Harubasho 2017 (Osaka)

The Osaka basho that takes place in March

Yokozuna Kakuryu Defeats Takayasu

Bruce H Harubasho 2017 (Osaka), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Takayasu (高安), Yokozuna (横綱), Ōzeki (大関)

Takayasu-Down

Kisenosato Undefeated, Sole Leader

There was a generous amount of fantastic sumo action from Day 11, but chief in terms of the yusho race was Kakuryu’s victory over Takayasu, in a hard fought and highly mobile battle. After a strong tachiai, the combatants alternated between thrusting attacks and grappling. Each tried to position the other for throws multiple times, and as is the usual Kakuryu tactic, he played for time rather than overpowering win, waiting for Takayasu to make a mistake. He got his mistake when Takayasu pressed hard to circle right and created momentum for Kakuryu to boost and send him off the edge of the dohyo.

It was fantastic sumo, and it’s the kind of sumo you would expect to see from an Ozeki, which I can only assume will be Takayasu’s title later this year. Now we see if Takayasu is ready to be a champion. In past basho when he was handed a disappointing loss, Takayasu has gone into a losing streak. He faces Harumafuji on day 12, which may be an even greater challenge than Kakuryu.

This leaves Kisenosato the sole leader in the yusho race, and make no mistake that getting him at least one loss is a priority for the schedulers. It will come down to his fellow Yokozuna to achieve that goal, at which point the yusho race could be expanded in the final days.

Haru Day 11 Preview

Bruce H Arawashi (荒鷲), Chiyonokuni (千代の国), Harubasho 2017 (Osaka), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ikioi (勢), Ishiura (石浦), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Takanoiwa (貴ノ岩), Takayasu (高安), Terunofuji (照ノ富士), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Ura (宇良), Yoshikaze (嘉風) , , , , , , ,

Bow-Twirling

Opening The Third Act

The third act of any basho is where dreams are crushed, the heroes are crowned, and legends are made. The 2017 Haru basho has progressed in new an exceptional ways, but with the final 5 days in front of us, it’s time to truly test those who vie for the Emperor’s Cup, and bring about a winner.

First and foremost, of course, is the remarkable performance of Kisenosato and Takayasu. They complete the firs 10 days of Haru undefeated. In fact, they seem to be able to shake of normal threats such as the day 10 Takanoiwa henka, and the several times that Kisenosato allowed his opponent to gain a brief, fleeting advantage. Unless something strange happens, one of these men will take the Yusho on Sunday. That something strange would be both Kisenosato and Takayasu losing at least once. The only rikishi that can catch them is the resurgant Terunofuji, who looms like a menacing storm front, one win behind the leaders. While Tochiozan has been going strong, he would be unlikely be able to beat all / any of the other three sekitori.

That’s not to say that the schedulers are going to let either Takayasu or Kisenosato have an easy road to yusuf. In fact I expect it will be as brutal as they can make it, in spite of the fact that most of the formidable opponents have been defeated already.

The next question, which many of our readers are starting to ask – Kotoshogiku. He needs three more wins to reclaim his Ozeki rank. He has certainly put on a remarkable performance in Osaka, and some would say he has already earned his way back. But those 3 wins are in part down to scheduling. They could have him face easy wins for the last 5 days, or they can have him face spoilers. Ringers include rikishi like Ikioi (who are excellent, but having a bad basho) and spoilers would include rikishi like Yoshikaze, who can flatten anyone on the right day.

Note, unless the leaders drop matches, there is no Chasers group now. Both Kakuryu and Chiyoshoma lost their day 10 bouts, and are now 3 losses off the pace.

Haru Leader board

Leaders – Kisenosato, Takayasu
Hunt Group – Terunofuji, Tochiozan

5 Matches Remain

Matches We Like

Ura vs Kyokushuho – Era is still pushing to get 8 wins, where a loss by Kyokushuho would put him clearly in Make-koshi. They only gave one prior match, which Ura won.

Ishiura vs Kotoyuki – Kotoyuki, who has been a pretty solid rikishi in the past, secured his Make-koshi already, and is going to sink down the banzuke for May. Ishiura is pushing for 3 more wins to hold rank. This will be their first match.

Daishomaru vs Chiyoshoma – Chiyoshoma has been turning in a solid performance this basho, and is one win away from Kachi-koshi. For some reason they sent him down to rough up Maegashira 13 Diashomaru. They two have even split their 4 prior matches.

Chiyonokuni vs Tochiozan – Great test match to see if Tochiozan is strong enough to match higher up the banzuke. Having already secured his Kachi-koshi, the NSK is likely seeing how high they can safely rank him in May. Chiyonokuni has been fighting with strength and skill this March, and needs one more win to secure his rank.

Kaisei vs Hokutofuji – Hokutofuji is a fascinating story. He has yet to have a losing record in any of his tournaments. After a really weak start, it looked like he was going to have to swallow his first Make-koshi. But he has battled back with determination, refusing defeat at every turn. He has a tough path though, requiring 4 wins of his next 5 matches.

