Arawashi

Day 11 – The Eagles Are Coming

Herouth Hatsubasho 2018 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
the-eagles-are-coming
Tamawashi and Arawashi changing the plot

For those who are not familiar their shikona, Arawashi (荒鷲) is “Wild Eagle”, and Tamawashi (玉鷲) is “Bejewelled Eagle”. We’ll see what they wrought as we go along. But as usual, I’d like to start with some off-Makuuchi battles.

My previous posts have been dotted with bouts by Prince Enho and Terutsuyoshi My Main Man. And today you get two for the price of one, as these two faced each other in a battle for the kachi-koshi, both coming in 3-2.

And both get to pick on someone their own size for a change, in a match of homunculi.

This is sort of anticlimactic, I know. But it’s Terutsuyoshi’s first kakenage, and also a kachi-koshi and a likely re-promotion to Juryo. I’m afraid Enho’s chances look rather slim at the moment, with many higher-ranking Makushita having a kachi-koshi.

Another battle at the top of Makushita was between Ms#1 Yago, the former sekitori, and “One to watch” Ms #17 Wakatakakage, both of whom came into this match 5-0.

Nice reversal! The Arashio man is now 6-0, vying for the Makushita yusho with #47 Tochiseiryu. Yago will still likely be re-promoted to Juryo.

Up we go to Makuuchi.

In the first bout, we have Aoimama… er… Aoiyama on a visit from Juryo. Aoiyama actually looks strong, and Nishikigi can’t find an entry point, and out he goes.

Ryuden shows his strong sumo. Catches Daieisho in a morozashi after a booming tachiai, and stops his yusho hunt… or does he?

Asanoyama chooses not to go into a yotsu battle with Sokokurai (may well be a wise decision. The veteran is very experienced). Some tsuppari and Sokokurai out by oshi-dashi. Sokokurai needs to win out to get a kachi-koshi.

Kotoyuki opens with a henka – not the last one of the day – against the resurging Kagayaki. Then tries to grab Kagayaki’s belt. Pushes, pushes, but Kagayaki manages to grab his arm for a kotonage. Kotoyuki’s first loss to Kagayaki – and he hurts his knee on his fall, unable to go to the shitakubeya unassisted. Kintamayama informs us that he ended up in that wheelchair and was taken to a hospital. :-(

Aminishiki didn’t hurt any limb today. But he just isn’t able to do his sumo. Daiamami, like Chiyoshoma yesterday, was very gentle about showing him out. Sigh. I have a feeling that the Ajigawa kabu is going to go back into active duty following this basho.

Ishiura deploys the second henka of the day, against the Ghost of Terunofuji. At least that meant that there was no further injury to any former kaiju knees. Terunofuji remarks that he has not gained back his dohyo sense. Perhaps the only good news I heard is that he lost those 10kg he recently gained. Good start there. It did look like he regained some neck.

terunofuji-ishiura
“Once I dropped out of Ozeki, it’s all the same to me how many ranks down I go”

The Kaisei–Yutakayama looked like a cartoon battle. You know the type: small man strikes large man with a barrage of blows without having any effect. Then big man returns with two mighty blows of his own, and small man ends up with little birds circling around his head. Well, Yutakayama stays on his feet as he is pushed out, but you catch the drift. Note how Kaisei always attempts to land a hand up to the rivals he pushes out.

Abi barely manages to land two harite on Tochiozan before the Kasugano man goes out. Abi looks dissatisfied. Tochiozan probably afraid for his injured shoulder. Abi one win away from kachi-koshi.

Chiyonokuni once again starts a bout with his energetic tsuppari. But Takekaze somehow manages to pivot and have Chiyonokuni between himself and the tawara. He then applies a strong nodowa and forces Chiyonokuni out. Welcome back, old man. Chiyonokuni now make-koshi.

Daishomaru in another little henka against Chiyoshoma. Hikiotoshi. Chiyoshoma not happy.

Ikioi tries to look genkier than he is vs. Shohozan, who seems to have an upper arm issue. The two go on a rapid slugfest, but eventually Shohozan locks Ikioi’s arms and leads him outside.

