What an opener for act 2! One of the great things about act 2 is there seems to be some kind of mental / stamina barrier that arrives day 6 or 7, where suddenly rikishi who were on hot streaks go cold, and rikishi who were struggling find their sumo. As the Great Sumo Cat works its magic, thus we saw some fascinating reversals on day 6.

It’s clear that even though Hakuho is fighting better than anyone on the dohyo, his elbows are bothering him. That wince and flex on the left arm following today’s bout was a very broad tell. I fully expect Hakuho’s ego to drive him to the point of body failure in his focus to remain the dai-Yokozuna for another year. He might be able to pull it off, but the cumulative injuries from a long decade of fighting and defeating the best the sumo world can offer is degrading him, a piece at a time.

Highlight Matches

Kotoyuki defeats Kaisei – It’s not a surprise, sadly. Kaisei has no ability to do sumo right now in any meaningful way. Too many injuries, and with his big body, any damage to his hips or below and he’s more or less useless. Will he sit out? I think he believes that maybe if he gambarizes he can pick up a few more and soften his fall.

Enho defeats Yago – Any normal person would watch that match, see Yago completely envelop Enho, and think “Yeah, that little guy is screwed”. When really, once Yago had his “paper covers rock” body position, there was absolutely nothing he could do but wait and see what kind of fresh hell Enho was going to uncork. Like a chest-buster from the movie Aliens, it was no obstacle for the truly motivated to break free from that much flesh. Enho pivots and Yago gets to enjoy the physics of angular displacement first hand. You see, the inside part of the wheel moves a little, the outside moves a LOT.

Chiyomaru defeats Toyonoshima – Toyonoshima can’t seem to buy a win. There are no reports that I have seen that detail what ails him, but he has certainly fallen apart during this tournament. Chiyomaru focused on Toyonoshima’s neck until Toyonoshima was doing nothing more than reacting to Chiyomaru’s attacks, then Chiyomaru swept to the side and pushed Toyonoshima down.

Sadanoumi defeats Terutsuyoshi – First of the undefeated to take a black star on day 6. Sadanoumi got inside early and set up sideways to Terutsuyoshi, who immediately went to throw, but found himself without the grip to execute. He attempted to pivot back to be chest to chest and establish a deep right hand grip, but by that time Sadanoumi had driven him out.

Kagayaki defeats Kotoeko – Kotoeko’s poorly executed attempt to hit and shift left him with zero defense, and Mr Fundamentals cleaned up. After shedding an impressive amount of ring rust, I think Kagayaki is getting it in gear.

Shohozan defeats Nishikigi – Battle of the arm-locks, and Shohozan does them very well indeed. Hopefully Nishikigi was not injured.

Daishoho defeats Tochiozan – Tochiozan strikes me as frequently having a “Cunning Plan”, that frankly is amazing, but once a young, genki brute like Daishoho gets a hold of you, your plans are not worth much. Its great to watch Tochiozan try plans B and C, but the whole time Daishoho maintains forward pressure, and keeps advancing.

Okinoumi defeats Takagenji – Experience. Takagenji went in hard and strong, but Okinoumi wrapped him up, and waited. Like a fish on the hook, Takagenji tried a few gambits to change the calculus of the match, but Okinoumi waited for him to release just a bit of pressure (which unweighted Takagenji’s left side just a bit), and then rotated into the shitatenage. Great sumo from Okinoumi.

Onosho defeats Chiyotairyu – Chiyotairyu had this one locked up due to Onosho’s well documented balance problems, but a really clever move by Onosho as he was airborne shoved Chiyotairyu enough that he had to take a step, and that step landed before Onosho did, giving him the match.

Myogiryu defeats Kotoshogiku – Kotoshogiku was completely shut down and defeated in a blink of an eye. Myogiryu went chest to chest, turned the former Ozeki and advanced for the win.

Takarafuji defeats Tomokaze – Tomokaze gets his first black star as he goes down to a combination of poor footwork and Takarafuji’s tachiai. I would say this is at least one part slippiotoshi. Nagoya is famous for these, as the humidity and heat make that clay surface slippery, as hundreds of feet pack the dohyo, and smooth it out.

