Kotokamatani

Low Division bouts – Day 3

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Kotokamatani wearing an oicho-mage for his Juryo visit today

Here are a few bouts I collected for day 3.

Down in Jonokuchi, Toma, Hakuho’s gigantic uchi-deshi, had his second bout for this basho, vs. Ito, and his first monoii.

Ow, ow, ow. Poor Ito. He looks completely out of it. Well, 206kg falling on top of you is no small matter (see what I did there?). He is lucky the shimpan did not decide on a torinaoshi.

First loss for Toma, then.

Edit: This bout from the TV angle. The Isamiashi is much clearer:

Edit: I found Kitanowaka’s bout vs. Tokisakae – here it is:

Mmm. That man belongs at least in Sandanme at the moment, if not Makushita.

The rest of the videos I found are from Makushita. Let’s start with Tomisakae, who faces Tanabe.

Yeah, the video doesn’t include the tachiai. But Tomisakae, Isegahama’s back-flipping rikishi, seems to be serious this basho.

The famous Naya vs. Koba:

This bout reminds me of a Takakeisho bout. Could it be he is influencing his tsukebito already? Naya does well to maintain his balance as Koba tries to dispatch him near the edge there, and then actually wins by pulling wildly – which will not always work for him.

The match between Hoshoryu and Jokoryu today was all over the Japanese press. “Hoshoryu’s first bout with a former san-yaku wrestler”, the titles shouted. Let’s see how this went, in NattoSumo’s excellent clip:

Hoshoryu said, in an interview after this bout: “I guessed that he will go for a slap, and slap he did. By the time I had reacted he already had his arms well inside. I am glad I was still able to push forward”.

Yes, it wasn’t a bout Hoshoryu should be too proud of. His Tachiai was, indeed, not quite fast enough for a good opponent.

As for that monoii – NattoSumo says he doesn’t understand exactly what happened. Well, the sportscaster is saying “It seems Hoshoryu’s leg was out first… but by then, Jokoryu was already out of balance. The commentator agrees: “He had no body” (that’s like saying his body was dead). But says the word “bimyo” – which means this is not clear-cut. The kyogi (discussion of a monoii) proceeds, and Onomatsu oyakata announces – surprisingly clearly – that they were discussing the leg, but decided with the judge. So it seems that they indeed judged Jokoryu’s body to be dead.

Hoshoryu is 2-0, and fans expect him to be matched next with Takanofuji (the former Takayoshitoshi, you know), who is also 2-0 and looking very aggressive.

Ichiyamamoto vs. Fujiazuma:

Compared to all the above drops and falls, this bout looks positively serene.

We venture into Juryo, where Kotokamatani is visiting to balance the odd number of sekitori in this basho. For this reason, he gets a fine-looking oicho-mage. He goes against our friend Akiseyama:

Akiseyama uses every bit of his experience, but Kotokamatani plants his head and exhibits a lot of patience. He is rewarded by becoming todays blob on the NSK’s “Fan-chosen Fighting Spirit Rikishi” list (Makushita rikishi don’t have a photo in the NSK app, so they are shown as a rikishi-shaped blob if they get elected for that list).

Let’s finish with Aminishiki, who is facing Irodori, the newbie. Aminishiki tends to win first encounters:

And indeed he does, in his usual style. Your opponent gets too enthusiastic about his tsuppari? Move a little sideways and let him enjoy the view from below the dohyo.

Natsu Day 1 – Ones To Watch

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Kitanowaka’s Ready For His First Match As A Rikishi

We start the Natsu basho with a light schedule of our “Ones to Watch”, with most of the first matches for our favorites coming day 2. But the schedulers are still kicking off the Makushita doom brawl in proper style. Let’s get straight to the matches

Wakamotoharu vs Kotokamatani – After his Juryo debut make-koshi, Onami brother Wakamotoharu simply needs a winning record to stamp his return ticket to the paid ranks. But at this level of competition this will be no easy matter. His opening match is against rising star Kotokamatani, who has been on a steady upward climb through the upper strata of Makushita.

Wakatakamoto vs Chiyosakae – More Onami sumo! This time the lowest ranked of the Waka brothers faces off against Chiyosakae, a long-serving Makushita veteran who is fighting at his highest rank after 40 tournaments in sumo’s 3rd highest division.

Akua vs Ayanoumi – We have been following Akua for the past several tournaments, and he seems to still be struggling to put his sumo back together after withdrawing from the 2018 Aki basho due to injury. Today he will face off against Ayanoumi, who has foregone the typical sumo bulk in favor of strength and agility.

Amakaze vs Taranami – The former Juryo mainstay will face a 17 year old Taranami, who is fighting at his highest ever rank. Only in his 13th basho, Amakaze may find Taranami a fairly straightforward opponent, as long as Amakaze’s body is still in good condition.

