With his winning gymnastics on day 12, Texas sumotori Wakaichiro evens his record for the tournament to 3-3. He can still wind up with a kachi-koshi if he can win his closing day match against, Fujitaisei, formerly of Musashigawa. Both come into this match with three wins. The loser gets demoted, and the winner promoted.
As always we will bring you results and video as soon as its available.
Kakuryu (11-1) leads by one over Kaisei and by two over Takayasu, Goeido, Daishomaru, and Ikioi.
As I noted yesterday, the torikumi committee has given us the gift of Kakuryu vs. Kaisei on Day 13! Should the Yokozuna prevail, as he has in all 11 previous meetings between the two, the yusho is more or less his—he would lead by two with two days to go. If Kaisei somehow pulls off the upset, the race could go down to the wire. The two would be tied, and the winner of tomorrow’s Ozeki clash would be one off the pace and control his own destiny, as Kakuryu still has to face both Ozeki. There are also two dark-horse contenders lurking far down the banzuke in Daishomaru and Ikioi. Needless to say, anyone who wants to see an exciting conclusion to the basho should be cheering for the big Brazilian.
Tochinshin’s huge win over the previously undefeated Yokozuna earned him his kachi-koshi, preserved his Sekiwake rank, and kept his Ozeki hopes alive. He’s almost certain to be moving over to the East side, given how the other Sekiwake has been performing lately.
With his loss against Shodai, which dropped him to 5-7, Mitakeumi now needs to win all three of his remaining matches to stay at Sekiwake, and two of three to stay in sanyaku. The schedulers gave him a huge break by allowing him to dodge the Yokozuna tomorrow in favor of Hokutofuji, but that’s hardly a gimme, given that Mitakeumi has lost his last 5, while Hokutofuji has won 4 in a row. I assume that Mitakeumi will still have to face the two Ozeki, though with the schedulers’ new-found flexibility, who knows? [Edit: If Kaisei wins tomorrow, does he take Mitakeumi’s place in Day 14/15 matches? Or has the torikumi committee decided to swap the two already?]
With victories today, Endo and Tamawashi kept pace in the race for promotion to sanyaku. Tomorrow, Endo faces the big surprise of the basho, 6-6 Chiyomaru, while Tamawashi has the seemingly easier task of taking on the struggling Yoshikaze.
Remaining intra-sanyaku bouts (my predictions for Days 14 and 15):
Day 13: Takayasu vs. Goeido; Kakuryu vs. Mitakeumi
Day 14: Takayasu vs. Mitakeumi; Kakuryu vs. Goeido
Day 15: Tochinoshin vs. Ichinojo; Goeido vs. Mitakeumi; Kakuryu vs. Takayasu
Daiamami could use one more win, and Tochiozan definitely still needs one. Nishikigi needs at least one win and possibly two, while Myogiryu needs to win out. With his withdrawal, Sokokurai joins Kotoyuki and Hidenoumi in Juryo.
Day 12 brought us another thrilling day of sumo action. Ishiura stepped up against Aoiyama today. Ishiura obviously knew what was coming. Aoiyama knew what was coming. Everyone in the whole freaking stadium knew what was coming. Henka. Yet Aoiyama still got spun around and pushed out by the speedy little Ishiura. Maaaa…ne… Ishiura needs one more win for katchi-koshi.
Next, Hidenoumi picked on Kotoyuki while everyone wonders why he’s not kyujo. Myogiryu goes makekoshi against Chiyoshoma. The kachiage didn’t seem to connect but there was enough force there to give Chiyoshoma the initiative. When Myogiryu closed in to clinch, Chiyoshoma shoved his head down for the hatakikomi win.
Skipping way up the banzuke, Kotoshogiku picked up his fourth win against Arawashi. Arawashi has one and a half legs, mind you, and he still was able to hold on for some time before the bumpity-bumpity yorikiri. I can’t say it enough, the one trick pony could prolong his career if he picked up another trick. Throws, pulls, purple nurples, come on! Endo beat Kaisei with a pretty easy formula…boom and pull. Booom! Right in the kisser. Pull. Boom (this time in the eye), one last olé and Kaisei steps out. Not pretty but effective.
