Normally during a sumo tournament, Hakuho is at full competition force by the start of the second act. But to me, he seems to be struggling a bit more each day. This is not unexpected given he had major knee surgery less than 4 months ago, and I am sure its all he can do to mount the dohyo and fight each of the last 5 days. Given the parameters of the ultimatum around his entry into this basho, he’s got to stick it out for another 9 days. His iron will will drive him to make that happen at all costs, but it may come with a heavy price. But this Hakuho, and I its clear that with only partial use of his right leg, he is still a most formidable man on the dohyo. I still hope for a day 15 battle against Terunofuji for the cup, but I am not quite sure what condition the great Yokozuna will be in once we reach the end of this basho.

Highlight Matches

Ishiura defeats Shohozan – Shohozan continues to fade, picking up his 6th loss in 6 matches. Ishiura was surprisingly fast at the tachiai, and was able to get his hands inside and against Shohozan’s face before Shohozan could begin his swatting attack. The match was lost when Shohozan tried to pull Ishiura’s head and found his opponent behind him and pushing strongly from behind. Ishiura improves to 3-3.

Daiamami defeats Chiyomaru – Chiyomaru has his hands up to strike Daiamami early in the tachiai, but Daiamami endures this to get his right hand on Chiyomaru’s mawashi. The grip does not last, but as the two work to hold the other, Daiamami ends up with morozashi for just a moment, which was all it took to put Daiamami in control. The match was won when Daiamami lifted and advanced, taking the bulky Chiyomaru over the bales. Both men end the day 2-4.

Ura defeats Ichiyamamoto – Ichiyamamoto’s plan for this match seems to have fallen flat when Ura came in very low, as usual, and Ichiyamamoto decided that he was so close to the clay, he may as well try to finish the job and pull him down. That release for forward pressure allowed Ura to rapidly drive Ichiyamamoto back and out, advancing him to 3-3 by oshidashi.

Tochinoshin defeats Chiyonokuni – Maybe Tochinoshin is not quite ready for the scrap heap just yet. He gave Chiyonokuni a solid fight today, and beat him moving forward. Chiyonokuni went to an arm grab in the tachiai, and somehow ended up turned with Tochinoshin inside, low and thrusting against center mass. It only took 3 steps and Chiyonokuni was out, and Tochinoshin improved to 2-4.

Tsurugisho defeats Kagayaki – For the first time in 4 attempts Tsurugisho was able to beat Kagayaki. As Kagayaki worked to get his hands past Tsurugisho’s defenses at the tachiai, Tsurugisho got a deep left hand grip, and immediately used it to swing Kagayaki around and hurl him to the clay. Tsurugisho improves to 4-2.

Kotonowaka defeats Tokushoryu – I am starting to have hope that Kotonowaka does in fact have his sumo together, after 2 straight losing tournaments. I love that he used Tokushoryu’s trademark tsukiotoshi to put him on the clay today. Not as fluid as Tokushoryu does it, but the point was made. Kotonowaka improves to 5-1.

Terutsuyoshi defeats Tamawashi – This match was very odd, and after watching it a few times, I am still not entirely sure what happened. Two matta, then a Terutsuyoshi hit and shift sent Tamawashi tumbling for a loss. The kimarite is listed as hikiotoshi, but I am still trying to piece it together. Terutsuyoshi picks up a much needed second win.

Kaisei defeats Hidenoumi – Hidenoumi lets himself get captured by Kaisei and into a yotsu battle. I admire his enthusiasm, but there is just so much of Kaisei to try and wrangle in this kind of fight. Like trying to place a 20 ton chunk of decorative stone, to some extent it’s going to go where it wants to go, and you either hang on for the ride or get out of the way. Both end the day 3-3.

Shimanoumi defeats Chiyonoo – Shimanoumi locked into his battle plan first, and while Chiyonoo kept working to set himself up, Shimanoumi took control and drove him out of the ring. He improves to 3-3.

Aoiyama defeats Myogiryu – This was a most unusual win for Aoiyama, as the majority of the fight was spent chest to chest with Myogiryu, rather than fighting it out blow by blow in a thrusting match. Myogiryu had superior position from the tachiai, but lacked the power to stop Aoiyama from advancing. They broke contact once, and quickly went back to yotsu. Aoiyama improves to 3-3, and Myogiryu drops to 1-5.

