Dear lord, what a mess. As previewed last night, the yusho race was a chaotic jumble, but with the results of day 8 in the books, it’s actually somewhat worse now. A few years ago, we worried that the top division was starting to look more like Juryo, where nobody was really dominant, and everyone kind of milled about having sumo matches and winning a few here and there. I think it may have been Josh who described it first. Sometimes when you see the possibility of something stupid, people use a bit of hyperbole as a warning against trying the stupid thing out. Well, here we are.

The two guys was 1 loss picked up their second loss, several of the rikishi with 2 losses picked up their third, and the whole assembly has failed to differentiate itself from the funnel by the end of day 8. This could in fact end up with a multiple way 10-5 yusho playoff on the final day. It may be kind of exciting to watch, but its really bad for sumo.

How did it get to this? We have an injured Yokozuna, and a moribund Ozeki corps. Out of the 4 of them, only two have winning records, and neither winning record is strong. I joked earlier in the basho about angry old men faxing hate notes to the NSK, but if you want to hear the Yokozuna Deliberation Council get spun up, just let things continue as they are going now.

Highlight Matches

Kotokuzan defeats Hidenoumi – Kotokuzan finally picks up his first win, which was a bit of a surprise. I think a middling Juryo rikishi is probably the right opponent for this poor fellow, and he will do much better there. Soon enough. He improves to 1-7.

Chiyotairyu defeats Azumaryu – Chiyotairyu did work on the traditional formula of “Stand him up and throw him down”, but the part where he took Azumaryu down was a bit more exotic than his normal form. Placing a left arm around Azumaryu’s waist, it was a mad dance across the dohyo with Azumaryu landing outside the bales. Chiyotairyu improves to 5-3 with five straight wins.

Meisei defeats Midorifuji – First in our category of “What the hell was that?” is this match. Reasonable tachiai, then Midorifuji leaps to the side and tries for a some kind of slap down, completely misses any part of Meisei’s body, and pancakes himself to the clay. Kimarite was assigned as “tsukite”, a non winning move. Both end the day in the middle of the funnel at 4-4.

Yutakayama defeats Myogiryu – Yutakayama refuses to drop out of the bottle edge of the funnel, on to the make-koshi track, with a win today. Yutakayama showed some really solid foot work today, and it kept him in the match. He was able to get Myogiryu turned to the side, and then walked him out from behind. Yutakayama improves to 3-5.

Ichiyamamoto defeats Sadanoumi – Ichiyamamoto knocks Sadanoumi out of the lead. He delivers a strong tachiai, and begins his thrusting attack. Sadanoumi pays off as he is able to get to the side of, and behind Ichiyamamoto, and works to push him out from behind. But somehow Ichiyamamoto reaches around and slaps him out of the ring. Crazy sloppy sumo, but brilliant at the same time. Mark this as another in the “What the hell was that?” group. Both end the day at 6-2.

Nishikigi defeats Kagayaki – Kagayaki had the offense, the body position and the foot work here today. But he was not able to keep his balance at the edge when Nishikigi slapped him to the side, and he toppled out of the ring. Nishikigi improves to 4-4 and remains in the funnel.

Kotoshoho defeats Oho – Oho gave it a good try today, but Kotoshoho kept his balance, kept centered and endured Oho’s early attacks. As well as Oho was doing, he could not find enough power to get Kotoshoho out or down. Kotoshoho found a moment where Oho’s feet were poorly placed, and swung him around, sending him out of the ring. Kotoshoho improves to 5-3.

Shimanoumi defeats Terutsuyoshi – Shimanoumi did a great job of shutting down every attack attempt that Terutsuyoshi employed. After stalemating at the center of the ring, Shimanoumi advanced and drove Terutsuyoshi from the ring. Shimanoumi improves to 4-4.

Chiyoshoma defeats Takarafuji – Takarafuji was able to set up and execute his “Defend and extend” brand of sumo, but it was still a loss for him today. He has a perfect 0-8 make-koshi at this point, and its frankly a bit depressing. It was an excellent endurance battle, and I gave Takarafuji high marks for keeping the sumo on his terms for that long. Chiyoshoma now 4-4, in the middle of the funnel.