Chiyomaru is Kokonoe’s only ray of light this basho. Apparently nobody is shouting “Chiyomaru-tan” in the Kokugikan these days. Endo has what looks like a lower and better tachiai, but Chiyonokuni soon sidesteps and hands him a hatakikomi.

Now, one of the highlight bouts of the day begins. Tochinoshin wants to keep his single loss. Takarafuji wants to prevent the Georgian from closing in on him. These two are kenka-yotsu, meaning that Takarafuji prefers a hidari-yotsu (left-hand-inside), while Tochinoshin prefers a migi-yotsu (right-hand-inside). And they fend off each other’s sashi (slipping a hand inside) attempts. Tochinoshin succeeds in landing his grip for a second but Takarafuji draws back and tries again. Near the tawara, Takarafuji manages to get his sashi, but Tochinoshin is pressing his head down very powerfully at this point and eventually Takarafuji’s elbow touches down before Tochinoshin is forced out. The gyoji points to Tochinoshin. A monoii is called, and takes a really long time. But it’s Tochinoshin’s tsukiotoshi. Excellent match. Tochinoshin stays glued to the top.

takarafuji-tochinoshin

Kotoshogiku puts a stop to Chiyotairyu‘s winning streak. Doesn’t get a mawashi grip, but he does have the Kokonoe man in a strong high grip and then does the Kotoshogiku Lambada all the way to the edge.

Ichinojo seems to have a little problem with oshi wrestlers. This time he takes up Hokutofuji. But it really isn’t Hokutofuji’s basho. Yes, his knee is in wraps but he doesn’t seem to have a mobility problem. Ichinojo tries to find a grip as usual. Hokutofuji fends and defends. Tries to push at Ichinojo’s armpits to get him up and away, but this doesn’t work so well with the heavy Ichinojo, Hokutofuji slide a little back to try a stronger leaning angle – but Ichinojo just uses that to smack Hokutofuji to the floor. Hokutofuji on all fours again. The announcer calls it “Large Scale Sumo”.

The bout between Yoshikaze and Takakeisho turns out to be one of the more entertaining oshi battles. A rapid exchange of tsuppari, both bobbing their heads up and down, up and down as they engage and disengage. Yoshikaze tries a push, but he is already too stretched and Takakeisho easily fends him off. As they regroup, Takakeisho grabs hold of Yoshikaze’s arm and forces him to the edge where he adds a decisive nodowa. And Takakeisho ends up with a banged lip again.

Shodai somehow manages to surprise his rival again and again with his somehow amended tachiai. He gets below Mitakeumi. Not quite enough for his favorite morozashi, but enough to cause the sekiwake to draw back. Shodai then follows up and gets Mitakeumi out by oshidashi. Those double digits and ozeki run seem further and further away from Mitakeumi.

Takayasu wins almost effortlessly against Okinoumi. Hands the Shimane-man his make-koshi while gaining his own kachi-koshi. No kadoban to see here, move along.

And here lands out first Eagle, Arawashi, with his bandaged legs and a less-than-brilliant 5-5 balance, to face the other Ozeki, Goeido. Tachiai, Arawashi quickly gets a hold on Goeido’s mawashi with his left hand. Goeido retreats in a half circle, working hard to remove Arawashi’s hand from his mawashi and eventually holds on to Arawashi’s arm and gets his left arm inside, but at this point Arawashi changes direction, and that left arm becomes a liability. Arawashi holds on to it for a kotenage. Ozeki down, and hovering on the edge of kadoban again.

But if you thought that Eagle was surprising, just wait for the musubi-no-ichiban.

Kakuryu once again comes low off  the tachiai, but doesn’t find the quick mawashi grip he is hoping for. Tamawashi is an oshi man, and as the Yokozuna goes into a tsuppari exchange with him, he watches the Yokozuna’s feet. Kakuryu tries a pull down and draws back a little, and that’s all the Bejewelled Eagle needs. He pounces and the surprised Yokozuna lands his first kuro-boshi. Although Tamawashi is sanyaku, zabutons are flying in the kokugikan.

tamawashi-happy
Happy Eagle flying down the hana-michi

And suddenly, in a Tolkienesque plot-twist, what looked like a sure-bet yusho for the Yokozuna no longer looks anywhere near that. Remember he still has to work two Ozekis and a sekiwake, while Tochinoshin is only going to face Maegashira until the end of the basho. The yusho suddenly looks a lot closer to Georgia than it is to Mongolia.

kakuryu-meter-hatsu-2018-day11

The Yokozuna can not afford even a single loss from now on if he wants that Yusho.