Takarafuji defeats Onosho – Onosho attacks first against Takarafuji’s armpits, but is unable to do more than move him back a single step. As Onosho works to improve his position, Takarafuji gets him off balance (big surprise, right?) and brings him down to the clay. Takarafuji improves to 4-2.

Chiyoshoma defeats Hoshoryu – Chiyoshoma’s opening move was to crank Hoshoryu’s head under his left arm and try to drop his via thrust down, but Hoshoryu was able to escape and counter attack. Points to Chiyoshoma for nullifying the counter attack and stalemating Hoshoryu and holding the center of the dohyo. Realizing he had nothing to work with, Hoshoryu moved to reach inside, and that set up Chiyoshoma’s throw. Nicely done by Chiyoshoma, and he improves to 3-3.

Chiyotairyu defeats Kiribayama – I have complained for the past few days about Chiyotairyu’s predictable, somewhat stale sumo. I have remarked about how everyone knows its coming, and it seldom works. Today, it worked. He hit hard at the tachiai, raising up Kiribayama and then pulling him down. Chiyotairyu improves to 2-4, picking up a much needed second win.

Tobizaru defeats Okinoumi – Tobizaru possesses admirable tenacity, and it was evident today as he picked his spot, and drove everything against Okinoumi’s chest. Even when Okinoumi got a deep left hand inside grip, he kept working to overcome. Even when Okinoumi consolidated his grip and drove forward to take Tobizaru out, he was still working offense. With Okinoumi one step away from victory, Tobizaru unleashed the throw with remarkable agility, planking Okinoumi as he engaged in a celebratory dash down the hanamichi. Nicely done, and both end day 6 with 3-3.

Takanosho defeats Wakatakakage – Wakatakakage bounced to his left at the tachiai, in an attempt to get a left hand deep and set up a throw. Takanosho was having none of this and hand a clear path to Wakatakakage’s chest, and drove hard to move him back, and two steps later out. Takanosho improves to 2-4, and is finally looking more like Sekiwake Takanosho.

Takayasu defeats Daieisho – A big tachiai followed by a thrusting battle, that was always going to favor Takayasu’s greater mass. It lasted for 4 volleys before Daieisho lost footing and ended up on all 4 for the loss. Takayasu improves to 3-3.

Meisei defeats Mitakeumi – Meisei aimed high and Mitakeumi aimed low at the tachiai, and the result was Mitakeumi in control, strongly pushing Meisei back and marching forward. But as Mitakeumi continued to shove Meisei back, he allowed himself to get too far forward, and was ripe for a shift and push attack, which came as Meisei circled away from a final Mitakeumi surge forward. Meisei improves to 3-3.

Shodai defeats Kotoeko – Kotoeko found himself unable to move Shodai, who finally had some reasonable defensive foot placement today. These wins where Shodai more or less just crowds his opponent out with his bulky body are not that exciting to watch, but at this point Shodai is just looking for wins. He is now 3-3.

Terunofuji defeats Ichinojo – Ichinojo had precisely nothing to bring to today’s match. Terunofuji gave him a solid hit at the tachiai and just moved him bodily out in 3 easy steps. Terunofuji remains perfect at 6-0.

Hakuho defeats Hokutofuji – I am sure I will catch heat for this, but I am not sure today’s performance from Hakuho was quite Yokozuna grade sumo. I counted at least 3 rapid pull moves against Hokutofuji’s neck while moving backward and pawing like mad. It keeps Hakuho unbeaten, but it gives me worry that his knee is not going to be able to hold together long enough to keep him in this tournament for much longer. Hakuho at 6-0, matching Terunofuji.

The start of day 6 brings us to the second act of the Nagoya basho. Act 2 is where we narrow the field to find out who has what it takes to compete for the yusho, and to start sorting the survivors from the damned. While most fans are tracking Hakuho and Terunofuji, a broad team of rikishi start day 6 with impressive 4-1 records. This includes 2 former yusho winners. I am starting to hope that the second week may see a strong chase group nipping at the heels of whomever holds the yusho lead coming out of the middle weekend.

At the other end, there is a matching set with 1-4 records to start day 6 that have a tough climb to attempt a kachi-koshi at this point. I suspect most of them will finish with losing records, and face demotion for September. Of special interest is former Ozeki Tochinoshin, whose body seems to have finally lost the ability to support any real sumo competition grade matches. While it’s sad for his fans to watch a great competitor fade, I can’t even being to imagine the amount of pain and discomfort this man faces at this point.

