Leonid covered the many storylines as we head in to Act 3. Here, I will focus on those matches tomorrow but a little overlap on a few topics is unavoidable.
All eyes will be on the fixture between Tochinoshin and Abi as the Georgian battles to regain his Ozeki rank. He has been a force this tournament, demolishing Mitakeumi last night, winning nearly all of his bouts by trademark yorikiri (all wins but the fusen). The one blemish so far comes from Endo, who has had a rather unimpressive outing so far.
The good news for Tochinoshin is that he’s got breathing room. Kotoshogiku lost three of his final five matches as he failed to regain his rank. While Terunofuji ultimately delivered the final nail in the coffin, Kotoshogiku needed to win three of his Act 3 bouts and quickly dropped the first two, meaning he had to win out on the final weekend.
Tochinoshin’s opponent for tomorrow, Abi, was quite aggressive against Yokozuna Kakuryu and at 6-3 is having a decent basho so far. Will he play spoiler? On paper, it seems unlikely as he has lost all three bouts to the Georgian. While his style can sometimes befuddle a one-dimensional belt-grappler, it really relies on hatakikomi pulling attacks, Tochinoshin seems rather impervious to that. According to the career visualizer, he has only lost to hatakikomi 13 times. It’s much more likely he’d lose to a superior grappler than a pull.
Kachi-Koshi
For the other wrestlers, Enho gets another chance at his kachi-koshi during this debut tournament. He’ll face Tomokaze, who lost his fourth bout in a row last night to Takarafuji in rather embarrassing fashion. The Ozekae tandem of Goeido and Takayasu are also in line to pick up that valuable eighth win, assuring they clear the kadoban hurdle with several lengths to spare. Takayasu will face Aoiyama and Goeido has drawn Ryuden. Both of those rank-and-filers are quite capable of the upset. Aoiyama leads in the head-to-head against Takayasu but this resurgent Ryuden is really an unknown quantity to Goeido. Both should be entertaining matches.
Other Matches to Watch Out For
Musubi-no-ichiban, the number one rice ball, features Kakuryu vs Myogiryu. The two have a rather even career rivalry but Kakuryu has won the last four meetings. With the yusho race on the line, we can expect Kakuryu to bring out all the stops, though it likely won’t be quite as easy as swatting away Abi.
Mitakeumi vs Endo will be a fan favorite. I’m expecting a lot of loud cheers for the victor. While Mitakeumi has had a solid basho, though not impressive, Endo is clearly in a slump. The Hokutofuji vs Kotoshogiku matchup is a great pairing to lead into the Mitakeumi/Endo bout. I’m already eating crow from my pre-tournament call for Kotoshogiku but both men need to turn the bus around this week. Hokutofuji’s in better position as the Geek is eyeing makekoshi.
Skipping down to Chiyotairyu and Tamawashi, Chiyotairyu will want to avoid going makekoshi but Tamawashi will be wanting to compete for the sanyaku slots that will be vacated this tournament. I expect fireworks.
The Sho- Sho- Showdown (excuse my stammer) is one of those that I have no idea how it will turn out. Shohozan‘s a brawler while Shodai somehow manages to cling on to his high-mid maegashira rank without much exciting sumo. Apologies, even I cringed at that pun but I can’t help myself sometimes.
Perhaps it’s the presence of other pixies but Ishiura is doing sumo again. And Meisei has been having a solid basho of his own so this should be another good bout. Skipping down to Terutsuyoshi as we already discussed Enho, his bout against Tochiozan will be an interesting one. Tochiozan is likely ranked a bit low here so I expect him to devour Terutsuyoshi.
Today’s post merges our daily “Ones To Watch” with my erratic video coverage of the lower divisions. Enjoy!
Kasugaryu. Seems to have a weird pact with the Great Cat Of The Kokugikan
Jonidan
None of our “Ones to watch” or “Ones to be flattened by” featured today in Jonokuchi, so we skip right to Jonidan. Satonofuji, the legendary bow twirler, won his first day, but then suffered three consecutive losses. Can he still salvage a kachi-koshi? The road there goes through Kotomanabe (the “nabe” in that name is actually the same as in “chanko-nabe”, a pot!)
Nice work! Our man from Texas may yet get that kachi-koshi!
Sandanme
The following footage is not recommended to the feint-of-heart. Kasugaryu, our current yumi-tori performer from the wonderful photo at the top, faces Tanakayama, and not only loses, but dislocates his knee.
