Daishomaru

Kyushu Day 9 Highlights

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Daishomaru, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ishiura (石浦), Kagayaki (輝), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Kyushu Basho 2019, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takanosho, Takarafuji (宝富士), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tsurugisho, Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲) , , , , , , ,

There was some first-rate sumo today, and as expected the match between Takakeisho and Hokutofuji was the barn-burner highlight of the day. But Mitakeumi also seems to be shaking off the fog of his earlier concussion, and getting closer to normal fighting form. Plus great moves from Shohozan as he shifts gears and decides that while hitting his opponent is fun and good cardio, sometimes you just need to give the other guy a brutal battle hug.

Highlight Matches

Tochiozan defeats Daishomaru – Welcome back Tochiozan, you can see the experience he brings to the dohyo giving him the edge in controlling this match. Take a look at who holds the center of the dohyo for most of the match. Tochiozan has solid offense, but his defense was nearly unassailable today.

Terutsuyoshi defeats Ishiura – Terutsuyoshi drove harder into the tachiai, and Ishiura was unhappy with his resulting hand placement. As he moved to get better position, Terutsuyoshi advanced with strength and was the winner. Ishiura had solid defensive footing, but Terutsuyoshi showed a lot of strength today, and kept low.

Shodai defeats Daishoho – Hey, Shodai had a half decent tachiai today! He had both hands inside within a blink of an eye, and advanced. Daishoho had no answer and took the loss after it was clear he was beaten. Not sure what injury is plaguing Daishoho, but he may be an early favorite for the barge of the damned headed to Juryo.

Kagayaki defeats Shimanoumi – I love that Kagayaki is getting comfortable fighting, and now winning chest to chest with his opponent. His oshi-zumo form has been pretty good, but if he can get even a few solid yotsu moves in his toolkit, I predict he will frequent higher spots on the banzuke. I always preach that his fundaments are very good, and you can see them on display. His upper body is a bit awkward, but his defensive foot placement is excellent. I love how low he keeps his feet as he steps forward. That man can transmit power to ground.

Takanosho defeats Yutakayama – Takanosho exceeded my expectations today, his tachiai took him inside, and he did not waste a moment of his superior position. Yutakayama had a good defense ready, but Takanosho was able to pin Yutakayama’s right arm against his body, and lift Yutakayama as he advanced. Unable to generate much forward pressure to counter Takanosho’s attack, Yutakayama stepped out and took the loss.

Sadanoumi defeats Chiyotairyu – Wow! Look at that tachiai from Chiyotairyu. But even more impressive is Sadanoumi skids to a halt and drops immediately into attack position as Chiyotairyu rushes in. With an opponent like Chiyotairyu lumbering into him, Sadanoumi absorbs the second hit and rolls to his right, and no force on earth can slow Chiyotairyu’s advance. Down he goes. Great defensive gambit and execution by Sadanoumi today.

Kotoeko defeats Nishikigi – Kotoeko seems to finally be on a rally, and I am happy to see him fighting well at last. Nishikigi owned the first part of this match, and Kotoeko put all of his strength into slowing down Nishikigi’s attack, and keeping his feet in the ring, waiting for his chance. That chance came soon enough, as Nishikigi surged to finish Kotoeko, but Kotoeko evaded and send Nishikigi out. Defensive sumo done well, and a well earned win for Kotoeko.

Chiyomaru defeats Tsurugisho – I suspect the matta disrupted Tsurugisho’s battle plan, as the second attempt at the tachiai was all Chiyomaru.

Enho defeats Kotoshogiku – Watching Enho busily harry Kotoshogiku was kind of a wonder. I would guess that Enho was executing 2 moves to every 1 of Kotoshogiku, and it completely overwhelmed the former Ozeki. In typical Enho style, he grabs any stray body part that is closest to him and starts tugging with enthusiasm. Much like some over amorous terrier addressing your leg, the immediate reaction is “get that thing off of me!”. During this visceral, human reaction, Enho merrily defeats you. You can’t be too upset about it either, because let’s face it – he’s adorable.

Shohozan defeats Onosho – Wow! Big Guns starts his day with rapid fire double hand face massage to Onosho, and scales it up to volleys of haymakers to Onosho’s enormous head. In self-defense, Onosho closes the distance and goes chest to chest. Ever the full-service opponent, Shohozan obliges and gives Onosho a jolly heave-ho via an expertly delivered uwatenage, with a spicy leg lift to give it an extra flair. Great match.

