San’yaku (三役)

Day 10 Preview

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Hatsubasho 2017, Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Osunaarashi (大砂嵐), San'yaku (三役), Sekiwake (関脇), Takayasu (高安) , , , , , ,

ikioi-kakuryu-9

Where we hope it won’t get any weirder.

Bizzaro-world day 9 is in the history books, with a tremendous impact for the yusho race at Hatsu. With day 10, we close out the middle act of the basho, and prepare to launch headlong into the final 5 days, where dreams get crushed and champions are made.

Clearly Hakuho is off his game now. I don’t think it’s injury or physical, I think it started with Arawashi. Clearly whatever happened at the tachiai took a direction that the Yokozuna did not expect, and moved to counter. But before he could do anything, Arawashi had him out. As stated prior, Hakuho is about 80% offense 20% defense, and he almost always starts with a strong battle plan. That is why when Takayasu stood him up with a big tachiai on day 10, he was in trouble. Honestly I don’t recall seeing Takayasu move with that kind of speed ever before. Takayasu gave quick shoulder blast at the tachiai, and then he had a hand inside pushing against Hakuho’s chest. This time The Boss was quick to implement his defensive plan, but his much vaunted ring sense failed him as he stepped out. I would look for him to get back in his sumo today, as he has Ikioi.

On the subject of Kotoshogiku, if he wins over Goeido I am going to suspect some coordinated effort to rescue the injured Ozeki. Frankly one of the great appeals of sumo is the appearance of meritocracy. I am sure Kotoshogiku is a lovely human being, but the time has come for someone to show his kadoban ass the door. He is perpetually injured, which is a crying shame as he has had brought some great sumo to the sport.

One the subject of Ozeki who should be moving forward, Kisenosato has a lot to make up for after his disappointing loss to Kotoshogiku. Kise – you had one job to do, and you had most of this handed to you on a plate by Harumafuji and Hakuho. Some corners of the sumo world jokingly call him “Choke-o-zuna”, which I thought was cruel. But today I think it might be accurate. Day 10 he faces Terunofuji, who is also a great sumotori who has chronic injuries and has little left until he is healed.

Kakuryu is back to stinking after a really excellent Kyushu. As of today he is in serious risk of going make-koshi, which would rain down doom from the Japan Sumo Association on the most recent Yokozuna. On day 10 he faces Tamawashi, who is seriously looking like he might survive as Sekiwake.

Notable Matches

Sadanoumi vs Ichinojo – Ichinojo can go kachi-koshi with a win here. He is tied for second place! SECOND PLACE! Ichinojo leads the series 4-2.

Takanoiwa vs Chiyotairyu – Co-Leader Takanoiwa takes on a struggling Chiyotairyu. Maybe day 11 the can put him against Hakuho? Chiyotairyu leads the series 3-1, so maybe Takanoiwa will be knocked back from his co-leader status.

Osunaarashi vs Sokokurai – Also tied for second place, Sokokurai draws an easy match against the Egyptian, who is really too hurt to be on the dohyo. Osunaarashi has won all 4 of their prior bouts.

Takekaze vs Hokutofuji – Henka master Takekaze takes on Hokutofuji, who is also tied for second place. I love me some Hokutofuji, but this is crazy. This will be the first time these two have faced off

Mitakeumi vs Shodai – A magical battle of the up-and-coming. With Shodai largely 1 step behind Mitakeumi on the learning curve, we shall see if Shodai is firming up and getting over his san’yaku jitters. Shodai has won 4 of their prior 5 matches.

Preview of Hatsu Day 7

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Hatsubasho 2017, Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Osunaarashi (大砂嵐), San'yaku (三役), Takayasu (高安), Ōzeki (大関) , , , ,

kotoshogiku

First Look At Leaders and Contenders

The middle weekend of Hatsu is upon us! Rejoice sumo fans! If you are fortunate enough to get the full NHK feed (in english) for the matches, you can enjoy John Gunning’s color commentary in addition to Murray’s play by play. Sadly, that does not include your humble blogger, as I am on a 777 bound for London, where sumo will be hard to find.

We are closing in on the half way mark, and everyone faced enough opponents that we can start to plot out who is in contention for the yusho, who is scraping by, and who is in trouble.

In Juryo, Ura was dancing around, defying the laws of physics and undefeated. That changed on day 6, and now a broad group of sekitori are back in contention.

Juryo Leaders: Ura, Homarefuji, Satoyama, Daiamami
Juryo Hunt Group: Daieisho, Tokushoryu, Tsurugisho

Personally I am hoping Ura will be able to prevail here, and either take the yusho or runner up.

In Makuuchi, the picture is even a bit more exotic

Makuuchi Leaders: Hakuho, Kisenosato
Makuuchi Hunt Group: Hokutofuji, Takanoiwa, Sokokurai, Ichinojo, Sadanoumi

So in essence, you have 2 heavy hitters undefeated, and a pack of mid to lower ranked rikishi who have one loss each. This is absolutely fantastic news, as it speaks strongly to the strength of the middle and lower Makuuchi ranks this basho. With a real possibility of losing 2-4 sanyaku in the next 12 months, a strong farm team is a must. Sumo’s popularity in Japan (and indeed world wide) is on the upswing for a variety of very good reasons, and keeping the world of sumo competitive and exciting will continue to draw fans, new and veteran, to the world of sumo.