The most bizarre scene follows, wherein Kasugaryu, with an expression that says more “not again!” than “ow!”, resets his own knee, then limps over to make his bow.
Ow.
When Bruce pointed out this strange occurrence this morning on my Twitter feed, I was sure by the end of the day we will see Satonofuji or Shohoryu covering for the bow man in the closing ceremony, but no:
Nice survival at the edge there. Shoji is now 3-2 and closer to a kachi-koshi.
Finally, the main match of interest in Sandanme today has been that of former Ozeki Terunofuji vs. Fujitaisei of Fujishima beya.
Angry, or rather, exasperated yori-kiri it is. In the previous bout he said he made a mistake in thinking his opponent stepped outside when he didn’t. This time he made damn well sure.
Makushita
We start at the bottom, with the official American One To Watch, Musashikuni. He is facing Genkaiho from Otake beya (Same “ho” as in “Hakuho” and “Enho” – there are lots of these).
Genkaiho tries an arm lock there, but Musashikuni’s determination and better strength determine the result. Musashikuni maintains his chance of a kachi-koshi.
What’s up with Akua/Aqua then? He is facing Kaisho:
Aaaand… he is kachi-koshi within the blink of an eye, setting Kaisho gently on the floor by going backwards in a big arc.
Let’s take a peek at Isegahama’s back-flipping Tomisakae. He is faced with Ryusei, both are 3-1, and one of them will be kachi-koshi after this bout:
Alas, it is not our back-flipping hyperactive Tomisakae. Ryusei is kachi-koshi, and Tomisakae will have to look for his in the next bout.
Wakatakamoto faced Kizenryu today. At 1-3 he was with his back to the wall in his attempt to keep up with his little brothers (sorry, only partial footage here):
Although Wakatakamoto is the one who breaks the stalemate, Kizenryu is the one who takes advantage of his movement for a kotenage. The eldest Onami is make-koshi.
Our final match of the day is between Kototebakari and Kotokuzan. Note that Kotokuzan is not one of the Sadogatake Kotos (or he wouldn’t be facing Kototebakari) – it’s actually Kōtokuzan, from Arashio beya, who was hoping to become Sekitori before his oyakata retires.
This marks Kotokuzan’s third loss, and he needs to win out to avoid increasing his distance from the Heaven/Hell line at the top of Makushita. Kototebakari is now in a more comfortable position, though of course, at his level, he would have liked to be 5-0 rather than 3-2. Wouldn’t we all.
What are we expecting tomorrow?
In Jonidan, Wakaichiro returns to the dohyo to face Nakai. Hopefully, he can complete his kachi-koshi this day!
Amakaze is to face the sandanme-tsukedashi, Shiraishi, in what could be a very challenging match for both of them. Shiraishi is a strong up-and-comer, Amakaze has sekitori experience and newfound confidence. The winner stays in the yusho race, the loser… doesn’t.
Terunofuji ascends the dohyo again. Now that he has ensured his kachi-koshi, he will want to increase his winning margin to 5-1 against Asadaimon from Takazago beya.
Roga will want to achieve his kachi-koshi vs. Aratora from Isenoumi beya.
Naya is going to have a very fierce match tomorrow vs. Takanofuji (former Takayoshitoshi) who is very determined to regain his sekitori status and keep up with his “little” twin brother Takagenji. Both wrestlers are in the yusho race, and this is going to be deadly.
Hoshoryu is facing Fujiazuma, hoping not to give himself a make-koshi as a birthday present. Yes, Hoshoryu is 20 years old as of today, which in Japan is the age of majority. Many happy returns! Both wrestlers are 2-3 and this is going to be a killer bout.
Ichiyamamoto is going to face Kotokamatani. The winner of this match is kachi-koshi, and Ichiyamamoto will fiercely try to get his kachi-koshi now to be able to extend it enough to skip over the head of his rival on his way to sekitori-land.
Wakamotoharu gets to face Kizenryu, who gave his older brother his make-koshi today. The loser of this bout is make-koshi, and Wakamotoharu will want to avoid that like the plague, avenge his brother and regain his own sekitori status.
Nary a dull moment on day 11! Onwards and upwards!
Acts One and Two are in the books, and we are at the start of Act Three—the crucial five days that will decide how the storylines play out.
