Congratulations to Hakuho (13-1) on winning an unfathomable 43rd Emperor’s cup. The Yokozuna’s first basho at that rank was Nagoya 2007, more than 12 years ago. Of the 74 basho at sumo’s highest rank, he missed all or most of 10 with injuries. In the 64 tournaments he finished (or nearly finished this January), Hakuho has 40 yusho, plus 17 jun-yusho (3 of them involving playoff losses). He’s never finished a tournament as Yokozuna with less than double-digit wins, and he won 12 or more in 56 of the 64 basho.
The San’yaku ranks
Three of the four regular slots for Hatsu are now spoken for. We will have East Sekiwake Asanoyama (11-3), appearing once again at a career-high rank. The West Sekiwake rank will be taken over by Takayasu, who will need 10 wins in January to reclaim the rank of Ozeki. Finally, with his victory today, Abi (8-6) assured himself of another basho as the East Komusubi.
That leaves one open regular slot, and 3 contenders. Endo (7-7) is part of the “Darwin bout” crew, and must defeat Kotoyuki (7-7) to hold onto the West Komusubi rank. Daieisho (8-6) is now kachi-koshi at the top maegashira rank, so he would take Endo’s slot if it opens. If Endo wins, we know after Hokutofuji’s promotion last time that a 9-6 record at M1e is enough to force open an extra slot, but we don’t know what would happen if Daieisho lost to Enho (in what seems like a cruel bit of scheduling for the 7-7 pixie) to finish 8-7. Finally, Mitakeumi (6-8) can finish 7-8 by beating Abi. I believe a 7-8 record by a Sekiwake has been guaranteed to lead to only a one-rank demotion to Komusubi, even if this entails creating an extra slot, but it will be interesting to see what transpires. So just like last time, there may be room to argue about where between 2 and 4 the number of Komusubi at Hatsu will fall.
Demotion danger
Despite his victory today, we can now add Daishomaru (5-9) to the list of certain demotions that already included Ichinojo, Wakatakakage, Daishoho, and Nishikigi. Even a victory tomorrow won’t save him, as there is, for once, a glut of promotion candidates in Juryo. Depending on the outcome of tomorrow’s action, this may push Tomokaze all the way down from M3 into the second division after all.
J1e Azumaryu, J2e Tochiozan, and J3e Ikioi, all 10-4, are assured of promotion. The J5 duo of Kaisei and Kiribayama, also 10-4, are in with victories, but losses by them could open the door to J1w Tokushoryu (7-7), J3w Chiyoshoma (8-6), and J7w Kotonowaka (10-4), who all need victories to stake a promotion claim and possibly force down Tomokaze.
We have a short report today. Most matches in the lower divisions are Darwin matches, between rikishi hanging in the 3-3 zone, but we have a few others as well.
Some fantastic sumo today, especially the Terutsuyoshi vs Enho match, and the mad-cap chaos war between Tamawashi and Endo. But the headline is the much expected 43rd yusho for the winningest rikishi in recorded history, the dai-Yokozuna for the ages, Hakuho. I don’t think he’s even close to 100%, but even banged up with a gamey right arm, he’s quite capable of another yusho.
Much as expected, we have a host of rikishi headed for Darwin matches on day 15. This is where two 7-7 men face off, the winner gets the kachi-koshi. In fact we have 7 rikishi in that situation, which is much higher than I have seen in quite some time.
On to the matches!
Day 14 Highlight Matches
Chiyoshoma defeats Daishoho – Chiyoshoma comes to visit the top division…. annd… HENKA! Anyone who was surprised by this should go re-watch a few dozen Chiyoshoma matches.
Takanosho defeats Shimanoumi – Poor tachiai timing, should have been a matta, perhaps. But hey, the gyoji called “hakkeyoi”, so they fight. Takanosho (who was early in the tachiai) claimed the inside lane and never gave up the advantage.
Daishomaru defeats Kotoshogiku – Poor tachiai timing, should have been a matta, perhaps. But hey, the gyoji called “hakkeyoi”, so they fight. Daishomaru was early in the tachiai and was able to get the inside grip with Kotoshogiku at his chest. With that sort of advantage, there is little Kotoshogiku could do. Perhaps Team Gyoji was out kind of late at the pub last night?
Kagayaki defeats Yutakayama – A clean tachiai, thankfully, and Yutakayama goes to work on Kagayaki’s face. But Mr. Fundamentals is intent on attacking Yutakayama center-mass. Yutakayama goes for a nodowa, Kagayaki stays center mass. Yutakayama finds he can’t maintain forward pressure, and Kagayaki shoves him out. Once again, solid sumo fundamentals carries the match for Kagayaki.