Kitanowaka vs Garyu – Kitanowaka’s first every ranked sumo match finds him against another newcomer from the generous flock that participated in Maezumo in Osaka. At this level of competition, it’s typically difficult to tell what is going to happen…

Haru Day 6 – Ones To Watch

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Sakaefuji’s Says, “What Are The Rest Of You Going To Eat?” – Photo From The NSK Twitter Feed

Day 5 was brutal to our “Ones to Watch” group, with Musashikuni, Torakio, Shoji, Wakaichiro, and Kenho all going down to defeat. Given the group above, it was not a good day for the Musashigawa clan at all. Several of our lower division rikishi find themselves at a 1-2 record heading into the middle weekend, and having to work hard to avoid a make-koshi for Osaka.

But Ichiyamamoto and Wakatakamoto are at 3-0, and will likely move to the yusho elimination bracket over the weekend. For added excitement, Gokushindo and Chiyootori are also in the 3-0 group in Makushita, so we will see some great matches Saturday and Sunday.

Today’s torikumi features the 3rd match for the remainder of the lower divisions, and today’s final tally will provide a clear picture of the yusho race in all groups.

Day 6 Matches

Hoshoryu vs Kotokamatani – A 1-1 bracket match, Hoshoryu faces another fast rising future start of sumo – the 150kg Kotokamatani from Sadogatake heya. Kotokamatani has spent 15 basho in Makushita, and is fighting at his highest ever rank.

Akua vs Dewahayate – Another 1-1 bracket match, Akua faces a match against frequent opponent Dewahayate from Dewanoumi heya. Like Akua, Dewahayate is a former Juryo man who would love to return to the salaried ranks. They have had 6 prior matches, and are evenly split.

Midorifuji vs Kainoryu – Again in the 1-1 bracket, compact powerhouse Midorifuji will attempt to get a second win over Tomozuna heya’s Kainoryu to improve to 2-1.

Naya vs Tenkaiho – In the 2-0 bracket, Naya will try to follow up his dominant performance on day 4 in his match against 190 kg former Makuuchi rikishi Tenkaiho. Since he lost his Maegashira rank in 2014, Tenkaiho slowly dropped through Juryo, and has been bouncing around of Makushita since. This will be an execellent test for Naya’s developing skills, as this is a skilled veteran.

Terunofuji vs Sakaefuji – With his win over Amakaze, Terunofuji is in the 2-0 bracket: bad knees and all. So the schedulers decide to try him out on the 200 kg Sakaefuji. I have no idea what Terunofuji is going to do with this meat-mountain of a man.

Amakaze vs Toyama – While not officially on our list, Amakaze fights yet another member of Musashigawa, and its Toyama, who is fighting at his highest rank.

Hattorizakura vs Hokutoryu – Its fun to watch the Hattorizakura matches, as the crowd cheer him on every time, hoping that this is the time that he decides to apply himself and put his heart into competition. Japanese sumo fans are (at times) the sweetest people on the planet.

Hatsu Day 13 – Lower Division Ones To Watch

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Many of our “Ones to Watch” are competing in their final match for the Hatsu basho. Many of them have kachi/make-koshi on the line. In the lower divisions, rikishi face opponents with the same win/loss record as themselves. For each match between 3-3 rikishi, one will exit with a kachi-koshi, and one with a make-koshi.

Wakaichiro vs Tainaka – His day 12 match did not end well, with Tenichi propelling him forcefully from the dohyo and into the East side zabuton. He has lost his last 2, but thankfully already had his kachi-koshi tied up. His final match is a tough one, a rematch with Tainaka. The two are evenly matched, and we can hope that Wakaichiro can close out Hatsu with a win.

Kenho vs Kotoharamoto – Kenho has only a single win, and will be returning to Jonidan for March. His final match, and chance to pick up a second win, is against a much smaller, 17 year old rikishi from Sadogatake heya – Kotoharamoto.

Torakio vs Hokutohomare – A Darwin match, the winner is kachi-koshi, and the loser is make-koshi. Torakio has fought well during Hatsu, and he is facing a rikishi who is fighting ast his highest rank.

Naya vs Kirinoryu – Another 3-3 make/kachi-koshi match, Naya has one remaining chance to secure his Makushita rank by defeating Sandanme rikishi Kirinoryu. Kirinoryu is another young rising star, who is himself seeking to return to Makushita.

Ichiyamamoto vs Kotokamatani – Next we jump to the upper ranks of Makushita, and we find two kachi-kishi rikishi (4-2) battling it out to see which one will end up higher on the “Wall” for March.

Wakamotoharu vs Tochinobori – The big match of the night is a battle for the Makushita yusho, and we find Wakamotoharu facing off against Makushita 53 Tochinobori. It may seem odd that the pairing has such a huge rank gap, but with the goal being to get to a single 7-0 yusho winner, these things happen. Wakamotoharu has already punched is Juryo ticket, but this one is for glory.

Akua vs Kotodaigo – Both rikisji are make-koshi, so this is to sort out who gets the bigger demotion. Sadly Akua has missed his best change for a while to return to Juryo, but we can hope he can regroup in Osaka.