Notable Matches

Osunaarashi vs Toyohibiki – Osunaarashi’s accumulated injuries, maladies and pain are overwhelming his sumo. He has limited mobility on the dohyo, and it shows. Toyohibiki is up from Juryo to balance out the card due to Tochinoshin’s kyujo, so we shall see how he fares. Toyohibiki was in Makuuchi last tournament, and holds a 3-2 career advantage over Osunaarashi.

Takanoiwa vs Ichinojo – I had to look at this twice, as I really was not keeping a close eye on Ichinojo; he’s 5-1. This is a battle between two of the low / mid ranked rikishi who have only one loss going into the half way point, which is actually pretty impressive. Both men are 3 wins away from kachi-koshi already. Ichinojo won the only prior bout between these two.

Shodai vs Goeido – This should be another stage in Shodai’s education in sanyaku, but it’s really more of an open question as Goeido is not super potent this basho, and Shodai is hanging on at 3-3 in Sekiwake, which is actually quite an achievement. Shodai is almost done with his “hard” week, and will likely have some easier matches week 2. He might actually pick up kachi-koshi in one of the most punishing ranks in sumo. 3 career bouts in this series, with Goeido taking 2.

Takayasu vs Kotoshogiku – We will get a really good indication from this match if the sumo guys are going to try to let Kotoshogiku survive. In the past it has seemed that Takayasu is not beyond a “strategic loss” from time to time. In past bashos there has been a handful of curious losses to Ozeki who needed to hang on. Personally I would rather see Takayasu back at Sekiwake than to see Kotoshogiku hang on in mal-performing misery. Kotoshogiku leads the series 11-6, but in his current condition it’s not predictive.

Terunofuji vs Mitakeumi – This is going to be an ugly bout, Terunofuji is vague and weak due to injuries and medication. Mitakeumi should be able to win this one given the poor condition of Terunofuji. Mitakeumi has beaten Terunofuji once before in their prior matches, which was their bout in Kyushu last basho.

Ikioi vs Harumafuji – Harumafuji is banged up, beat up and each time he steps on the dohyo, he rolls the dice on an actual career ending injury. I know he continues on because he loves sumo and he is under an threat of retirement. Ikioi, as a pusher-thruster, is going to bring a very high impact sumo into this bout. My hope is for no additional injury to the Yokozuna. Ikioi has never won in their 10 prior matches, and it would be a monstrous kinboshi if he prevails on day 7

Hatsu Story 5 – Can Takayasu Recover?

Bruce H Hatsubasho 2017, San'yaku (三役), Takayasu (高安)

takayasu

One Chance To Retain San’yaku

Takayasu spent most of 2016 climbing the banzuke, and managed to find himself back at Komusubi in July after the upper rank blood-bath during the May basho in Tokyo. He had earned Komusubi before, and lost it immediately as most rikishi do. This time, he was determined to seize on the opportunity.

At Nagoya, Takayasu went 11-4, and earned the Gino-sho special prize. By all accounts he had a fantastic basho. He looked strong, he dominated his matches and made his opponents conform to his sumo. This excellent performance slotted him to Sekiwake for the Aki basho, and again Takayasu looked strong, with 10-5 and the Kanto-sho, including beating Harumafuji with a masterful move at tawara. But sumo fans noticed that the second half of the basho, he faded a bit, and lost to some opponents (Mitakeumi, Endo, Aoiyama) lower down the banzuke.

In spite his weak finish, the path to a promotion to Ozeki was open to him, provided he could supply 12 wins at Kyushu. With a mandate to perform, he completely failed in that mission, and turned in a losing record.

Coming into Hatsu, he has been demoted back to Komusubi, and a further loss would put him back in the Maegashira ranks. Takayasu as the size, the speed, the skill and the talent to replace either of the struggling Ozeki, but he needs a solid 3 tournament streak to make it happen. His first step is to battle back this January, and prove that he is a contender.

Hatsu Banzuke Live!

Bruce H Banzuke (番付), Hatsubasho 2017, San'yaku (三役), Takayasu (高安)

banzuke-day

It’s not just Christmas day in the west, it’s also the day we get the first look at the ranking sheet for the highly anticipated January tournament in Tokyo.

http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke

Notable fun elements:

  • Kisenosato back at Ozeki 1E, after Goeido’s Shimpan fueled collapse
  • Shodai gets his turn at Sekiwake, as many anticipated
  • Takayasu hangs onto Sanyaku while Tochinoshin rises to join him as Komusubi
  • Mitakeumi holds tough at Maegashira 1, I was expecting a more dramatic demotion for him
  • Ishiura levitates to Maegashira 9
  • Osunaarashi the Egyptian returns to the upper division at Maegashira 16.  Given his devotion to sumo no matter what the cost, this is a welcome reward to see him once again in Makuuchi.