With Endo out, we once again have a banzuke imbalance, and we will see Juryo visitors daily to fill the gap.

What We Are Watching Day 6

Shohozan vs Ishiura – Shohozan continues to fade, sadly, as he has a 0-5 start to Nagoya from Juryo 1. For a seasoned veteran like Shohozan, all he needs to do is win 8 and he’s back in the top division form that rank. But it seems time and injury have taken their toll, and right now he can’t buy a win. He has a 5-1 career advantage over Ishiura (2-3), so maybe he can start to turn things around.

Chiyomaru vs Daiamami – Daiamami racked up his first win on day 3 against Chiyonoo, and has nothing since. He has a proven track record of winning against Chiyomaru (9-2), and I am sure he is looking to get his second white star today.

Ichiyamamoto vs Ura – Ura looks to have a bit less attack power than he did in May, at least to me. He seems less aggressive, and his diving attack strategy is failing to find its mark most of the time. Ichiyamamoto, on the other hand, is fighting well and his sumo seems to be working pretty well at this rank. While they have a 1-1 career history, I would give the edge on day 6 to Ichiyamamoto.

Tochinoshin vs Chiyonokuni – Hapless Tochinoshin’s only win is a henka against Terutsuyoshi. I would hope that Chiyonokuni keeps his eye on his opponent at the tachiai today. Should he manage to do that, I would look for the big Georgian to take quite a few powerful blows to the face and neck, as seems to be Chiyonokuni’s custom now. Tochinoshin has a 7-1 career advantage, but let’s face it – that was more or less a different person than the one who will mount the dohyo today.

Tsurugisho vs Kagayaki – Readers may have figured out that I am a fan of Kagayaki’s fundamentals focused sumo style. I am thrilled that he seems to have at least a marginal winning record right now, and I have high hopes that he will be able to reach 8 and achieve his first winning tournament since Aki in 2020. He has a 3-0 career record over Tsurugisho, who seems susceptible to Kagayaki’s preferred attack.

Tokushoryu vs Kotonowaka – This may seem harsh, but Kotonowaka has been underperforming since January. He has a lot of potential, and the makings of a real mainstay of the top division. Today’s match against Tokushoryu is an excellent test to see if he has gotten his sumo together enough to overcome a fairly predictable, but skilled rikishi with a lot of experience.

Tamawashi vs Terutsuyoshi – Tamawashi is not quite ready to exit the top division this year, I would say. His performance thus far has been quite solid, and I am going to look for him to dominate this match over Terutsuyoshi, who still seems to be hampered by injury. Tamawashi picked up his first loss on day 5, so he is no longer with the undefeated group at the top, but a 4-1 starting act 2 is a great score.

Hidenoumi vs Kaisei – I expect both of these rikishi to dance the make/kachi-koshi line all the way to act 3, and for them to struggle to reach 8 wins in the final weekend. The competition in the top division is very tough, and both of them are good, but not dominating this July.

Chiyonoo vs Shimanoumi – There us a significant rank difference between these two. Normally you don’t see spreads like this until act 3, but they do have a 8 match history, with Shimanoumi having 5 wins on the clay in that series. At 2-3, Shimanoumi should really try to put together at least 3 wins over the next 5 days for a good chance at a kachi-koshi. His matches start well, but he seems to be coming up about 10% short most days.

Myogiryu vs Aoiyama – For the rest of July, I am just going to assume that Myogiryu is hurt. I have no other reason that he would be 1-4 at this point, and seemingly unable to turn in par performance with his rank. He and Aoiyama have a 23 match history, with a nearly even 11-12 split. But given realities on the clay this month, the advantage is clearly for Aoiyama today.

Onosho vs Takarafuji – Oh good, this match was in my list of encounters to wait for. Onosho (2-3) is very good at preventing Takarafuji (3-2) from setting up his middle of the ring defense, and he does this through overwhelming applications of forward power. I expect more of this today, as it seems just maybe Onosho has broken free of his ring rust in the past day.

Chiyoshoma vs Hoshoryu – There is no doubt that Hoshoryu (4-1) is on a hot streak right now. He has never won against Chiyoshoma (2-3), so I look at today’s contest between them as a sort of test match. Has Hoshoryu made a step change improvement to his sumo? I would say the answer is probably, yes.

