With the start of day 11, we are in the final act of the basho. Act 3 sorts everyone between kachi-koshi and make-koshi, and we crown a yusho winner. Normally we would start to track the yusho race on the middle day, but this basho has had such low scores that we really did not have separation from the rikishi who will contend for the cup from the rikishi who will struggle just to get 8 wins until now. But after day 10, we are down to 4 rikishi in the leader group, with 3 one win behind. I guess that is close enough.

We have had another stable pull out of the tournament, and I have to wonder if maybe a sizable percentage of the rikishi population may be brewing a COVID infection right now.

Nagoya Leaderboard

The yusho race is going to result in a score no higher than 13-2, and if everyone in this group picks up a loss, it will be lower than that. Out of this leader group, only Yokozuna Terunofuji has prior yusho experience. Given those facts, he must be considered the favorite as of today.

Leaders: Terunofuji, Ichinojo, Tobizaru, Nishikigi
Chasers: Takakeisho, Kotonowaka, Nishikifuji

5 matches remain

Bonus: Nagoya Juryo Watch by lksumo

J1e Ryuden (8-2) will finally return to the top division in September. While there are several other contenders, none of them has a promotion case yet. M16w Daiamami (2 wins) and M17w Chiyomaru (3 wins) will be Juryo-bound with one more loss. Several others still have work to do to stay in Makuuchi, led by M16e Yutakayama (4 wins) and M9e Shimanoumi (1 win).

What We Are Watching Day 11

Onosho vs Daiamami – We have an already make-koshi Daiamami up against 5-5 Onosho, who needs to find 3 more wins over the next five days. Everyone please keep in mind, the goal for the scheduling team is to get him to 7-7 by the end of Saturday, so the intent is to give him a win today and a loss tomorrow.

Chiyoshoma vs Takarafuji – Another fine match, I expect them to go chest to chest in short order following the tachiai, and for Takarafuji to hold a strong defensive line against Chiyoshoma’s attack. They have an even 7-7 career record, so it comes down to who wants it more: 4-6 Chiyoshoma or 5-5 Takarafuji.

Terutsuyoshi vs Chiyomaru – A loss today for 3-7 Chiyomaru will be his make-koshi and a certain return to Juryo. Terutsuyoshi has a 7-4 career advantage, so I am going to guess he has a strong chance of handing Chiyomaru his ticket to ride the Juryo barge today.

Tsurugisho vs Midorifuji – Another fine funnel match, we have 5-5 Tsurugisho against Midorifuji at 6-4. If we can get a Tsurugisho win out of this one, they both will be 6-5, and well positioned in the funnel. They have only met once before in the top division, in March of 2021, which is the only time that Tsurugisho has won against Midorifuji.

Kotoshoho vs Yutakayama – More rich and gooey funnel fun, as we have 5-5 Kotoshoho going against Yutakayama at 4-6. The goal would be to have Yutakayama win, and both end the day at 5-6. They have split their only two prior matches, but its notable that Yutakayama has lost the last 4 matches in a row after a fairly strong start to the tournament.

Chiyotairyu vs Nishikifuji – First ever match, and a Nishikifuji (7-3) win would be his kachi-koshi. I expect him to be quite motivated today, and if he can avoid being trampled by 6-4 Chiyotairyu, he will likely get his win.

Oho vs Kotoeko – With Nishikifuji’s kachi-koshi attempt complete, it’s back to the funnel. Those of you like lksumo who are playing the “Bruce mentions Darwin” at home drinking game are probably pretty well lit by now, but remember to pace yourselves. I am frankly surprised that Oho is at 6-4, as his sumo has really not been anything remarkable. Kotoeko at 5-5 seems to be in the process of incremental mummification, as each day he shows up with more bandages on his body. I think Kotoeko will go for a mawashi grip early, and if he can sustain it, he will win. Oho will likely try some tsuki/oshi to get the compact Kotoeko down and out sooner.

Myogiryu vs Nishikigi – How interesting that Nishikigi already has an 8-2 kachi-koshi. He last had a double digit finish in September of 2018, which set up his magical trip to the joi-jin that netted him a kinboshi. I am genuinely excited for this guy, as all indications are that he is a kind, humble and hard working human being. Myogiryu has a great chance to escape the funnel today with a win, that would put him at 7-4 and outside of the grind to take everyone down to 7-7.

