Ones To Watch

Ones To Watch – Nagoya Day 7

Bruce H Nagoya Basho 2019, Ones To Watch, Wakaichiro (若一郎) , , , , , , , , , , ,

Time for match #4 for our “Ones to Watch” team. For some of them, they mighty pick up kachi-koshi on Saturday, and there are still a few who remain in the hunt for their division yusho.

Akua vs Kototebakari – A 3-0 bracket match, Akua won their only prior match, which was in May of this year. Kototebakari, at 19 years old, has been moving rapidly up the banzuke, and is likely to be someone who will be a sekitori sooner rather than later. Winner is kachi-koshi.

Midorifuji vs Daishoryu – Another 3-0 bracket match, with kachi-koshi on the line. Daishoryu is a Makushtia mainstay who has been ranked as high as Ms9e, but has never quite seemed to have enough fight to break into the top 5 ranks of Makushtia. A kachi-koshi here would more or less ensure that outcome for September. Midorifuji won their only prior match.

Wakatakamoto vs Hokaho – This 2-1 bracket match features one of Hakuho’s stable mates in Hokaho. He has struggled to consistently rank in the Makushita top 10 ranks. Wakatakamoto won their single prior match.

Shoji vs Fujitaisei – Another 2-1 bracket match (Sandanme this time), Fujitaisei has never been ranked higher than Sandanme.

Wakaichiro vs Narumi – Wakaichiro brought in his second win on day 6, blasting Hamadayama from the dohyo. His opponent for day 7 was on an extended kyujo, and actually dropped off the banzuke and had to re-enter via Maezumo. Now fighting his way back up the banzuke, Narumi will be looking to best our favorite Texan sumotori in this 2-1 bracket match.

Kitanowaka vs Tokisakae – A 3-0 bracket match in Jonidan, Kitanowaka has beaten Tokisakae in Jonikuchi in May. This rematch will see one rikishi with his kachi-koshi.

Nagoya Day 6 – Ones To Watch

Bruce H Ones To Watch, Wakaichiro (若一郎) , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bruce is back from his business road trip, so it’s wall to wall sumo time! And what a night to get rolling. As Herouth mentioned, none other than risking star Hoshoryu will step onto the dohyo for a Juryo bout, when he takes on Juryo 13w Kizakiumi who clocks in at 2-3. Are you excited? I know I am. If Hoshoryu can hit kachi-koshi this tournament, there is a small but not zero chance he could make his Sekitori debut in September.

Elsewhere we have Wakaichiro, and a swarm of other favorites fighting their 3rd match. Let’s take a look at day 6:

Hoshoryu vs Kizakiumi – I think everyone wants Hoshoryu to score a win. Can he actually go toe to toe in Juryo and come out without that slippery clay on him? I want to find out…

Wakamotoharu vs Kaisho – A 1-1 bracket match, the winner would advance to the 2-1 bracket, thought neither of them are likely to contend for the yusho, and both are outside promotion range. So this one is for glory.

Naya vs Tsukahara – If Naya wins, we could conceivably see Naya face Wakamotoharu, which would be amazing. Both of these rikishi are in the 1-1 bracket, so like the match above, they are fighting purely for kachi-koshi at this time, and a chance to advance a bit closer to the Juryo line. Naya won their only prior match.

Masutoo vs Wakatakamoto – A 2-0 bracket match, this is the 3rd time these rikishi have met 3 times in the past, with Wakatakamoto taking 2 of them. I note that Masutoo has a distinct weight advantage over Wakatakamoto.

Yoshoyama vs Roga – Roga bounced back from his first match loss, and is looking to pull up to 2-1, possibly scoring a rematch against Terunofuji in the process (we all hope). Yoshoyama is another Mongolian rising star, from Tokitsukaze heya. This is probably going to be an excellent match.

Oginosho vs Musashikuni – Another 1-1 bracket match, Musashikuni is in range to be re-promoted to Makushita if he can make it to his 4th win. He has faced Oginosho twice before, losing them both.