Kiribayama vs Chiyotairyu – Chiyotairyu has reverted to the cannon-ball tachiai, followed by the fast and flimsy pull. Everyone knows its coming, each day’s opponent works in the morning with his stable mates to defeat it, and come the evening’s match, it’s falling flat. I know that Chiyotairyu has a much wider range of sumo than that, but maybe he’s hurt and unable to do much more. Any way you slice it, Kiribayama has an advantage for a win today.

Okinoumi vs Tobizaru – Tobizaru’s mobility and constant motion provides a bit of a foil to Okinoumi’s preferred attack plan, capture, contain and remove. But in terms of this month on the dohyo, Okinoumi is fighting better than Tobizaru, and I think he has a clear advantage today.

Wakatakakage vs Takanosho – I am starting to foster hope that Wakatakakage (2-3) might be able to just barely make kachi-koshi his first time in san’yaku, and that would be quite the notable achievement. His sumo looks a bit faster and a bit harder even between now and May, which was an excellent 9-6 from Maegashira 1. Whatever problems Takanosho (1-4) suffered in May during his miserable Natsu basho seem to still be impacting his sumo, and he really has a significant risk for make-koshi at this point.

Takayasu vs Daieisho – There have been no apparent signs of lingering back issues with Takayasu since his return on day 3, and he has a solid 2-1 record on the dohyo this month. He holds a 9-3 career record over Daieisho (1-4), who just picked up his first win yesterday.

Meisei vs Mitakeumi – Mitakeumi (4-1), seems to be soaking up the home town love, even if the fans are forbidden to cheer while in Dolphins arena due to COVID protocols. Mitakeumi almost always does well in Nagoya, and it would be great to see him pressuring Hakuho and Terunofuji going into the final weekend. But today he’s got Meisei (2-3), who will try to keep away from Mitakeumi’s front quarter.

Shodai vs Kotoeko – Shodai, you really should win this one. You have a 2-0 record over Kotoeko, and your fans are starting to wonder what happened to your good sumo from last year.

Terunofuji vs Ichinojo – High probability (8-2) of Kaiju win #6 coming up today.

Hakuho vs Hokutofuji – This match could be a challenge for Hakuho (5-0). At least on day 5, he did anything he could to keep pressure off of his right knee. This is not too hard given that Ichinojo does not typically go side to side. This is not true of Hokutofuji (3-2), who can shift around the dohyo rapidly and with great effect. Although chances of anyone beating The Boss are narrow, I think there is a specific risk given Hokutofuji’s sumo style. I would hope he foregoes the opening nodowa and goes for as much lateral motion has he can withstand, starting from the tachiai.

Act 1 of the basho is complete, and only 2 men remain undefeated: Hakuho and Terunofuji. This is precisely the outcome most fans were hoping to see, and we start to get a whiff of the tension that should continue into the middle weekend. Both area far from top physical shape given their injuries, but both are driven to dominate each match and incredibly tough, and unwilling to let something like a bum knee stop them from winning each day. Both of them understand that they are being carried toward what all the fans hope is a day 15 show down, possibly for not just the Emperor’s cup, but the final verdict on Terunofuji to add one more impossible accomplishment to his already improbable redemption.

In the early hours of day 5, it was announced that Endo had joined the kyujo list, after injuring his left leg. Given the doctor’s directive of 3 weeks recovery, he is unlikely to return. Mitakeumi picks up the fusensho to advance to 4-1.

Highlight Matches

Ichiyamamoto defeats Tokushoryu – The obligatory two hand neck attack at the tachiai from Ichiyamamoto led to a pulling opportunity that surprisingly worked for once against Tokushoryu, who seems to have had a poor step in there somewhere. Ichiyamamoto advances to 4-1.

Chiyonokuni defeats Tsurugisho – Chiyonokuni shook off Tsurugisho’s big hit at the tachiai, and turned on the power. A strong left hand to face prompted Tsurugisho to try to respond in kind. Chiyonokuni stepped aside and slapped with his right to bring Tsurugisho to the clay. Chiyonokuni joins the group at 4-1.

