Ah, the middle weekend of a basho. I have such fond memories of the privilege of being able to visit Japan and watch sumo in person. I hope the world evolves to allow such wonders to take place once more. I have never been fortunate enough to attend the Haru basho in Osaka, but maybe some day.

The action today featured a lot of short, quick, decisive matches. There was some brilliant sumo on display, and I continue to marvel at just how sharp the joi-jin is this tournament. I think we are in for some great sumo in the coming years as these guys battle their way to the top.

Early Saturday, in Japan, it was announced that Chiyonokuni had withdrawn from Haru. He seems to have re-injured that left shoulder in the prior days. A give away would have been the heavy taping across his back and left arm on day 6. We hope he recovers soon. As a result Terutsuyoshi picks up a most welcome freebie win, boosting him to 4-3.

In tonight’s day 8 preview, we will begin our coverage of the yusho race. While Takayasu is 1 win ahead of everyone, the pack behind him with one loss is rowdy, genki, and likely to be competitive. With Terunofuji out healing up his undercarriage, it’s anyone’s guess who will hoist the hardware a week from tomorrow.

Highlight Matches

Ichiyamamoto defeats Akua – That was more like Ichiyamamoto’s normal sumo, and it payed off with a win over Akua, who really can’t seem to get it together right now. Double arm thrusts against Akua’s head and shoulders is the recipe for today, sending Akua into the front row to visit (I think) Dr Takasu. Ichiyamamoto improves to 2-5.

Kotoshoho defeats Kagayaki – Only the second match of the day, and I am already loving it. Kotoshoho goes right hand inside at the tachiai, and Kagayaki’s arm lock is not enough to prevent Kotoshoho from going to work. As has happened too many times lately, Kagayaki is too high, and Kotoshoho has little problem dropping his hips and advancing. Both end the day 4-3.

Chiyomaru defeats Tochinoshin – Tochinoshin had Chiyomaru stalemated at the center of the dohyo, but a grip shift gave Chiyomaru a left hand outside mawashi grip, and it was time to take Tochinoshin out. Probably some of the better sumo from Chiyomaru this March, he improves to 3-4.

Chiyotairyu defeats Yutakayama – It must be “back to your roots” kind of day, because we also got Chiyotairyu’s “thunder god” tachiai today. Blasted Yutakayama clear out of whatever sumo he was going to try first, and three steps later he is out of the ring. Chiyotairyu improves to 3-4, and I am grinning.

Kotokuzan defeats Kotoeko – Kotokuzan read Kotoeko’s opening move perfectly. Kotoeko was working hard for any kind of frontal hold, and Kotokuzan slapped him down. While I would have rather seen them brawl it out, Kotokuzan really needed this win. Both end the day 4-3.

Nishikigi defeats Aoiyama – Solid tachiai from both, but for an unknown reason Aoiyama decided to immedately try to pull. Of course Nishikigi has that response wired into his DNA, advancing from underneath to motor Big Day out of the ring in 3 easy steps. Nishikigi improves to 5-2.

Tobizaru defeats Myogiryu – Not sure I would call that an henka, but Tobizaru moved back and to his left rather than forward at the tachiai, Myogiryu turned to pursue. Tobizaru quickly set up a right hand inside and pulled Myogiryu to the clay. Tobizaru’s 4th win, now at 4-3.

Wakamotoharu defeats Chiyoshoma – Chiyoshoma had his hands outside at the tachiai, I think to block Wakamotoharu’s initial grab. Chiyoshoma set up a right hand outside, but did not have a solid hold. After consolidating his grip, Wakamotoharu dropped his hips and moved forward to set Chiyomaru outside the ring. Wakamotoharu now 5-2, with some solid no-frills yotsu-zumo.

Shimanoumi defeats Okinoumi – We got to see a strong attack by Okinoumi today, but Shimanoumi picked an inopportune moment to slip to his right, sending Okinoumi forward to receive the hikiotoshi, and step out. Shimanoumi now 3-4, and Okinoumi at 1-5, having one of his “bad” basho.

Kotonowaka defeats Sadanoumi – The Kotonowaka train keeps rolling down the tracks, taking out Sadanoumi today. Sadanoumi blows his opening combo at the tachiai, and Kotonowaka immediately circles behind him, driving him out from the rear for an okuridashi win. Kotonowaka improves to 6-1.