Hamadayama vs Wakaichiro – Hamadayama is a 27 year old vet, and Wakaichiro is going to have his hands full. But he needs to bring his score up to 2-1, if he wants to reach his goal of a kachi-koshi in Sandanme. Here’s to hoping that his new-found strength and fighting spirit carries the day.

Kitanowaka vs Kirizakura – Yeah, it’s Jonidan, but this kid Kitanowaka is going places. He is 2-0, and if he can win out, I would not be surprised if he did not contend for the Jonidan yusho.

Ones To Watch – Nagoya Day 4

Bruce H Ones To Watch, Terunofuji (照ノ富士) , , , , , , , , , , ,

With Day 4 about to begin, the rest of our “Ones to Watch” will be on the dohyo for their second match. During day 3 action, Wakaichiro went down to defeat after taking a bad step during his match and launching himself from the dohyo. He came out very strong at the tachiai, and frankly looked like he was doing some damage to Kamitani before that stumble took him down. Amakaze picked up his second win, Hoshoryu lost to former Makuuchi rikishi Seiro, while Roga and Musashikuni both picked up their first wins.

Naya vs Fujiazuma – Both are looking for their first win. Fujiazuma is a former Juryo mainstay, so this will be a hard match for Naya. Neither of these rikishi are really in promotion range this basho, unless the top ranks all go down to make-koshi.

Wakamotoharu vs Akua – Again Akua is in a Ones to Watch head to head match. Both rikishi are 1-0, so the winner will join the leader group. These two actually have some history together, with Wakamotoharu holding a slight 3-2 edge.

Midorifuji vs Asabenkei – Midorifuji won their only prior match, but it’s just the one match, though it was just at Natsu. Speed will likely be the order of the day.

Terunofuji vs Onojo – Former Ozeki continues his march to return to the salaried ranks, though he is now at the bottom end of Makushita with a long road ahead. His sumo still seems off, mostly due to mobility issues from his unrepairable knees.

Shoji vs Tsugaruumi – Another 1-0 bracket match, Shoji is up against long serving Sandanme mainstay Tsugaruumi, who has suffered several absenceses in his 45 tournament sumo career.

Kitanowaka vs Chiyooga – After dominating Jonikuchi, Kitanowaka finds himself in mid Jonidan, and facing relative newcomer Chiyooga on day 4 for his second match. I think Kitanowaka may still be a bit under ranked at Jonidan 46, but lets see if anyone can slow him down.

Ones To Watch – Nagoya Day 3

Bruce H Ones To Watch, Wakaichiro (若一郎) , , , , , , , , , , ,

Welcome to an abbreviated “Ones to Watch”, has Herouth has done her marvelous job of providing sumo fans with a feast of video goodies from the lower divisions. Day 3 features bounts from Wakaichiro, Amakaze, Musashikuni and Hoshoryu.

Hoshoryu vs Seiro – Hoshoryu certainly punched his card for “Serious Contender” on day 2, and now he faces the highest ranked rikishi in Makshita: Former Makuuchi rikishi – Seiro. As both me have 1 wins, this will help form the field of promotion contenders for September. Time to shine little dragon!

Wakatakamoto vs Terao – Another 1-0 bracket match, this rematch of an Osaka 2017 bout will give Wakatakamoto a chance to even the score.

Roga vs Fujita – Roga got a close look at the Nagoya clay in his day 2 loss, and looked quite out-classed. This was always a possibility once he crossed into Makushita, but I expect he will bounce back and fight hard for 4 wins.

Musashikuni vs Kaizen – I don’t know what kind of physical problems Musashikuni is still nursing, but he continues to struggle, even at a greatly reduced rank. His fans can only hope he can pull it together.

Amakaze vs Baraki – I continue to think that Amakaze is probably under-ranked right now, so I expect him to dominate the majority of his matches. Baraki spent two tournaments in Makushita, and has been largely in Sandanme for his 40 basho career.

Wakaichiro vs Kamitani – This will be an interesting match for Wakaichiro. Kamitani is a 17 year old rikishi in his 9th tournament, and he has had a largely upward path leading to this, his first ever Sandanme posting.