Okinoumi defeats Kotoeko – After a flurry of grip changes following the tachiai, the two locked up chest to chest in the middle of the ring. Okinoumi used the moment to consolidate his grip with his left, then advanced and attempted a uwatenage, which took Kotoeko out of the ring. Both finish 4-4 are are inducted into the funnel.

Ura defeats Tochinoshin – Tochinoshin did not reach for his left hand outside grip at the tachiai, instead focusing on setting up a left hand nodowa, perhaps trying to keep Ura back. It was pretty clear Ura was setting up and under shoulder swing down, and Tochinoshin rushed to push Ura out before he could complete the motion. He did not make it, and hit the deck before Ura tumbled off the dohyo. The win improves Ura to 5-3.

Wakamotoharu defeats Aoiyama – Aoiyama put all of his chips on a slap / pull down as his second step, and he never got that far. With Aoiyama’s chest wide open, Wakamotoharu attacked center mass, and drove Aoiyama from the ring. Great, efficient and effective sumo from Wakamotoharu, dropping Aoiyama out of the lead, and elevating his score to 5-3.

Tamawashi defeats Tobizaru – Superior focus and concentration by Tamawashi today was the key to this win. He did not worry about what kind of crazy stuff Tobizaru might produce, he found his mark at the top of Tobizaru’s chest, and just went to work. Sumo’s flying monkey could not hold ground under that attack, and was quickly sent back out of the east side from whence he came. Tamawashi improves to 6-2 and is, oddly enough, now a co-leader.

Kiribayama defeats Hokutofuji – Kiribayama affirms Hokutofuji make-koshi track by attacking strongly into a Hokutofuji pulling attempt at the second step. A rapid oshidashi, and Kiribayama is 5-3.

Kotonowaka defeats Wakatakakage – Well, it was high time for another WTF moment. Wakatakakage was fighting well, he had superior body position, and was in charge of this match. He surged forward to take Wakatakakage out of the ring. But as Kotonowaka is spread-eagle, toppling forward, somehow that right hand mawashi grip provides just enough leverage to swing Wakatakakage out before Kotonowaka can hit the clay. Ok, not sure what is going on here, but that was odd. Kotonowaka goes to 4-4, and is part of the funnel.

Abi defeats Takayasu – Much love for Takayasu, I have been a fan for a long time, but he just can’t compete at this level any more. Sure he can mount the dohyo and look large and burly, but Abi completely dominated him today. In fact Abi has won every match since he came back from his suspension. Abi improves to 5-3.

Mitakeumi defeats Endo – Endo was so low at the tachiai, I would guess he was counting grains of sand on the dohyo. When presented with a low flying Endo, why not just crush him down to the clay? Mitakeumi did, and picked up his 4th win.

Takakeisho defeats Daieisho – Takakeisho was firing hard at center-mass, but Daieisho was able to get his feet on the bales, and rather than try to power through that, he chose to pull Daieisho forward. Risky move, as Daieisho almost kept him feet, but a well placed push downward on Daieisho’s shoulder sent him to the clay, and both men end the day 5-3.

Shodai defeats Hoshoryu – It it was “What the hell was that?” day, you know Shodai had to play his part. The real Shodai was on the clay today, and completely overwhelmed Hoshoryu. Well, at least until they got to the edge of the ring. Watching the replay, it was not clear that Shodai did not touch down and out first. Probably should have been a monoii, but they never called it. At least Shodai could get a second win, improving to 2-6.

Takanosho defeats Terunofuji – Terunofuji’s defense failed, as he let Takanosho get a solid grip and advance strongly against the Yokozuna. Terunofuji attempted a rescue throw, but his foot had already stepped on the janome outside of the ring, and it’s kinboshi time for Takanosho, as he improves to a co-lead spot with 6-2.

Welcome to nakabi! The middle day of the basho. This Natsu feels very odd to me, its as if I am still waiting for the real fight to get started. Maybe its because the Ozeki and most of the san’yaku are having such a terrible time of it, I am wondering when practice is over and when honbasho gets started. But not only has it started, we are now half way through. I am going to indulge myself just a tad – there is only one Ozeki right now with a winning record: Takakeisho (4-3). Everyone else is still trying to figure out how to walk and talk on the cell phone at the same time. By the way, don’t try that in Tokyo.