Takayasu defeats Hokutofuji – Hokutofuji’s opening attack was to try for hazu-oshi (armpit attack) to raise Takayasu up, instead he fell a bit short and left hims chest open. Takayasu’s hands found center mass, and Hokutofuji reacted with a pull down attempt. Poor choice, and he found Takayasu deliver a series of relentless thrusting combos to his chest. Under blistering pressure, Hokutofuji stepped out of the ring, giving Takayasu his 7th straight win to improve to 7-0. Not sure where this is going for Takayasu, but he has not looked this good in quite some time.

Endo defeats Takarafuji – At this point I don’t need to see a medical report to know that Takarafuji is likely injured. His sumo still has the forms of normal, but he’s got no power, especially trying to set up his traditional defensive stance. He put up a solid fight today against Endo, with Endo getting advantage on his 3rd attack combo, grabbing Takarafuji and throwing him down to advance to 5-2.

Kiribayama defeats Ichinojo – I liked that Kiribayama used his superior mobility against Ichinojo, who did indeed seem to be ready to use his enormity as his primary weapon today. With Kiribayama latched on to his mawashi, Ichinojo decided to wear him down. Kiribayama wises up to this, breaks contact and attempts to thrust against Ichinojo’s chest. No, too huge to move. Kiribayama is relentless, and gets a left and behind, on Ichinojo’s mawashi knot, and pushes him out from the rear. Nice endurance match, and kind of impressed that Kiribayama could out last Ichinojo. He improves to 5-2.

Hoshoryu defeats Takanosho – There was plenty to love about this Komusubi fight. I liked that Takanosho’s opening strategy was to passivate Hoshoryu, and slow down his sumo. Takanosho, deciding he was ready to attack, lifted and moved forward. Hoshoryu was ready and countered with a throw into Takanosho’s advance. Hoshoryu made it stick, and picked up his 4th win to finish the day 4-3. Takanosho continues to fight well, but has a dismal 1-6.

Abi defeats Ura – Crazy ass match, I think that probably should have been a matta. Instead you get Abi launching early, Ura responding with a reverse tachiai, and then its two of sumo’s biggest chaos merchants turning their reality disfunction generators up to “what was that?” territory. I am not even sure of everything that happened in that 10 seconds as it was some kind of amalgam of Abi-zumo, Hokutofuji, Ura v1.2 Ura v2.1, and maybe even a little Hattorizakura around the edges. With Ura driving forward, Abi shows incredible agility and slams him to the clay just as both cross the bales. As reality snaps back into place there is a monoii, instant replay, a special session of the Diet and maybe a meeting of the UN Security Council to sort this out. The wisest of the world do conclude that Abi won this one, and he advances to 5-2.

Wakatakakage defeats Daieisho – Oh Lordy Lord! Daieisho opens with his power thrusting, but he gets a bit too far ahead of his toes and Wakatakakage captures him with a left hand frontal / right hand rear grip. If you are thinking back to Murray saying “That left hand is a bit of a worry”, YOU ARE NOT WRONG. Wakatakakage lifts Daieisho by the crotch and hurls him to the deck. A glorious okuritsuriotoshi, or as I might call it, kintamadashinage. Wakatakakage improves to 6-1, Daieisho makes an appointment to see a urologist.

Mitakeumi defeats Onosho – High marks for Onosho’s opening salvo, nicely done. He got Mitakeumi to step back, and that’s when trouble began. Onosho re-engaged without taking a step forward. Mitakeumi read this perfectly, and slapped him down with force. Quick and effective, Mitakeumi stays one behind Takayasu at 6-1.

Takakeisho defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi had a good start, but immediately tried to pull against Takakeisho. His timing was terrible and pulled directly into the upward / forward cycle of Takakeisho’s wave action, and caught full power in his chest. Three steps forward for Takakeisho, and he had Tamawashi out. 5-2 for Takakeisho, 3 more wins to clear kadoban.

Shodai defeats Meisei – Maybe the saddest match of day 7, these two 1-5 rikishi, having terrible basho, face off to see who can squeeze out a measly second win. It turned into a wild see-saw match, mostly because Shodai could not stick any kind of foot placement, and was constantly off balance and dancing around. He managed to get an arm wrapped around Meisei as Meisei lost footing, and completed the motion for a sukuinage. Shodai improves to 2-5.

