Nagoya Day 7 Highlights

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kaisei (魁聖), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nagoya Basho 2019, Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takagenji, Takanoiwa (貴ノ岩), Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochinoshin (栃ノ心), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Tomokaze, Toyonoshima, Yago, Ōnoshō (阿武咲) , , , ,

I stated up front that I expected Hakuho to take the yusho, and possibly do it with 15 straight wins. I continue to think this is a strong possibility, but if you take the body of his 7 matches thus far in Nagoya, you can see a trend. Firstly, each day he struggles a bit more to win. His sumo is less smooth and efficient, and he is definitely favoring that right arm.

While he may have “rested up” and gotten to the point where he felt like things were good, once he is in full power combat with real opponents, it’s possible that he either re-injured that bicep tear in his right arm, or the strain of daily matches has brought in the biggest long term threat, inflammation. I cite this as a threat because swelling will tear tissue, and create damage that cannot heal.

Right now, The Boss is playing for time. He has a personal goal to make it to next summer to still be an active Yokozuna during the Tokyo 2020 summer olympics, and to continue in sumo until he can secure his Japanese citizenship and transition to an Oyakata. The question now, can his arm hold out that long? If he takes the pattern of one tournament on, one tournament off, he needs to just survive 3 more tournaments to reach his olympics goal. That’s 25 more wins (1+8+8+8) for the winningest man in sumo.

But as an egotist, I could see Hakuho driving himself to the point of muscle failure in that injured arm, simply to maintain the facade of the invisible, unbeatable ultimate dai-Yokozuna. Let’s hope it does not come to that. But his sumo is very rough now, and I fear he will have some big problems with his second week opponents. He can reach the safety of kachi-koshi on Sunday by beating Shodai.

Highlight Matches

Terutsuyoshi defeats Tokushoryu – Terutsuyoshi’s poorly executed henka attempt nearly lost him the match, but he rallied and drove Juryo visitor Tokushoryu out of the ring. That was one fine recovery.

Toyonoshima defeats Sadanoumi – As always, act 2 brings some great reversals, and after having a miserable basho in act 1, perhaps Toyonoshima has found his sumo. Toyonoshima finally looked more like his normal self, as he used his belly to disrupt Sadanoumi’s offense, and closed the match with a painful looking tottari.

Kotoyuki defeats Chiyomaru – Kotoyuki’s superior mobility carried this match, coupled with Chiyomaru’s poorly executed attempt at a pull down.

Kagayaki defeats Enho – Once in a while, Enho’s up and under tachiai misses its mark. This happened today as Kagayaki blocked him out at the initial charge and powerfully tossed his much smaller opponent out of the ring. Enho never had a moment to plant his feet to defend, and Kagayaki’s mobility ensured he was glued to Enho’s retreat.

Yago defeats Tochiozan – Tochiozan owned the tachiai, but for some reason broke contact, probably to try and improve his body / arm position. This left him off temp and Yago battled him for every attempt at a grip. With Tochiozan off balance, Yago was able to slap him down for the win. Fairly sloppy match, but I am sure Yago is happy for the win.

Kotoeko defeats Kaisei – Kaisei had a strong position, but that injured right arm robs him of any chance to generate meaningful offense. Kotoeko’s sukuinage was brilliantly executed, with his left foot as close to out as you could ever get and still win.

Shohozan defeats Takagenji – It seems Shohozan did indeed study that match against Okinoumi, as he applied a variation on the same theme. Although Shohozan’s usual style of sumo is a fairly brutal oshi style, he took Takagenji to his chest, and wore him down. For the second day in a row, this worked.

Okinoumi defeats Nishikigi – Nishikigi works for his normal arm pin, but Okinoumi deftly entraps him instead, pulls him off balance to the right and rolls it into a uwatehineri. When you have veterans like Okinoumi on the dohyo, you can get some really impressive displays of sumo skill.

Onosho defeats Daishoho – Onosho really needed this win. He nearly bounced too far back at the tachiai, but was able to recover and advance with surprising strength and speed. His balance was still to far out in front of his big toe, but today it worked for him.