Aoiyama defeats Takarafuji – As happens most times these two match, Takarafuji suffers terribly and gets a trip to the clay at the hands of Big Dan and the V-Twin attack.

Meisei defeats Myogiryu – Meisei expertly deployed a hard tachiai, a quick thrust combo into a side step at Myogiryu charged to take advantage. Exquisitely timed by Meisei.

Asanoyama defeats Daieisho – Daieisho tends to dominate his matches with Asanoyama, I think in part because Daieisho can really move hard into the tachiai. Today Asanoyama was able to get a workable outside grip and focused on getting Daieisho off balance, and succeeded. Asanoyama stays 1 behind Hakuho.

Okinoumi defeats Endo – Another great match, both of these rikishi are master technicians, and they brought out their extensive sumo toolboxes today, and put it all into the match. Feel free to watch it a few times, because it’s a guidebook on attack, counter-attack and improvisation.

Abi defeats Ryuden – As predicted, Ryuden was struggling, and by the time Abi landed the second volley, he was completely disrupted and headed for the clay. You can see him using his best counter-attack strategy, lifting Abi’s elbows from underneath. This has managed to shut down Abi-zumo a couple of times, but Ryuden can’t make it stick today.

Mitakeumi defeats Tamawashi – Mitakeumi expertly closed the distance to Tamawashi, and used his massive body as both a shield and a plow to contain and eject Tamawashi. Given that Mitakeumi still seems to be suffering from the effects of that blow to the head, this was a simple, and quite effective plan.

Takakeisho defeats Hokutofuji – We thought this might be a barn-burner, and indeed it set the dohyo on fire. Both men through everything they could muster into this fight, and I was quite impressed by Hokutofuji’s speed and combination attacks. Takakeisho knew he could not out-reach the Komusubi, or out maneuver him, but focused on what he does best, overwhelming force applied center mass. Hokutofuji landed solidly, but left his chest wide open. Good match, and I dare say that we sumo fans can look forward to these matches for years to come.

Hakuho defeats Kotoyuki – Points to Kotoyuki for taking the fight to Hakuho, but The Boss is not even susceptible to this kind of sumo. Right now The Boss looks a bit bored. Sadly none of his usual challenges are around this November.

Kyushu Day 9 Preview

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Daishomaru, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ishiura (石浦), Kagayaki (輝), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Kyushu Basho 2019, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takanosho, Takarafuji (宝富士), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tsurugisho, Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

Day 8 was a day of surprises and the unusual. While I am sad that Takayasu went kyujo, I am happy to see that there is still great sumo to be enjoyed. That extends to day 9, where the scheduling team is doing their best to bring us fantastic matches every day.

The late kyujo from Takayasu caused all manner of shuffling in the fight card, forcing them to re-build the match list after it had already been announced. This extended down the banzuke as suddenly talent was needed to move higher to fill the imbalance.

Kyushu Leaderboard

A number of rikishi took the exit ramp from the leaderboard on day 8, but Asanoyama stays in the hunt. Though Hakuho has beaten him already, he has the size and the sumo to challenge the Yokozuna, should it ever get to that. But first someone else has to get Hakuho dirty.

Leader: Hakuho
Chasers: Asanoyama, Kagayaki
Hunt Group: Takakeisho, Daieisho, Tsurugisho, Shohozan, Sadanoumi, Yutakayama, Shodai ,Chiyotairyu, Chiyomaru

7 Matches Remain

What We Are Watching Day 9

Daishomaru vs Tochiozan – Welcome back Tochiozan! He returns to the top division to provide an opponent for the first match in day 9, and we get a peek at how he’s faring. Given that he Tochiozan seems to be on a kachi-koshi path, it’s quite possible he may return to the top division (hopefully with Ikioi) in January.

Ishiura vs Terutsuyoshi – Looking for this to be a great match. Both are quite handy with a henka, but I would love to see them both go at it full-throttle. After Ishiura’s wonderful winning move day 8, I have to re-assess what he is capable of. Simply put, I have hope that he’s got upside potential.

Daishoho vs Shodai – First match ever between these two, and I am looking for Shodai to run up the score. With any luck he can be mid-Maegashira for January, which I think is a better rank for him than M10W. Daishoho seems to not have his body or his sumo in order, and is having a miserable tournament.

