I was hoping, oh I was hoping that we would get a massive multi-way brawl during the last 5 days for the yusho. The Great Sumo Cat of the Kokugikan smiled, thrashed its long stripy tail and made it thus, for which I am eternally grateful. Although they were fighting what should have been (mathematically anyhow) easy opponents, co-leaders Meisei and Okinoumi both hit the clay on day 10, resulting in a brutal 5 way tie for the lead in the yusho race, with an additional 9 rikishi in striking range. At this point, no matter who is fighting for the next couple of days, it has yusho implications.

We have not seen a basho like this in many years, and frankly I thinking of taking vacation days from work just to watch this one. Yes the Yokozuna are both out hurt, and the Ozeki corps is as weak as at any time in the last 2 years. But the level of motivation that is present now across 14 rikishi, with the yusho in reach, is unmatched. I am going to assume we will see Makushita joi levels of intensity in the coming days among the best fighters that sumo can muster today.

Woven into this insane tapestry of combat is the drama of Tochinoshin still pushing to hold on to Ozeki, injured, struggling, but still in the hunt for his 8. Takakeisho 2 wins away from returning to Ozeki from a Sekiwake demotion, and both Asanoyama and Mitakeumi in the hunt for their second Emperor’s cup. Given who is actually still competing, I don’t think you could build a bigger final 5 days than this.

In other news, Toyonoshima went kyujo with an injury to his Achilles tendon, cementing his return to Juryo and giving Nishikigi a default win.

Highlight Matches

Daiamami defeats Takagenji – Takagenji can’t make it work against a Juryo man with a losing record. Granted it’s former Makuuchi rikishi Daiamami, but its an indication of just how big a mess Takagenji is right now. I feel for this guy, and I am sure he is going to be back sooner rather than later.

Tochiozan defeats Azumaryu – Tochiozan got a whiff of the funk of that slow barge back to Juryo, and has said, “Nope!”. Azumaryu came in low, stretched go get lower, and Tochiozan helped him get lower still and touch the dohyo.

Yutakayama defeats Daishoho – Another messy match with Yutakayama, who seems to be struggling to find his sumo. He gives up the centerline position he took at the tachiai, and uses his mobility to foil Daishoho’s counter-thrust attack. As I tend to say, go watch the footwork in this match. Although Yutakayama is on the move and might appear a bit rough in the upper body, his feet tell the story.

Tsurugisho defeats Meisei – The first co-leader hits the clay. Meisei gets morozashi early in the match, but is completely out matched by Tsurugisho. This match puzzles me, Tsurugisho’s hips are high, his stance is tall and upright, and Meisei should have been able to eat him alive. Meisei tried to swing him into a throw, but Tsurugisho just collapsed on top of him to win the match.

Kagayaki defeats Terutsuyoshi – Terutsuyoshi picks up his 8th loss and is make-koshi. Terutsuyoshi could not get close enough to really execute any offense against Kagayaki, who kept his stance wide and his hips low. Another day of excellent fundamentals from Kagayaki.

Kotoyuki defeats Ishiura – Fierce Kotoyuki mounted the dohyo again, and frankly I am not sure what Ishiura had in mind with his tachiai. It looks like half submarine, half flying henka. The result is that Ishiura is airborne, and essentially weightless for a time. Kotoyuki did not pass up the opportunity, and hands Ishiura another loss.

Sadanoumi defeats Okinoumi – Down goes yusho leader #2. Once again it looks like Okinoumi lost traction, and I am thinking that white bandage boot on his left foot is at least partly to blame. Okinoumi gives up the inside position to Sadanoumi, and finds himself in the passenger seat for a rough ride.

Takarafuji defeats Shohozan – Shohozan seemed to lack any strength to counter Takarafuji’s advance, and quickly found himself with his heels on the tawara, and stepped out without resistance. Better to take the loss than risk the injury, I would imagine.

Onosho defeats Kotoshogiku – I thought this was an excellent match, although it underscored how little power Kotoshogiku can generate these days. Onosho applies a hybrid thrusting / armpit attack repeatedly to prevent Kotoshogiku from ever squaring his hips and initiating his gaburi-yori. That was solid sumo, Onosho.