Ishiura defeats Daiamami – I am happy to see some solid Ishiura sumo today, and it brought him a much needed win. He had excellent lateral motion, getting to the side of Daiamami and putting him on “spin” before dropping him to the clay like a sack of potatoes with a kirikaeshi. Ishiura improves to 2-4.

Chiyonoo defeats Kagayaki – Chiyonoo gets close and has both hands inside one step past the tachiai, disabling Kagayaki’s preferred thrusting attack. Kagayaki tried to force Chiyonoo back, but that just devolved into a belly bumping contest that Chiyonoo dominated, raising Kagayaki up and putting him across the tawara. Chiyonoo improves to 2-3.

Kotonowaka defeats Ura – Ura’s submarine tachiai is not working well at all thus far in July, and most of his opponents are able to blunt its effects. Ura is hard pressed to come up with much offense from that position if he does not end the tachiai inside his opponent’s reach. Today its Kotonowaka who shuts it down, then send Ura tumbling into the zabuton. Kotonowaka improves to 4-1.

Chiyomaru defeats Kaisei – In this battle of the mega-fauna, Chiyomaru got in the first attack, and it worked well. The thrusting under the chin raised up Kaisei, and Chiyomaru made short work to send him back and out to improve to 2-3.

Tochinoshin defeats Terutsuyoshi – I am delighted to see Tochinoshin pick up his first win before the end of act 1. He is still in grim shape, but fears of him ending July winless are now gone. Sure it’s was a cheap ass henka, but I would expect Terutsuyoshi to be ready for that one, given Tochinoshin can’t actually do much sumo in his physical state.

Aoiyama defeats Tamawashi – Aoiyama stayed much lower than he typically does, and expertly exploited a pull attempt from Tamawashi, giving the Mongolian a hearty blast from the V-Twin to propel him back and out. Aoiyama improves to 2-3.

Takarafuji defeats Shimanoumi – I love to see how Takarafuji shuts down his opponent, and works to keep himself in the center of the dohyo, and his opponent attack from the outside to the middle. By dominating the middle of the ring, he grants himself control of the match, and when he does this, he tends to win. Points to Shimanoumi, who knew exactly what Takarafuji was up to, and fought him for every inch, hand and foot. Both men got low on stamina, and broke their deadlock at the center, with Takarafuji applying a tsukiotoshi to improve to 3-2.

Hidenoumi defeats Chiyoshoma – Chiyoshoma lost this match with a moment of poor balance and stability when Hidenoumi connected with a sharp left to Chiyoshoma’s shoulder. Hidenoumi improves to 3-2.

Hoshoryu defeats Myogiryu – Solid, commanding grappling sumo from Hoshoryu today. He took control early and danced Myogiryu round until Myogiryu had had enough and was escorted out. Hoshoryu’s sumo is looking better than ever right now, and he improves to 4-1.

Kiribayama defeats Okinoumi – Kiribayama got the edge at the tachiai, and converted that into a left hand inside grip. Okinoumi defended well, and shut down at least 2 attempts by Kiribayama to lift him up and send him out. Okinoumi rallied, and marched Kiribayama out, but stepped across the tawara as he shifted his opponent out. A monoii reversed Kimura Konosuke’s gumbai and gave the win to Kiribayama. Kiribayama improves to 4-1.

Onosho defeats Chiyotairyu – Chiyotairyu attempts his traditional blast and pull at the tachiai, and Onosho is well prepared to receive. As Chiyotairyu starts to pull, Onosho dials up the pushing power, and runs Chiyotairyu out in a hurry. Onosho improves to 2-3, and Chiyotairyu is 1-4, and in desperate need of better sumo choices.

Takanosho defeats Kotoeko – Takanosho’s tachiai had a few problems, his head was down, and he did not follow Kotoeko’s shift to the left. But Takanosho managed to get a left hand inside, and halted Kotoeko’s advance. Kotoeko attempted to rally, but received a slap down from Takanosho as Kotoeko charged forward. That’s a first win for Takanosho, as he improves to 1-4.

Daieisho defeats Wakatakakage – Wow, Wakatakakage had at least 3 escapes in that loss to Daieisho. Daieisho had his mega-thrust dialed up to “murder”, and was moving at speed against Wakatakakage. Even thought Wakatakakage lost that one, I am quite impressed how well he moved and kept himself in the match. Daieisho picks up a well earned first win, improving to 1-4.

