Ishiura

Kyushu Day 10 Preview

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kyushu Basho 2016, San'yaku (三役), Takarafuji (宝富士), Takayasu (高安), Yokozuna (横綱) , , , , , , , ,

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We Close Out The Second Act.

Day 10 brings us to the end of the middle third of the last basho of the year. While there is a huge amount of attention being payed to who will win the Emperor’s Cup, one fascinating metric is total wins for calendar year 2016. In the past several years, the winner has been Hakuho. Due to his surgery and recovery, the statistic for total wins this year is (as of day 10) a tie between Harumafuji and Kisenosato.

Notable Matches

Sokokurai vs Ishiura – First time meeting between these two, so who knows what to expect. Ishiura has been unstoppable thus far, I can’t wait to see what Sokokurai will bring. He is normally a yori-kiri kind of guy, so lets see if they grapple or push.

Ichinojo vs Toyohibiki – Prior meet ups between these two have been all Ichinojo’s game, and he tends to want to throw Toyohibiki.

Ikioi vs Chiyootori – Ikioi has been having a good basho so far. On day 8 he had a tooth knocked out (I think the Japanese press said it was a crown) via a collision during tachiai with Chiyokuni. Day 9 he looked vague and lost. His record against Chiyootori is a losing one, so Ikioi must apply himself.

Arawashi vs Takanoiwa – Arawashi is one win away from kachi-koshi, but he may have his hand full with Takanoiwa, who has a track record of overpowering the lighter Arawashi.

Chiyoshoma vs Tochinoshin – Chiyoshoma is also one win from kachi-koshi, but Tochinoshin seems newly energized by the Shimpan debacle of day 8. This will be the first time he has faced Chiyoshoma, who has been favoring pull downs early in the match. Tochinoshin tends to have a very careful tachiai approach, so I look for him to get a solid left hand grip early if he wants to win.

Endo vs Nishikigi – Nishikigi is having a terrible basho, with a losing 3-6 record going into day 10. His chances of improvement are slim, as Endo tends to fold him up and put him away dirty.

Takarafuji vs Shodai – Match up of thrusting attacks, would be my guess. Shodai has been favoring belt sumo more this tournament, and he is also in the ranks of one win from kachi-koshi. He has a slight edge on this match in terms of trend and form for Kyushu, but Takarafuji has to be feeling the pressure now.

Today’s Sanyaku Buffet

Goeido vs Kotoshogiku – Goeido, will he settle down and return to the form of the good Goeido, or stay in the form of the bad Goeido? We at Tachiai always want to see the good Goeido, that guy is amazing. In facing Kotoshogiku, if ‘Ku gets set and starts to hug-n-chug, it usually ends up with Kotoshogiku winning. Goeido will look to stay mobile and attack at the first weakness. Record slightly favors Goeido. Kotoshogiku is starting to worry me that he is going kadoban again.

Hakuho vs Kisenosato – These two have a long history of outstanding sumo, and many of their matches have been worthy of highlight reels. History favors Hakuho by a 3x margin, so it’s up to Kisenosato to surprise and confound the Yokozuna. Kisenosato is not known for invention, so it’s likely we see Hakuho package and ship the Great Pumpkin into the seats quickly.

Terunofuji vs Kakuryu – Oh please, Great Sumo Cat of the Kokugikan, let it be Terunofuji who breaks Kakuryu’s winning streak. That would be so wonderful, so amazing and the sumo world would shout for joy. Not only would it give the injured Terunofuji his kachi-koshi, but it would blow the yusho race wide open. History shows that Terunofuji actually wins against Kakuryu most of the time, but Terunofuji is still hurt.

Harumafuji vs Takayasu – I worry that Takayasu is going make-koshi in Kyushu, which would be a great tragedy. Day 10 he faces Harumafuji, who he seldom wins against. I am just hoping that Harumafuji puts away some of his tired moves and shows us his Yokozuna talents.

Kyushu Day 9 News and Highlights

Bruce H Fukuoka Basho 2016, Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kyushu Basho 2016, Takayasu (高安), Yoshikaze (嘉風) , , , , , , , ,

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Worth the Wait.

In my humble opinion, thus far the Kyushu tournament has been fairly lackluster. I am not sure if it’s because Hakuho is good but recovering, Harumafuji had gotten boring and repetitive, or the my deeply held belief that the shimpan should have let Goeido and Okinoumi fight it out.

