Kaizen

Ones To Watch – Nagoya Day 3

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Welcome to an abbreviated “Ones to Watch”, has Herouth has done her marvelous job of providing sumo fans with a feast of video goodies from the lower divisions. Day 3 features bounts from Wakaichiro, Amakaze, Musashikuni and Hoshoryu.

Hoshoryu vs Seiro – Hoshoryu certainly punched his card for “Serious Contender” on day 2, and now he faces the highest ranked rikishi in Makshita: Former Makuuchi rikishi – Seiro. As both me have 1 wins, this will help form the field of promotion contenders for September. Time to shine little dragon!

Wakatakamoto vs Terao – Another 1-0 bracket match, this rematch of an Osaka 2017 bout will give Wakatakamoto a chance to even the score.

Roga vs Fujita – Roga got a close look at the Nagoya clay in his day 2 loss, and looked quite out-classed. This was always a possibility once he crossed into Makushita, but I expect he will bounce back and fight hard for 4 wins.

Musashikuni vs Kaizen – I don’t know what kind of physical problems Musashikuni is still nursing, but he continues to struggle, even at a greatly reduced rank. His fans can only hope he can pull it together.

Amakaze vs Baraki – I continue to think that Amakaze is probably under-ranked right now, so I expect him to dominate the majority of his matches. Baraki spent two tournaments in Makushita, and has been largely in Sandanme for his 40 basho career.

Wakaichiro vs Kamitani – This will be an interesting match for Wakaichiro. Kamitani is a 17 year old rikishi in his 9th tournament, and he has had a largely upward path leading to this, his first ever Sandanme posting.

Lower divisions – Days 13 and 14

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Hey, Hoshoryu, Asashoryu called and asked for his game face to be returned

Hey, I owe you readers two days of randomly picked lower division bouts!

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Natsu Day 14 – Ones To Watch

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One More Time, Wakaichiro-zeki!

It’s almost all done for the lower ranks, with a handful of rikishi left to face their 7th opponent today or Sunday. Day 13 saw wins by Wakamotoharu, Ichiyamamoto, Wakatakamoto (that means all 3 Onami brothers won on day 13), Naya, Terunofuji, Shoji and Kitanowaka. That’s almost a complete sweep for our list!

For day 14, the roster is lighter, but there are still some great matches yet to come.

Hoshoryu vs Kizenryu – It’s time for a Darwin match with only one exiting the dohyo with a winning record. Hoshoryu won their only prior match, during Hatsu this year. Two high-skill rikishi with everything on the line in a single match. One will be promoted, the other demoted for July. This is what sumo is all about.

Midorifuji vs Sakigake – Another winner take all match. This time it is the challenger, Sakigake, who has won the prior match. The winner gets promoted, the loser gets demoted. At stake is likely a slot in the Makushita joi-jin, with a chance at promotion to Juryo up for grabs July.

Akua vs Nogami – Akua is already kachi-koshi, but he needs a bit more juice to put him into the top of Makushita for July if he wants to make a bid to return to Juryo. These matches on day 14 are going to be fast, hard and brutal.

Roga vs Kaizen – Roga is already kachi-koshi as well, but a 5th win might just break him out of Sandanme if the stars align. Kaizen has already spent a few basho in Makushita, and will bring that experience to bare in today’s match vs Roga’s raw power.

Wakaichiro vs Goshinryu – Our favorite Jonidan rikishi looks to hit escape velocity and return to Sandanme today against Goshinryu, who is fighting at his highest ever rank. Wakaichiro’s sumo seems to have gotten much more efficient this basho, so I am looking for a high energy oshi-battle between these two.

With note…

Kenho vs Sasaki – We have not followed Kenho this tournament, but he also faces a Darwin match on day 14, and could find himself with a winning record if he can overcome youngster and light weight Sasaki. Good luck Kenho!

Hatsu Day 8 – Lower Division Ones To Watch

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Day 8, Nakabe – the middle day of the basho, is upon us, and the scheduling team has gone wild putting most of our “Ones to Watch” on the torikumi. Are we excited? Yes indeed! We almost got Herouth’s hoped for match of Ura vs Hoshoryu, but Hoshoryu is taking on Ichiyamamoto (also one of our ones to watch) instead. Should they both win or both lose, they could face each other next.

We also have fan favorite Wakaichiro fighting early in the day, along with several of his Musashigawa stablemates. It’s going to be wall to wall, and Tachiai will be glued to our streams from the start.

Hattorizakura vs Shishimaru – What would nakabe be without the perpetual parade of defeats brought to us by the little guy? We would all love to see him win for a change, but first he must WANT to win.

Wakaichiro vs Asanoshima – I can’t describe how excited I am to see the rikishi from Humble, TX face off against 3-0 Asanoshima. This is in fact a rematch, with Wakaichiro winning their prior match. Asanoshima has been in sumo since the mid 2000s, so it’s youth against experience tonight.

Shoji va Saionji – A 2-1 bracket match pits Musashigawa’s Shoji against Sandanme mainstay Saionji from Shikihide heya. This will probably come down to the all important tachiai, as the two are fairly equally matched.

Torakio vs Kaizen – The scion of Naruto heya faces Asakayama heya’s Kaizen in this 2-1 bracket match. Kaizen has been flipping between Makushita and Sandanme, and tends to get a kachi-koshi at this rank. I predict it will be a bit of an uphill challenge for Torakio.

Musashikuni vs Aozora – A note on Musashikuni (nephew of former Yokozuna Musashimaru), he seems to have suffered a foot injury a few weeks a go, and it has been negatively impacting his sumo. Coming into this match 0-3, make-koshi is on the line, and we hope Musashikuni can find a way to endure the physical challenge and win.

Midorifuji vs Kainoryu – Ushering in the fan favorite section of Makushita, Midorifuji will take on Kainoryu in a 1-2 bracket match. Kainoryu is fighting at his highest ever rank, and looking to pick up 3 wins from the last 4 matches. But former Kinki University rikishi Midorifuji will be no easy mark.

Ura vs Kairyu – This 2-1 bracket match is back to back with another pair of high interest rikishi, and I suspect the atmosphere in the Kokugikan may be closer to that of a top division match for a few minutes. Ura’s opponent is a 28 year old veteran who has been ranked as high as Makushita 2, and represents the kind of rikishi he will have to fight is way past to return to the Juryo ranks.

Hoshoryu vs Ichiyamamoto – Immediately following the Ura match, fan favorite Hoshoryu mounts the dohyo for another 2-1 bracket match. He faces another of our “ones to watch”, former Chuo University star Ichiyamamoto. This one has a lot of potential as well!