Tochinoshin vs Meisei – The goal here is for 5-5 Tochinoshin to score a win and drag Meisei back down into a funnel compatible score before he can escape, which he would with a win today. Tochinoshin and Meisei share a 2-3 record, so there is no clear advantage toward either man from their prior meetings.

Shimanoumi vs Sadanoumi – Both are already make-koshi, and the question is how deeply in the hole will either 1-9 Shimanoumi or 2-8 Sadanoumi go. In this battle of the *umi, I have to think these guys are hurt and will benefit from dropping down the banzuke and working to recover their form. Sadanoumi leads the career score with 6-3.

Wakamotoharu vs Hokutofuji – With the battle of the make-koshi out of the way, its time for MOAR FUNNEL! Both of these guys are 5-5, and in normal conditions I would think this would be an excellent and exciting match. But Hokutofuji is fighting at just a tiny fraction of his normal ferocity, and he’s really struggling to win with any dominance. I pair that against Wakamotoharu who has faced the top men in sumo and has a 5-5. Guess which person I think will prevail?

Okinoumi vs Ura – Both start the day at 4-6, and the loser drops out of the funnel into the make-koshi track. Both are far enough up the banzuke that its really just a demotion at this point, so there will be a minimum of fuss. Ura has won 2 of their 3 prior matches, and may be able to make it 3 out of 4 today if he can find something to grab and tug.

Kiribayama vs Tamawashi – I am surprised that Tamawashi is one loss away from his make-koshi. He opened strong, then has lost 7 in a row. This might indicate he got hurt on day 3, and refuses to go kyujo, wishing to maintain his record of never missing a match. He has never beaten 4-6 Kiribayama in 5 attempts.

Ichinojo vs Abi – Oh my, Ichinojo is part of the leader group, and seems to have re-connected with his sumo. He has a 4-2 career advantage over 5-5 Abi, who needs to find 3 wins over the next 5 days to stay in san’yaku. Given that Ichinojo is in contention for the cup, I don’t think he’s going to have pity for anyone.

Kotonowaka vs Daieisho – Kotonowaka is in the group 1 win behind the leaders, and I would guess that he is going to give Daieisho a hell of a fight and try to secure his 8th win of July. At 5-5, Daieisho is very much in the middle of the bubble group, and needs to get a majority of wins over the next 5 days to remain at Sekiwake.

Wakatakakage vs Aoiyama – You may wonder what 4-6 Aoiyama is doing up here fighting Wakatakakage (6-4), but then its notable that Aoiyama has beaten Wakatakakage both of their prior matches, and may be able to bring the Sekiwake back toward the middle of the funnel. A Wakatakakage win today would clear him of the funnel, and put him one win away from kachi-koshi.

Endo vs Shodai – Endo is already make-koshi at 2-8, but this man LOVES to play spoiler. There have been tournaments where he had a miserable score, but he won a single or pair of big matches just to play a role in the story. So I suspect that he might give 6-4 Shodai some trouble on the clay.

Takakeisho vs Tobizaru – It was bound to happen, kachi-koshi Tobizaru has a chance to deny 7-3 Takakeisho the safety of 8 wins if he can overcome the Ozeki’s oshi-zumo strengths. With strike-and-move sumo the order of the day for Tobizaru, Takakeisho is going to need to find some way to cut down on the flying monkey’s mobility.

Terunofuji vs Hoshoryu – Terunofuji has a 7-0 career record against Hoshoryu, who needs just 2 wins from his 6-4 score to get his 8, and possibly ascend to Sekiwake. I don’t think he will find one from Terunofuji today, who looks dead set to drive what is left of his body to ruin if needed to be the Yokozuna this July.

We have now finished act 2 of the Nagoya basho – Act 2 is where we narrow the field to find out who has what it takes to compete for the yusho, and to start sorting the survivors from the damned.