Shimanoumi vs Kagayaki – Demon Kaka’s favorite, Kagayaki, holds on to a slot 1 behind The Boss in the race for the cup. He’s going up against the compact and powerful Shimanoumi on day 9, and we will see if Kagayaki’s solid sumo fundamentals can keep him in the hunt.

Takanosho vs Yutakayama – I know there were some fans who complained about Yutakayama’s handling of his day 8 Enho match, but I loved it. Coming up against Takanosho, he’s instead facing a strong, straight ahead sumo practitioner. So I doubt we will see him trying to keep his distance at the tachiai. I am still looking for Yutakayama to get his 8, but no likely to go to 9. He’s a favorite for the lower edge of the joi-jin for January.

Chiyotairyu vs Sadanoumi – These two are evenly matched, despite their vast difference in size. Sadanoumi likes to wrap and contain his opponents, and it’s been working well this tournament. But recently, Chiyotairyu has re-discovered his chest to chest sumo, and has been using it to win. This match does indeed have potential.

Nishikigi vs Kotoeko – Nishikigi has lacked the force needed to go from fighting well to winning. This was true for Kotoeko for the first 4 days of the basho, but he has won 3 of the last 4, and I think he’s finally dialed-in to his sumo.

Tsurugisho vs Chiyomaru – A pair of 5-3 rikishi meet to knock one out of the hunt group. I strongly favor big Tsurugisho in this one over even bigger Chiyomaru. Tsurugisho seems to be in fighting shape now, and moving very well. Tsurugisho also has a 6-1 career advantage.

Kotoshogiku vs Enho – Total clash of styles, and it’s going to be a shame to see the power-pixie completely disrupt and defeat former Ozeki Kotoshogiku. This November, he’s looking more damaged and degraded than ever. It’s a bit of a heartbreak for some sumo fans.

Onosho vs Shohozan – Shohozan is in good form, and seems unworried about engaging anyone in a slapping match. This is probably going to be quite effective against Onosho, as he continues to show poor balance.

Takarafuji vs Aoiyama – Takarafuji tends to operate by closing in on his opponent and tangling them up. This is contrary to Aoiyama’s preferred approach of beating his opponents into submission from about one giant meaty arm’s length. Hence he holds an 18-3 career record over the Isegahama man.

Myogiryu vs Meisei – With these two, it will come down to inside position at the tachiai. Whomever can claim it and get in the first volley, should win the match. Possibly even on the first volley. Both of these rikishi are compact and strong, and one of them usually goes flying in the first couple of seconds.

Daieisho vs Asanoyama – Daieisho is Asanoyama’s foil. Holding a 7-1 career advantage over the Natsu yusho winner, he seems to be able to deliver a beat down on Asanoyama any time they meet. This is a big deal because a loss today would likely punt him out of the group 1 behind Hakuho.

Okinoumi vs Endo – Two high skill, technique-rich rikishi facing off. I suspect that Okinoumi is once again plagued by a recurring injury that knocks about 20% off of his sumo. But we may see some great moves and counter moves in this match. As always, watch for Endo’s shallow grip straight out of the tachiai. His technique for this is fantastic.

Abi vs Ryuden – I am going to look for Ryuden to generate 1-2 matta today, in order to try and disrupt Abi’s launch sequence. This is really his best hope, as once Abi connects with those long arms, you have just a few seconds to disrupt him. Ryuden has shown in the past that he can do this, but he has to get there before the second volley or its too late.

Mitakeumi vs Tamawashi – In his discombobulated state, I don’t give Mitakeumi too much bias over his long time Sekiwake rival, Tamawashi. Although he holds a 19-2 career record, Mitakeumi has been fighting poorly since he took a blow to the head on day 3. Stay safe guys!

Takakeisho vs Hokutofuji – For me, this is the big match of the day. We know that Hokutofuji will try to set up a nodowa or an armpit grip against the Tadpole Ozeki, but he’s got to hold on once the waves hit. Hokutofuji has almost uncanny balance at times, so he can in fact whether a few of these blasts. Should be fun to watch.

Kotoyuki vs Hakuho – Hakuho will be sending the Penguin air express back to the east side in short order, I expect. Although Kotoyuki is fighting better than he has in years, I think he’s not quite up to beating The Boss.