Yusho Arasoi

10-1:

  • Yokozuna Kakuryu
  • M3 Tochinoshin

8-3:

  • Ozeki Takayasu
  • M13 Daieisho

 

 

Day 10 – Sanyaku crumbling

Herouth Hatsubasho 2018 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As two thirds of the basho are behind us, things start to boil up… or crash down. Let’s start at the bottom. Enho gets matched with Wakamotoharu, who certainly doesn’t want to lose, in a bout that produces one of the most beautiful sumo photos I’ve seen in a while:

enho-wakamotoharu

Here is the One And Only version:

And here is the TV version (C/O Kimihiro Suzuki):

Wakamotoharu looks pretty frustrated at being the receiving end of this shitatehineri. Enho gets his third win and gets closer to a kachi-koshi. One And Only seems to expect him to be in Juryo next basho, but the top of Makushita is very, very hot at the moment.

And hey, Enho didn’t dive head first off the dohyo this time!

Another Tachiai favorite has returned to the dohyo today. This one after a flu-related short kyujo. Please welcome Shunba!

Shunba looks so genki he nearly bounces up the dohyo. Keep up the good work!

However, not all of my favorite fare as well. Torakio continues his downfall:

He seems to have hurt his elbow, and now something about his shoulder as well? Hmmm… not good.

 

So, let’s climb up to Makuuchi.

The first bout features a visitor from Juryo, Azumaryu, facing Ryuden. The two take their time synchronizing their breath for the tachiai. When it finally starts, although Azumaryu gets the inside grip, Ryuden gets an outside one on the same side, and pushes him out without much resistance.

Abi (who has the curious habit of arranging his butt strap right on camera when he goes to the salt corner) starts off as usual vs Yutakayama, with some fierce tsuppari. But Yutakayama somehow picks on Abi’s bandaged arm, and this seems to throw Peter Pan off course completely, and he finds himself down from the dohyo in short order.

yutakayama-abi

Takekaze finally manages to land a W, vs. Ishiura, with a quick push down – no henka. Hatakikomi.

takekaze-ishiura
Sumo, Ishiura, not artistic gymnastics

Sokokurai starts with a harite and an ottsuke vs. Nishikigi. He manages to secure a right-hand outside grip, while Nishikigi secures his own left hand on Sokokurai’s mawashi.  Nishikigi can’t get an outside grip on Sokokurai’s mawashi, and in the grip battle that ensues, eventually it’s Sokokurai who manages to hold both sides of Nishikigi’s mawashi, when suddenly Nishikigi turns the tables on him and gets him out by yori-kiri. Very nice match.

Kagayaki and Daiamami start their match, both pushing as hard as they can. Eventually, Daiamami throws Kagayaki to the ground, but a monoii is called: Daiamami had a foot out. You can see that Kagayaki noticed that immediately. Of course he said nothing and waited for the shimpan, who came to the right conclusion, and gave him the oshidashi.

Asanoyama seems dazed and confused. Daishomaru pushes him out almost with no resistance. Mental issues?

Daieisho starts with some strong nodowa at Tochiozan, but suddenly his arm gets stuck at an awkward angle. However, he quickly recovers from that error, and pushes Tochiozan outside before he can make anything of it. Daieisho now kachi-koshi.

Aminishiki looks well enough as he ascends the dohyo and performs his Shiko. Chiyoshoma opens with a harizashi (slap-and-grab), and Uncle looks in pain. I don’t believe it’s just the harite. He said that his “knee got in” at the Tachiai and he couldn’t put any power into it. As soon as Chiyoshoma has that grip he gently leads Aminishiki to the edge. Yori-kiri. Aminishiki is determined to continue until all four wheels drop off.

chiyoshoma-aminishiki

Chiyonokuni finally manages to scrape another win against Kotoyuki. His barrage of tsuppari quickly gets the larger man out. He really should be more than 3-7 at this point.