Enho defeats Kotoeko – A odd little match, with the softest tachiai I have seen in a long time – reminiscent of a Hattorizakura match. Enho then proceeds to keep a seemingly calculated distance from Kotoeko, and attacks Kotoeko’s hands. Multiple times Enho moves in to grapple with Kotoeko briefly, then escapes. Enho does eventually take a hold of Kotoeko and win, but this was strange but effective sumo from Enho.

Ryuden defeats Tomokaze – Tomokaze starts this match in forward gear, thrusting strongly at Ryuden’s chest, but I guess the temptation was too strong, and he reaches with his left arm to try to pull. Of course the pull releases forward pressure, and Ryuden now owns this match. Ryuden’s left hand outside grip is firm, and Tomokaze is chest to chest an unable to try any more pulls. Ryuden establishes an unassailable defensive body position, and proceeds to wear Tomokaze down, wearing him out and finally throwing him to the dohyo.

Asanoyama defeats Shimanoumi – Shimanoumi works hard for a right hand inside grip, and briefly gets it. But the entire time he’s working that advantage, Asanoyama is moving him away from the center of the dohyo, and before Shimanoumi can establish any workable attack, the match is lost. Asanoyama picks up his kachi-koshi, and his share of the lead.

Daieisho defeats Aoiyama – Aoiyama’s initial thrust and pull gambit failed miserably, and Daieisho completely dominates the match. Aoiyama’s 8th loss, and a disappointing make-koshi.

Hokutofuji defeats Endo – Hokutofuji tried to use his “handshake tachiai” to establish a nodowa today, but Endo expertly blocked it and established an inside position at the state time. But the very next moment, Endo thrusts Hokutofuji away. At that instant, comparing their body positions, Endo is on his toes and reaching forward with his mass too far in front of his arches. Hokutofuji is flat on his feet, his weight centered, his stance wide. He catches Endo by the neck and that lower body of his takes over and drives forward. Endo is never able to recover his balance or set his feet for defense, and the win goes too Hokutofuji. Textbook example of Hokutofuji’s sumo. He seems to have unmatched control over his lower body.

Mitakeumi defeats Tamawashi – Oh, the match history between these two. This match looked a lot like many of the prior, with Mitakeumi absorbing volley after volley of thrusts, and just absorbing them while carefully giving ground. It’s a waiting game, looking for Tamawashi to over-extend. He does, Mitakeumi throws him to the clay and he’s kachi-koshi and tied for the lead.

Takakeisho defeats Shodai – Not really “wave action” today, more of a ripple ripple shove attack. Shodai is overwhelmed right from the tachiai, but tries a turn at the tawara to send Takakeisho off balance, but Takakeisho reads it perfectly, and helps Shodai continue the motion, and drops him on the tawara. Takakeisho scores his kachi-koshi while Shodai suffers his make-koshi in the same bout.

Abi defeats Goeido – Goeido’s opening gambit was to get that left hand on Abi’s mawashi, no matter what. He misses and finds himself without access to plan B. With Abi thrusting away, Goeido desperately tries anything, and grabs Abi’s right forearm. But the Ozeki is off balance, his body is turned and his feet are nowhere useful. A powerful open handed blow from Abi’s left to Goeido’s chest sends him flying for a loss. Great sumo from Abi today.

Tochinoshin defeats Chiyotairyu – A surprising match, as Tochinoshin successfully executes a yotsu win over Chiyotairyu, administering his make-koshi and moving a step closer to clearing kadoban. You can see the pain written on Tochinoshin’s body, but he endures and claims a precious victory. 3 more to go.

Time to close out act 2 of the Aki basho. In act 2, we try to get the yusho race formed up, and we try to sort those who are likely to have winning records from the rikishi who are clearly in trouble. With this version of Aki, all of that has gone out the window. A look at the leader board below shows just how open things are right now. After a single “tough” match for Okinoumi on day 9, they are back to giving him lower ranked opponents. Maybe they are saving the big fights for act 3? Although Okinoumi came away with his first black star, he fought well, and the more I look at his match, his loss came mostly from slipping and falling rather than any offense from Ryuden.

