Nagoya 2015

Nagoya 2015, Day 3: Hakuho, Kakuryu, Terunofuji lead the field – ALL OZEKI WIN (updated)

Andy Nagoya 2015

I’ll update this with a more full run down when I get a chance but no upsets among the ozeki today. That said, Ikioi came very close to executing a successful throw against Kotoshogiku but couldn’t quite pull it off. As penance, he had to have the entire weight of Kotoshogiku fall on top of him. Ouch. The fact is, he should have had it. Kotoshogiku was able to use his leg strength to get the Maegashira to the straw bales but Ikioi was able to stop his momentum once there.

Terunofuji blasted Myogiryu through the ring and nearly off the dohyo. I was afraid Myogiryu’s knee buckled at the edge but I think he dropped down to prevent himself from falling off the edge. I’ll need to see replays of that later. He popped back up quickly and showed no signs of injury. Kisenosato was too much for Sadanoumi. Sadanoumi just seems out-matched against this level of competition this tournament. Goeido pulled off a thrilling double spin to defeat Aoiyama. In a great match, Aoiyama got Goeido spun around but Goeido spun again and the Bulgarian lost his balance and fell, boobs first, into the clay.

I was looking forward to Hakuho v Tochinoshin but that matchup fell flat. Sensing Tochinoshin over-committing, Hakuho helped him flop into the dirt for the hatakikomi win. Kakuryu was also pretty dominant against Takayasu, picking up his third win and closing out the first day of the tournament without any top upsets.

Lower ranked updates below…

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Nagoya 2015, Day 2: Dohyo Awareness Key to Longevity (updated)

Andy Nagoya 2015 , , ,

Endo’s getting back into the swing of things with another impressive yorikiri win. The key for his health is going to be: ring awareness. He needs to know where he is on the dohyo to avoid aggravating his healing knee injury. If he’s close to the edge, he may want to back off slowly rather than continue to press and risk a nasty looking fall.

Speaking of nasty looking falls, Satoyama needs to learn this lesson because he was awfully close to serious injury at the brutal hands of Toyohibiki. Backed to the edge, Satoyama continued to try to press forward but he wasn’t able to counter the ruthless nodowa. If he had the girth of Ichinojo, maybe he could try a straight forward counter when his feet are backed to the straw bales. Without size, he’d only win with dexterity by dodging to the side and letting the opponent’s momentum do the work. But forced into a backward arch, he was in no position to try it.

Case in point, Kotoyuki plowed into Kyokutenho and clearly was dominating the match. The geezer gave it his all to counter but couldn’t. When he sensed he was close to the edge, he pulled up and stepped out. This is why he’s still wrestling in makuuchi in his 40s. Same with Tokitenku’s step out loss in the next battle. AVOID INJURY.

Amuru amazes me. He controlled his bout with Homarefuji, battled for a good long while and pulled out an impressive yorikiri win. Osunaarashi was able to get Toyonoshima spun around and bulled forward until both wrestlers toppled into the crowd. He probably could have held back at the end to avoid sending himself into the crowd but it must be difficult to judge when you can let up w/o ceding a chance for the opponent to counter. In this case, though, I think the Sand Storm could have stayed in the ring and won. Gagamaru slipped again. He seems to fall victim to that quite a bit at this level.

Updates…

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