Meisei defeats Takayasu – Takayasu picks up his first loss of the tournament as Meisei effectively disrupts Takayasu’s attack plan, then upsets his foot work, disrupting his balance, and then unleashes a really nifty katasukashi (under shoulder swing down) to roll Takayasu to the clay. Meisei advances to 2-3.

Terunofuji defeats Hokutofuji – Hokutofuji started low, with a solid tachiai, getting his hands more or less where he like to place them at the start of a match. As Terunofuji counter-attacked, Hokutofuji tried twice to pull the Ozeki down, neither attempt finding any success. Really impressed with Terunofuji’s ability to absorb all of that, and not just stay in the match but to stay on offense. Terunofuji set up and rapidly delivered a blistering kotenage that sent Hokutofuji to the clay. He remains undefeated at 5-0.

Tobizaru defeats Shodai – I had to watch this match a couple of times, as it features Tobizaru rapidly switching from push to pull to grab and tug and back to push again. It completely shut down any kind of offense Shodai wanted to deliver, and in the end I think Shodai went out just to make it end. I am starting to worry about Shodai at 2-3 headed into the middle weekend.

Hakuho defeats Ichinojo – Anyone else notice the appliance under Hakuho’s knee bandage today? I am not sure I saw that on prior days. But it raises the question: How does a one legged man beat a giant in a fight? Hakuho did not seem to try and run any power through that right knee, but managed to yorikiri a nearly 200kg boulder with apparent ease. He remains undefeated at 5-0.

We come to the end of act 1 in fine and glorious order. Act 1, the first 5 days of the basho, is where we watch the rikishi break free of their ring-rust, and find out who is hot, and who is not. Act 1 has done a fine job of both, so let’s have a look:

Hot

Hakuho – He looks a bit tentative, but the dai-Yokozuna is back, and still the most formidable man on the dohyo.
Terunofuji – Hopefully the shimpan will agree, he continues to fight at Yokozuna levels, and is ripe to take the rope.
Tamawashi – He has one prior yusho, and from Maegashira 10, is really cleaning up.

Not

Daieisho – A cold 0-4 start for the Hatsu yusho winner has us wondering if he’s hurt or just having a Maegashira 1 time of it
Takanosho – Unseated from his Sekiwake rank by a 5-10 score in May, he continues to suffer in July
Tochinoshin – This might be the sunset ride for the former Ozeki. His body seems completely spent.

What We Are Watching Day 5

Ichiyamamoto vs Tokushoryu – They have met only once before, with the win going to Ichiyamamoto in September of 2019. I think this basho, Tokushoryu is really fighting well, and his sheer bulk and surprising agility will be a tough mark for Ichiyamamoto. This match actually has some potential. Both are 3-1.

Tsurugisho vs Chiyonokuni – Another pair of 3-1 rikishi from the lower ranks, with Chiyonokuni having a distinct 3-1 career advantage over the much larger Tsurugisho. To my eye Chiyonokuni seems to have overcome his physical challenges that saw him sit out the May tournament, and ranked at M16, he’s going to do a lot of damage to the bottom edge of the banzuke.

Daiamami vs Ishiura – The scheduling team flip the pattern and match up the 1-3 crew now, with Ishiura having a clear 3-1 career advantage over Daiamami. I think back to that May 2018 kirikaeshi that Ishiura delivered to take the match on day 6, and hoping maybe we can see something like that again today.

Chiyonoo vs Kagayaki – After 4 straight make-koshi tournaments, I am starting to have hope that Kagayaki can arrest the slide and finally pull off 8 wins. With a 7-2 career advantage over Chiyonoo in his favor, maybe so? But the last time they met, Chiyonoo won – but that was 2017!

Ura vs Kotonowaka – First ever match for these two, and I hope that Ura has debugged whatever went haywire on day 4 and can fight with some kind of plan today. Kotonowaka is finally having a good basho start, after two straight bad starts leading to make-koshi.
[Kotonowaka 3-1] Shikona: 琴ノ若 | Heya: Sadogatake | Hometown: Chiba | Size: 188 cm 166 kg

Kaisei vs Chiyomaru – A battle of mega-fauna, it’s going to be bulk on bulk in a battle to see who gets to eat the last of the chanko today. They have a 4-4 career record, and they have traded wins every other basho. So it would seem that it’s Kaisei’s turn to win one.