Kyushu Day 8 Highlights

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Daishomaru, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ishiura (石浦), Kagayaki (輝), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Kyushu Basho 2019, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takanosho, Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tsurugisho, Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

The big story of the day is Takayasu’s kyujo. It’s quite rare for a rikishi to go kyujo once they enter the arena. In fact, Takayasu participated in the Makuuchi dohyo-iri, which makes his withdrawl rarer still. According to press reports, Takayasu hurt his back warming up prior to his match, and could barely walk as he left the venue. The fans, and his day 8 opponent Takarafuji were surprised and a bit disoriented at the kyujo announcement. Takayasu drops to 3-5, and if he can’t come back and rack up 5 wins, will be demoted to Sekiwake (Ozekiwake) for January, and possibly face the same fate as Tochinoshin. Tachiai hopes that Takayasu can bounce back soon.

For those that did compete, there was some great sumo on display, and it was nice to see some rikishi win matches against opponents they had not yet found a way to defeat. On to the highlights!

Highlight Matches

Daishoho defeats Chiyomaru – Daishoho’s strong tachiai stands Chiyomaru up, and seems to briefly distract him. Daishoho advances and moves Chiyomaru out. With the loss, Chiyomaru drops out of the group just behind Hakuho. Chiyomaru is seen flexing his left arm after the match, hopefully not another injury there.

Takanosho defeats Daishomaru – Takanosho scores his first ever win over Daishomaru. He was low and fast at the tachiai, and was able to get inside of Daishomaru, and simply move forward for the win.

Ishiura defeats Nishikigi – Pleased to say no henka today. Ishiura used strong, straightforward sumo, and took the fight to Nishikigi. The two battled for hand placement and grip, and it was really good to see Ishiura fighting it out against a larger and strong opponent in terms of sheer strength. But the best was saved for the finish, as Ishiura used the seldom seend mitokorozeme / triple attack to bring Nishikigi to the clay. Nicely done!

Chiyotairyu defeats Shimanoumi – Well, that’s one way to get it done. Famous for his blistering high energy tachiai, Chiyotairyu hops up at the tachiai and henkas an onrushing Shimanoumi with a surprising amount of grace and agility for a man of such size. His first ever win over Shimanoumi.

Terutsuyoshi defeats Shodai – Another trick tachiai, as Terutsuyoshi pops up, ducks down and pivots to his right, grabbing Shodai’s leg at the initial charge. What’s fun to watch is Shodai’s somewhat questionable tachiai happen in comparative slow motion to Terutsuyoshi’s rapid combination of moves. The opening gambit places Terutsuyoshi behind Shodai, and with two hands on Shodai’s left knee.

Kagayaki defeats Kotoshogiku – Another first ever win, as Kotoshogiku tries to set up the hug-n-chug, but can only get one thrust in, and then it all falls apart. Kind of sad to see Kotoshogiku in this state, but happy that Kagayaki racked up another win to stay 1 behind Hakuho.

Tsurugisho defeats Sadanoumi – As expected, Sadanoumi latches on to Tsurugisho’s mawashi at the tachiai and gets to work. Tsurugisho is ready and replies with his own grip, and the two brute it out. This is a battle that Tsurugisho is built to win, but I was impressed with Sadanoumi’s first escape. Great ring sense and fantastic agility.

Kotoeko defeats Onosho – Onosho looked to be trying his day 6/7 battle plan (which worked quite well), but Kotoeko was ready. Taking Onosho to his chest he gave ground and stepped to the side at the bales. As is customary for Onosho, his weight was too far forward to stop, and into the clay he falls.

Yutakayama defeats Enho – I loved watching the pre-bout on this one, as you can read Yutakayama just saying “Ok, what is this guy going to try today?”. He lines up at the shikiri-sen, then nudges himself back. Enho goes for the crouch, Yutakayama thinks for a moment, then hops back some more. By the time they launch, Yutakayama is half way to Nagasaki, and both men just stand up at the tachiai. AWESOME. Gyoji says, “guys! knock it off”. Second try – matta! Oh this is awesome. Now Yutakayama hops back more! Another stand up tachiai! Gyoji Konosuke is clearly frustrated and waves his hands and shouts hakki-yoi! Bizzaro match ahoy! The two do end up in a heck of a battle, with Enho surprisingly effective against Yutakayama’s superior mass, but Yutakayama’s balance is set and Enho can’t disrupt him enough to bring him down. As a bonus, we nearly have a second kintamadashi in two days to close the match. In slow motion replays, the look on Konosuke’s face is priceless. Brilliant.