Nakabi is always my favorite day of the basho. It’s been going on long enough, everyone should be in as close to fighting form as they can manage, none of the big questions are really resolved yet, and everyone has to show up and put forth an effort. Will we get a mad cap stomping good day of sumo? Maybe so. But as it is nakabi, we take our first look at the leader board.

Natsu Leaderboard

It is an odd basho indeed, as the “Hunt Group” overlaps the funnel. normally by the middle of the basho, you have sorted folks into a “Yusho track”, a “Darwin track”, and a “Barge of the damned” track. But with us having a pair of mid-Maegashira with 1 loss leading right now, the leader board has about 12 rikishi at the high side of the funnel as part of the leader board. The schedulers have some ideas about getting this sorted out, as we will see today.

Leaders: Aoiyama, Sadanoumi
Chasers: Terunofuji, Hoshoryu, Daieisho, Tamawashi, Takanosho, Tobizaru, Ichiyamamoto
Hunt Group: Too numerous to list

8 matches remain

What We Are Watching Day 8

Kotokuzan vs Hidenoumi – Today it’s Hidenoumi’s turn to visit the top division, and I would guess he will hand Kotokuzan his make-koshi and his return ticket to Juryo. What oh what happened to this guy? I just hope he can regroup and give it another try soon. This is the first time these two have fought, but given Kotokuzan’s sumo this May, it won’t be too much of a contest.

Chiyotairyu vs Azumaryu – Funnel match, the winner will be positioned to exit the funnel and join the yusho track should they win again tomorrow. Of course the schedulers want to make sure that never happens. So I give Chiyotairyu and edge here, as he is on a 4 match winning streak, and seems to have the “stand them up, slap them down” combo ready at a moment’s notice.

Midorifuji vs Meisei – First time match, both are in the funnel group. Ideally to keep them both in the funnel, Meisei will pick up his 4th win today to send them both to 4-4 for Monday. As far as Meisei, he’s already exceeded his terrible 1-14 result from Osaka.

Myogiryu vs Yutakayama – Yutakayama is probably in the “damned” group as of today, but a loss to Myogiryu would likely seal his fate. Myogiryu has a 4-2 career advantage, and has won 2 of his last 3 matches.

Ichiyamamoto vs Sadanoumi – Yusho track match, co-leader Sadanoumi. takes on chaser Ichiyamamoto in their second career match. Sadanoumi’s advantage is speed, but he will need to avoid Ichiyamamoto’s double arm thrust to start the match, or risk never getting his feet set to attack.

Kagayaki vs Nishikigi – Funnel track match, both of them are 3-4 to start today, and the loser will drop into the “damned” group to slog it out to minimize their make-koshi. Kagayaki has a 9-7 narrow career advantage, but at this point I think he should just get a big wide make-koshi and see if the banzuke kami can save him yet again.

Kotoshoho vs Oho – I really want Kotoshoho to prevail in this funnel track match, although it would work best for the funnel for the win to go to Oho, causing them both to be 4-4 at the end of the day. Kotoshoho has won his last 2, and I have to hope he’s got his sumo sorted out.

Shimanoumi vs Terutsuyoshi – Shimanoumi has a 11-4 career advantage, and needs a win today to keep himself in the middle of the funnel. But I honestly think its about Terutsuyoshi had a hot streak, and I would be overjoyed to see him put Shimanoumi on the clay today.

Takarafuji vs Chiyoshoma – Well, unless something really odd happens, Chiyoshoma will deliver the 8th loss to struggling Takarafuji. I guess it’s time to ask lksumo just how possible it is that dear Takarafuji might be demoted to Jury if he can’t find any wins in the next week.

Okinoumi vs Kotoeko – Another funnel track match, Okinoumi at 3-4 has a 4-2 career advantage over 4-3 Kotoeko. An Okinoumi win would put them both at that much hoped for 4-4 result, locking them into the funnel for the following 2 days.

Ura vs Tochinoshin – High interest match here, as I expect Ura to catch Tochinoshin about 2 seconds before Tochinoshin captures Ura with that left hand outside grip. What happens after that initial merge might be wild and unpredictable. Both are 4-3, so the loser gets pushed back into the middle of the funnel, and the winner has a chance to escape with a win on Monday.