Ichinojo defeats Shimanoumi – You can see Shimanoumi struggle for hand placement. At the tachiai they find Ichinojo’s enormous soft belly, and sort of sink in. While Shimanoumi is figuring this out, the Boulder already has a right hand inside grip and Shimanoumi is in deep trouble. As Ichinojo advances, Shimanoumi releases all forward pressure and just prepares for the fall. In the words of Patrick Stewart in Dune, “Gads, what a monster!”

Hokutofuji defeats Meisei – Meisei won the tachiai, and had a left hand inside grip on Hokutofuji, pressing him to the tawara before Hokutofuji could get his defensive footwork together and circle away. His rapid pivot left Meisei off balance, and in some damn impressive sumo, Hokutofuji switched to attack mode in the midst of the retreat, grabbing Meisei’s right arm and unleashing a kotenage. Brilliant stuff.

Mitakeumi defeats Ryuden – These two knocked heads at the tachiai, and I am going to guess that Ryuden was more than a little discombobulated by it, as he offered very little offense or defense against Mitakeumi’s thrusting attack.

Tamawashi defeats Asanoyama – Hey look, that’s the Tamawashi we know and love. Asanoyama went for his intended grip to set up offense, and found that Tamawashi was inside, thrusting against his chest, and it was all over. Tamawashi starts act 2 with his first win.

Takayasu defeats Daieisho – Takayasu’s foot placement was terrible in this match, and he was all over the place. It’s only by sheer luck and some solid one-leg sumo that he was able to stay in long enough to win. He ceded the inside lane to Daieisho, and when he discovered that Daieisho was out-thrusting him, Takayasu engaged reverse gear and tried for a pull down. The hatakikomi worked, but Takayasu looked like hell.

Shodai defeats Goeido – The sumo equivalent of losing to baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, Goeido lets Shodai’s cartoon sumo get the best of him. Goeido seems to go soft in the tachiai, so I have to wonder if that ankle is bothering him again. When the Ozeki gets in trouble, he starts moving in reverse, which he did today. Shodai was not one to let that opportunity go past, and made Goeido pay.

Kakuryu defeats Endo – Standard match for them both until the moment when Endo goes for that right hand shallow grip, the same one he has used at least twice this basho to dismantle an opponent. At this point, Kakuryu has the presence of mind to go “oh damn!”, and activate the “Break glass in case of emergency” sumo. For Kakuryu that is to step back and pull.

Hakuho defeats Aoiyama – A double-ladle of mind games prior to the bout, Aoiyama gave Hakuho a very good fight today, and frankly looked better than he has in quite a while. Hakuho was not unscathed at the end, and seemed genuinely sore. If I were a richer man, I would buy Aoiyama (Big Dan) the most obscene Harley or Indian I could find, as that man needs a hog to ride when his sumo days are done.

Yep! That’s how they run that score board! (Thanks to Twitter user @kodamacanada)

With Act 1 behind us, it’s on to act 2. The middle third of the banzuke is where we get our first look at the yusho race, and try to start sorting the damned from the survivors. We have an early look at that, as it seems both Yokozuna are running well, and none of the Ozekis likely have a chance to challenge. In fact, Tochinoshin looks to be on the path to returning to kadoban status, and has yet to win a single match. He’s more than capable when he’s healthy, which is not the case right now. In addition to his undercarriage problems, his have opponents have gotten very capable of shutting down his left hand outside grip, which is the key to his lift-and-shift sumo.

As a reminder to our readers, NHK World Japan will once again be broadcasting live during the middle Sunday of the basho (day 8) which will be overnight Saturday / early morning hours Sunday in the US. If you find yourself ready to stay up and watch live sumo, we have found the coverage to be a notch above what you can get from the 20 minute highlight reel that is normally shown.

What We Are Watching Day 6

Kotoyuki vs Kaisei – Kaisei is in rough shape, we know his right elbow / arm are not working properly, shutting down his yotzu-sumo form, but I suspect he may be having lower body problems, too. As a result, its doubtful that we will get to see Kotoyuki crowd surf, much to everyone’s disappointment. I am pre-sorting Kaisei into the “Doomed” category.

Yago vs Enho – Enho seems to have completely incorporated the best of “fast little guy” sumo techniques from the past and uses them with skill, power and speed. Yago has always been more focused on slow, massive power. Sadly Yago is not even close to genki right now, and is struggling for every win. Yago’s only hope is to get a hold of Enho in a way that does not blow up in his face. This is not easy to do.

