Harumafuji (日馬富士)

Ura Weathers The Great Sandstorm

Andy Aki Basho 2016 , , , ,

screenshot-211Yes, there were some big moves in the makuuchi and some huge upsets in sanyaku…but I’m going to start with the match up I was most looking forward to, Ura vs Osunaarashi. My big questions coming into this were, 1) How well healed is the Egyptian? and 2) How would Ura handle his opponent’s aggressiveness? I consider this Ura’s first makuuchi bout.

Ura wisely avoided a strong, head-on tachiai. As we’ve seen before, Ura backed up a good 3 feet off the usual starting point, forcing the opponent to travel a greater distance. screenshot-212He ducked and deflected Osunaarashi, staying low and keeping him at arms length. Osunaarashi made a charge but Ura was able to counter, pivot, and drive Osunaarashi off the dohyo and into the crowd.

Kotoshogiku shook off his first challenge in Shodai while Goeido got a strong win against Tochinoshin. Both ozeki look to head off demotion. Inexplicably, Terunofuji showed up today and looked to be at maybe 70-80% healthy. Yoshikaze was not going to take it easy on him and tried a quick hatakikomi but the ozeki didn’t fall for it. However, Yoshikaze went on the attack and picked up a yorikiri win as Terunofuji had no strength to counter. TERUNOFUJI NEEDS TO GO KYUJO AND HEAL!! When he is this banged up, it damages the sport as everyone wonders how does he manage to get a winning record in the final days against strong opponents?

I don’t even know what happened with Kisenosato against Okinoumi. I keep watching the replays and the Maegashira somehow got him turned around and pushed out. He didn’t have a particularly strong grip or position but…come on. Anyway, I’d draw a great big BATSU over any chance he had to win this tournament now.

Well, maybe half-batsu as Kakuryu got shoved out by Tochiozan. Regardless, I have been quite disappointed with Kakuryu’s performances at yokozuna. If he’s still injured, he needs to sit out. He won’t face demotion but he faces humiliation if he loses like today, jut a straight forward oshidashi push out?  Tochi-from-Kochi didn’t even need to wrangle him to the edge. It just took one strong shove from the middle of the dohyo.

Harumafuji was having none of these upsets. From the outset, he went at Kaisei’s throat with a forceful nodowa and he did not let up. Kaisei tried what he could to pull Harumafuji’s hand from his neck but the stranglehold was too much. That’s got to be an unpleasant feeling.

NHK World Feature On Harumafuji

Bruce H Harumafuji (日馬富士), Media Coverage, Sumo Topics , ,

NHK World – Artful Champion (video on NHK)

Like many of us outside Japan, I am very grateful for NHK world, but always wish there were more focus on Sumo.  Thursday night, the NHK world news feed included this nice piece of Harumafuji. I especially liked seeing his younger self, and the fact they actually spent time discussing his painting.

Exciting Matches, Dramatic Yusho Race: Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kisenosato, Takayasu

Andy Nagoya 2016 , ,

I love the fact that we’re now more than half-way through the tournament and we’ve still got four leaders and a further four wrestlers one loss off pace. Today lived up to its billing with several great bouts. When I see that the On-Demand highlight show is available, I’ll post the link. In the meantime, enjoy the fan vid from Kintamayama. Harumafuji had his hands full with the young Shodai but prevailed in a thriller. Terunofuji had just scraped by with a win against the Tasmanian Devil, energizing the crowd, when the yokozuna and maegashira squared off.

Screenshot (208)
Shodai Counters the Brutal Nodowa

Harumafuji lunged forcefully with an effective nodowa, momentarily surging forward until a quick chop from Shodai’s left hand dislodged the vise-like grip. Shodai then pivoted and pulled the Mongolian to the edge where Harumafuji’s expert footwork kept him inside the dohyo. The back-and-forth finally ended after he spun Shodai backwards, slapped him as he turned around, then propelled the pair off the dohyo with full force. One heck of an entertaining yorikiri.

Ichinojo fell off pace by virtue of a stunning effort from Chiyonokuni. Kaisei needs to earn his kachikoshi as he’s benefited from two fusen default victories. He was effective against Mitakeumi but will face a challenge in Tochiozan tomorrow. Sadly, Kotoyuki and Endo are winless and now officially makekoshi.

 

初場所2016, 9日目: Ikioi Beat Tochinoshin

Andy Hatsubasho 2016 , , ,

Ikioi pulled off a great win over his fellow komusubi to pick up his third win of the tournament. While the Georgian now must go undefeated to achieve a winning record and retain his rank, Ikioi has a *little* breathing room. He faces Shohozan tomorrow and will have his hands full with the likes of Aminishiki & Aoiyama later in the week. Shohozan was blown off the ring by kamikaze Yoshikaze today and will be looking for redemption tomorrow.

Hakuho and Kotoshogiku still lead with Harumafuji alone one win off pace. This resurgent Kotoshogiku dominated Kaisei while Hakuho decided to skip today’s effort, pulling out a glorious henka against Tochiozan. “Hey, if Aminishiki can do it every day, why can’t I do it once?”