An impotent Uncle Takara withered under Tamawashi’s thrusting attack. Takarafuji doesn’t seem particularly injured so I hope the drama at Isegahama isn’t weighing on him. He’s a “tweener,” like Ikioi. He has a real rough go against sanyaku and joi wrestlers but he’s solid against lower maegashira. So they yo-yo. Tochinoshin was a bit like this, too. Then…wait for it…wait for it…
Chiyotairyu picked up a third win against Shohozan. He drove Shohozan back and was declared winner despite the fact he may have fallen first. No mono-ii on this should be a signal to pullers that they may be considered “dead” and lose some of these close ones. Again, I’ll bring up Tochinoshin here and his bout yesterday. And Goeido and his 1.0 version bouts. Pull at your own risk. Better to win with the initiative, moving forward.
Shodai fought for this one against Mitakeumi. This was a solid belt bout on both counts. Mitakeumi appeared to have a slight edge for most of the bout with better position, getting Shodai near the edge and almost over a few times. But as they both worked into a throw, Shodai was able to execute first. Mitakeumi’s 7th loss means he needs to win out to get kachi-koshi. He needs to pick up one more win to have any hope at staying in sanyaku. I agree with Leonid, with the loss to Shodai today, I think that door just shut. A good day for Endo became a great day for Endo.
The tachiai between Chiyomaru and Takayasu was something to behold. Both bubble bellies bounding brightly…Chiyomaru somehow comes out on top, moving forward and bringing it to the Ozeki. I think that surprised everyone. After some early thrusting, with Chiyomaru clearly in the driver’s seat, Takayasu momentarily gains the advantage as he grabs Chiyomaru’s arm and tries to put him into orbit. Chiyomaru clings on, dances near the tawara and by gravitational field pulls Takayasu back around and out. Wonderful bouts make me smile. Takayasu on 9 wins, one short of where Ozeki should be, but wow, Chiyomaru at 6-6! Sleeper!
Goeido versus Ichinojo. Goeido 2.0 showed up and the lethargic, gentle giant did, too. Meaning a quick walk out win for the Ozeki while everyone in the stadium hopes Ichinojo’s back issues aren’t coming back.
After Kaisei’s skull-rattling loss to Endo earlier, Kakuryu is in the driver’s seat for this yusho against the winner of the last yusho, Tochinoshin. Surprisingly, at the tachiai, Kakuryu brought it to Tochinoshin, locked in, and tried to win it Tochinoshin’s way. But Tochinoshin has the height and the leverage. He wasn’t going anywhere but forward. A brief pause on the belt while Tochinoshin gathers his strength and Kakuryu silently ponders, “what the f*** did I get myself into?”… Then Tochinoshin strikes and Kakuryu has no choice but to hold on for dear life as the Sekiwake tries to throw him into the upper deck. I’ve got to hand it to Kakuryu, he clung on for a while but with the frustration of the past few days mounting, Tochinoshin was not going to lose. He brought the Ozeki sumo today. I think only Hakuho would have had a chance against him.
So, on tap for tomorrow, we’ve got our leaders, Kakuryu and Kaisei battling after our Ozeki go head-to-head for that symbolic 10th win. I’ve got to run because the snow only afforded us a delay today, and I hope to fill in the blanks later.
In one of the most chaotic and unpredictable matches of his short career, Wakaichiro won on day 12 over his opponent Hokutohomare. This brings the rikishi from Texas to 3-3 for the Osaka tournament. The final match, which will decide if Wakaichiro is promoted or demoted, will take place on Thursday, Haru day 13. His opponent is 23-year-old Fujitaisei of Fujishima-beya, a Sandanme regular who is also hoping to get his kachi-koshi.