Who will take the yusho?
The three co-leaders—Yokozuna Kakuryu, Sekiwake* Tochinoshin, and M8 Asanoyama—all won today, retaining their one-victory cushion. Enho‘s loss leaves M15 Kotoeko as the only two-loss chaser, and the 3-loss group got chopped from eight to three: Enho and the two Ozeki.
Tomorrow, Kakuryu faces M5 Myogiryu (3-7). Surprisingly, the career record only favors the Yokozuna 11-8, but most of those bouts took place years ago, and Kakuryu won both of this year’s prior meetings. Tochinoshin gets M4 Abi (6-4), against whom he is 3-0. Somewhat puzzlingly, the Day 11 challenger for Asanoyama is checks notes M13 Sadanoumi (5-5).
Will Tochinoshin regain his Ozeki rank?
Tochinoshin has recorded 9 of the 10 required victories in the first ten days. He is sure to be motivated to record the 10th in his first opportunity tomorrow. If the schedulers stay true to form, he should face Myogiryu (who’s given him trouble in the past), Kakuryu, Goeido, and Takayasu over the final four days, though I could think of a more exciting pairing than Myogiryu cough Asanoyama cough.
Who will occupy the San’yaku ranks in July?
After a terrible start, East Komusubi Aoiyama is making a late push to defend his rank (and possibly even move up to Sekiwake), winning 3 in a row to run his record to 4-6. He still needs to win 4 of 5, but faces his last upper-rank opponent, Takayasu, tomorrow. Could Asanoyama be on the menu in the coming days? West Komusubi Mitakeumi (6-4) finished his tour of the named ranks today, and needs to defeat 2 of 5 maegashira opponents (starting with Endo) for a likely return to Sekiwake. If he can make it 4 of 5, we could see the start of another Ozeki run.
Abi’s loss today makes Asanoyama and Tamawashi (6-4) the current frontrunners for promotion, with Abi and Daieisho (5-5) waiting in the wings.
Who will be in Makuuchi in July?
M17e Chiyoshoma dropped his 4th straight bout, and his 7th overall, leaving him one loss away from a trip to Juryo. M14e Tokushoryu (2-6) remains second in the demotion queue despite snapping a 5-match losing streak and picking up his 3rd win. He needs 4 victories in the remaining 5 days to reach safety. M15e Terutsuyoshi (4-6) is in only slightly better shape, needing 3 wins, the same target as M16w Ishiura (5-5). And M10e Kagayaki (2-8) is threatening to pull an Ikioi and drop to Juryo from the mid-maegashira ranks unless he can double his victory total to date.
Will Juryo produce any promotion contenders beyond the streaking J2e Takagenji, now 10-0? Top-ranked J1e Toyonoshima (6-4) has now dropped 3 in a row and still needs two victories to secure a quick return to Makuuchi. Everyone else is at least 4 wins away from staking a serious claim.
Who will make the jump from upper Makushita to Juryo?
None of the contenders were in action on Day 10, which means all of them will be battling it out on Day 11. Here’s the mouthwatering torikumi for the Makushita joi:
Ms1e Fujiazuma 2-3 vs Ms4w Hoshoryu 2-3
Ms6w Kizenryu 2-3 vs Ms1w Wakamotoharu 2-3
Ms2e Kotokamatani 3-2 vs Ms3e Ichiyamamoto 3-2
Ms22 Naya 5-0 vs Ms2w Takanofuji 5-0
Ms11w Chiyosakae 4-1 vs Ms3w Kizakiumi 4-1
Ms4e Ryuko 4-1 vs Ms7e Daiseido 4-1
Obviously, the highlight here is the clash between Takanofuji and Naya, both undefeated, for a spot in the Makushita yusho final, but every bout will either advance or end someone’s chance of attaining sekitori status.
Yesterday, our leadership pack of Kakuryu, Tochinoshin and Asanoyama picked up that all important kachi-koshi win. Herouth took us a bit deeper into the importance of this 8th win yesterday as this win, and each subsequent win, is literally money in the bank.
The bout in which you win your kachi-koshi is referred to as "Kyukin-zumo", because kachi-koshi counts toward mochi-kyukin (bonus). Yakumitsuru joked that a rikishi is happiest when his Kyukin-zumo is a fusen-sho. Well, Tochinoshin is going to be a happy man today.