Chiyotairyu defeats Tomokaze – I am not sure if it was the plan, or Chiyotairyu improvised today, but this was lightning fast and perfectly executed. Tomokaze, to his credit, absorbed most of that cannon ball tachiai, but Chiyotairyu smoothly shifted to his right, and pushed hard. That put Tomokaze off balance and out of control.

Shimanoumi defeats Kotoshogiku – As I mentioned earlier in the week, I was happily enjoying the genki Kotoshogiku, but knew that with his catalog of injuries he was going to struggle later. We can see in this match against Shimanoumi, that the former Ozeki just can’t quite generate much in the way of forward pressure.

Myogiryu defeats Ichinojo – Myogiryu continues his dominance over the Boulder, and for at least today, he distracted Ichinojo by attacking his neck / face. For whatever reason, Ichinojo decided to respond in kind rather than pressing the attack to win, and while Myogiryu received something that looked like the Vulcan Death Grip, his right hand found a deep grip on Ichinojo’s mawashi. Now Ichinojo is high, and has no real grip on Myogiryu. Myogiryu drops his hips, and Ichinojo has no defense. I am sure it hurt, but Myogiryu’s gambit paid off.

Meisei defeats Takarafuji – I think everyone in the Dolphin Arena was relieved for Meisei, who finally scored his first win of the basho. Sadly, journeyman technician Takarafuji only has 2 wins thus far.

Hokutofuji defeats Abi – This is the first time that Hokutofuji was able to score a win against Abi, and I think it happened because Hokutofuji’s tachiai landed deeper than Abi expected, and he was able to shut down Abi’s right hand lead off to his normal thrusting attack. Abi-zumo requires a bit of distance to the opponent, and has Hokutofuji has show before, his lower body is nearly autonomous, able to advance while his upper body absorbs blow after blow.

Ryuden defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi came out strong, and took the tachiai, forcing Ryuden back. But Tamawashi has a predictable left-right thrusting attack, and Ryuden was able to pivot at the end of Tamawashi’s right arm thrust, leaving no where for his left to go. Now off balance and leaning forward, Ryuden finishes him with a shove to the shoulder. Nice timing on Ryuden’s part.

Mitakeumi defeats Asanoyama – Don’t fret Asanoyama fans. His first trip to the upper reaches of Maegashira was always going to be a rough ride. His sumo is still solid, and it’s still improving. Mitakeumi gave him a close in demo of tadpole sumo, and it worked brilliantly. Robbed of any ability to land a grip, Asanoyama tries to pull, and that release of forward pressure is all any tadpole needs to put you away.

Takayasu defeats Aoiyama – In spite of his 3-4 record, I don’t think Aoiyama has looked this good since two years ago at Nagoya where he took the jun-yusho. If you look at Aoiyama’s foot placement during this match, its quite excellent, and his focus on keeping maximum pressure against Takayasu’s upper body is relentless. But when his attempt to throw Takayasu failed, he was defenseless, and Takayasu moved him out for the win. Good sumo from both. I think that Andy may have been on to something he thought it might be time for Takayasu to contend for the cup.

Endo defeats Goeido – I am calling it now, Goeido’s ankle is acting up again, and we are not going to see good Ozeki sumo out of him for the rest of the tournament. He is going to try to piece together his 8, which he might do, but don’t look for his awesome pure offense sumo on a daily basis. I think Endo was surprised by how easy it was to land a mawashi grip at the tachiai.

Hakuho defeats Daieisho – The Yokozuna looked rough, out of control and trying anything he could short of his favorite throws, all of which count on that right arm. Fans who are not comfortable with the sometimes brutal nature of sumo should be put on notice. Once Monday rolls around, Hakuho will be facing higher ranked opponents, and every one of them are going to work to attack that arm. I am sure The Boss knows it too, and why the day 8 match against Shodai is going to be pivotal.

Kakuryu defeats Shodai – I will say it, Kakuryu looks more genki right now than Hakuho. Shodai gave him a few tricksy moves, but really had no answer to the Yokozuna’s forward advance.