Kaisei has a huge weight advantage over Takarafuji. Takarafuji manages to secure his favorite grip, but Kaisei uses the Ichinojo tactic and just leans onto him. In an effort to get out of the stalemate, Takarafuji loses the grip and has to start over. He gets his hidari-yotsu again, this time without an underhand grip on Kaisei’s mawashi. But no matter, he uses that left hand inside to grab Kaisei’s arm for a sukuinage. Takarafuji is on a roll, and needs just one more win for a kachi-koshi.

Ikioi faces Chiyomaru, who pushes and then pulls and finishes the bout in the blink of an eye. According to the NHK announcer, Ikioi’s problem is not just his ankle injury, but also “lower back issues”, which I take to mean that his bulging disc is giving him trouble again. It’s really hard to do sumo with a bulging disc. Ikioi make-koshi.

Shohozan starts his bout with Endo with all guns blazing, and tries to catch Endo’s arm. Endo manages to break loose. Then there’s a barrage of tsuppari, which Endo somehow defends against and stays alive. Then Shohozan tries capturing an arm again, dragging Endo to the rim, but here Endo reverses the charges and leaves Shohozan outside for a yori-kiri.

It seems strange to see the match between Tochinoshin and Kotoshogiku this early in the day, given the level of Tochinoshin’s game lately. I have to remind myself that both are maegashira. Most sane rikishi would not want to get into a belt battle with Kotoshogiku. But we are talking about the Incredible Hulk here, and his strategy continues as usual: get one huge arm inside, one huge arm outside, get the belt, and drive. Kotoshogiku’s gaburi is no match to the Georgian Hulk.

Hokutofuji will want to forget this basho. In the final battle of the rank-and-filers, he faces Chiyotairyu, only a couple of days ago the welcome mat of the entire Makuuchi. One kachiage and a few tsuppari later, the gentleman from Hakkaku beya finds himself out by tsuki-dashi, and with a make-koshi.

Now we go up to the san-yaku matches, where rank-and-filers are wrecking havoc.

Ichinojo faces more of a problem with Takakeisho than he did with Onosho. Takakeisho has his attack-and-retreat style which prevents the boulder from getting a mawashi grip or any other kind of grip. So Ichinojo finds himself in an unfamiliar oshi territory, and for a while looks like he is trying to swat an annoying mosquito. As he tries to pull Takakeisho down, Takakeisho advances and nearly gets the mountain off balance, but Ichinojo is very careful about his center of (ultra) gravity this tournament. They go on, and Takakeisho tries a sidestep to usher the boulder out, but the side that he stepped to still includes Ichinojo’s arm. And that arm just takes Takakeisho along for the trip before its owner starts the journey himself. The result of all this mess is the Takanohana man lying in a heap at the bottom of the dohyo, only one loss away from a make-koshi.

The next bout is supposed to be Onosho-Yoshikaze. But the Komusubi is kyujo, and won’t be a komusubi next time. In fact, other than Mitakeumi, who will probably stay Sekiwake once again, it appears that there will be a purge in the lower sanyaku, and this time there will be a lot less of a logjam for the available slots. Two more wins for our boulder and he is Komusubi for sure. Though maybe for him they should change it from “komusubi” (小結 – small knot) to “omusubi” (大結 – big knot), or even “kyomusubi” (巨結 – “giant knot”). :-)

Moving right along, Arawashi got to meet Mitakeumi who was trying to maintain his position in the hunt group. Arawashi seems to want to get Mitakeumi’s mawashi on the left side, but at the second attempt, his right arm is already folding around Mitakeumi’s left, for an arm-bar throw – tottari. Mitakeumi finds himself face down at the dohyo’s corner.

arawashi-mitakeumi

Shodai bounces back from the loss that frustrated him so much yesterday. Straight from the tachiai he gets a morozashi on Goeido and drives forward. He does lose one of those arms as Goeido tries to create some kind of a throw, but gets a good mawashi hold and forces the Ozeki out.