For those who may have missed it earlier, Yokozuna Terunofuji has withdrawn from competition, citing knee and foot problems. This explains his inability to maintain his defensive stance, and why he suddenly became fairly easy to move around the dohyo. We dearly hope that he can recover and return strong for May.

It my humble opinion as a sumo blogger, the Haru banzuke may be the sharpest joi-jin we have seen in some time. I think its a natural process following the sunset run of an overwhelmingly dominant, generation defining rikishi like Hakuho, that a short time later we would see strong young rikishi dramatically improve their sumo. For a few years, Team Tachiai have been on a theme that the competition plane was very flat, and that anyone could yusho in a given month. But I look at Abi, Wakatakakage, Hoshoryu, Kiribayama, and even Kotonowaka, I see strong competition for the next few years, and it’s glorious.

I find myself wondering, will any of them be called upon to put dirt on undefeated front runner Takayasu? As a former Ozeki, Takayasu’s sumo is technically capable of shutting down any of them. I hope the schedulers give us a weekend treat with a match between the early favorite, and one of these rising stars.

Highlight Matches

Tsurugisho defeats Kagayaki – Kagayaki had a deep grip at the tachiai, but there is just too much Tsurugisho to push back when Tsurugisho is healthy and wants to move forward. Tsurugisho improves to 3-3.

Kotoshoho defeats Ichiyamamoto – Kotoshoho had his hands inside, and dialed up the forward pressure. Ichiyamamoto tried something at the tawara, but had already stepped out, then fell down as well. Ok… Kotoshoho improves to 3-3.

Nishikigi defeats Yutakayama – Yutakayama put a lot of his hopes on that right hand nodowa at the tachiai, which he could only maintain for a moment. Nishikigi went center-mass, found good hand placement, and moved Yutakayama first back, and then out. Nishikigi advances to 4-2.

Kotokuzan defeats Chiyonokuni – Chiyonokuni has a nice opening volley, and then Kotokuzan just explodes with tsuppari. I have not seen him do that for most of this tournament, and Chiyonokuni can’t keep his feet under the torrent of blows raining down on him. Kotokuzan pick up win number 3 to finish 3-3.

Kotoeko defeats Akua – Akua resorted to pulling early, I am going to guess because he knows Kotoeko has his number. All that happened was Akua helped speed up the result with that move, as Kotoeko rapidly drives him back, then across the bales to advance to 4-2.

Tochinoshin defeats Chiyotairyu – I was surprised to see Chiyotairyu reach for Tochinoshin’s belt and take the match chest to chest. I think that Tochinoshin’s strike and smash combat sumo must be rather painful, as it does not take too much of it before opponents are looking for some way to make it stop. Chiyotairyu succeeds in his gambit, and the two lock up chest to chest for some time. After consolidating his grip, we get to see Tochinoshin use what he has left of the sky-crane to lift Chiyotairyu over the bales, improving to 4-2, which to me is a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Chiyomaru defeats Myogiryu – News flash, Osaka – Chiyomaru has won 2 in a row, he must of secured a steady supply of the correct kind of yakitori. As we have seen before, going chest to chest with Chiyomaru may seem like an accomplishment on the road to victory, but you quickly realize you are now attached to Chiyomaru, which comes with it’s own set of problems. So Chiyomaru seems comfortable wearing down Myogiryu standing in the middle of the ring, until Myogiryu and Chiyomaru drives him down to advance to 2-4.

Terutsuyoshi defeats Aoiyama – Terutsuyoshi continues his dominance over Aoiyama. Aoiyama starts with strong V-Twin rope-a-dope on Terutsuyoshi’s head, juggling it like a koosh-ball. As Aoiyama is busy discombobulating Terutsuyoshi, Terutsuyoshi gets his right hand inside, and finds Aoiyama’s belt. The match changes tone and tempo as Aoiyama puts everything into stopping multiple and repeated attempts by Terutsuyoshi to rotate and throw. He eventually gets far enough under Aoiyama to raise him up and turn, and Aoiyama hits the clay. Both men finish 3-3.