The top end of the score board has narrowed enough that I think we are going to be able to start Act 3 on Wednesday with a proper leader board. We had four rikishi pick up their 8th win today and secure their kachi-koshi. At the same time, two rikishi picked up their 8th loss, and are now make-koshi for Nagoya. There are still over 20 rikishi in the funnel for the schedulers to play with, as over the next 4 days they try to herd as many as possible into 7-7 scores.

Highlight Matches

Myogiryu defeats Yutakayama – This match was a motley collection of head slaps and neck pulls disguised as sumo. Sure they were battling away, but it was short on any kind of real technique. It only ends when Myogiryu times a push against a Yutakayama pull, and somebody remembers that you can move the other guy if you push against his chest. Myogiryu improves to 6-4 by oshidashi.

Takarafuji defeats Chiyomaru – Chiyomaru inches closer to his make-koshi while Takarafuji evens up to 5-5. On full display are the mechanics behind Takarafuji’s 9-1 career dominance of Chiyomaru, as the “round one” keeps trying to pull down Takarafuji even though they are locked up chest to chest. As with the prior matches, Takarafuji maintains a tight right hand grip, wears Chiyomaru down, and walks him out after he tires. Takarafuji now 5-5.

Oho defeats Kotoshoho – Oho won this match of the first hit. Kotoshoho did not guard his chest well enough at the tachiai, and Oho landed quite the blow center-mass. At that moment, Kotoshoho’s weight was shifted back, and he was never able to get forward and on offense. Oho advances to 6-4 by oshidashi.

Midorifuji defeats Onosho – I loved watching Midorifuji tear down Onosho’s hand placement the moment after the tachiai. He’s so deliberate and methodical, and it robs Onosho of the balance he needs to push effectively. He follows that with a combo to break Onosho’s grip entirely, and tries a pull. It does not work, but it opens Onosho’s chest and Midorifuji dives in for the kill, pulling Onosho around and then pushing him out from behind. The okuridashi advances Midorifuji to 6-4.

Meisei defeats Nishikifuji – A tremendous battle from Nishikifuji as he took the fight to Meisei from the start. After exchanging pushes and slaps, they opted for left hand inside positions, and Meisei put a lot of pivot into every step. This had Nishikifuji up one one leg a few times, but he stayed in the fight (nice balance sir!). Having blown through a lot of energy, they two lock up chest to chest and hug it out in the middle of the dohyo for a good long time. When they finally re-engage, it’s each man trying to put the other off balance, and Meisei proves to have the better footwork. Nishikifuji misses out on kachi-koshi today as Meisei’s yoritaoshi elevates him to 6-4.

Daiamami defeats Shimanoumi – Daiamami finally found his second win, when Shimanoumi was unable to shut down Daiamami’s methodical sumo. After locking up chest to chest, Shimanoumi kept a right arm ottsuke going for as long as he could, but eventually Daiamami found his grip, dropped his hips, and bucked Shimanoumi back, then out. Daiamami up to 2-8 now.

Tsurugisho defeats Kotoeko – To me it looks like Kotoeko changed his mind about where he was going to aim his hands at the moment of tachiai. This left Tsurugisho with an excellent deep grip that gave him total control over Kotoeko’s body. It was quick work to apply the yorikiri and march Kotoeko out, both men finishing the day at 5-5. Odd note, Tsurugisho forgot his kensho…

Terutsuyoshi defeats Tochinoshin – Well, that’s a henka. Terutsuyoshi steps to the side, grabs Tochinoshin’s leg and upends him. Terutsuyoshi improves to 4-6.

Nishikigi defeats Chiyoshoma – Chiyoshoma decides he is going from right hand inside to right hand outside, and that moment of transition is where he lost the match. With Chiyoshoma’s chest suddenly wide open, Nishikigi attacks center-mass, and Chiyoshoma has no way to hold his position. An oshdashi win for Nishikigi, 8-2 and kachi-koshi. Next stop double digits for Nishkigi. Will be be back in the joi-jin in September?

Hokutofuji defeats Aoiyama – This one almost qualified for “what the hell was that?” status. Hokutofuji fights in reverse gear pretty much the whole match. Aoiyama does his best, but after the 4th exchange loses his balance and belly flops on the dohyo. The listed kimarite is hikkake, so hey, close enough. Hokutofuji now 5-5.