Shohozan defeats Ryuden – Yet another first ever win as Shohozan gets a blindingly fast tsukiotoshi at the tachiai and rolls Ryuden to the clay.

Kotoyuki defeats Myogiryu – A straightforward thrusting match, which is Kotoyuki’s preferred brand of sumo. Myogiryu only manages to rally briefly, but its not enough to stop “The Penguin” from picking up win #5.

Daieisho defeats Okinoumi – Okinoumi generates little forward pressure in response to Daieisho’s strong charge. Daieisho can really move forward with strength, as Hakuho found out on day 2. Okinoumi sometimes struggles with a chronic injury in his lower pelvis area, and this may be the cause of his less than powerful sumo this basho.

Endo defeats Hokutofuji – Great sumo from Endo today, and I was quite impressed by Hokutofuji’s ability to absorb everything that Endo threw at him over the course of just a few second. The match was lost because Hokutofuji kept insisting on trying to pull Endo down, and his balance was good enough to survive each attempt. Hokutofuji threw away commanding position each time, and the 4th try resulted in Endo’s winning attack.

Asanoyama defeats Abi – Second battle in the Komusubi wars, Asanoyama was able to withstand the hailstorm of thrusts from Abi-zumo and get close enough to attack. Abi reacted to escape Asanoyama’s impending grip, but lost his footing and went out.

Mitakeumi defeats Aoiyama – Another example the Mitakeumi is quite a bit less than genki. Aoiyama bats him around with great effect for what seems like forever, until Big Dan seems to run out of energy. Mitakeumi decides, surprisingly, to give Aoiyama a hug and march him out. I hope Mitakeumi had someone examine that skull damage already.

Takakeisho defeats Meisei – Takakeisho is back to looking rough and disorganized, but he gets the job done for win #5.

Hakuho defeats Tamawashi – There are times when Hakuho does things that annoy the sumo fans. They can seem gratuitous and unnecessary, and they tend to fuel an undercurrent in some corners of dislike for the greatest rikishi to mount the dohyo in our time. Today, we got a little shove against Tamawashi following a false start, which seems to have really fired up some fans. The match itself was fairly straightforward, but there is clearly a bit of tension between these two rikishi that goes beyond the dohyo. The Boss remains in sole possession of the lead.

Kyushu Day 8 Preview

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Daishomaru, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ishiura (石浦), Kagayaki (輝), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Kyushu Basho 2019, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takakeishō (貴景勝), Takanosho, Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochinoshin (栃ノ心), Tomokaze, Tsurugisho, Wakatakakage, Yutakayama, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

Welcome to the middle day of the Kyuhsu basho! At the midpoint, we take our first look at the yusho race, and it’s about half of the Makuuchi banzuke. This goes to underscore just how mediocre and non-differentiated the sumo has been this basho. The 1 loss rikishi is Hakuho, but only a single san’yaku rikishi follows at 2 losses. In my opinion, unless something unexpected happens to Hakuho in week 2, there are not many rikishi that are genki enough to present much if any challenge to his path toward yusho 43.

I also expect that with the strong sumo from the 2 surviving Ozeki on day 7, that we may see the start of their rally into week 2, and push for securing their 8. While you might expect an Ozeki with this level of competition to go 10+, I am going to expect 8 given their physical condition.

Kyushu Leaderboard

Day 8 leaderboards are typically crazy, but this one is doubly so. While Hakuho shows no sign of slowing down, the number of rikishi who are mathematically in contention right now is staggering.

Leader: Hakuho
Chasers: Asanoyama, Sadanoumi, Shodai, Chiyomaru, Kagay
Hunt Group: Takakeisho, Abi, Hokutofuji, Daieisho, Meisei, Tamawashi, Aoiyama, Onosho, Enho, Tsurugisho, Shohozan, Yutakayama, Chiyotairyu

8 Matches Remain

What We Are Watching Day 8

Chiyomaru vs Daishoho – I don’t expect Daishoho will be able to knock Chiyomaru from his position 1 behind Hakuho. Right now Chiyomaru seems to be genki.

Daishomaru vs Takanosho – This may be an easy pickup for Daishomaru, who holds a 3-0 career record over challenger Takanosho. Daishomaru may go for an early slap down following the tachiai.

