By the end of Match Day 3, the list of undefeated wrestlers in Jonokuchi was filtered to four. The first bout I will share with you was by far the best of the four. It was a very competitive bout between Masutani and Wakayahara.
Masutani’s debut tournament was in Kyushu where he came up short with three wins and four losses. Interesting factoid: of the wrestlers who went on to be Ozeki, the vast majority spent only one basho here. However, two wrestlers had makekoshi for their first tournament, required a second tournament, and went on to have illustrious (legendary?) careers: Hakuho, and Kaio.
Masutani put in a great effort here, fighting for everything on the edge to stay in. This is the kind of resilience I’d love to see from certain Makuuchi wrestlers. Unfortunately for Masutani, Wakayahara was just too strong and finally ends the match with a great throw. With the win, Wakayahara is 3-0. In his two year career, Wakayahara has managed one kachi-koshi. I believe that will change soon. Gambare!
The final three bouts were rather one-sided affairs but they should set up some interesting bouts in the coming match days. Chiyotaiko overpowered Koga, forcing him back onto his butt. Next up, Aoifuji swept Kinseiryu to the side at the tachiai. Lastly, Nakashima forced Tanimoto over the edge. If I were scheduling the next Match Day, I’d pair Nakashima with Wakayahara and Aoifuji against Chiyotaiko…but expect some bouts between 3-0 and 2-1 wrestlers, with Nakashima battling undefeated Jonidan contenders.
Due to the scheduling of Aoifuji on Day 5, I had to wait for today’s bouts to give you the Match Day 2 highlights. And today, I’m going to begin with a wrestler who will not contend for the yusho but certainly did a number on his opponent. Urutora is a slight wrestler from Shikihide-beya who, in his 10+ year career, is usually in Jonokuchi — if he’s actually on the banzuke. This tournament he’s at the top of the division and on this particular match day he’s visiting Jonidan. He didn’t henka but moved swiftly to the right, pulling on Wakafujioka’s arm until he was directly behind. Urutora then tried to press forward for an okuridashi but when Wakafujioka tried to escape to the side, Urutora helped his opponent fall to the clay. With the finishing throw, it became an okurinage.
Hakuho has used this kimarite once. Fukuoka, 2010. In a playoff against Toyonoshima. Enjoy. Thank you, Jason. It’s so long ago the YouTube video is…a square!
So, let’s move to the yusho race. There was one bout of undefeated wrestlers on Tuesday: Wakayahara vs Koga. Koga nearly pays the price early for being a bit too low at the tachiai but he pushes through for an entertaining, competitive grapple. However, Wakayahara worked Koga to the edge and eventually musters the strength to throw him off the dohyo.
Wednesday’s action started off with rookie Masakifuji against Chiyotaiko, a Jonidan regular who seems to prefer a grapple but has been able to win pusher-thruster battles. Masakifuji didn’t have much of a tachiai, or a game plan. Chiyotaiko shoved him backwards to the tawara but the young judoka was pitched way too far forward and fell as soon as Chiyotaiko let up.
Next up we’ve got one of our Makushita veterans, Nakashima, against Kotetsu, a youngster who should probably be back up in Sandanme. Kotetsu locked in immediately on Nakashima’s belt, forcing a long grapple that descended into a lean-fest as both behemoths tried to catch their breath. As they plodded around the dohyo, Nakashima eventually capitalized on his better position, forcing Kotetsu to step out.
Our other Makushita veteran, Tochihayate faced Tanimoto. Tanimoto joined last year in the same maezumo class as Fujiseiun and Osanai but got hurt in September. The younger Tanimoto weathered Tochihayate’s thrusts and scored an impressive win. With such intense competition down here in the bottom division, Tanimoto might end up being one of the finalists.
Lastly, Aoifuji gets scolded by Sawaisamu for shuffling his feet too much (“Ashi mada!”) but then proceeds to shuffle Sawaisamu off the dohyo. What does this say about his yusho chances? Not much. It’s Sawaisamu, after all. That’s Aoifuji’s benefit of being the last guy on the banzuke. You face rather weak opponents.