But day nine – it’s as if everyone decided the fans needed some real sumo, and stopped half-assing. Maybe the Sumo Kyokai discussed with the A-List crew that the fans were unhappy, and the recent resurgence in sumo’s popularity was on the line. It does not matter, day 9 was worth the wait.

At the moment Kakuryu remains undefeated, in part because he has perfected running away (which is a valid strategy) until he can figure out an attack. Hakuho finally put it in gear, and Harumfuji decided to try some sumo moves today.

On top of that, Ishiura continues to win decisively, he is dominating the lower Makuuchi ranks. I also offer a my eternal thanks to the Great Sumo Cat of the Kokugikan for bringing Terunofuji back to fighting form. It is such fun to watch him battle.

The story in Juryo was frankly more compelling that Makuuchi has been thus far, we have Osunaarashi tearing up opponents with a single minded drive to return to Makuuchi for January. We have Ura, Seiro and Satoyama continuing to win daily, and with some really good sumo.

Leaderboard

  • Undefeated: Kakuryu
  • Chasers: Harumafuji, Hakuho, Ishiura
  • Hunt Group: Kisenosato, Terunofuji, Shodai, Chiyoshoma, Arawashi

6 matches remain

Highlights

(Lots Today)

Ichinojo defeats Hidenoumi – The giant sumo robot from the future delivered today. Granted it was against a rikishi with a single win, but both put a lot of effort into their sumo today. Ichinojo now has 4 straight wins after a really weak start to the basho. Ichinojo should be a real contender in 2017, if he can stay healthy.

Ishiura defeats Hokutofuji – Don’t blink or you will miss this one. Ishiura has acres of strength, and his bout against Hokutofuji looked more like Ishiura was late for a train, and Hokutofuji simply got in the way.

Arawashi defeats Chiyotairyu – What I really like about this match, watch Arawashi hook his left hand into Chiyotairyu’s muwashi early. Chiyotairyu continues to try and push Arawashi away, but Arawashi stays close and presses Chiyotairyu out. The ability to think, act and maneuver while under attack – that’s indicators of great sumo

Chiyoshoma defeats Ikioi – Fresh dental work could not save Ikioi from a rapid hatakikomi (pull down). Sadly Ikioi was telegraphing a massive tachiai, and made it easy for Chiyoshoma. I urge fans to study Hakuho or Harumafuji. Those guys always line up in a calm, cool manner and you have no clue what they are about to do.

Tochinoshin defeats Shohozan – Oh yeah, this is more like it! What a battle. Suffice to say both rikishi are massively strong, and neither one of them were willing to give an inch. Tochinoshin. coming from being robbed day 8, clearly had some motivation. These two have faced each other 13 times, and it’s usually a good battle. Thank you both for a fantastic match.

Takarafuji defeats Endo – Endo has been doing quite well this basho, but today Takarafuji brought everything he had to the dohyo, and put up a huge fight. This match was all thrusting to start, with Endo borrowing Harumafuji’s nodawa, with much less effect. While he was trying to get Takarafuji high, Takarafuji was busy controlling the match. Takarafuji then wrapped up Endo, lowered his stance and started moving forward. Endo had expended a lot of stamina on his nodawa attack, and found himself suddenly on defense. Takarafuji finished him in short order. Very well done

Yoshikaze defeats Chiyonokuni – Two rikishi who are almost all offense. It did not take long. Chiyonokuni was off balance shortly after a massive tachiai and Yoshikaze kept pushing forward. Bonus points for the high force “ejector” right at the tawara to give the fans in the front fro a visit from Chiyonokuni.

Terunofuji defeats Kaisei – Really fans, Kaisei is not a bad rikishi. He is having a terrible basho. Kaisei Terunofuji, on the other hand, has somehow overcome significant injuries to perform more like his old self. He handled the much larger Brazilian really well, with a decisive throw to end the match.

Kisenosato defeats Goeido – In the battle of broken dreams, Goeido had the upper hand at the opening, but Kisenosato has an almost superhuman awareness of the geometry of the situation, and the physical forces in play, moment to moment. At the last moment he shifted his weight, while he was starting to fall, and brought Goeido down first.