Ishiura vs Nishikigi – Nishikigi’s poor eyesight leave him unusually vulnerable to a henka, but I honestly hope Ishiura does not resort to that gambit for a 3rd consecutive day.

Shimanoumi vs Chiyotairyu – I hope we can see another Chiyotairyu gaburi-yori match today. While his cannon ball tachiai is the stuff of legends, a solid chest to chest mode would do him a great deal of good.

Terutsuyoshi vs Shodai – Shodai is ranked low enough, he is likely to dominate most of his matches. I think that this first time meeting with Terutsuyoshi is his to lose unless we see another successful submarine attack from Terutsuyoshi.

Kotoshogiku vs Kagayaki – Kotoshogiku needs to start putting together wins if he wants to make his 8. I am happy to see him fight Kagayaki, as I think Kagayaki may need to learn how to beat the former Ozeki (2-0 career favoring Kotoshogiku).

Tsurugisho vs Sadanoumi – Tsurugisho has his work cut out for him, in spite of his larger size on day 8. Sadanoumi is in his best form in years, and he seems to have put all of his elements together for effective sumo. Should be a good match, with Sadanoumi focusing on containing and constraining Tsurugisho.

Onosho vs Kotoeko – Career record these two are evenly matched. Onosho is on a 3 match winning streak, and I would like to see him make it 4. Kotoeko has had a rough time putting together anything resembling effective sumo on two consecutive days this November.

Yutakayama vs Enho – This is probably the highlight match of the first half. You have rising power Freshman Yutakayama against power pixie Enho. Both of them were handed disappointments day 7, and both of them are 4-3. Yutakayama won their only prior match, but that won’t really matter on day 8 when these two face off.

Shohozan vs Ryuden – Shohozan tends to struggle with Ryuden, and I think that will continue today. After several consecutive days of bashing every opponents face around, Shohozan seems to have settled down a bit. Ryuden heeds to bounce back after that loss to Endo.

Myogiryu vs Kotoyuki – Kotoyuki has had 3 straight losses, and I am hoping he can return to winning form today. He holds a 3-19 career advantage over Myogiryu.

Daieisho vs Okinoumi – I love the fact that Okinoumi shows up every tournament, and puts in his 15 days in a solid, workman like fashion. I am sure some tournaments he’s in pain or suffering some unreported injury, but he’s always there, plugging away. He’s most comfortable in the mid-Maegashira ranks, so at Maegashira 1, we may see him continue to head towards make-koshi land.

Hokutofuji vs Endo – And now the good stuff starts. In a pair of Komusubi fights, we get the Endo / Hokutofuji clash of speed and power vs tactics and precision. Its probably going to come down to Endo getting his desired shallow grip at the tachiai, or Hokutofuji getting his armpit or neck attack in first.

Abi vs Asanoyama – Brilliant clash of styles for Komusubi fight 2. Abi’s frantic thrusting attack vs the grappling power of Asanoyama. If Asanoyama can land a grip, will we see the seldom used Abi-zumo 2.0? Fans can only hope. I would give a slight edge to Abi this time, as these two are evenly matched, and right now Asanoyama leads the career series 5-3.

Mitakeumi vs Aoiyama – I fear that whatever damage that blow to the head did to Mitakeumi might keep him on a make-koshi path for November. He steps up against Big Dan Aoiyama and the V-Twin power attack on day 8. Mitakeumi did manage to rally on day 7 against Kotoyuki, but Aoiyama is a different class of opponent.

Takakeisho vs Meisei – Career record of 2-0, with a less than genki Takakeisho needing 4 more wins for kachi-koshi and safety. Meisei lost his last 2, but if he can keep mobile and just out of reach of Takakeisho’s short arms, he could surprise the Ozeki.

Takarafuji vs Takayasu – Takayasu is in a bigger score hole than Takakeisho, and he is nursing that injured left arm as well. Takarafuji has the strength and stamina to wear down the injured Ozeki, so Takayasu is going to need to do something fast and brutal at the tachiai. Such gambits are risking with a master tactician like Takarafuji, but at this point the Ozeki needs to be willing to gamble.

Tamawashi vs Hakuho – Well, career record of 15-1 favors the boss. I know Hakuho wants someone to give him a good challenge, and maybe Tamawashi will oblige.