I would hope that we see the leaders rotate through folks like Asanoyama, Endo, Hokutofuji, Mitakeumi and Takakeisho. With any luck, that will be the step that takes us to the real yusho race. I can see a field of 4 or so with ending scores of 11-4 fighting on senshuraku for the cup.

Aki Leaderboard

With Okinoumi’s first loss, the leader board goes “double wide”, and we await the chances of a still broader race.
Leaders: Okinoumi, Meisei
Chasers: Mitakeumi, Takakeisho, Asanoyama
Hunt Group: Goeido, Endo, Takarafuji, Shohozan, Tsurugisho, Ishiura

6 Matches Remain

What We Are Watching Day 10

Takagenji vs Daiamami – Daiamami comes up from Juryo, to put his miserable record to the test against a rikishi squarely on the bubble – 3-6 Takagenji. I feel for both these guys, they are not bad sumotori, but they are having a miserable basho.

Tochiozan vs Azumaryu – Tochiozan showed some signs of life day 10, and he goes into this first-time match with veteran Azumaryu (how did that happen?) hoping to find 4 more wins in the next 6 matches to stave off a trip to Juryo. Azumaryu only needs 3, but could be in equal peril.

Toyonoshima vs Nishikigi – Toyonoshima is already make-koshi, and Nishikigi has a long hard road to get to 8. I would assume he is no risk of demotion, but he’s not looking especially sharp this basho. Nishikigi likely needs 2 more victories to avoid a trip to Juryo. -lksumo

Yutakayama vs Daishoho – Yutakayama has a 2-0 career advantage, and I think is a good candidate for kachi-koshi, needing 3 of the next 6 to secure his position in the top division. Yutakayama’s sumo still looks rather rough, but he’s working on recovery from injury that sent him to Juryo. I expect good things from Yutakayama in 2020.

Tsurugisho vs Meisei – Co leader Meisei gets a cream puff match with lower ranked Tsurugisho. However Tsurugisho holds a 5-1 career advantage. I am going to assume that won’t matter much, as Meisei is fighting better than I can recall ever seeing before.

Terutsuyoshi vs Kagayaki – Kagayaki holds a 3-0 career advantage over Terutsuyoshi, and a loss by Terutsuyoshi on day 10 would cement a make-koshi for September. Kagayaki has looked really rough this basho, and has yet to find his “groove” in any real way.

Ishiura vs Kotoyuki – Ishiura just needs 2 more wins for kachi-koshi, but Kotoyuki is back to “Fierce” mode. In addition, Ishiura has had 2 consecutive days of poor sumo.

Okinoumi vs Sadanoumi – The other co-leader is back to bottom feeding, taking on the lower ranked Sadanoumi, against whom he holds a 10-4 career advantage. I am a bit frustrated that the torikumi committee is not yet focused on pairing competitors in the yusho race. Is this kind of match normal for this time of the basho? Of course! But I am eager to see the multi-way brawl for the hardware commence.

Shohozan vs Takarafuji – Both are 6-3 going into this match, and I am going to assume they both end Aki with kachi-koshi. For this match I would give a clear advantage to Shohozan, even though his sumo has looked less powerful this basho that his historical average.

Kotoshogiku vs Onosho – Battle of the damaged patellas, it’s bad knees all around, and we will see who has the weakest lower body. Kotoshogiku has a 6-1 career advantage.

Enho vs Kotoeko – I think it’s time for Enho to rally. He typically starts running low on genki about now, so I am hoping that we see him push hard for 3 more wins. Kotoeko does seem to have dialed in the ways to dominate Enho, so this will be a great test.

Ryuden vs Tomokaze – Both of these men are right at the 50% line with their day 9 records. Tomokaze has been frustrating to watch because of what I am going to assume is some core-body injury that has robbed him of forward attack modes. Ryuden is likewise frustrating, as his balance seems to be poor right now, and his footing uncertain.