Nagoya Day 7 Preview

Bruce H Abi (阿炎), Aoiyama, Asanoyama (朝乃山), Chiyomaru, Chiyotairyū (千代大龍), Daieisho (大栄翔), Daishoho, Endo (遠藤), Enho, Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Hokutōfuji (北勝富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kaisei (魁聖), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kotoeko, Kotoshogiku (琴奨菊), Kotoyuki, Meisei, Mitakeumi(御嶽海), Myogiryu (妙義龍), Nagoya Basho 2019, Nishikigi, Okinoumi (隠岐の海), Ryuden (竜電), Sadanoumi (佐田の海), Shimanoumi, Shohozan, Shōdai (正代直也), Takagenji, Takanoiwa (貴ノ岩), Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Tamawashi (玉鷲), Terutsuyoshi, Tochinoshin (栃ノ心), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Tomokaze, Toyonoshima, Yago, Ōnoshō (阿武咲)

A hot, steamy Saturday in Nagoya. It can only mean it’s sumo time!

What We Are Watching Day 7

Tokushoryu vs Terutsuyoshi – Even though day 6 brought Terutsuyoshi’s first loss, I expect him to continue the march towards an early kachi-koshi. Though as you can see from today’s torikumi, with Tochinoshin out we will have daily juryo visitors, which may be Terutsuyoshi’s duty to fight.

Toyonoshima vs Sadanoumi – I keep waiting to see if Toyonoshima is going to “turn the corner” and his sumo will wake up before he is horribly make-koshi and relegated back to Juryo. I know he has the potential and the skill to fight and win in the top division, but something is keeping him from executing.

Chiyomaru vs Kotoyuki – I will admit that Kotoyuki has surprised me thus far, he has (shall we say) exceeded expectations. He has executed well this visit to Makuuchi, and enters today with a respectable 4-2 score to July. Of course, when facing Chiyomaru, his primary weapon is his bulk. But Kotoyuki has a lot of mobility, and good balance traveling at oblique angles to his opponent. I think this is why their career record stands at 4-3.

Enho vs Kagayaki – This will be a good match, a solid match, and a match that might just require more analogies to the Aliens franchise. This is the first time these two have met, and I am curious what kind of approach Kagayaki will try.

Tochiozan vs Yago – Both Tochiozan and Yago seem to be running more cold than hot this basho, although both of them are capable of some very good sumo when they are healthy. Their only prior match went to Tochiozan.

Kotoeko vs Kaisei – Kaisei is hurt, he will struggle for the rest of the tournament, and probably wind up in Juryo, which is too bad as he has been a Makuuchi main stay since 2011, barring a couple of visits to Juryo.

Shohozan vs Takagenji – Okinoumi showed us on day 6 that he was able to stalemate Takagenji and wait for his chance. Now it’s up to Shohozan to see if it works for him, as well. We have not seen a lot of “run and gun” from Shohozan this tournament, and I wonder if it’s due to some injury.

Nishikigi vs Okinoumi – Being patient with Nishikigi won’t have the same effect as Takagenji. I have the opinion that Nishikigi is the kind of fellow who enjoys taking his time, and it’s possible we might see these two go chest to chest and lean on each other for a while today. Out of their 4 prior matches, Nishikigi has taken 3.

Onosho vs Daishoho – In spite of his 3-1 career advantage, I expect Onosho to continue to suffer with balance problems, and I almost wonder if he somehow has an ear / sinus infection that is causing at least part of his problems.

Chiyotairyu vs Tomokaze – Oh yes! This first time match has my attention. Chiyotairyu will come off the line with a lot of power, and Tomokaze will have to find some way to absorb it. I can only imagine Tomokaze figuring things out at Oguruma’s lodgings I the morning, and eventually turning to a neighborhood Daihatsu Hijet to ram into a bracket Tomokaze at 10 kph. Good luck, Tomokaze!

Kotoshogiku vs Shimanoumi – Kotoshogiku looks surprisingly light on day 6, and now I am worried. I think that if Shimanoumi can come in low and get Kotoshogiku back on his heels he could take this one.

Myogiryu vs Ichinojo – Myogiryu tends to win against Ichinojo (8-4), but this version of Ichinojo is really quite a fighter. I would expect that Myogiryu will try to stay mobile before Ichinojo either grabs his mawashi, or starts slapping him in the face.

Meisei vs Takarafuji – Meisei can’t seem to buy a win right now, and I think that may not improve vs Takarafuji.

