As a reminder, these were the Day 7 matchups:

Naya was was dominating Ikarigata until the latter pulled a reversal at the edge, which required a mono-ii to confirm, but Fujinokowa’s brother moves on. Former maegashira Yago pushed out Nihonyanagi, while another ex-sekitori, Shimazuumi, fell to Hinataryu, who’s been toiling in the lower divisions since 2018 without making me aware of his existence until now. Gyotoku prevailed by oshidashi after a tough bout, running his career record to 10-1. Seihakuho advanced without too much trouble. And then it was on to the two top-ranked undefeated wrestlers, Ms2e Ishizaki and Ms3e Asahakuryu, who both hail from Takasago beya. Asahakuryu earned his kachi-koshi, while Ishizaki was slapped down by Kamito and is still seeking the fourth win that would finally enable him to make his sekitori debut.

The quarterfinal bouts should take place on Day 9, and the matchups have not been posted yet, but the bracket should look as follows:

• Asahakuryu vs. Kamito
• Seihakuho vs. Gyotoku
• Hinataryu vs. Yago
• Ikarigata vs. the winner of the Day 8 Sandanme bout between Daishinkai and Kaigo

Former maegashira Kitanowaka (3-1) defeated former Ozeki Asanoyama (2-2) with surprising ease, leaving the latter with a lot of work to do to make a sekitori return. Enho (2-2) had his chances but lost to Narutaki, and looked like he might have injured himself in the process.

The next update should be on Day 9, when I’ll probably also take a first look at the Juryo promotion picture.

A quick update on today’s top-division action. Look for a Makushita report later.

Fujinokawa (5-2), whom I used to like, pulled a henka against Mitakeumi (6-1), dropping the former Ozeki out of sole lead and into a 6-way tie. As a silver lining, this might keep Mitakeumi from getting pitted against higher-rankers until later in the basho. Kusano (6-1) tossed down Kotoeiho (3-4) in a brief but spirited bout. Ichiyamamoto (6-1) beat Takerufuji (4-3), who did show up, but with a heavily taped bicep, and put up minimal if any resistance. He really should be getting that injury taken care of, but I guess that’s ozumo.

On to the sanyaku bouts. Aonishiki (5-2) showed Oshoma (1-6) who the real Komusubi is, taking a lot of shots to the face while patiently waiting for an opening and then rapidly blasting out his opponent. Ageless wonder Tamawashi (6-1) blew away Wakatakakage (3-4), whose Ozeki run is toast, at least for now. Kotozakura (5-2) fought like an Ozeki today, overpowering Hakuoho (3-4). In a battle between heavyweight yusho contenders and former Ozeki, Kirishima (6-1) established inside position against Takayasu (5-2) at the tachiai, then quickly disrupted his opponent’s balance and slapped him down in what looked like a carbon copy of his yesterday’s win over Kinbozan (1-6). And things didn’t get any better for Kinbozan, whose loss against Onosato (6-1) looked like a particularly easy chest-lending session. So we have six co-leaders, whose ranks range from Yokozuna to M16. No one will be kachi-koshi on Day 8, but come back tomorrow to see where things stand.

While we wait to see whether Andy can provide some regular coverage from the road, here’s a brief Makuuchi update. I don’t have time to go bout-by-bout, but please feel free to add your impressions in the comments.

Ichiyamamoto (5-1) lost to Hiradoumi, leaving Mitakeumi (6-0) as the sole leader after his win against Shodai (3-3); their head-to-head now stands at 20-17! Onosato (5-1) had no trouble with his college teammate, Onokatsu (1-5), and stayed in the group of rikishi one win behind Mitakeumi. The 5-1 group also includes Kirishima (easy win over 1-5 Kinbozan), Takayasu (hard-fought uwatenage win over 4-2 Aonishiki, who came within millimeters of getting Takayasu’s hand to touch the dohyo), ageless wonder Tamawashi, who dominated 4-2 Gonoyama, fan favorite Ura, who got the better of nemesis Tobizaru (2-4), and our impressive rookie, Kusano, who crushed out Shishi (3-3). The other notable event was Takerufuji (4-2) grabbing his bicep after pushing out Sadanoumi (3-3); I hate to dwell on injuries, but let’s just say I would be surprised if his scheduled Day 7 opponent, Ichiyamamoto, did not pick up a freebie tomorrow.

Three rounds of bouts have been completed, leaving us with 14 undefeated rikishi. The next round will play out on day 7. Here are the matchups:

The top-ranked undefeated wrestlers, Ms2e Ishizaki and Ms3e Asahakuryu, both hail from Takasago beya and can’t meet outside of a playoff, so they’ve been given the next available undefeated opponents by rank. Both are good enough to keep winning, so we could yet see a title decider between the pair. The other 12 contenders represent 12 different heya (who knew there were so many?).

Other wrestlers to keep an eye on are Isegahama prospect Seihakuho, May Ms60TD debutant Gyotoku, and former maegashira Shimazuumi and Yago, who are on track to meet in the quarterfinals. And we have a bro battle: Fujinokawa’s sibling, Ikarigata, takes on Naya, who is actually the older brother of Oho and Mudoho.

Both Enho and Asanoyama won their third-round bouts, so both are 2-1. Tomorrow, Asanoyama fights Kitanowaka—another ex-Makuuchi man on the comeback trail from injury. Enho takes on Narutaki, who just exited the yusho bracket at the hands of Seihakuho. Come back tomorrow to see how everything plays out.