See you tomorrow with a wrap up of the maezumo action, followed by continued highlights from the cellar.
Hatsu 2022 starts with two maezumo graduates listed at the bottom of the banzuke, Aoifuji and Masakifuji, both from Isegahama-beya. Aoifuji is fresh out of high school, where he had some success in his high school’s sumo club.Masakifuji’s judo experience will also give him a leg up on competitors in Jonokuchi. There is actually another Isegahama recruit from early 2020, Hoshinofuji, who will finally see competitive action after injury kyujo dropped him back off the banzuke. While I wouldn’t give him much hope of the yusho, it will be interesting to see how he performs. As they’re stablemates, these three will not be able to face each other unless they meet for a yusho showdown. But, who else could be a plausible, early yusho candidate?
By process of elimination, I’ve narrowed the list to these additional two: Tochihayate (Kasugano) and Nakashima (Musashigawa). Both combatants reached Makushita earlier in their careers before injuries took their toll, dropping them into Jonokuchi. The skills, experience and the strength will still be there. Otherwise, the rest of the division is a motley bunch of youngsters who have yet to escape the division or long-term Jonidan/Jonokuchi veterans.
The Highlights
The video starts with the first two fights of Hatsu 2022, so I didn’t edit it out. I wanted to give a bit of the ambiance for those of you who may not have experienced sumo in person. The early bouts are great with the singing yobidashi, the calls from the young gyoji, and after nearly two years of no early crowds it was a bit of a jolt for me to hear applause from fans.
The Abema coverage is also nice because we get to learn a bit more about who the yobidashi and gyoji are. Takeru is the yobidashi who starts things out for us. He joined the sumo world in 2020, just as the Covid pandemic was probably at its worst. He wanted to be a wrestler but because he’s too small, he joined the ranks of the yobidashi. Then, we’ve got Shikimori Tomokimi as our gyoji. He was a member of his high school’s sumo club but also went with the alternative career path of gyoji. For more detail on the calls, Herouth’s great article provides excellent background.
Masakifuji drew Sawaisamu for his first Grand Sumo bout and started out with an easy force out win. Musashigawa veteran Nakashima followed up with a dominant win over the much smaller Kinseiryu. Fast forward to the second day and Aoifuji fought Fukuminato.
How can you tell it’s the second day? If you read the article from Herouth above, you’ll notice that for the first two bouts, the yobidashi comes in from the right, walks left, and sings the East first (Higa-i-shi, Sawai-samu). However, on Day Two, he comes in from the left, walks to the right, and sings the West side first (Ni-i-shi, Fuku-mi-na-to)…after the discreet check of his crib sheet.
Well, Aoifuji put his head down and met Fukuminato firmly and then pulled, forcing Fukuminato forward. The final shove from the back made for the okuridashi kimarite. My question, would it have been hikiotoshi if not for the final shove? Lastly, we’ve got a good tussle between Tairikuyama vs Tochihayate. Tochihayate prevailed, slapping to keep Tairikuyama back and off his belt, but frequently pitched forward, awkwardly, in pursuit. As the two danced around the ring, Tairikuyama got a bit too close to the edge and Tochihayate thrust forward, along with Tairikuyama’s own momentum, knocking his opponent out for the oshidashi win.
Just for fun
I have also included a few great bouts from the first match day’s action. Though these competitors will likely not be in the yusho race, I found the effort they put forward excellent. First up, we’ve got Koga over Itakozakura with a nice switcheroo on the tawara. Then, a real slapfest between Kirinohana and Daitensho. Unfortunately, Kirinohana slipped and touched with his knee. Both bouts with quite the appreciation from the fans in attendance.
Byakuen followed up with a nail-biter against Daitenshin but his foot went out before he could force Daitenshin out. I will spare you from Takemaru nearly breaking Urutora in half. Lastly, Kato is really progressing. He also seems a bit bigger. While he lost to a nice throw by Wakayahara, he was in this bout with much more enthusiasm than in the past. I’ve got hopes that both men will finally move forward and earn promotion this tournament. Hakkeyoi!