Shimanoumi vs Asanoyama – First time match, and I am backing Asanoyama all the way. In fact I think that in the last 5 days he’s going to campaign effectively for the yusho. His “hard” matches are behind him, and he’s 7-2.

Daieisho vs Aoiyama – I am not sure in what back cupboard of keiko Aoiyama found his original thrusting attack sumo, but I am glad he is using it again. He has also rallied and is winning matches. Today he gets to flex his 6-2 career advantage over Daieisho.

Hokutofuji vs Endo – Endo probably has a fair amount of sumo frustration from his day 9 match with Tochinoshin, and I think Hokutofuji is going to be the recipient of some of it. I had occasion to go back and watch about a dozen past matches with Hokutofuji, and I have to say the man is a matta master. Many of his matches have up to 3 matta, as it seems he jumps the tachiai at least once in high level fights.

Mitakeumi vs Tamawashi – These two have a 20 match history, and it’s 18-2 in favor of Mitakeumi. I expect he too will be a player in the yusho race.

Shodai vs Takakeisho – Takakeisho has to be very careful here, as Shodai is the master of the unexpected and chaos sumo. That first step will make all the difference, just make sure you keep an eye on his center-mass. Although Takakeisho holds a 6-2 career advantage, Shodai has been known to pull out some crazy sumo when make-koshi is on the line.

Abi vs Goeido – I think once again we will see the all powerful opening gambit from the Ozeki, and it will come down to if Abi can derail Goeido’s plan. His day 9 match with Asanoyama was like watching a spider monkey fight a warthog, and I think Goeido may be in for a rough ride.

Tochinoshin vs Chiyotairyu – Well, we can guess that Chiyotairyu will be looking for a henka. If he fails the charge headlong with his giant body, Tochinoshin will need to find some way to get Chiyotairyu to supply the kinetic energy needed to win. 4 more to go for the kadoban Ozeki, everyone has their fingers crossed.

The top division men decided to step up the tempo heading into the second week, with outstanding sumo from the Asanoyama vs Abi match frankly one of the more amazing matches I have seen this tournament. Likewise the “over the top” effort Enho delivers every day is possibly an inspiration to every other competitor in sumo.

The headline has to be that as predicted, yusho race leader Okinoumi tasted clay for the first time today, though I am not really sure that Ryuden did that much to win. But the race is opening up, and this may be a mad scramble to the finish.

Day 10 looks like the two leaders are back to fighting lower-ranked opponents, which means that the schedulers are saving the matches we know are coming for later in the basho. Fine by me, but I still think Okinoumi has a more than 50/50 chance of taking it all the way to the cup.

Highlight Matches

Wakatakakage defeats Toyonoshima – Wakatakakage latched on to Toyonoshima’s forearm and took him on the merry-go-round. When it was done, Wakatakakage had him disrupted enough that a simple shove put him over the bales. Toyonoshima now make-koshi, and I would guess at risk of returning to Juryo.

Takagenji defeats Tsurugisho – Everyone thought this was a matta except the goyji, and it made for an odd match. But in spite of his poor start, Takagenji shows that he has Tsurugisho’s number.

Tochiozan defeats Nishikigi – Man, hear that crunch at the tachiai? That’s the sound of quality sumo (or injury). Nishikigi employs his favorite double arm-lock hold which has its normal effect of making the receiver shrug to escape and naturally raising their hips. But Tochiozan has played this game for years, and secures an escape that leads to a quick exit for Nishikigi. Skill and experience carry the day.

Shohozan defeats Ishiura – Ishiura tries to submarine, but comes in too low and hits the deck. Shohozan, for a moment, looks surprised and worried, but Ishiura is ok. 2 more wins for both men to reach the safety of 8.