Ishiura defeats Sadanoumi – Sadanoumi gets the better of the tachiai, grabbing Ishiura by the arm-pits and lifting. Ishiura gives ground and grapples with great effect, and now has at least partial control over Sadanoumi. Sadanoumi advances, but Ishiura masterfully re-directs his forward motion to the side, and swings him to the clay. Ishiura is kachi-koshi, and Sadanoumi heads to a Darwin match on day 15.
Nishikigi defeats Tsurugisho – I have to wonder what happened to Tsurugisho. This is his 6th consecutive loss, and to hapless Nishikigi no less! Tsurugisho’s balance seems to be shot, so I have to wonder if it’s some injury.
Chiyotairyu defeats Kotoeko – Kotoeko gets the better of the tachiai, but he makes the mistake of giving Chiyotairyu strong pressure to push against. Chiyotairyu advances with gusto and throws in a few thrusts to break Kotoeko’s balance. That’s kachi-koshi for Chiyotairyu.
Enho defeats Terutsuyoshi – Enho picks up win number 7 to advance to the Darwin round after submarining the diminutive Terutsuyoshi. Getting a deep left and shallow right hand grip, Enho gives Terutsuyoshi a ride on the tilt-o-whirl, showing how effective he is, even nearly doubled over.
Chiyomaru defeats Takarafuji – Takarafuji does his best to stalemate Chiyomaru, but there is just too much of Chiyomaru to really contain. When Takarafuji lunges to go chest to chest with Chiyomaru, Chiyomaru turns to the side and guides him to the clay for his 9th win. Nice return to the top division you have going there, Chiyomaru!
Myogiryu defeats Shodai – Shodai drops out of the group 2 behind Hakuho with the loss, but at least we can enjoy that Myogiryu gets sent to a Darwin match for day 15! Shodai was effective at keeping Myogiryu from setting up any kind of planned offense, but Myogiryu was happy to improvise for the win.
Meisei defeats Shohozan – Meisei bravely invites Shohozan to a slap fest, and gives as well as he receives. But he soon realizes that a right hand grip would be better, and tries to swing Shohozan into a throw, which he disrupts. At this point the match gets wild and disorganized, as both rikishi throw whatever they can into the mix. Meisei emerges victorious as Shohozan can’t maintain balance against Meisei’s pull. Meisei advances to a Darwin match on day 15.
Daieisho defeats Onosho – Even clash until Onosho decided to try to pull, and gave up forward pressure on Daieisho. Daieisho reaches his kachi-koshi, and Onosho heads for a day 15 Darwin match.
Kotoyuki defeats Okinoumi – Kotoyuki gets the better of the tachiai, he gets inside Okinoumi’s reach and goes to work with his “Flipper Attack”. Okinoumi has the strength to push back, and advances into Kotoyuki’s attack. The two exchange volleys until Kotoyuki closes in and delivers a might shove to Okinoumi’s neck. Okinoumi is make-koshi, and “The Penguin” heads for his Darwin match on day 15.
Asanoyama defeats Ryuden – Asanoyama secures the jun-yusho, and is clearly working toward an Ozeki bid in January. Ryuden absorbed Asanoyama’s opening gambit, converting it into a solid attempt at a throw, but Asanoyama kept his footing in spite of his poor stance. Asanoyama rallied, and used Ryuden’s left hand grip to swing him around and out for win number 11. With 11 wins, he may force a Sekiwake slot to open for January, if necessary…
Hokutofuji defeats Aoiyama – Hokutofuji is less helter-skelter today, and focuses his energy on Aoiyama’s expansive whishbone region. Although he could not pick up kachi-koshi in his second trip to Komusubi, his sumo was greatly improved over his March visit to san’yaku.
Endo defeats Tamawashi – What a great match. These two threw it all at each other, and when that did not carry the day, they found new energy and kept going. I lost count how many times the match style changed: Yotsu, Throws, Oshi, and around again. At the end it looks like Tamawashi lost balance at a poor moment and Endo applied the yoritaoshi (one of my favorites) for the win. BOTH men advance to Darwin matches on day 15.
Abi defeats Takakeisho – Abi’s superior reach allowed him to land his hands first, and Takakeisho pushed forward to close the gap. Abi adroitly moved to the side and Takakeisho found nothing but clay to meet him. I would call this a damn clever delayed henka, and it worked brilliantly. Did you know this is Abi’s 3rd straight kachi-koshi as Komusubi 1 East?
Hakuho defeats Mitakeumi – And just like that, we have Hakuho yusho 43. Congrats to the boss. Mitakeumi looks completely disrupted at this point, and hits his 8th loss for a make-koshi. The question now is: will he vacate san’yaku entirely?
While in the upper divisions, Makuuchi and Juryo, we normally expect the yusho to be decided on day 14, or preferably 15, in the lower divisions day 13 is usually the day of decisions. Some playoffs will still take place on senshuraku, but either the yusho itself or the participants in that playoff are determined on day 13.