Sadanoumi defeats Tobizaru – As expected, a wild flailing match that showcased both Sadanoumi’s speed, but Tobizaru’s agility as well. It looked to end with a glorious mutual throw, but a monoii ensued. Truth be told, Tobizaru had touched down about half way through the match, but kept fighting on. That cheeky monkey! Win goes to Sadanoumi, who picks up a much needed second white star to finish 2-4.

Takayasu defeats Shimanoumi – Takayasu goes directly for the arm pits (hazu-oshi) and shuts down anything Shimanoumi might have thought he wanted to try. Three steps later, Shimanoumi is off of the dohyo, and Takayasu has win number 6 to be 6-0, and the sole leader for Haru going into the middle weekend.

Wakamotoharu defeats Okinoumi – We could see this yatsu battle from yesterday, and they did not disappoint. Okinoumi defended well, but could not maintain his defensive foot placement. I think this comes down to Okinoumi’s accumulated career damage. Wakamotoharu kept control with his left hand inside grip, and worked Okinoumi out a piece at a time. Solid work. Wakamotoharu now 4-2.

Kotonowaka defeats Chiyoshoma – It was surprised to see Kotonowaka on defense, and allowing Chiyoshoma to control the starting stages of this match. Chiyoshoma put himself chest to chest with Kotonowaka, and found the Sadogatake man’s higher mass a bit of a challenge to shift. He tried a leg pick and a couple of rapid shifts, but Kotonowaka was set on defense, and grew roots into the clay. Chiyoshoma tried to finish with a throw, but he hit the clay a moment before Kotonowaka, giving him the win. Kotonowaka improves to 5-1.

Endo defeats Hokutofuji – I had some hope for this match, but Hokutofuji lost his nerve and tried to pull Endo down on his second step. Huge mistake and it would never have payed out. Instead he had no defense against Endo’s charge, and he was out of the match by the 3rd step. Endo now 4-2.

Daieisho defeats Takarafuji – Takarafuji certainly is having one of his bad tournaments. I am sure there is an injury in there somewhere, but right now he can’t do much with his trademark defensive sumo. Today Daieisho dialed up the pressure center mass while Takarafuji tried to set his feet, but could not hold. Daieisho improves to 4-2.

Ichinojo defeats Ura – Compliments to Ichinojo, who played the considerable size difference with Ura with great effect. Ura has a single win so far, and I think he’s going to have to consider what changes he might make to his sumo to actually win matches in the joi-jin. For Ichinojo, now 4-2, thank you for the reminder that being enormous is sometimes a valid sumo strategy.

Wakatakakage defeats Takanosho – Takanosho opened strong and was on the attack for the bulk of this match. I think we got to see Wakatakakage use some very nice reactive sumo today, on defense, staying in the match and in the ring, in spite of Takanosho’s sharp offense. Wakatakakage waited him out, and when the chance presented itself, slammed Takanosho to the clay. Wakatakakage now 5-1.

Hoshoryu defeats Abi – Abi attacked strongly with his traditional double arm style, and had the match a heartbeat away from victory. But man, Hoshoryu decided he had had enough of this stuff, found center mass and connected to Abi’s torso with both hands. Now in control, he ran forward, pushing Abi out at speed and into the crowd. The loss knocks Abi out of the group 1 win behind Takayasu, and increases his own record to 3-3 for March.

Takakeisho defeats Kiribayama – I think Takakeisho is done screwing around, and is focused on maintaining his rank. This comes as a relief as his first few matches of Haru were pretty rough by most standards. Today he took Kiribayama out with some fine wave action tsuppari, and like most rikishi, Kiribayama really had no idea what to do after the first wave it. Takakeisho 4-2, 4 more wins to clear kadoban.

Tamawashi defeats Shodai – No, Shodai will most likely not clear kadoban. He just does not have the strength to fight right now, at least not at Ozeki level. Shodai took a big hit at the tachiai from Tamawashi, and was immediately out. Just sad to watch. Tamawashi picks up a much needed win to improve to 3-3.

Mitakeumi defeats Meisei – Mitakeumi back to quality sumo today, he keeps Meisei in front of him, and well bracketed. Meisei tries a couple of escape moves, but can’t break contact. Mitakeumi keeps his feet heavy and keeps moving forward, working Meisei out for a win. Mitakeumi stays 1 behind Takayasu at 5-1.