Abi vs Hokutofuji – Another high interest match, two leading members of the Freshmen cohort going head to head. Both have long arms, and both of them are known for their oshi-zumo. As Hokutofuji likes to use his right hand for his “handshake tachiai”, the opening salvo will likely favor Abi, who tends to seek contact with his opponent’s shoulders from the right.

Ryuden vs Tamawashi – Now the scheduling team are just pouring on the good stuff. I hope that Ryuden did not get his head knocked too hard in his day 6 match with Mitakeumi, and is back to fighting shape. I also truly hope that Tamawashi has re-connected with his sumo. If both are true, these two should have a solid match.

Mitakeumi vs Asanoyama – Mitakeumi took their only prior match, and it was one of only 3 matches Asanoyama lost on his yusho run in May. Mitakeumi is going to have to be sharp off the line to prevent Asanoyama from getting a grip and calling the form of the fight.

Aoiyama vs Takayasu – Aoiyama has the ability to consistently beat Takayasu. In fact, Aoiyama has one 5 of their last 6. If you want to know why Takayasu can’t quite get to the point where he can contend for the yusho? It’s because this giant mountain of a man has his number.

Goeido vs Endo – Goeido needs to work fast today, before Endo can get that front grip that has been part of both of his wins, and a few of his “nearly won” matches. Goeido has looked a big vague the last couple of days, and we may have to add him to the “fighting hurt” list.

Daieisho vs Hakuho – More ballast for The Boss to chuck like a sack of potatoes.

Kakuryu vs Shodai – Shodai may shock everyone by beating Kakuryu for the first time in 11 tries today. Kakuryu’s matches are not as focused on the tachiai, which is Shodai’s weak spot, and this gives him time to set up some offense, which as we have seen, can actually produce results.

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.

Bouts From the Lower Divisions – Day 6

Herouth Nagoya Basho 2019 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Hoshoryu in his first official Oicho-mage

I wanted to start with a video of today’s maezumo. However, I have a personal policy against sharing videos that include serious injuries – ones that require the wrestler to be carried away by others – and unfortunately, today’s maezumo footage included one of those.

Senho, Hakuho’s new small forward uchi-deshi, apparently lost his bout yesterday, so unlike Hokutenkai, he had to do another bout. His opponent was Naruto beya’s humongous new deshi, Konno, and although Senho did not do anything spectacular or dangerous, Konno ended up landing badly on his knee and just stayed there unmoving. A sewanin and a yobidashi had to take him off the dohyo. I hope the reason for this is that he is not yet used to sudden pain, rather than a serious injury at such an early stage of his career, but if not, we may see him do maezumo again next basho or the one after it.

Jonokuchi

Speaking of Naruto beya, you may recall that Naruto had no less than six new deshi in the previous basho (I have to get a photo of the presentation of the new deshi. Kotooshu must have needed to go very deep into his collection of kesho-mawashi to dress up six of them). No less than four of them are in the Jonokuchi yusho race at this moment – which is going to give the torikumi committee a bit of a scheduling headache if they keep winning. Here are two of them. Start with Motobayashi, who is 23 years old. Here he is on the left, with his rival, Kotoyamato from Sadogatake, on the right:

No contest here. Next up is Marusho, who is merely 18, just graduated from high school. On the left, facing Koki from Minato beya.

He was listed as a tsuki-oshi man when he joined, but he went directly for the mawashi in this match.

Both men, as well as their heya mates, Mishima and Sakurai, are now 3-0. Three of them are scheduled against the remaining non-Naruto with 3-0, so there is good chance that Jonokuchi will run out of lossless rikishi who are not from Naruto beya pretty soon – in which case, they are going to be scheduled with lossless rikishi from Jonidan.

Jonidan

Speaking of Jonidan, here is Kitanowaka, the charmer from Hakkaku beya, attacking from the right, matched with Kirizakura from Michinoku beya on the left:

Again, quick dispatch, much to the delight of the young Maiko in the background. By the way, I think Kitanowaka has legs as long as Abi’s. I wonder what uses he will make of them as he advances into the more complicated levels.