Before we start thinking yusho race, by hitting this mark so early in the tournament, Asanoyama will have his eye on another special prize to add to his two kanto-sho. And as we all know, Tochinoshin is hoping to reclaim his ozeki rank this week, as well. And Kakuryu, as lone Yokozuna, has his eyes on the first yusho of the new Reiwa era (and the first Trump Cup*). As Day 10 opens, Enho and Kotoeko have their own chances to boost their bimonthly income. Did either of them make it?
On His Way Back To Ozeki?
Highlight Matches
Chiyomaru defeats Daishoho with a quick oshidashi. Chiyomaru ends his losing streak as Daishoho put up only token resistance after the tachiai. A straight forward affair.
Ishiura defeats Sadanoumi. Ishiura borrowed Harumafuji’s hit-and-shift move on the initial charge, and quickly grabbed Sadanoumi’s arm, spinning him down for the kotenage throw. Hakuho’s deshi was quite spry today and that speed was far too much for Sadanoumi.
Shimanoumi defeats Terutsuyoshi. After a matta, the two met head-on and tried to lock in for a good belt battle. Terutsuyoshi picked the wrong time to try a kick as he was too far away. Shimanoumi seized the opportunity to push Terutusyoshi out, yorikiri.
Yago defeats Chiyoshoma. Chiyoshoma starts with a henka attempt followed by a leg sweep. Yago maintained his balance and engaged with a belt grip. Once Chiyoshoma ran out of parlor tricks, Yago showed him the exit, yorikiri.
Tochiozan defeats Enho. Enho drove Tochiozan back to the tawara but the Kochi native was able to make use of the added leverage to take control of the bout and launch his quick counter attack. Hatakikomi. Kachi-koshi will need to wait for another day.
Tokushoryu defeats Kagayaki. Tokushoryu’s stalling draws Kagayaki into a matta. Then enraged, Kagayaki leaps out into the tachiai to be met with a sidestep. This was more-henka-than HNH, but there was a little bonk of the top knots. Maybe a 90% henka? Either way, Tokushoryu took Kagayaki by surprise, slipped in behind and guided the gold mawashioed rikishi out. Oshidashi.
Kotoeko defeats Onosho and picks up that kachi koshi. A well met tachiai, with a slap to Onosho’s face for good measure, Kotoeko got Onosho to commit to an all-in slapping oshi attack. As soon as Onosho committed fully, Kotoeko ducked to the side and let the tadpole’s momentum carry him out of the ring. Hikiotoshi.
Asanoyama defeats Shodai. The judges say yorikiri but this was an oshi-tsuki battle as Asanoyama landed several strong thrusts to Shodai’s face. Shodai tried to counter but golly-geez that proved hard with that fierce arm in your face. This forced Shodai’s body to stay high so Asanoyama got inside, and bullrushed him off the dohyo.
Meisei defeats Shohozan in a wild, twirling, charging bout. After a weird waiting game where both men were committed to not starting, Shohozan finally drew in Meisei for a matta. The second attempt was a great collision. Both men backed away and started slapping to and fro in a great street brawl that then morphed into a couple of billy-goats charging at each other. A slight shift of weight to the left was enough to get Shohozan off balance.
Takarafuji defeats Tomokaze. This was a weird one as Takarafuji’s token resistance won. Takarafuji absorbed the charge of Tomokaze and pulled. If Tomokaze had been able to stay on his feet, this would have been an easy oshidashi. However, as he was fully extended and trying to drive the blocking sled back, Tomokaze’s right foot lost purchase in the middle of the dohyo. As Takarafuji stepped off the dohyo, the gunbai initially went to Tomokaze. However, after a review, we see that Tomokaze slipped and his knee touched before Takarafuji stepped out. They call it a hikiotoshi but this is likely Kintamayama’s prototypical slippiotoshi.
Yoshikaze defeats Nishikigi. Yoshikaze’s face absorbed Nishikigi’s charge but he was able to secure a strong morozashi double-inside grip of the mawashi. Nishikigi wrapped his arms around Yoshikaze’s but ultimately couldn’t mount a counter-attack from that awkward position. Yoshikaze drove forward
Tamawashi defeats Myogiryu. The two met with a strong tachiai where Myogiryu perhaps getting poked in the eye. Tamawashi pushed Myogiryu’s head back and then forced him off balance to the side with a strong right arm thrust. Tsukiotoshi.