Aoiyama vs Wakamotoharu – Yusho race impacting match, Wakamotoharu is in the funnel group, but he is being given a chance to knock Aoiyama down with a second loss. They have two prior matches, and it comes as no surprise that Aoiyama won his by hatakikomi. Advice to Wakamotoharu, mind your balance sir!

Tobizaru vs Tamawashi – A yusho track match, one of these me will be pushed back to the funnel group with a loss today. Tobizaru has won their 2 prior meetings, but I have to give extra consideration to Tamawashi, who has been fighting very well this May. Tobizaru will try to stay mobile and just out of range of Tamawashi’s oshi-zumo.

Kiribayama vs Hokutofuji – I think this match exists to give Kiribayama a chance to climb out of the funnel group. But then again, someone had to fight Hokutofuji. Kiribayama has a 2-1 career record against him, and Hokutofuji has been pretty rough this may at 2-5, but did win over hapless Shodai on day 7.

Wakatakakage vs Kotonowaka – I am standing by my prediction of a Wakatakakage make-koshi this time out. This is a funnel match, and the winner will join the 4-4 group at the center of the funnel on Monday, and the loser will likely join the “damned” track. Wakatakakage has won all 4 of their prior matches, so chances are high that he will pick up his 4th win today.

Takayasu vs Abi – Takayasu is clearly on a make-koshi track right now, but has a chance to claw his way up into the funnel with a win over Abi. An Abi loss would send him into the 4-4 crowd on Monday, and ensure he was part of the cohort being funneled toward a 7-7 score to start day 15. Takayasu has a narrow 4-3 career advantage.

Mitakeumi vs Endo – Mitakeumi, what the hell? This is a funnel track match, both are 3-4. Mitakeumi can win today (he has a 12-7 career advantage) and stay with the funnel group at 4-4 for Monday, or he can just decided to join the track headed for make-koshi and prepare for kadoban in front of the home town crowd in July. Grim.

Daieisho vs Takakeisho – Besties Battle Bigly, these two have a 19 match career history with Takakeisho leading 12-7. Daieisho at 5-2 is part of the yusho track, but a loss today would pull him down into the funnel track. High stakes for a pair of good friends with offense heavy sumo.

Hoshoryu vs Shodai – Hoshoryu has a 4-1 career advantage over Shodai, who is (no kidding) 1-6 to start the day. He is just one win ahead of hapless Takarafuji and Juryo bound Kotokuzan. This guy needs an overhaul. Maybe his body, maybe his sumo, can’t really tell right now, but he’s not even close to Ozeki sumo right now.

Terunofuji vs Takanosho – Both are 5-2, and I would ideally like to see both Aoiyama and Sadanoumi pick up losses today, and Terunofuji win to ensure he is part of the group that is driving toward the yusho. I think he’s pretty banged up right now, but soldiering on because of his rank and his dedication to sumo. Given the chaos in the yusho race, he may as well be the one to take the cup next Sunday.

I am happy to note that the intensity of the sumo continues to move a notch higher with each passing day. The work to begin a “Darwin Funnel” worked a treat, and a unthinkable 22 rikishi are 3-4 or 4-3 at the end of day 7. The goal now is to have those 22 remain locked in battle against each other for the next 7 days to deliver as many of them to 7-7 scores at the end of next Saturday, setting up a roster of “Darwin Matches” to decide a winning or losing record for each.

The Ozeki continue to be a worry, and it’s pretty much a given now that at least two of them are likely to end up kadoban for Nagoya. Shodai, specifically, is 1-6, and could be make-koshi as early as Monday if he continues to lose each day. With tonight’s day 8 preview, we will take our first look at the Natsu leader board, and right now it’s a real head scratcher, with two guys from the middle third of the banzuke in command of the race.

Highlight Matches

Chiyomaru defeats Kagayaki – For this match, Kagayaki did not get the inside lane for his hands, or really very good position at all in the tachiai. As a result, Chiyomaru controlled this match start to finish, and made quick work moving him out of the ring. At Juryo 1, Chiyomaru can likely make it back to the top division with a simple 8 win kachi-koshi. He improves to 5-2.

Oho defeats Yutakayama – Yutakayama has now lost 5 in a row. Injury? Loss of focus? Contagious malaise that he picked up from training with Shodai? Today’s match against Oho turned into a genuine brawl, with these guys trading blows to the face, and they kept dialing up the power. After each gave the other a proper thumping, they collapsed chest to chest to hug it out. Oho proved to have the deeper reserve of stamina, the win taking him to 3-4.