Chiyomaru vs Toyonoshima – When the banzuke was published, I was quite excited to see Toyonoshima returning to the top division, but thus far he has not been able to generate much in the way of sumo. Now that we have reached act 2, and he has but a single win, I am sadly pre-sorting him into the “Doomed” category.

Terutsuyoshi vs Sadanoumi – If Terutsuyoshi continues to win more than 50% of his matches, he will face much higher ranked opponents in week 2, and frankly I am excited to see what he can do against the mid-Maegashira.

Kotoeko vs Kagayaki – The career record heavily favors Kagayaki (6-2), but both of these rikishi have not shown great sumo thus far, though I would give a slight edge to Kotoeko based on the last 2 matches.

Shohozan vs Nishikigi – Surprisingly, Shohozan has not made a point to stay mobile in many of his matches thus far. Nishikigi really only has a chance if he can latch on to Shohozan and steer him to the tawara. Will Shohozan use this fact to keep mobile?

Tochiozan vs Daishoho – Mongolian Daishoho won their only prior match up, and both are more or less winning half their matches. I would love to see Tochiozan take Daishoho by the mawashi and show some really great moves from his encyclopedic sumo lexicon, but it just seems Tochiozan is not fired up this basho.

Takagenji vs Okinoumi – Takagenji, however, is rather fired up. The taller and more experienced Okinoumi will have a few advantages, but Takagenji probably makes up for it in sheer energy output.

Chiyotairyu vs Onosho – I am sure if I had Onosho up on the rack, he would need new CV joints, CV boots, he would have a bent McPherson strut and a chronic alignment problem. Given that Chiyotairyu is going to hit him with monster truck force, I would expect Onosho will fall, and quickly too.

Kotoshogiku vs Myogiryu – Their career record stands at 11-11, which is understandable given the fact that Myogiryu dropped out of the top division and battled like a hero to return. Both of them are not quite young and genki now, but can still battle with skill and power. I would give a small edge to Kotoshogiku this time out.

Tomokaze vs Takarafuji – Not sure 1-4 Takarafuji is going to be able to do much against the run-away freight train that is Tomokaze. The Oguruma rising star needs to start getting ready to face upper Maegashira or lower San’yaku next week. I am sure they want to test him out.

Shimanoumi vs Ichinojo – I doubt anything in his sumo career has prepared Shimanoumi for what is about to happen. You may want to avert your eyes.

Meisei vs Hokutofuji – Hokutofuji now rotates into the easier part of his schedule, and I expect given how well he has been fighting, he’s picking up white stars for a while. Day 6 he’s going to batter the damaged hulk of Meisei.

Mitakeumi vs Ryuden – Please, Mitakeumi don’t go for a pull. I expect Ryuden is going to work to get a mawashi grip, but Mitakeumi’s tadpole shape will make Ryuden’s task difficult. Still given that Ryuden holds a 2-0 advantage over Mitakeumi, I expect him to dominate this match.

Asanoyama vs Tamawashi – Tamawashi is in tough tough shape, at 0-5. If Asanoyama can get a grip, Tamawashi may have nothing to offer right now.

Daieisho vs Takayasu – I see this match as the best chance for Takayasu to drop a second week 1 match. The Bridesmaid Ozeki desperately wants to remain 1 behind the Yokozuna, but he does tend to over-think his matches.

Goeido vs Shodai – Good luck, Goeido, we’re all counting on you.

Abi vs Tochinoshin – What is this match? Abi showed some surprising sumo on day 5, but on day 6 he faces the broken Ozeki Tochinoshin. Right now all the kings horses and all the kings men won’t be able to do much for injured Tochinoshin. [Tochinoshin will go kyujo, giving Abi the freebie. -lksumo]

Kakuryu vs Endo – Any time a rikishi faces Endo, it’s a risk. Endo thinks a lot about his matches, maybe too much, but he has a knack for finding and exploiting weakness. Kakuryu’s reactive sumo tends to invite his opponents to try something, and then he uses their input energy to ruin their day.

Aoiyama vs Hakuho – Aoiyama’s sumo looks as good as it ever has, and Hakuho’s sumo right now is “good enough”. He’s certainly not at full power and full battle capacity, but he’s more than capable of dispensing his week 1 opponents.