Takayasu, the other Ozeki, stares hard at Tamawashi as they get ready for the tachiai. Takayasu’s kachiage happens to hit Tamawashi’s face. A hard tsuppari exchange ensues, and eventually Takayasu pushes the sekiwake out of the ring. Tamawashi one loss away from a make-koshi.

And in the musubi-no-ichiban, Kakuryu starts of with the low tachiai he has been sporting of late, and gaining many compliments for. No grip at first, but drives Okinoumi back. Then gets his hand on Okinoumi’s mawashi with his right hand, and that’s about the end of Okinoumi. Kakuryu just swings him out, as one of the comments said on one of the previous days, “with a mighty hand and outstretched arm”.

The Yokozuna finally secures his “Yokozuna kachi koshi”. Now he’ll be facing some harder opponents. Or are they? The sanyaku seems to be a mess. Nobody with a kachi-koshi yet, some nearing make-koshi.

kakuryu-meter-hatsu-2018-day7

Yusho Arasoi

  • 10-0: Yokozuna Kakuryu
  • 9-1: M3 Tochinoshin
  • 8-2: M13 Daieisho

Day 9 – Ichinojo goes bowling, Tochinoshin dangling bait.

Herouth Hatsubasho 2018 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As usual, I shall start somewhat below Makuuchi.

For those who are not aware of it yet, Osunaarashi is kyujo as of today (day 9), due to a suspicion of rear-ending a car while driving without a valid license. This was bad enough to make the NHK World news yesterday.

But we are here to talk about sumo, not yet another scandal, so let’s start with my main man Terutsuyoshi, who made a visit to Juryo today to face Kizenryu.

The video doesn’t contain the explanation of the monoii, but if I understand the announcers correctly, the question was who initiated the throw. If it was Terutsuyoshi, then clearly Kizenryu touched first. But if it was Kizenryu, then Terutsuyoshi was shinitai.

The monoii ended with a torinaoshi. And the second bout didn’t look very different from the first, but this time it was pretty clear cut:

Too bad for my man from Isegahama, but win or lose – he entertains.

OK, let’s go on with the matches of the day in Makuuchi.

Abi starts with his usual tsuppari attack, which doesn’t seem to effective against Asanoyama, so Abi gives a strong pull and Asanoyama finds himself on the ground.

abi-with-kensho
Hey, look what I found tied to my sagari!

Ishiura starts off his bout with his hand straight on Daieisho‘s mawashi knot, and deftly undoes it. Wardrobe malfunction. The gyoji stops them, corrects, restarts the bout, and Ishiura, with one hand on the knot and one on the front, flips Daieisho into a shitatehineri. But wait, I have a sense of Deja vu:

That’s Kyushu 2017. Ishiura vs. Ryuden – both in Juryo at the time. Ishiura must have been one of those teenagers who practice undoing a bra with one hand.

Nishikigi really does nothing in the tachiai, and lets Takekaze slam into him. Doesn’t get any kind of a grip, and Takekaze pulls at him for a katasukashi – but doing that he flies outside, and the gunbai goes to Nishikigi. No monoii. I think both the gyoji and the shimpan took this to be Nishikigi’s attack. Takekaze now make-koshi.

Sokokurai  gets into a classic yotsu bout with Ryuden. Tries a shitatenage, Ryuden keeps on his feet. Tries the same on the other side of the ring. Still no results. Sokokurai puts some more force into it and manages a yoritaoshi – rolling together with his rival. Kintamayama says he hurt his back, let’s hope it’s fine by tomorrow. No need for more injuries.

Daiamami beats Chiyomaru in a slow motion oshi battle. Boom. Boom. Boom. Yawn.

Kagayaki, on the other hand, is very sharp and fast. He doesn’t let Shohozan get anywhere near his belt, and instead slaps him all the way out. Kagayaki back to the form he has shown in the first couple of days.

As long as Chiyonokuni can keep the bout on the tsuki-oshi side, he seems fine. But eventually Yutakayama decides he has had enough harite for one day, grabs the Kokonoe man and throws him out. Yoritaoshi. Chiyonokuni one loss away from a make-koshi.