Meisei defeats Kotokuzan – Meisei picks up his 3rd win, but it was against winless Kotokuzan, who is now 0-7. Meisei was strong, focused and delivered maximum force center mass. Meisei now 3-4.

Chiyotairyu defeats Ichiyamamoto – Ichiyamamoto started early with a double arm thrust, that left him too far forward. Chiyotairyu read it well, and immediately gave Ichiyamamoto a powerful tug, to send him to the clay. Chiyotairyu improves to 4-3.

Midorifuji defeats Myogiryu – Myogiryu opened with a thunderous forearm.. push? As he was marching forward, Midorifuji ducked behind and sent him off the dohyo with an uwatedashinage. Both end the day at 4-3, and are very much in the funnel to start day 8.

Sadanoumi defeats Aoiyama – The big match, where the last undefeated rikishi put his lead on the line. No really, these guys are Maegashira 11 and 12 respectively, and when we take our first look at the yusho race to start day 8, they are in the lead. Where it went wrong of Aoiyama was his focus on pulling Sadanoumi down or forward. It gave him ample opportunity to set up for a big push in response, and a well times burst of power sent Aoiyama over the bales for his first loss of Natsu. Both end the day at 6-1.

Azumaryu defeats Nishikigi – Both had solid position chest to chest following the tachiai, but Azumaryu was set up a bit better, and slowly worked his way to set up the uwate hold, which he eventually consolidated. From there it was a pivot to send Nishikigi hopping over the tawara, and an Azumaryu win to improve to 4-3.

Chiyoshoma defeats Shimanoumi – Chiyoshoma’s win knocks both rikishi back into the funnel for Sunday. This match was all Chiyoshoma, who took control at the tachiai, and immediately walked Shimanoumi back for a quick win. Both end the day 3-4.

Tochinoshin defeats Kotoeko – This was a Kotoeko match until Tochinoshin found his left hand outside grip. Kotoeko was pouring on a lot of forward power, so Tochinoshin did not try to trap him and set up the lift, he simply used that left hand to swing Kotoeko around and into the front row cushions. Both end the day at 4-3 and are in the funnel.

Okinoumi defeats Takarafuji – Grim times for Takarafuji, he has yet to win a single match, and is 0-7 after today. Takarafuji actually showed some strong offense today, but fell to a side step / slap down combo at the bales moments before he could push Okinoumi out. Okinoumi improves to 3-4.

Kotoshoho defeats Wakamotoharu – Yeah, he lost today, but when Wakamotoharu can get into yotsu form during a match, he is really surprisingly good. His challenge today was that his hips were too high, and he let Kotoshoho attack from underneath. Wakamotoharu did rally, and the final step saw both men crash out of the dohyo together. A monoii was called, and the win went to Kotoshoho. Both end the day 4-3.

Ura defeats Terutsuyoshi – An almost comical battle of the super low, they fought nearly bent double at times. Ura was able to connect and transmit power to Terutsuyoshi, and eventually worked him out of the ring with an oshidashi. Ura improves to 4-3.

Takanosho defeats Tobizaru – Tobizaru misses out on his chance to once again share the lead by letting Takanosho get underneath, and not being able to set his feet for defense. Maybe there was a pull in there too. Takanosho has now won 4 in a row, and finishes the day 5-2.

Takayasu defeats Kotonowaka – Takayasu gets his second win of the basho, he gets a clear path to Kotonowaka’s chest, and just thrusts repeatedly at center-mass. Kotonowaka has no chance to defend, and gets moved back, then out. Takayasu improves to 2-5.

Hoshoryu defeats Abi – An Abi yotsu match? I like the variety, yes indeed! But Hoshoryu’s got the better grip, and is in lower. So this is all Hoshoryu, and he makes fairly quick work of Abi. The win takes Hoshoryu to 5-2 going into the middle day of the basho.

Kiribayama defeats Wakatakakage – Kiribayama continues to have Wakatakakage’s number, dropping him to the clay in the second volley with a hatakikomi. Not sure if the Kiribayama matta was part of the set up for that combo, but it worked a treat. Kiribayama advances to 4-3, both remain in the funnel.