Hokutofuji defeats Chiyotairyu. Why did Chiyotairyu pull? It was a pretty strong initial charge and he gained a slight advantage moving forward. However, rather than continue forward, Chiyotairyu tried for a slapdown. Hokutofuji was able to maintain his balance and drive through, forcing mutton chops off the dohyo. Oshidashi
Daieisho defeats Kotoshogiku by nodowa. Giku was off like a jackrabbit at the initial charge but Daieisho countered with a blast to the neck and sustained oshi pushing attack. This got the former ozeki moving backwards. One more solid nodowa, drawing Giku to put all of this weight forward in resistance, and then a quick shift to the left let Kotoshogiku fall to the dirt. Hikiotoshi.
Aoiyama defeats Endo. In a super quick one-two move, Aoiyama arrested Endo’s initial charge with those two big paws on Endo’s shoulders. With Endo’s head still down for the charge, Aoiyama worked his hands firmly to the back of Endo’s head and neck and pushed the ATM face first to the dohyo. Another fat stack of envelopes for a quick hatakikomi.
Tochinoshin defeats Mitakeumi. We didn’t get sky-crane Tochinoshin today. We got the bulldozer. A shoulder blast to Mitakeumi’s face won the advantage at the tachai. Both men locked in for a belt battle but Tochinoshin drove Mitakeumi, still smarting from the initial smash, back and out for a yorikiri. One more win to reclaim ozeki status and he stays on course in the yusho race. Could the Georgian pick up number two?
Takayasu defeats Ryuden. They’re calling this oshidashi but this was a solid mawashi battle. Both Ryuden and Takayasu locked in on the belt after the initial charge. Takayasu won the initiative with his shoulder blast and worked Ryuden back to the edge…and I thought out, yorikiri…but an extra shove there at the end threw Ryuden off the dohyo, oshidashi.
Goeido defeats Okinoumi. It looked for a minute that Okinoumi was mimicking Goeido’s pre-bout routine. Goeido drawn off the line early for a matta. A solid tachiai and then a tussle for belt control as both men seemed rather evenly matched. Okinoumi made an ill-advised attempt to reach for Goeido’s mawashi with his right arm. That stretch was enough for Goeido to thrust Okinoumi off balance and into the dohyo. Tsukiotoshi.
Kakuryu defeats Abi. Kakuryu stumbled out of the gate in a weird, quick matta. The Yokozuna recovered to take the full force of Abi’s oshi attack. Abi sustained a right-handed grip of Kakuryu’s chin but he couldn’t get any drive. As he over committed, Kakuryu shifted, sweeping Abi out to the side. Hatakikomi.
An Aside
* There’s really little chance that this weekend’s visitor and extra trophy will escape politics and emotion and controversy. Let’s face it, we’re all sumo fans and we just went through the Harumafuji/Takanohana thing. I’m not looking for more distraction. We’re no strangers to controversy but we enjoy sumo. Just like over the holidays, when those of my relatives who’ve blocked each other on Facebook are able to come and enjoy each other’s company at dinner, we at Tachiai will stay above the politics. As Bruce has warned, we may elect to close comments on some posts.
As y’all likely know, I work in the Federal government and am independent politically. I work with Clinton people and Bush people and Obama people and Trump people and we don’t run around needing to lock each other up because we actually do real work together. So, I expect everyone to be civil, though it’s real hard to forget when we get lost in R vs D, Red vs Blue, lib vs con, Jedi vs Sith, Stark vs Lannister. (In this oshi vs yotsu world, everyone overlooks footwork!)
If we treat this like my family treats the holidays, we’ll enjoy it. I, for one, have been DYING to have an American prize offered. I even emailed the Chamber of Commerce and Embassy to prod people a while back. I just really can’t think of any one thing that would be sufficiently representative of the US, so I make jokes about corn. It would be cool to have something as iconic as Lord Stanley’s Cup, the claret jug, the Meisterschale, or the macaron awarded to the winner on behalf of fans from the USA.
Anyway, the latest news I heard is that Musashigawa oyakata may sit next to him to help translate. It must be a thrilling opportunity, like when Sir Paul attended and bought a whole bunch of kensho banners. For the wrestlers, especially those of Musashigawa-beya, I hope they enjoy the experience because it will be nice to have a news event which draws attention to the sport that isn’t a hazing or sexual harassment scandal. It will sure be an episode to remember.