Tochinoshin vs Terutsuyoshi – I am not sure if Tochinoshin is going to be able to score even a single win in July, and that would be a really sad mark for a remarkable rikishi who battled a crippling injury to return and rise to the rank of Ozeki. He has a 1-3 career record against Terutsuyoshi, but Terutsuyoshi is likewise struggling this basho, so maybe Tochinoshin can pick up his first white star today.

Tamawashi vs Aoiyama – Tamawashi seems to be completely comfortable in his sumo right now, and ranked all the way down at Maegashira 10, he’s lethal. He has a 14 match career history against Aoiyama, with a 6-8 deficit. But to me, I think Aoiyama is hurt, and only fighting at about 70% of his capabilities, so I give a clear advantage to Tamawashi.

Takarafuji vs Shimanoumi – The last 2 matches have seen Takarafuji get his sumo in order, and really work to start the match by shutting down his opponent’s offense. If he can keep that rolling, I think he’s a good candidate for a long overdue kachi-koshi. Both men start the day with 2-2 records.

Hidenoumi vs Chiyoshoma – Another match between 2-2 records, I really like how technical Chiyoshoma has become, and I would love to see him end the tournament with at least 8 wins. His record against Hidenoumi is 6-5, so it should be an even match today.

Myogiryu vs Hoshoryu – I credit Hoshoryu’s 3-1 score going into day 5 to some outstanding sumo instincts. It’s clear he has a large amount of natural talent, and has worked very hard to turn that into effective sumo. Myogiryu continues to struggle, and has 4 make-koshi out of the last 5 tournaments.

Okinoumi vs Kiribayama – Back to a pairing on the 3-1 theme, I like how Okinoumi is moving right now, and he is ranked low enough that he should be the favorite for most of his matches. I see this contest as Okinoumi at the lower end of his natural rank range against Kiribayama, who is toward the upper end of his current natural rank range. A great chance for Kiribayama to pick up experience.

Onosho vs Chiyotairyu – Both of those very competent rikishi are having bad starts to Nagoya. But I would say that Chiyotairyu may be doing slightly worse. Chiyotairyu seems to be resulting to a big opening blast followed by a pull, and everyone knows it, and has found a way to blunt that. Onosho seems to be having problems getting any real offense going, and has only a single win. Both men are 1-3.

Takanosho vs Kotoeko – Takanosho has more or less completed his tour of the named ranks, and can finally try to work his way toward 8 wins and try to begin the journey back to san’yaku. At 0-4, the biggest challenge will likely be damage to his fighting spirit. He and Kotoeko have a 2-2 career record.

Wakatakakage vs Daieisho – Daieisho has faced all the Ozeki, and Hakuho, so maybe he can start to start working toward 8. He needs to keep Wakatakakage away from his belt, and just open hard with the oshi attack and never let up off the throttle.

Endo vs Mitakeumi – Endo almost always opens with an attempt at a mawashi grab, and I think that Mitakeumi is a tough man to grab from the front, given his girth. So the sooner Endo gets into an oshi-fight or somehow gets to the side, the better his chances will be for a win. But it is somewhat unlikely, as Mitakeumi holds a 10-6 career advantage.

Takayasu vs Meisei – Takayasu seems to have come back from his 2 day kyujo in good condition, and he has certainly looked strong and stable against Ichinojo and Endo. Meisei is maybe a level of intensity lower than those two right now, so I think Takayasu has a fair chance at expanding his 3-2 career advantage.

Terunofuji vs Hokutofuji – Oh my, firstly Terunofuji has to be the fan favorite for this match, but Hokutofuji’s duel-mode sumo leaves this one in the “very unpredictable” territory. Terunofuji needs to find a way to limit Hokutofuji’s mobility, and a hearty double arm bar is the best bet for that.

Shodai vs Tobizaru – Perhaps the only rikishi more ridiculous than Shodai this July is Tobizaru. Tobizaru will bring speed an over-active lateral motion, and Shodai will bring bulk and power. So far Tobizaru has yet to defeat Shodai even once, and I don’t see that changing today.

Hakuho vs Ichinojo – I think this match is already lost for Ichinojo, as Hakuho seems to live rent free in the Boulder’s head. It’s seldom that you see Ichinojo put in much of a fight against Hakuho (12-3 advantage for Hakuho), and we may not see any sign of that today.