Takakeisho defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi misses out on his chance to co-own the lead going into day 8 when he catches Takakeisho’s second combo full in the chest. There is a nice attempt at a head and neck combo from Tamawashi, but it fails to really find it’s mark. Takakeisho picks up a much needed win to improve to 4-3.

Hokutofuji defeats Shodai – Its been a while since we saw Hokutofuji’s handshake tachiai, and it went straight into a right hand nodowa. Shodai, who was never low at the tachiai, then found himself raised up, then off balance, then pushed out from the size. Another day of crummy sumo from Shodai, I just have to wonder what is happening with the guy. Hokutofuji advances to 2-5.

Daieisho defeats Mitakeumi – Mitakeumi could not prevent Daieisho’s mega-thrust attack low and inside. He was able to get a couple of blocks up, but once he conceded the initiative to Daieisho, it was only going to end one way. Daieisho ends the day 5-2.

Terunofuji defeats Endo – Big, strong opening move from Endo. For all intents, he had Terunofuji a step away from losing, but the Yokozuna rallied, and battled back to the center of the dohyo. He caught Endo with poor body position, and dropped him to the clay. A close one for Terunofuji, but it still counts as a win. Terunofuji now 5-2.

We enter the middle weekend with a most unusual circumstance. None of the named rank rikishi are leading the scoreboard. In fact, its only Terunofuji who shows up on the leader board at 2 wins behind Aoiyama at 6-0. Sure, we will take our first look at the leaderboard tomorrow on the preview of day 8, but where is this thing going? Good question, I think we are going to have at least 2 kadoban Ozeki, and we may have a Yokozuna kyujo before next Wednesday. I know the schedulers are going to try and get the lower ranked guys with high scores to face some tougher opponents, but to be hones there are very few tough opponents to feed them to right now.

Sumo has hit a bit of an entropy point, it seems, and where it is heading right now is anyone’s guess. Even the great hope Wakatakakage is struggling right now. So maybe we end this in a week and nothing will make sense, and we will need to wait for Nagoya to sort this all out.

What We Are Watching Day 7

Chiyomaru vs Kagayaki – With banzuke out of balance, it’s time for us to welcome visitors from Juryo, and who better to have be our first visitor than Chiyomaru? Yes, the great spheroid shall mount the dohyo today to face off against Kagayaki. They have a pretty even record, and if Chiyomaru can reach his 8 wins, we will likely see him back in the top division.

Oho vs Yutakayama – After winning his first two matches, Yutakayama has lost the following four. So now he comes up against Oho, who has a matching 2-4 record, but has never lost to Yutakayama. I would guess, given how far both are drifting toward make-koshi, that they are going to put a lot of effort into this fight.

Kotokuzan vs Meisei – Kotokuzan still has yet to find his first win, and he has a first ever match against hapless Meisei. I personally think Kotokuzan may be a lost cause for now, but I would like to see Meisei get at least enough wins to keep him in the top division for Nagoya in July.

Chiyotairyu vs Ichiyamamoto – After a cold 0-3 start, Chiyotairyu has won his last three, and it’s using a formula of “stand them up, knock them down”, and it has worked quite well. He has, however, never beaten Ichiyamamoto. Might he do that today? Ichiyamamoto is 5-1, and seems to be fighting his best right now. Could be fireworks today.

Myogiryu vs Midorifuji – We get a rocking good funnel battle next, with Midorifuji part of the 3-3 funnel group, and Myogiryu at 4-2 just at the high side of the funnel. In terms of maximizing people headed for Darwin matches, the idea outcome wold be a Midorifuji, which is far from certain.

Aoiyama vs Sadanoumi – Basho leader… (no really( Aoiyama gets a chance to knock down one of the men 1 win behind him. Big Dan has a 10-7 career advantage over Sadanoumi, and Aoiyama is fighting as well as he ever has. I am sure that the schedulers know at some time there will be Aoiyama matches against higher rankers, though at this point I am not sure it’s going to make a huge difference. I expect Sadanoumi to have a very narrow chance at the start to get Aoiyama on defense, if he misses that, I expect he’s going to get a lot of V-Twin pain.

Azumaryu vs Nishikigi – Prime Darwin match, both men are 3-3, and regardless of who wins, both will stay within the funnel. They have 13 career matches together, with Azumaryu having won 8 of them in the past. Both will want to go chest to chest, so should be a good fight that is light on the preliminaries and long on the battle hugs.