Tobizaru defeats Chiyotairyu – Chiyotairyu finds that he can’t blast Tobizaru off his feet at the tachiai, and ends up partially engaged in a yotsu battle. He quickly recognizes this is not going to end well, and starts trying to pull Tobizaru down. Much to everyone’s delight, Tobizaru keeps his feet under this level of attack, and pushes Chiyotairyu out. Oddly enough both men and the gyoji end up clumped together in the southeast corner of the dohyo. Tobizaru hits his 8th win and is kachi-koshi for July.

Wakamotoharu defeats Okinoumi – If you take a look across Wakamotoharu’s 10 matches this July, you can see that he really has put together a solid sumo style. He has been quietly moving up the ranks a few at a time, mostly through hard work, excellent fundamentals and mountains of stamina. His match today against the high-skilled Okinoumi underscores that Wakamotoharu hard work really has paid off. Though he is just at 5-5, his sumo looks fantastic, and I expect he is headed for higher rank.

Ichinojo defeats Tamawashi – Well, there’s the Boulder again. He’s back to being enormous and quite strong. The key to this win was his left hand. First it was gripped to the front of Tamawashi’s belt, then it was around his body. It let him control Tamawashi and keep him from breaking free and engaging in his desired attack modes. With Tamawashi captured, Ichinojo moves him back, then slams him down. Eight wins for Ichinojo at 8-2 and kachi-koshi for Nagoya.

Hoshoryu defeats Kotonowaka – There are days, like today, where Hoshoryu looks like the “next great rikishi”. Fantastic work to shut down Kotonowaka’s advantage coming out of the tachiai, then setting up the uwate, then hurling Kotonowaka to the clay. Solid, strong performance from Hoshoryu, who improves to 6-4 on the strength of that kakenage.

Kiribayama defeats Abi – Excellent work by Kiribayama to shut down Abi’s double arm attack mode. To be honest Abi had not set it up well, and found himself suddenly exposed and standing tall. Kiribayama took that moment to apply a fair amount of force center mass, and push Abi out. Kiribayama’s oshidashi improves his score to 4-6.

Wakatakakage defeats Endo – Endo gambles every match these days on landing that left. It’s easy to anticipate, and Wakatakakage does. But Endo finds the mawashi, and Wakatakakage moves to defend. Endo moves to finish the match, but finds that Wakatakakage’s right hand has him locked against the bales. He tries to pivot away, but turns his back to Wakatakakage. With his stance, his sumo and his balance now completely disrupted, he catches a Wakatakakage broadside full in the chest and hurtles into the front row. That’s an 8th loss for Endo, and he is make-koshi while Wakatakakage advances to 6-4.

Takakeisho defeats Daieisho – Fans expect big exchanges of high powered thrusts from these two, and they were happy to supply. Takakeisho is the one with more forward power today, and when Daieisho finds his heels on the bales, he tries to escape, but finds Takakeisho chasing him down. He exits the ring by okuridashi, and Takakeisho improves to 7-3.

Shodai defeats Ura – Ozeki Shodai seems to be back. Makes us fans wonder what the hell happened week one where he looked like hell. He takes a firm hold of Ura, and keeps him from doing much outside of common yotsu-zumo. Even so, Ura gives him a big fight. Shodai gets him on the move and dumps him into the front row with a bounding yoritaoshi to improve to 6-4. He needs just 2 more wins in the final 5 days to make kachi-koshi and clear kadoban.

Terunofuji defeats Sadanoumi – Sadly this was never going to be too much of a contest. The genki version of Sadanoumi that took the jun-yusho in May is nowhere to be found this July in the Nagoya heat. So the Yokozuna gets a nice hold, shakes his prey a couple of times to make sure nothing is going to spring loose, then walks Sadanoumi out. Terunofuji is kachi-koshi at 8-2 with that yorikiri walk out.

Another heya is out due to a positive COVID test, this time Hanaregoma which is the home of Ichiyamamoto. This is a real shame, as he had racked up an excellent score this basho, and was likely headed for double digits. It seems their oyakata turned in a positive test, and now the entire stable gets to sit out the rest of the basho. Given how virulent Omicron variants are, it may be the case that several more positive tests will show up in the next day or two. With Ichiyamamoto out, Nishikifuji improves to 7-2 and maintains his position in the leading group.

