injury

March Tournament 2015: Day 10

Andy March Tournament 2015 , , , , , ,

Aminishiki seems to have gone down with a knee injury. It was heartbreaking to see him be unable to walk under his own power. He’d been having an excellent basho and is clearly in line for the technique special prize. He is assured of a winning record, but healthy he could have gotten 10-11 wins. Hopefully it’s not as serious as it looked but I’ll be surprised if he’s not done. With his knees at his age, this might be retirement if he can’t continue.

Speaking of retirement, it was also good to see Homasho being interviewed but a bit odd to see him in a Western suit.

Hakuho leads, followed by Terunofuji. Terunofuji seemed to wait until Kotoshogiku ran out of steam with his leg thrusts and was able to counter, getting the oshidashi victory. Tomorrow he’s up against Kaisei who lost to Harumafuji but certainly gave him a run for his money in a long, tightly contested matchup. Kisenosato’s victory over Goeido meant he was the only Ozeki to win today.

Osunaarashi got an impressive belt win today. He’s certainly not as one dimensional as he seemed last tournament. His knees are not giving him the same problems and he’s getting great power in his legs to match up with his opponents. Gagamaru dropped his first bout in a week but Ikioi bounced back with a win over Arawashi.

Endo Out for Two Months! (left knee)

Andy Injuries ,

When I heard the news, I didn’t even want to watch today’s matches. He’d been wrestling really well at a high Maegashira rank and I was hoping he’d advance to M1 or maybe komusubi. Fortunately, with the 4 wins he’ll be able to miss this tournament and stay in makuuchi. I’ve heard they’re talking about a two month recovery so he might not be well in time for the May basho either. If that’s the case, he might drop to Juryo in July. Hopefully he’ll bounce back quickly.

March Tournament 2015: Day 1

Andy Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Injuries, Kakuryu (鶴竜), March Tournament 2015 , , , , , , ,

Day 1 and two big dawgs already down. Kakuryu pulled out of the tournament late due to injury and Ichinojo picked up the forfeit win. Kisenosato was overpowered by Tochi from Kochi. It was a good battle but Tochiozan had inside position and a lower center of balance. Once he got the ozeki to the edge, one last shove sent Kisenosato into the front row. The early loss does not bode well for a Japanese yusho.

With Kakuryu down, it looks like Harumafuji’s hungry again. After a powerful tachiai, he retreated, crouched, and engaged Tamawashi with full force, launching the Komusubi into the spectators. Hakuho followed up with a frenetic disposal of Myogiryu. These two have an interesting history. Myogiryu has gotten a gold star off the yokozuna but he’s also been on the receiving end of a ruthless knockout.

In other first day bouts, Goeido and Kotoshogiku earned decisive victories. Tochinoshin got a great win and Osunaarashi out-maneuvered a hard-charging Kyokutenho for a close victory. That was a good start for the Egyptian since he’s getting over that illness from last week. Hope

Unfortunately, Endo, Ikioi, and Gagamaru all started with losses. Endo charged strong but over committed and got spun around. Toyonoshima was then able to capitalize and push him off the dohyo. Hopefully they can get it going tomorrow.

The matchup I’m looking forward to tomorrow is Tochinoshin vs. Ichinojo. They’ve had some great, evenly contested, bouts, including that amazing uchimuso win for Tochinoshin in January. Ikioi will battle Osunaarashi tomorrow. Takayasu’s got an impressive 8 wins in 12 tries against Goeido so this may be Goeido’s first stumble as ozeki in front of his hometown crowd. It will be an important bout if he wants to have a strong tournament.

As always, thanks to Jason and Kintamayama for the videos!