Chiyoshoma‘s bout with Kotoyuki was over in the blink of an eye. No wiles, no throws, and Kotoyuki just pushing the slender Mongolian out.

Ikioi finally manages to attack and win – a couple of strong pushes and then a desparate lunge, and Daishomaru is out. But Ikioi seems to have caused himself further injury.

Takarafuji wins very decisively. Tochiozan gets a morozashi on him, but he applies his mighty arms in a “hasami” – basically a pincer hold – and doesn’t let Tochiozan do anything with that morozashi. Oshidashi for the only Isegahama man who seems to be in working order nowadays.

Kaisei first grabs a hold of Endo‘s arm. Endo manages to shake him off, but Kaisei maintains his balance and responds with another attack. This time Endo is driven to the edge. Desparately tries a leg trip, doesn’t work. Yorikiri for the Brasilian (who is not too enthusiastic about the snow currently enveloping Tokyo: “I loved it when I saw my first snow, but…”)

Chiyotairyu gets his second win in a row, and very quickly, too. Okinoumi touches down before you blink.

In the battle of the veterans, Kotoshogiku gets a pretty firm hold of Yoshikaze‘s left arm. They then fight over the hold on the other side. Kotoshogiku tries again and again to get his left hand inside. Yoshikaze catches on to his wrist. Eventually Kotoshogiku gets that sashi (hand inside) and finishes Yoshikaze off with a couple of gaburi. Classic Kotoshogiku.

Onosho tries, for some unfathomable reason, to grab at Ichinojo‘s belt. Probably realizes that a tsuppari attack against the boulder’s midriff is going to give him no results. But Ichinojo doesn’t really care what Onosho plans. That arm that went to his belly? He sticks his own hand to the armpit and rolls Onosho out like a bowling ball in a red mawashi. What can I say? “Ichinojo is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh Onosho to lie down below the dohyo” [Book of Mountainous Mongolians, Chapter 6, verse 3]

Hokutofuji and Takakeisho go on what is half way an oshi battle, and half way keeping each other at arm’s length. Again, typical tadpole sumo. Amazingly, both manage to stay on their feet and neither ends up in doggy position. Takakeisho manages to get Hokutofuji moving a bit to the right as he gets to the tawara, and uses that to get the man off balance and out of the ring.

And now, to the battle of the chasers. Both 7-1 coming into this bout, Tochinoshin and Mitakeumi both want to stay in the yusho race. They start off with Mitakeumi trying to prevent the Georgian from getting at his mawashi, but Tochinoshin gets the left hand outside pretty quickly. Now it’s a fight on the right hand. Mitakeumi gets his own right hand on Tochinoshin’s mawashi. But Tochinoshin does the same, gets a secure grip on both side. And at this point he just picks up Mitakeumi for a new world record in wedgies. Upsie-daisy… not out yet? Upsie-daisy… now you’re out.

tochinoshin-mitakeumi

The kimari-te is tsuri-dashi, “dangle-and-out”. I’m still waiting for the fish to bite. Tochinoshin the second man in Makuuchi to make a kachi-koshi, but I’m sure he’s not settling for that any more than Kakuryu is.

By the way, it’s not Mitakeumi’s first tsuri-wedgie. This used to be a Terunofuji specialty. Maybe Tochinoshin could have a talk with Terunofuji and explain about knees, healing and regaining strength.

So basically, Mitakeumi is out of the yusho race unless Kakuryu drops a couple of bouts (and Mitakeumi doesn’t).

Compared to that bout, the two Ozeki bouts that followed were meh.

Takayasu dispatches Shodai in an eye blink with a tsukiotoshi. Shodai looks pretty frustrated.

Goeido all over Tamawashi in his usual 2.0 steamroller style.

Finally, in the musubi-no-ichiban, Kakuryu continues to dominate. Gets his left hand on Arawashi‘s mawashi, and while still seeking the right hand grip, pushes him to the tawara. Plain and simple yori-kiri, still unbeaten.

kakuryu-meter-hatsu-2018-day7

Yusho Arasoi

Leader: Yokozuna Kakuryu

Chaser: M3 Tochinoshin

Hopefuls:

  • Sekiwake Mitakeumi
  • M13 Daieisho

Tomorrow Aminishiki is back on the dohyo. He says that his condition is “Good enough to be able to wrestle”. He is already make-koshi, and desparately needs wins to cushion his fall from reaching all the way to Juryo.