On the clay, the group in the lead has narrowed to six rikishi with 7-2 scores, spanning a range from the Yokozuna down to Maegashira 17e.

Highlight Matches

Chiyomaru defeats Hidenoumi – I will hand it to Chiyomaru – when he decides on a match plan, he seems to be willing to try it over and over without variation until it actually produces results or he hits they clay. He alternates a double arm nodowa and pulling against Hidenoumi. I think I counted two and one half cycles of that. The half was because Chiyomaru just got the nodowa part in, and shoved Hidenoumi out. Chiyomaru at 3-6 now by oshidashi.

Tsurugisho defeats Myogiryu – This match started with both men attacking high; faces, necks and shoulders. As is frequently the case, there was not much effect except to annoy their opponent. Myogiryu had his hands near Tsurugisho’s neck and decided “Hey, let’s pull him forward”. I think it was one big hopping step for Tsurugisho to blast Myogiryu straight into the front row. Tsurugisho up to 4-5 by 190kg of oshitaoshi.

Chiyoshoma defeats Yutakayama – I really like Chiyoshoma’s tachiai today, he hit hard with his shoulder and went straight into a combo attack against Yutakayama’s neck and face. There did not seem to be any intent to move Yutakayama back, it was just to make Yutakayama respond in kind. As Yutakayama reacted, in went the left hand under Yutakayama’s defense. Yutakayama was not just caught, he was in no position to counter with any kind of grip of his own. Chiyoshoma kept it that way, not letting Yutakayama have kind of offense at all. Yutakayama tried to change his grip, and at that moment Chiyoshoma surged forward and finished him, improving to 4-5 by yorikiri.

Takarafuji defeats Oho – We get a big strength and endurance match from these two, and that is how it should be. Oho tries to dial up the power for a win in the first few moments, but he finds that he has been captured and is stalemated in the center of the dohyo. This is Takarafuji’s brand of sumo – “Defend and extend”. Wear the other guy down moment by moment. But eventually Takarafuji decided he had worn Oho down long enough. He raised Oho up, changed his grip, and walked him out to end the day 4-5 by yorikiri.

Terutsuyoshi defeats Daiamami – With his sixth loss on the dohyo and the 2 days he missed, Daiamami is now make-koshi, and at Maegashira 16w, is almost certainly headed back to Juryo. Given that his sumo has been poor since returning from kyujo, I wonder why he did not just rest up his injury and fight his way back in September. Terutsuyoshi decided to give us a show as well, picking Daiamami’s leg to win by ashitori, increasing his score to 3-6.

Kotoshoho defeats Onosho – Onosho was on the offense, and was having his way with Kotoshoho up to the moment where Onosho pushed forward to take Kotoshoho out of the ring. With an arm hold, Kotoshoho pivoted into a kotenage, and managed to keep his feet long enough to see Onosho hit the clay. Both end the day at 5-4.

Nishikigi defeats Midorifuji – Midorifuji showed a lot of energy and drive today, but simply could not move Nishikigi in any way. He could not move Nishikigi back, or find a way to get any kind of mawashi grip. Points to Nishikigi for reducing this to a simple mass vs mass contest, which greatly favored himself. With Midorifuji’s arm barred, Nishikigi walked Midorifuji back and threw him out of the ring by kimedashi, improving to 7-2 and maintaining his position in the leader group.

Chiyotairyu defeats Tochinoshin – Last night in the preview, I guessed that Chiyotairyu’s tradition “stand him up / pull him down” may not work against Tochinoshin, given how many times he has faced Chiyotairyu. Well, I was wrong. it worked a treat. Chiyotairyu picks up a much needed win to advance to 6-3 by hatakikomi.

Okinoumi defeats Meisei – That looked more like a sloppy practice match than honbasho. Meisei seemed to have just given up on the third exchange, and just said, “well balls, I will just give him a lame pull”. Okinoumi was happy to absorb that and push Meisei out. Okinoumi now at 4-5 thanks to the resulting oshidashi.