Now, the next bout is interesting, and I’m sure you’ll want to rerun it several times. On the left, we have Hakuho’s giant uchi-deshi, Toma. On the right, Wakahiroto from Chiganoura beya, who is, himself, not exactly a pixie. Since Toma currently mostly wins by using the Orora tactic (“be big”), this bout turns out not to be that straightforward for him.

I would have sworn that it was Wakahiroto’s win, but there wasn’t even a monoii. And looking at the video several times, it appears, indeed, that – unless Toma’s left heel is touching the Janome, which we can’t see – he has one foot firmly on the tawara, while Wakahiroto’s feet both detach themselves from the dohyo’s surface. So it’s indeed Toma’s win. By the way, they call it a yoritaoshi as Toma turns to leave, but it was later corrected to an utchari. The one thing to remember, both from this bout and from Onosho’s bout: it’s not about who touches first, it’s about who died first.

Sandanme

Unfortunately, I could not find any footage of Musashikuni today, so all I can do is report to you that the American lost his match with Oginosho. But thankfully, Wakaichiro is very popular, and so, here he is attacking from the right, while Hamadayama from Shibatayama beya is attacking from the left:

Straightforward, good deashi, thrusts from both sides, oshidashi, and Wakaichiro is 2-1.

Makushita

The two elder Onami brothers had bouts today. Let’s start with big brother Wakatakamoto (right), who faces Masutoo (left), Chiganoura’s Hungarian wrestler. Both are 2-0 coming into this game.

Not that this was brilliant sumo, but Masutoo has much confidence lately, which I suppose comes from the enlargement of the heya and some quality practice rivals. His career seems to have taken a change for the better, with 6-1 in the previous basho, and now 3-0.

Next up, we have two Mongolians – Yoshoyama, with whom you should already be familiar from my previous posts, is on the left, and Roga, the wolf from Futagoyama beya, on the right:

Engage, get his grip right, and twist your opponent down. The kimarite is shitatehineri. Roga is now 2-1, while Yoshoyama drops to 1-2.

Next up, Prince Naya, who was much talked of before this basho – getting stronger, coming into his own, etc. Naya is on the right, and Tsukahara on the left, and both are 1-1 as they face each other.

Ah, lack of experience. Naya starts aggressively and commits himself fully, but that opens him to exactly the side step that Tsukahara expertly performs, and the prince goes down to hatakikomi. To the press, he said “My keiko was not sufficient”. I seriously believe being at Otake beya hinders him. Otake oyakata is not Taiho.

Our next Onami brother is middle brother Wakamotoharu, here on the left, setting out against Kaisho from Asakayama beya on the right. Both are 1-1.

Nice yotsu match there. The two lock in, but when Kaisho attempts a makikae (change from an arm out to an arm in), Wakamotoharu makes his move. A makikae is always a risk for losing realestate, and Kaisho lost all of his land. Wakamotoharu himself lands almost in the box seats, but he lands there with 2-1, now even with his big brother.

Juryo

Because of Aminishiki’s kyujo, an extra wrestler is needed in Juryo every day, borrowed from Makushita. When that happens, the wrestler from Makushita gets to wear an oicho-mage for that bout, and today was Hoshoryu’s first appearance in an official oicho-mage. There was much swooning all over the su-jo scene. Hoshoryu, on the left, was to face Kizakiumi, on the right, whose brother, Churanoumi, he defeated yesterday.

Kizakiumi, however, proves to be Hoshoryu’s kryptonite. This didn’t even develop into a real bout, and the young Mongolian found himself unceremoniously dumped over the edge of the dohyo.

Lucky for Hoshoryu, who is now 2-2, with the exception of Seiro, those above him in Makushita seem to be doing worse, especially Daiseido, who is already 0-3, which means that a simple kachi-koshi may well carry him to Juryo in Aki. However, what he will do once he is there is a different question, as both his fights with “real sekitori” ended in him crumpled at the side of the dohyo.

By the way, for the time being there will be no more visits from Makushita to Juryo, as Tochinoshin’s kyujo evens out the number of sekitori. That is, there will be a visit from Juryo to Makuuchi, and an even number of sekitori will remain in Juryo.

In other news, on a scale of 1-10, how predictable would you rate the following match?