Azumaryu defeats Enho – Enho gets an early advantage, and starts loading a throw against Azumaryu. Azumaryu holds on for all he is worth, and circles away to shut down the throw. But try as he might Azumaryu can’t seem to shake Enho’s latch on Azumaryu’s mawashi. The match ends with an abisetaoshi, which is really about what you need to do to get that little guy to let go of your crotch. The gyoji is not sure what he just saw, and timidly gives the gumbai to Enho, but I know, you know and he knows it’s monoii time. The slow motion replay is even less conclusive – what a finish! The gumbai is overruled, and Azumaryu takes the win. Tough luck Enho, that was incredible sumo. As Josh and I discussed on the podcast, the crowd is going crazy during this match. Frankly, Enho is consistently bringing the most exciting sumo to this basho, and he’s doing it every day. The guy is a treasure. Keep in mind, if he stays healthy, this guy is just going to get better.

Yutakayama defeats Sadanoumi – Sadanoumi gets a great inside position at the tachiai, and moves Yutakayama into reverse. But in a fantastic move, Yutakayama circles to his left and gets behind Sadanoumi and pushes him to the clay. Excellent recovery.

Kotoyuki defeats Kagayaki – The fierce version of Kotoyuki was back again today, and although Kagayaki opened strong, he could only drive Kotoyuki back for a moment before the Sadogatake man responded with gusto. Freeze frame, if you can, on Kotoyuki drive forward. Note the excellent body position, but also note just how good Kagayaki’s feet are planted. Kagayaki’s main weakness – his hips are Highland his weight is about 25cm forward of his toes. Kotoyuki lifts and pushes with great effect and puts Kagayaki over the bales.

Daishoho defeats Terutsuyoshi – Terutsuyoshi gets to start the match under his terms, but locked into a yotsu match with Daishoho, he struggles to get leverage to move the much bigger man. While Terutsuyoshi struggles for leverage with his right hand grip, Daishoho lands a left hand outside and swings Terutsuyoshi out. Terutsuyoshi is close to make-koshi now, but he should be safe from relegation to Juryo this time out.

Kotoeko defeats Onosho – The two trade the initiative, moving back and forth across the dohyo, but I really liked seeing Kotoeko using some gaburi-yori in there. But after both of them have their turn, they get to the south west corner and try to throw each other, with Kotoeko getting the better stance. Very balanced match.

Meisei defeats Kotoshogiku – Some fans will be frustrated with this match, but please keep in mind that Kotoshogiku is no longer an Ozeki because his knees are in terrible shape. This manifests itself in weakness delivering forward pressure, and today is a showcase for that sad problem. Meisei gave him the preferred setup for the hug-n-chug, but Kotoshogiku could not deliver any power to execute. Meisei now kachi-koshi, picking up his 8th win.

Takarafuji defeats Shimanoumi – Shimanoumi put all of his effort into an armpit attack against Takarafuji, which seems to have little effect. But it costs him position and initiative, which Takarafuji claims, changing the terms of the match and winning.

Ryuden defeats Okinoumi – The yusho leader gets his first loss, though to me it seems more like a slippiotoshi than hikiotoshi (hat tip to Kintamayama). The loss came as Okinoumi seemed to lose traction while closing distance to a badly off balance Ryuden to press the attack. No matter, with Okinoumi’s first loss, the yusho race expands.

Aoiyama defeats Chiyotairyu – That’s what we were missing! Aoiyama returns to his winning form with that double thrust / V-Twin attack mode that Chiyotairyu struggles to withstand. I would love to know what Aoiyama can bench press. I would guess 1.4 Ichinojo.

Hokutofuji defeats Daieisho – Folks may scoff at any thought that the mawashi change had an effect on Hokutofuji, but it seems to have given him a fresh mindset. Sometimes making such a change can provide the mind a very useful break-away point, and perhaps that is what happened for him, but that’s 2 in a row since the change. As with day 8, we see his lower body operating with a surprising degree of independence from any punishment his upper body sustains. I think this is one of the keys to why Hokutofuji interests me to the level he does. He uses his body in a somewhat unusual way in quite a few matches, but especially the ones he wins. Go watch his footwork.

