Please see this post for an intro to my third-division coverage. The Sweet Sixteen has been filled out by Oshoryu, Daishomaru, and Seihakuho. The full bracket is below. And all the bouts will take place on Day 7, so come back tomorrow to see who makes the Elite Eight. Still in the running for the yusho are former sekitori Akua, Enho, Kawazoe and Daishomaru, as well as prospects Seihakuho, Tokitenran, Goshima and Fukuzaki. Akua, Dewanoryu, and Kamayutaka are all ranked in the extended promotion zone (Ms6-Ms15), and so at stake for them is the near-automatic Juryo promotion that goes to a 7-0 rikishi from this part of the banzuke.

The sixteen 3-0 rikishi hail from 11 different heya. We have two from Tokitsukaze: Kamayutaka and Tokitenran, who would not be on course to meet unless both go 6-0. Isegehama and Fujishima each have three representatives. For the former, Enho would not create a scheduling conflict until he is 6-0, but Kawazoe and Seihakuho would need to be moved around if both win tomorrow. The same goes for the impressive Ms60TD debutants Goshima and Fukuzaki, who both hail from Fujishima, as does Tendozan on the other side of the bracket. We could have two Isegahama vs. Fujishima bouts in the right half of the bracket! The existence of a number of potential same-heya conflicts also raises the odds of a playoff. Stay tuned for continued coverage as the exciting third-division yusho race unfolds!

Please see yesterday’s post for an intro to this series. Just a brief Day 5 update: 13 of the spots in the Sweet 16 have been filled; the other 3 will be decided in Day 6 bouts. One slight error in yesterday’s bracket, caused by an erroneous entry in sumodb: Matsui will fight Oshoryu tomorrow, not Toseiryu, who lost to Oshoryu on Day 4. The other remaining round 3 bouts are Yoshii vs. Daishomaru and Seihakuho vs. Mikazuchiyama.

Both Ms60 tsukedashi debutants, Goshima and Fukuzaki, won in impressive fashion; as a reminder, both hail from Fujishima beya and cannot meet except in a playoff. One of them (not sure how they’ll decide which, though Fukuzaki seems to be listed after Goshima on the banzuke) will fight Sd7w Kotonofuji, who will fill out the bracket.

In the 3-0 group, we still have former sekitori Akua, Enho, and Kawazoe. Among the prospects, Ikazuchido fought valiantly but lost an exciting bout against Tokitenran. Come back tomorrow for the Sweet 16 bracket!

Welcome to the Makushita yusho race! The format will be familiar to fans of USA college basketball or other sports with single-elimination tournaments. At the start of the basho, the 120 or so third-division rikishi are paired up in rank order. The winners continue on in the yusho bracket. Each round unfolds over two days, with the 7-0 champion usually crowned on Day 13. Disallowed pairings of rikishi from the same heya and other complications can occasionally lead to a playoff, potentially letting one-loss rikishi back into the race. A 6-1 wrestler took the yusho 14 times in the 149 basho since the start of 2000. All 14 were playoffs, with 6 to 9 rikishi taking part. Four additional playoffs during this period paired 7-0 wrestlers.

After 4 days of action, two rounds have been completed, and we have 30 undefeated rikishi. They will be paired up in rank order for round 3, with most bouts already scheduled for Day 5 and a few projected to take place on Day 6. The bracket is below. The only slight departure from rank order so far is all the way at the bottom, where the two Ms60 tsukedashi debutants, Goshima and Fukuzaki, both hail from Fujishima beya and had to be split up. Since we’ll have only fifteen 3-0 rikishi moving on to round 4, the bracket will be filled out by the highest-ranked undefeated Sandanme wrestler.

In addition to the two aforementioned Ms60TD, there are quite a few notable names in the 2-0 group. We have former sekitori Tochimaru, Akua, Tochimusashi, Enho, Kawazoe, and Daishomaru, as well as interesting prospects such as Ikazuchido, Nagamura, Satorufuji, Seihakuho, Matsui, and Tokitenran. I’ll be back with a report on who makes in to the Sweet 16 in a couple of days! In the meantime, please comment so I know someone reads these 😅

I took a preliminary look at the Haru banzuke right after the Hatsu basho concluded. Now, here’s the full guess. Scroll down for some quick notes about the biggest question marks. The banzuke will be released on Tuesday February 25 (Japan time), a day later than usual, because Sunday the 23rd is the Emperor’s birthday. In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments.

• I went with Kirishima over Oho at S1w due to the former’s higher rank and prior sanyaku experience.
• I picked K1e Abi (7-8) over M3e Gonoyama (8-7) for K1w.
• I ordered the rikishi most likely to occupy M4w-M5w broken as follows: M4w Ura (7-8), who was in the joi, then M14w Kinbozan (12-3) ahead of M6w Ichiyamamoto (8-7) due to more wins. There’s a chance that M5e Hiradoumi (7-8) will get pushed ahead of one or both of them.
• I pushed M4e Shodai (6-9) and M2w Atamifuji (5-10) ahead of M11w Takerufuji (10-5) and M10e Tamawashi (9-6) because they were in the joi.
• I put 15e Hakuoho (10-5) ahead of 7e Endo (6-9) at M9 by virtue of more wins.
• I put M10w Meisei (6-9) ahead of M8w Takarafuji (5-10) by virtue of more wins.
• I put M17e Nishikifuji (9-6) ahead of all the Juryo promotions by virtue of his being in Makuuchi and having a better than minimal winning record.
• I put Churanoumi ahead of Sadanoumi by virtue of incumbent preference.
• I put Asakoryu ahead of the 3 Makuuchi incumbents who earned demotable records but are staying due to a lack of additional replacement candidates in Juryo.
• I put M13w Kotoshoho (5-10) ahead of M7w Mitakeumi (2-3) by virtue of more wins.
• I put Shirokuma, who didn’t quite have a promotion case, in the last position (the newly reestablished M18e) but opted to promote him over keeping Tamashoho.