Because – when people think of tachiai, an image like this should come to their mind
Berserker
Aki Basho – Day 2 Returns To Form
Harumafuji survives Yoshikaze, Kadoban Twins Rediscover Sumo Skills
After a wild ride on day 1, the September tournament returned to a more expected form on the second day. There were fewer losses in the san’yaku ranks, but there was plenty of great sumo action. Some stats on who is emerging as early leaders. Keep in mind, this is still a wide open tournament, and we won’t have a clear idea of who is winning and who is struggling to hang on until the weekend.
Notable Rikishi With No Losses By Day 2
Harumafuji – The Nagoya champ is looking strong. He had another street fight with Yoshikaze today, but won this time.
Goeido – This is the Goeido that should show up, he is fighting hard and winning
Kotoshogiku – The other kadoban twin (with Goeido) is pushing hard to remain Ozeki. I like this one better
Okinoumi – What on earth happened to this guy? I fear on day 12 they are going to peel back some rubber suit to real some robo-Hakuho underneath. Seriously, this guy is looking very strong
Takanoiwa – The Sumo ranking mathematicians put him at Maegashira 3 to see if he would survive. Interestingly enough he seems to be thriving. Starting to think he is one to watch.
Mitakeumi – Former college sumo champ, he has recovered a bit from his poor performance at Nagoya.
Notable Rikishi With No Wins By Day 2
Kakuryu – At the moment he is not showing us Yokozuna level performance. I have to wonder if he is going to consider retirement
Takarafuji – Maybe he has had some unlucky match ups, maybe he is hurt. He is once again proving that Sekiwake is a tough rank
Kaisei – The burly Brazilian had to endure Harumafuji’s choke hold day one, and was possibly distracted by Terunofuji’s owl head trick. I continue to think his performance is going down as his weight is going up.
Tochinoshin – I really like him, but he needs to work on his grip. Please get back in your grove, I want to see you win.
Shodai – He has had a tough early schedule for a Maegashira 2, hopefully he can settle down and get back to his normal form.
More Results From Aki Day 1
San’yaku Ranks Take A Beating Out of the Gate
While Kisenosato’s loss on day one is the big news, there were other great matches today. In general it was a rough day for the top 4 ranks (Komusubi to Yokozuna), the strongest wrestlers in sumo.
Outcome for Sumo’s toughest rikishi: 4 wins, 6 losses.
Featured Results
Harumafuji defeats Kaisei
As predicted, this was more of “get off my lawn” exchange between the Horse and the Brazilian strong man. Not sure where Kaisei’s mojo went, but I am going to assume that if he drops some weight he would return to being a contender. He looked worn out and lacked the overwhelming intensity required to defeat Harumafuji.
Tochiozan defeats Kakuryu
Kakuryu also did not seem to have much in the way of energy and drive. He put forth a weak effort against Tochiozan, who pushed him out with little ceremony.
Yoshikaze defeats Terunofuji
The Berserker was looking ready and strong. He was actually hospitalized after the Nagoya tournament, but he came back and won against an Ozeki. He even did it via Yorikiri, where Yoshikaze would typically push opponents out of the ring with a flurry of strong blows.
Kotoshogiku defeats Shodai
As a Kadoban Twins member in good standing, Kotoshogiku really needs to win with authority this basho. He looked good against Shodai today. Hopefully this means he is ready to win. Shodai – this guy has a bright future if he does not fall into the trap of gaining so much weight his speed and skill no longer counts.
Takanoiwa defeats Takayasu
Takanoiwa – He tied for second place in Nagoya down at Maegashira 11 (easy schedule), and the ranking board put him on a very tough track for this tournament. Takayasu is a serious candidate for Ozeki sometime in 2017, so I was surprised when Takanoiwa took him apart. I am beginning to thing Takanoiwa may be one to watch.