Shimanoumi vs Chiyoshoma – Chiyoshoma has a 7-3 career advantage, and its seems that there is a desire to have this one be a Chiyoshoma win, which would leave them both at 3-4, at the bottom edge of the funnel. Brutal stuff here, out of the 7 wins, Chiyoshoma has used a nice variety of techniques, where the 3 wins from Shimanoumi are primarily oshi prefixed kimarite.

Tochinoshin vs Kotoeko – I continue to be amazed that Tochinoshin can piece together wins, and is now at 3-3, and fighting well enough that we can picture him with an 8-7 kachi-koshi next Sunday. He has a 5-1 career advantage over Kotoeko, who comes in with a healthy 4-2 score. Look for a big grab from Tochinoshin by the second step.

Takarafuji vs Okinoumi – It’s painful to watch Takarafuji compete now. No wins, no ability to hold a defense, which is the basis of his sumo. So he’s going to fight Okinoumi 2-4 today, and Takarafuji is pretty much training ballast for him, I would expect.

Kotoshoho vs Wakamotoharu – I give Wakamotoharu an advantage here, and it comes down to Wakamotoharu having a clear winning record, at his highest ever rank. Much as I love Kotoshoho’s sumo, I think he’s going to grapple with Wakamotoharu today, and that’s the last choice he gets to make before he decides with step to use to remount the dohyo to bow when the match is over.

Ura vs Terutsuyoshi – Two smaller, agile and inventive rikishi square off – sign me up! They have a 1-1 career score, and there is no real indication which one is going to have an advantage. So Ura will try to use his standoff grab and tug while Terutsuyoshi will try to dive in and grab the mawashi. Could be quite acrobatic, so pre prepared.

Tobizaru vs Takanosho – Tobizaru got a day off yesterday, when Onosho went kyujo, so he should show up rested and ready to fight. He does not have a winning track record against Takanosho (3-6), so he will have his hands full once they launch off the shikiri-sen. A loss today by Tobizaru would likely knock him off the leader board, so I expect him to be well motivated today.

Takayasu vs Kotonowaka – Its really a shame that Takayasu has only been able to win one match so far this May. After a fairly decent showing in March, he’s likely headed for a hard core make-koshi at Natsu. They have only fought twice, and they spit it 1-1. There is no lack of skill on the part of Takayasu, but I think his multitude of injuries have put a hard cap on what he can achieve.

Hoshoryu vs Abi – Now another high interest match. Abi has yet to find a way to beat Hoshoryu in 2 prior attempts, and they both are at 4-2 on the winning side of the funnel. The one who prevails in this match will exit the funnel, the loser will be relegated to fight their way toward a 7-7 day 14 score.

Wakatakakage vs Kiribayama – Both men are at 3-3, and both are square in the middle of the funnel. There is a small 5-3 career advantage in favor of Kiribayama, but for both of these guys they can win on any given day. So this one is “battle on” and I expect possibly the biggest fight of the day. So make sure you are ready for a tough contest.

Tamawashi vs Takakeisho – We are running the real risk of having all 3 Ozeki be kadoban in July. We get an indication of that in this match, when red-hot Tamawashi squares off in an oshi-battle deluxe against the Grand Tadpole. I don’t like Takakeisho’s chances right now, as he seems to be struggling with matches he should be winning during week one. So could be a tough match.

Hokutofuji vs Shodai – Normally, I would say Shodai by a mile, given that he has a 11-2 career lead over Hokutofuji. But they both come into day 7 with matching 1-5 stinky records. The only good news that will come out of this match is that one of these two goobers will get their second win.

Mitakeumi vs Daieisho – I am really pulling for Mitakeumi to win this one, as one of these Ozeki should have a winning record at the end of this tournament. He has a 14-7 career lead over Daieisho, so maybe he can get his sumo together for day 7 and dominate.

Terunofuji vs Endo – Terunofuji comes into this match with a 4-2 record, which is Kakuryu style at this point to be certain. Clearly he is hurt, and struggling each day. Endo is not really been showing his best sumo, but he always rallies for the big matches. Terunofuji holds a narrow 7-5 career advantage over Endo.