Asanoyama defeats Abi – Wow, just WOW. I tend to say Abi rains tsuppari like a summer rainstorm, but today he was in typhoon mode. But even more impressively, Asanoyama somehow stayed on his feet, bending perilously but remaining upright. Abi circles behind Asanoyama, grabs his mawashi. Dear readers, this is lethal positioning in sumo, but Asanoyama escapes. Asanoyama is now stumbling, and Abi once again closes in for the win, but with Abi’s hand at his throat, Asanoyama has the sumo sense to grab Abi’s mawashi and pivot him out. With these two in the upper ranks, the future of sumo looks like a lot of fun.

Takakeisho defeats Tamawashi – The Grand Tadpole now just needs 3 to return to Ozeki. The critical moment comes at the second merge, following the tachiai. Tamawashi goes for Takakeisho’s head, and leaves his chest wide open. Big mistake in most cases, but Tamawashi has his feet set, and the thrust launches Takakeisho back. The clash again, but each time Tamawashi leaves his chest open, and Takakeisho does what he does best.

Mitakeumi defeats Tomokaze – For a brief moment, we saw Tomokaze doing sumo in a forward gear, but for whatever reason, once he had Mitakeumi on his heels, he chose to try and pull. Well, that’s not really something that you can do with Mitakeumi’s super low center of gravity, and in that brief moment, he turned over control to Mitakeumi, and locked in his own defeat. Tomokaze repeatedly tried to set up a pull, leaving his chest exposed and fair game for Mitakeumi’s osha-attacks.

Tochinoshin defeats Endo – I get it that Tochinoshin is badly hurt, and can’t do actual sumo. He’s on the knife’s edge to losing Ozeki rank, but this was an ugly henka that I am sure a lot of fans will not soon forget. Sometimes henka is used to skillfully exploit an opponents tendency to get too far forward. This one was a desperate declaration of insufficiency to face Endo in direct combat. I think a future match between Tochinoshin and Endo will feature some fascinating payback. This loss pushes Endo into a third loss, now 2 behind the co-leaders.

Goeido defeats Shodai – When Goeido is on his sumo, it’s a sight to behold. After a brief struggle for arm position at the tachiai, Goeido power-shoves Shodai into next week.

As we head into the second half of this odd but entertaining Aki basho, I am anticipating a change in the tenor and tone of the matches to come. Thus far the scheduling has been more or less “by the book”, and starting day 9 the top 2 slots in the yusho race are held by Maegashira 8 and 10 respectively. While we have had a spate of rank-and-file yusho winners as of late, I am sure that the scheduling committee are going to try to make sure both of these men are tested in the next 7 matches. This might be a threatening proposition if the upper rankers were not a complete mess. Furthermore, do not be surprised if more of the top half of the banzuke go kyujo before next Sunday. At this point everyone has to be worried about what match will be the final one of day 15. Maybe they should pencil in Shokkiri as a safety measure in case every surviving rikishi above Maegashira 6 have already fought.

Aki Leaderboard

Leader: Okino “can you believe it?” umi
Chaser: Meisei
Hunt Group: Mitakeumi, Takakeisho, Endo, Asanoyama, Tsurugisho, Ishiura

7 Matches Remain

What We Are Watching Day 9

Wakatakakage vs Toyonoshima – The youngest Onami brother makes a trip to the top division to face down grizzled vet Toyonoshima. Wakatakakage has never won a single match against Toyonoshima, but maybe Monday will be his lucky day.

Tsurugisho vs Takagenji – Takagenji is getting perilously close to make-koshi and a return to Juryo. It might do him some good, as right now he has more than a couple of things to get sorted out. But credit to the schedulers for giving him a shot, he has a 4-1 career advantage over Tsurugisho.

Tochiozan vs Nishikigi – Tochiozan seems to still have the moves, but they don’t carry the same amount of force that they used to. I am sure there are injuries involved that were never publicized, and never quite treated. But he’s up against the enigma named Nishikigi. Nishikigi can execute solid sumo from time to time – will day 9 be one of those times?

Shohozan vs Ishiura – Ishiura scored a brutal own-goal on day 8 when his henka attempt blew him out of the group 1 loss behind Okinoumi. Today he has to overcome the slightly less threatening Shohozan, and come up with enough wins to make a play for the lead if the front-runners take losses.

