career basho in the second division, J3w Chiyoshoma, who returns after a 4-basho Juryo stint, J5e Kagayaki (11-4), who likewise was last in Makuuchi in September, and J2e Bushozan (9-6), who’s recently been a classic elevator rikishi (too good for Juryo, not good enough for Makuuchi).

Conveniently, 5 top-division incumbents warrant a trip to Juryo. Sadly, one of them is the March champion M6e Takerufuji, whose ankle injury did not heal in time for May. The others are M17e Tsurugisho (3-12), M16e Tomokaze (2-13), M13e Mitoryu (2-9-4) and newcomer M15e Tokihayate (6-9), who lost a de facto demotion playoff to M15w Roga (7-8) on the final day. Two rikishi are on the bubble, but I don’t think they’ll exchange M12w Nishikifuji (5-10) and runner-up J12e Onokatsu (13-2), though one more loss on the part of the former or one more win on the part of the latter might have done it.

Finally, we come to the Makushita-Juryo exchanges, and here things did not work out so neatly. Two rikishi were slated for demotion before the final day: J13w Chiyomaru (4-11) and J13e Oshoumi (5-10). Their places were spoken for by Ms1w Kayo (5-2), who’ll be making his sekitori debut in Nagoya, and yusho winner Ms11e Fujiseiun (7-0), returning to Juryo after an injury-related drop. Two additional incumbents were on the bubble going into Day 15, and they were paired with two promotion hopefuls in direct exchange bouts. Ms2w Nabatame (5-2) earned his Juryo debut by prevailing over just-promoted J14w Kazekeno (7-8), who will have to fight his way back up from Makushita. Ms1e Akua, who entered the day at 3-3, false-started 3 times against J8w Hakuoho (5-6-4), making contact each time and once delivering a slap and driving the Juryo man off the dohyo. After these shenanigans, I was very happy to see Hakuoho counter Akua’s latest kakenage attempt by driving him into the ground with a sukuinage, thereby reaching safety and keeping Akua in the third division.

With no additional openings, four rikishi who had winning records in the Ms1-Ms5 promotion zone will miss out. The hardest-done-by is Ms3e Kiryuko (5-2), whose rank and record would normally guarantee promotion. The Juryo promotions should be confirmed on Wednesday. The rest of the rankings will be out on July 1, and I’ll try to put up a Crystal Ball post before then. In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments!

Makushita Races Snap Into Focus

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Day 11 action featured the semifinals among 5-0 rikishi and several key bouts in the promotion zone.

In the first semifinal between two former amateur stars, Ms60TD Kusano ran his record to 6-0 by handing young Ukrainian Ms40e Aonishiki only his second professional loss in four basho. I believe that Kusano would have been eligible to start at Ms15TD under the previous rules, with a shot at immediate promotion to Juryo with a 7-0. As it is, he’ll probably be ranked just outside the promotion zone in Nagoya even if he wins his final bout.

In the second semifinal, the pre-bout shenanigans lasted a lot longer than the fight itself. Ms32 Kazenoumi false-started a whopping four times, drawing rebukes from the shimpan. Once they finally got the timing right, Ms11e Fujiseiun met the charge and then immediately slapped down Kazenoumi. Fujiseiun is ranked high enough to earn a promotion by defeating Kusano for the yusho. He started in Ozumo 3 years ago, went 21-0 in his first three basho, and got as high as Juryo 6 before sitting out three tournaments with an injury.

In the promotion zone, Ms1w Kayo (5-1) is set to finally make a sekitori debut. Like Fujiseiun, top-ranked Ms1e Akua (3-3) must win his final bout to earn promotion. The pecking order for the rest of the contenders is as follows: Ms2w Nabatame (4-2), Ms3e Kiryuko (4-2), Ms3w Daiseizan (3-3), Ms4e Kitaharima (3-3), Ms4w Kotokuzan (3-3). Nabatame and Kiryuko can still finish as high as second or as low as fifth in the promotion queue, while members of the 3-3 trio can do no better than fourth. I expect to see a number of cross-division potential exchange bouts over the closing days, starting with Kotokuzan vs. J13w Chiyomaru (3-8) tomorrow.

In terms of openings in Juryo, J13e Oshoumi (2-9) is slated for demotion, Chiyomaru is one loss away from joining him, J8w Hakuoho (3-5-3) will go down unless he can reenter and pick up a win or two, and J14w Kazekeno (5-6) and J12w Tsushimanada (4-7) need more wins than losses the rest of the way to keep their salaries. I’d put the over-under at four promotion slots.