Kakuryu defeats Takayasu – This was all Takayasu to start, but Kakuryu stayed in there, and waited for a mistake. Sadly Takayasu made one, and like every other match this basho, you can’t give Kakuryu an opening. He never misses them. Takayasu excels at strength sumo, chest to chest, the key to his losses is making sure he can’t lock his opening up and wear them down.

Harumafuji defeats Okinoumi – Even Harumafuji decided to try some sumo moves today. It was really quite excellent as well. I would beg him to put down the non-henka, the nodawa and deliver more bouts like this one, please.

Hakuho defeats Kotoshogiku – The Boss brought fans one hell of a final match today. Clearly he is not yet back to his pre surgery best, but today was a great show of why he is the top man in sumo. Kotoshogiku put forth a massive effort, using all of his favorite moves. Hakuho was able to keep him bottled up for an eternity in sumo terms. Clearly he was keeping pressure down on the knee that had surgery, but even one of the Boss’s legs can be enough, when applied with great skill. Closing move? YEAH – he picked up Kotoshogiku and threw him out of the ring.

Kyushu Day 9 Preview & Discussion

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Kyushu Basho 2016, Takayasu (高安), Yokozuna (横綱), Ōzeki (大関) , , ,

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Things Can Only Get Better

With day 8 blessedly fading in the past, it’s time to look forward to the final week of the Kyushu basho. I am fairly sure where as Aki was a never ending parade of goodness, much of the best stuff will happen in the last week.

To review the state of play: Yokozuna Kakuryu remains the sole leader, undefeated at 8-8, with the other two Yokozuna, Hakuho and Harumafuji 1 loss behind. Also 1 loss behind is the surprising and delightful Ishiura. Oh what fun a 4 way playoff between that crowd would be!

Goeido’s Yokozuna run – done and buried. Takayasu’s Ozeki run – done and buried. Hakuho’s undercarriage – likely still damaged and hopefully healing. Terunofuji – still banged up but somehow managing to win quite effectively.

Notable Matches

Ishiura vs Hokutofuji – I am still waiting to see if Ishiura draws against upper Maegashira, maybe Shodai, Endo or Yoshikaze? Hokutofuji is doing well enough, so I am guessing this will be a match worth watching.

Chiyotairyu vs Arawashi – Chiyotairyu’s thrusting attack vs Arawashi’s throws, yeah, this has potential. Both rikishi are good candidates for kachi-koshi, so consider this a preview of a higher level brawl at the New Year’s basho.

Chiyoshoma vs Ikioi – After the head-butt to the face on Sunday, I am sure Ikioi had some dental work to do. With luck the novocain will still be active as I am guessing Chiyoshoma and Ikioi will slap each other around for a while.

Takekaze vs Shodai – Fairly sure Shodai will end up kachi-koshi at this point, now he’s shopping for how big of a boost he takes up the banzuke for January.

Goeido vs Kisenosato – Battle of the fallen titans. This match fills me with sadness for what both men had within their grasp but let slip away. With any luck, they will take out their frustrations on each other.

Takayasu vs Kakuryu – Speaking of sadness, Takayasu has not been on his sumo, and his Ozeki run for November is a failure. But he is more than capable of defeating Kakuryu, and the sumo world will once again sing his praises. Just don’t let him back up on you, future Ozeki Takayasu. Hug that pudgy Mongolian Yokozuna and show him some Tagonoura compassion!

Kyushu Day 8 News And Boos

Bruce H Gyōji (行司), Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Ichinojo (逸ノ城), Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kyushu Basho 2016, Takayasu (高安), Tochiozan (栃煌山), Yoshikaze (嘉風) , , , , , ,

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The Other Fukuoka Sinkhole

I have made my displeasure with some of the outcomes of day 8 abundantly clear. The rest of the day was kind of a sorry mess as well, with a few nice highlights. But after breakfast and some tea, it’s time to post commentary on the action in Kyushu.

The group with chances of taking the tournament yusho narrowed, with Goeido’s loss pushing him out of reasonable contention. At the same time, Kakuryu’s very sloppy win gives him a secured kachi-koshi. Kakuryu’s win showed a lot of weakness, Hakuho has confirmed (in my eyes) that he is still struggling to regain his former potency. Harumafuji is starting to get boring, and hopefully some of those crazed shimpan will discuss his two-dimensional approach with him. Harumafuji is much better than what he is showing us this tournament.

In Juryo – Osunaarashi, Ura and Sato all won again today, while Yamaguchi. There may be some welcome Makuuchi promotions going into the January basho in Tokyo.