 

Day 8 – What an exciting “nakabi”!

Herouth Hatsubasho 2018 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 8th day of a basho is called “nakabi” – 中日 – “middle day”. This exciting basho produced a no-less exciting nakabi, from bottom to top!

One nakabi tradition is the presentation of shin-deshi – new wrestlers who passed their maezumo this basho. So, leading the group is the young Naya, wearing his grandfather, Taiho’s, kesho-mawashi. Third, in the yellow kesho-mawashi, is Hoshoryu. No, he’s not wearing his uncle’s kesho-mawashi. That’s actually Akua’s spiffy new kesho-mawashi.

I believe this is the last we’ll see of these two for a while. Now they have to work hard to make promise reality.

Once again, I give you Hattorizakura. No, he still hasn’t managed to win, but the boy is showing real tenacity of late, and I’m sure that win is going to come:

This bout was nearly 2 minutes long!

Now, how long do you think Enho can hold on without breathing? His bout today was certainly an attempt to answer that question:

Talk about David and Goliath… By the way, that yobidashi who calls their names in the beginning sure has an impressive voice.

And what is happening with Torakio? Does he have the flu or what? His bout today was… somewhat disappointing:

Ouch.

Up we go to Makuuchi.

Abi decided to start the Makuuchi bouts with a flying henka. Attempts to pull Daiamami down, but it doesn’t work, so he works in some of his usual tsuki-oshi. Daiamami ends out flying outside for a tsuki-dashi. If you’re so strong, Abi, why do you have to henka?

Takekaze continues to slip slidin’ away. Yutakayama is lucky that the veteran is in such dire straits. He can’t seem to find his footing anymore. Too bad.

Sokokurai, on the other hand, finally shows some of the effects of experience. Keeps Ishiura‘s head away from his body. Ishiura tries to grab him by the arm. Doesn’t work. Holds Ishiura at arm’s length by his shoulders, but Ishiura manages to land his head in for his specialty torpedo… only Sokokurai grabs his mawashi from above, squats, and Ishiura finds himself on his knees.

Asanoyama manages to get a quick grip at Kagayaki. With Asanoyama being the yotsu man and Kagayaki the tsuki-oshi man, you’d think this favors Asanoyama. But Kagayaki is the one who lands a convincing uwatenage and Asanoyama finds himself on all fours and says bye-bye to the yusho race.

Now that we know that Daiamami pulls at his nose in his prebout, let’s introduce you to Ryuden‘s pre-bout routine: ragdoll on springs. He shakes and bounces. Kotoyuki starts this bout with an oshi attack, but bouncy-ball Ryuden bounces back from the tawara, gets a grip on Kotoyuki and yori-kiris him.

Daishomaru  makes short work of Nishikigi in the battle of the bottle-green mawashis, simply overpowering the Isenoumi man.

And in the bout of the wine-red mawashis, Daieisho puts an end to Chiyomaru‘s little series of wins. Comes at the eternally-round Kokonoe man from below and pushes him right out despite his tsuppari.

Takarafuji fights Shohozan for a grip – it’s really fascinating to see the battle of arms down there below their chests. The Isegahama heya-gashira (highest ranking deshi in a heya… yes… he is…) lands first a right-hand-outside, then his favorite left-hand-inside. From this point it’s all Takarafuji, in a battle of two very muscular men. We keep laughing at Takarafuji for having no neck, but the man certainly has shoulders and arms. Takarafuji: “I’m glad I broke out of my consecutive loss habit”.

Kaisei gets a firm grip on Ikioi‘s mawashi. Ikioi tries for a morozashi, but fails to get one before being pushed out. Apparently he has an ankle injury, which may serve as an explanation for his really bad form this basho.