Azumaryu vs Enho – Enho’s has suffered 2 straight losses, both coming as his opponents have successfully blocked his attempts to go low and get his face near their mawashi. Azumaryu leads the series 3-1, so I would guess that the veteran has a formula for containing the pixie magic.

Sadanoumi vs Yutakayama – Yutakayama’s goal has to be finding 8 wins by next Sunday, an getting some distance between himself and the bottom edge of the banzuke. Sadanoumi went from vague and a bit lethargic on day 8 to “fast and dangerous”. Can he bring it back for day 9?

Kagayaki vs Kotoyuki – This is a great chance for Kotoyuki rally, given that he has a 6-1 advantage over “Mr Fundamentals”.

Terutsuyoshi vs Daishoho – Both at 2-6, with a 4-4 career record. This is one seriously even match up. Both men are likely headed for make-koshi, but both are likely safe thus far from demotion. Sit back and enjoy the salt-throw.

Onosho vs Kotoeko – Another balance match, both 3-5, with another 4-4 career record. Both rikishi have had a frustrating time at Aki so far, but both are within range of getting to 8 wins. Only one of them will exit this match with their 4th victory.

Kotoshogiku vs Meisei – Meisei is the sole rikishi trailing yusho race leader Okinoumi, and he has a date with the Kyushu Bulldozer. Kotoshogiku has lost 2 of the last 3, and may be running into knee problems that tend to plague him after 7 days. This is the biggest reason he is no longer an Ozeki, and I think it’s a great chance for Meisei to even up their career record to 2-2.

Shimanoumi vs Takarafuji – Takarafuji tends to turn in 8-7 or 7-8 records for his basho ranked mid-Maegashira, but with the upper ranks in tatters, who know what will happen. I do know that Shimanoumi will need a set of plans to deal with Takarafuji’s careful but effective sumo.

Okinoumi vs Ryuden – Maybe the bout of the day, regardless of what sumo these two bring to the dohyo. Ryuden can be quite effective when he’s genki. Thus far he’s not been very genki at all. But we should factor in that he knows this is a key match for the yusho, and beating Okinoumi would be a big deal. Can Shin-Ikioi make it work?

Chiyotairyu vs Aoiyama – Aoiyama’s really not fighting like himself at all. He has not been strong moving forward, and moving backward has been a disaster. I would give the edge to Chiyotairyu today.

Hokutofuji vs Daieisho – I will be giddy if that mawashi change leads him to rally from 2-6 to end up kachi-koshi. I know his sumo is good enough, but he has been short on execution in week 1. Daieisho brings a LOT of energy into every match, so even if Hokutofuji can stage a win, he’s going to take a beating.

Abi vs Asanoyama – Asanoyama needs to keep winning if he wants to be in position for a possible bid for his second yusho, provided that the top two can take losses this week. He and Abi are quite evenly matched in many ways – will Asanoyama land that left hand grip, or will Abi slap him into submission?

Tamawashi vs Takakeisho – The big story line that still needs resolved is Takakeisho. At 6-2 he is in a spot similar to Asanoyama with regards to the yusho, but he needs to win 4 of the last 7 to make it back to Ozeki. Tamawashi is a tough customer, and it will be an oshi battle supreme today!

Mitakeumi vs Tomokaze – I just hope that we get a match this basho where Tomokaze performs sumo in a forward gear. I am sure the Mitakeumi army will once again be down from the hills, ready to cheer their lad on, even if he loses.

Tochinoshin vs Endo – I am really worried about Andy’s prediction of an Endo yusho, which is still shockingly plausible headed into week 2. Or can Tochinoshin save us from that possible future and limp a step closer to erasing kadoban?

Shodai vs Goeido – Goeido may try an overwhelming opening gambit, which is his forte. Putting such high stakes on a few seconds of sumo actually plays into Shodai’s typical strategy – throw as much chaos into the match as you can and watch your opponent fall down. For all practical purposes, Goeido is out of the yusho race at this time, so this is just for progress toward his 8.