We have one week left in Kyushu

Leaderboard

  • Undefeated: Kakuryu
  • Chasers: Harumafuji, Hakuho, Goeido, Ishiura
  • Hunt Group: Goeido, Kisenosato, Terunofuji, Shodai, Ikioi, Chiyoshoma, Arawashi

7 matches remain

Day 8 Notable

Ichinojo defeats Gagamaru – After a slow start, the giant sumo robot from the future seems to be getting his software and hardware back in order.

Ishiura defeats Kyokushuho – Not much of a contest, really. I expect the schedulers are going to give Ishiura some tough matches this coming week.

Ikioi defeats Chiyonokuni – pretty sure Ikioi broke a tooth on that tachiai, when Chiyonokuni’s skull impacted his lower jaw. Ikioi kept pressing the attack, and shortly afterwards Chiyonokuni lost his balance.

Endo defeats Sadanoumi – Endo continues to look good, though today was an easy match for him. Sadanoumi took a fast tour of the salt basket and various west side sumo accessories on his trip over the edge of the dohyo.

Shodai defeats Tochinoshin – Really terrible outcome. First match was a clear Tochinoshin win as Shodai was on the clay while Tochinoshin was in the air. There is an expression in sumo – if you know you are falling, touch last. Many matches see both rikishi on the process of falling at the end, and the one who touches the ground first is the one who loses. This was not even close. The shimpan decided as Tochinoshin’s body was in the air but outside the ring, he lost. Baloney. Monoii was called, in the rematch Shodai won. Really bad show, judges. For a few minutes, this was the worst call in recent sumo. But they applied themselves and went for worse

Tochiozan defeats Takayasu – Takayasu is a mess right now. I am not sure what has him off his sumo, but this guy is really a serious force for the future. Kitamayama declared in a round table prior to the tournament that Takayasu would end up maki-kochi. I assumed he was joking. I fear that could in fact happen. Note about Takayasu and low win scores – he is under consideration for promotion to Ozeki, but he has to rack up 33 wins across 3 tournaments to earn it.

Okinoumi defeats Goeido – Okinoumi is a great sumotori, and although he is struggling this basho, I predict great things for him. I also feel very sorry for him today, as the weight of a bad call must surely rest on his mind. In what is likely to be the most controversial call for some time, the gyoji’s decision was reversed by monoii, and Okinoumi was declared the winner. To be completely fair, Goeido’s sumo was a mess today, worse than any of his prior days this basho, there was little chance he was going to prevail over the Yokozuna next week. The call in question is exactly where Goeido’s heel was on the tawara as Okinoumi hit the dirt. Even Okinoumi thought he lost.

Terunofuji defeats Kotoshogiku – If there was a bright spot in the sanyaku matches, it was Terunofuji masterfully containing Kotoshogiku, and dispatching him from the ring with relative ease. Kotoshogiku was never able to establish a grip or start his bulldozer technique. Wonderful sumo from Terunofuji, in spite of the pain, in spite of the injury. Nicely done.

Harumafuji defeats Yoshikaze – These guys really have a lot of animosity for each other, and it shows. The match featured the Harumafuji nodowa (Darth Vader) move that is really tiresome now, and Yoshikaze moving to pull an inside leg trip. He missed, and was off balance. Game over. Yoshikaze is having a miserable tournament.

Hakuho defeats Mitakeumi – Komusubi is the toughest job in sumo, and Mitakeumi is taking his lumps. As Andy pointed out, it’s where perfectly good sumotori go to get beat up. We saw a bit more mobility out of Hakuho, but it’s clear is is not his normal self. His technique remains outstanding – during his drive against Mitakeumi, his stance was fantastic, his feet very heavy and his hips low the entire time. But the speed and power were clearly not what they were early this year, and after the match, he walked stiffly. To hide it, he has increased his swagger, but it’s plain to see that he’s still nursing lower body injuries. As a bonus, he had a new elbow wrap on today.

Kakuryu defeats Tamawashi – Kakuryu looked really bad – reactive, out of control and moving backwards. In contrast Tamawashi was in control of the match and executing his sumo plan. Tamawashi made a critical mistake by over-extending himself, and Kakuryu moved to finish him. Tamawashi is maintaining a winning record as Komusubi, a difficult thing to do.