Kotoshogiku vs Ikioi – Ikioi is a solid rikishi, but Maegashira 1 is a crappy slot in the banzuke, and it usually leaves the rikishi defeated and demoralized. This should be an easy win for Kotoshogiku, who must win 3 of the next 5 to secure his return to Ozeki. Kotoshogiku has won 7 of their 11 prior matches

Arawashi vs Terunofuji – Roadkill. Terunofuji stays one behind.

Harumafuji vs Mitakeumi – Mitakeumi cannot be discounted, especially when “The Horse” is playing hurt. My gut tells me Harumafuji takes this one, but Mitakeumi puts up a great fight.

Takayasu vs Kakuryu – Crucible day for Takayasu’s yusho hopes. Takayasu has won 5 of the 16 prior matches with Kakuryu, or you can think of it as Kakuryu wins twice for every 1 of Takayasu. Kakuryu is fast, smart and inventive. This will be a tough match for Takayasu.

Yoshikaze vs Kisenosato – Yoshikaze overcame Kakuryu on day 10, and he is no slouch. If he defeats Kisenosato, it would be kinboshi #8, which would time him with Aminishiki for top kinboshi count among active rikishi. But then again, whatever Kami has taken up residence in Kisenosato’s tsuna seem to be indomitable, and it’s possible that 12 men armed with Louisville sluggers would be unable to defeat him.

Haru Day 10 Recap

Bruce H Endo (遠藤), Harubasho 2017 (Osaka), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ishiura (石浦), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Shōdai (正代直也), Takanoiwa (貴ノ岩), Takayasu (高安), Takekaze (豪風), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terunofuji (照ノ富士), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Ura (宇良), Yoshikaze (嘉風) , , , , , ,

Yoshikaze-Kinboshi

Kinboshi #7 For Yoshikaze

A wild and wonderful day of Sumo at Osaka overnight saw no change to the leaderboard, as the top 4 rikishi all won their matches. But there was plenty of drama, and a healthy dose of the unexpected. Because both Kakuryu, Chiyoshoma lost on day 10, there is really no one outside of Terunofuji or Tochiozan who can hope to challenge the unbeaten leaders Kisenosato and Takayasu.

Ura continues to struggle, but has kept an even record and hopes of kachi-koshi alive.

Ishiura seems to be a step ahead of Ura in his adjustment to the world of Makuuchi. Today he showed some amazing strength and balance in overcoming Takakeisho. Every so often he pulls a move that betrays his uncommon power to size ratio, and fans are left wondering “did I just see that”?

Tochiozan’s win over Diashomaru was henka powered, and that’s rather sad given he is one of the leader group. But Diashomaru was off balance at the tachiai, and may have not survived long anyhow. Tochiozan is either having a great streak, or has revived is prior winning ways, we hope he can maintain this going forward into May.

There was a monii in the Aoiyama vs Okinoumi bout, where once again the “dead body” policy played a role. Aoiyama applied a powerful throw which sent Okinoumi flying head-first off the dohyo, but stepped out a fraction of a second before Okinoumi landed. The Shimpan awarded the bout to Okinoumi.

Kotoshogiku keeps hope alive by winning decisively over Takekaze. He needs 3 more wins to regain his Ozeki rank, and at this point I think he may actually be able to do it if the schedulers give him a chance.

Takanoiwa deployed a henka against Takayasu. As Takayasu charged ahead strongly at the tachiai, Takanoiwa leapt to the side. In one of the more impressive moves I have seen in sumo, many hundreds of pound of sumotori came to a screeching halt, maintained balance, pivoted and attacked. With a single blow to the side of Takanoiwa’s head put him on the clay.

Just when I think Shodai is all hype, he gave Terunofuji a big fight, and nearly won. He’s still too high on his tachiai, but yes, he has promise still. Terunofuji continues to impress, and you can scarcely believe it’s the same rikishi who has limped and hobbled throughout the last year of sumo.

Yoshikaze, in my favorite match of the day, completely and utterly overwhelmed Kakuryu. Yoshikaze had control of the bout front the tachiai, and kept pressing the attack. As is frequently the case, Kakuryu was waiting to exploit an off balance move or mistake by Yoshikaze. I just checked with the EDION arena, he’s still waiting. Kinboshi for the mobile combat platform, the berserker Yoshikaze.

It’s no surprise that Tamawashi failed to provide much of a challenge for the apparently unstoppable Kisenosato, who seems destined to close strong in Osaka. Fans are hoping for a pair of 15-0 combatants facing off on the final day for the gusto, but there are still many challenges to overcome before that is a real possiblity.

Endo was not too much work for Harumafuji, who seems to be back in his grove in spite of his ever increasing roster of physical injuries. Harumafuji shows up every day and gives it his all.