Chiyonokuni tries every trick in the book against Okinoumi. First tsuppari, nodowa, then grabs on to Okinoumi’s arm. Tries a trip. Then finally he pulls at Okinoumi’s neck for a hatakikomi. The shimpan call a monoii, questioning whether Chiyonokuni may have pulled on Okinoumi’s mage. It looked like it from one angle – but no, the replay is very clear. Konosuke is right as usual, and Chiyonokuni got his white star fair and square.

Tochiozan doesn’t wait much time before landing Endo on the floor. Endo’s sumo is not stable.

Now, the next match was between Chiyoshoma and Arawashi. I have to say, though some pictures make them look very similar, I don’t really see why people will be confused between them. Anyway, Chiyoshoma on his fast attack, going for a hari-zashi (slap-and-grab) again,  then helps Arawashi out with his knee. Yori-kiri.

Tochinoshin got Yoshikaze today. Yoshikaze wisely not letting the Incredible Hulk anywhere near his Mawashi. So Tochinoshin just runs a tsuppari attack, which turns out to be effective and Yoshikaze finds himself out. Tochinoshin keeps himself in the chaser group.

tochinoshin-yoshikaze

Tochinoshin: “I just couldn’t grab the mawashi. So with my heart thumping I went for the tsuppari.”

Next we had two tadpoles meeting – Hokutofuji and Onosho. This was a push-me-pull-you bout which ended with Hokutofuji on his knees. Personally, I don’t like that sumo. Red mawashi comes on top. Hokutofuji not having the best basho of his life.

Mitakeumi, with 7-0, got intimate with the Mongolian boulder, Ichinojo, who quite quickly got a left hand outside. Mitakeumi works hard to deny Ichinojo the right hand inside on his mawashi, and tries to be patient. But patience doesn’t necessarily pay when you have 215kg leaning on you. Ichinojo can sleep riding a horse. He can also sleep leaning. Eventually Ichinojo wakes up, decides Mitakeumi is not so warm and fluffy that he should stay there much longer, and pushes the sekiwake to the edge. Mitakeumi drops to the chaser group.

mitakeumi-ichinojo

Tamawashi finally looks a little more like a sekiwake, pushing Kotoshogiku quickly away. I suspect the coconut clash there at the beginning might have had something to do with it. Tamawashi has had his skull rattled rather a lot this basho, I hope this doesn’t have long lasting effects.

Goeido goes into a nirami-ai (staredown) with Chiyotairyu right when they are supposed to be matching their breaths. This backfires, and Chiyotairyu gets his first on-dohyo win in this basho, giving the Ozeki the same de-ashi (forward-moving sumo) he usually gives his opponents when he boots up in the proper mode.

Takayasu is matched with another tadpole – Takakeisho – and decides to do some tadpole sumo. Push, pull, and now it’s Takakeisho on all fours. Did I mention that I don’t like this sumo? Anyway, the big bear wins. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, he opened up with a hari-zashi (slap-and-grab). Do you want to be a yokozuna, Takayasu?

Finally, the musubi-no-ichiban. Could the new Shodai dent the invincible Kakuryu’s dragon scales? The tachiai looks pretty convincing, and Shodai begins to advance, but by his second step Kakuryu has a secure overarm grip on his mawashi, and just pulls. Pulls so hard, in fact, that Shodai finds himself flat on his face, and Kakuryu is checking to see if his elbow is still connected.

kakuryu-shodai

Michinoku oyakata, who served as Abema TV’s commentator for today, is asked about Kakuryu’s performance following his kyujo issues and all. He says “His sumo is much better than it was before he went kyujo”. Kakuryu hasn’t had a 8-0 opening since he won his last yusho in Kyushu 2016.

kakuryu-meter-hatsu-2018-day7

Our kakuryumeter remains the same, full to the top. The papers make much of the fact that Kakuryu secured his kachi-koshi, but we all know that this is not a Yokozuna kachi-koshi just yet, and Kakuryu himself says “I don’t care about that, there are 7 days to go”.

Yusho arasoi

8-0: Yokozuna Kakuryu.

7-1:

  • Sekiwake Mitakeumi
  • M3 Tochinoshin
  • M13 Daieisho

But tomorrow this chaser list will be down to no more than two, with Mitakeumi facing Tochinoshin.