Tobizaru defeats Shimanoumi – I am impressed with how much fight Shimanoumi brought to this match, given how poorly he has been doing for most of the July tournament. Sadly there is no way he was going to “out frantic” Tobizaru, who matched him move for move and absorbed it all. Shimanoumi tired, resulting in the two leading against each other in the center of the ring. Tobizaru got bored with that soon enough, and out came the leg sweep for the second day in a row. It did not completely connect, but disrupted Shimanoumi’s balance enough that he could bring him down. Shimanoumi now make-koshi at 1-8, Tobizaru maintains his position in the leader group with 7-2.

Kotoeko defeats Aoiyama – TIMMMBERRR! Kotoeko makes just a minor shift to his left following the initial contact at the tachiai, and catches Big Dan surging forward. With that much mass in motion, it is a tough to change direction mid stride. Aoiyama toppled forward as Kotoeko seemed disappointed to not being able to continue the fight. He wins by tsukiotoshi and is 5-4.

Hokutofuji defeats Sadanoumi – A good initial hit, but both men lost traction and fell together, with Sadanoumi touching down first. They decided to call it oshitaoshi, and Hokutofuji gets the win to improve to 4-5.

Ichinojo defeats Kiribayama – It does my heart good to see Ichinojo bounce back and win again. He took the fight to Kiribayama, who quickly got an up close experience of just how much trouble an enormous and genki Ichinojo can be. Kiribayama tried a few offensive moves, but Ichinojo is just too big, and has good hand placement today. Ichinojo engages forward PTO and drives Kiribayama out by yorikiri to hold position in the leader group at 7-2.

Hoshoryu defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi missed his mark at the tachiai, and found himself defending against Hoshoryu’s sumo. Hoshoryu caught Tamawashi out of position, and established control of the inside and went to work. Hoshoryu was hitting well, and the third combo sent Tamawashi out by oshidashi. Hoshoryu improves to 5-4.

Daieisho defeats Ura – Daieisho was no going to rush forward against Ura, and that was probably a wise move. So the tachiai was an odd one (usually is against Ura), and we did not see the big push inside to set up any thrusting attacks. Staying at distance, Daieisho nipped and picked at Ura until he got him off balance, and employed a hatakikomi to finish Ura off. Daieisho improves 5-4.

Kotonowaka defeats Wakatakakage – Wakatakakage got the better of the tachiai, and went on the attack. Kotonowaka did mange to get his right hand inside, and deep on Wakatakakage’s belt. Wakatakakage surged forward, broke Kotonowaka’s grip and looked to be setting up a throw. Kotonowaka rallied, shut down that throw and surged forward to send Wakatakakage out by yorikiri. Kotonowaka takes the win in this “battle of the waka” to improve to 7-2,s staying with the leader group.

Shodai defeats Abi – We saw it again today, Shodai gets in trouble, something switches on, and he’s an Ozeki again. I almost think there are two Shodai (Shodais? what is the plural of Shodai? Suggestions in comments pleasE) in there, a lesser Shodai and a greater Shodai. We saw the lesser one quite a bit in the first week, and he started this match (and yesterday’s too) before the Uber-Shodai came in and won. Abi was attacking in his traditional style, and a sudden power move pushed Abi aside and down to give Shodai the match. Both end the day at 5-4, and remain squarely in the funnel.

Takakeisho defeats Wakamotoharu – Ozeki Takakeisho made fast work of Wakamotoharu, as he could not risk having Wakamotoharu set up any kind of mawashi grip. Takakeisho improves to 6-3 by tsukiotoshi.

Terunofuji defeats Endo – Endo really put maximum effort into this match, and took the fight to Terunofuji. But watch the Yokozuna break Endo’s double inside grip moments after he set it up. With his hold on Terunofuji trashed, the Yokozuna counter attacks and bodily gives Endo the jolly heave-ho off the side of the dohyo. It’s clear Terunofuji is hurt, but you have to admire his brass to mount the dohyo each day and beat all comers. Oshidashi win and Terunofuji remains the strongest bid for the Emperor’s cup on Sunday at 7-2.