Kyokutaisei

Aki Day 11 Recap – Mayhem At The Top

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Here we are, in the last leg of this wonderful basho. The yusho race is getting hot. Tochinoshin’s kadoban is not clear yet. Some rikishi are teetering on the edge of make-koshi. Let’s dive in!

tochinoshin-carrying-kakuryu
What morozashi?

Kotoyuki determined not to roll today. He and Ryuden clash heads at the tachiai, and Kotoyuki continues with some strong tsuppari. It could be that Ryuden is a little dizzy from that clash, but I have a feeling he has his foot slightly off the accelerator now that he is kachi-koshi.

In the match of the dew-gatherers, Kakuryu’s tsuyuharai, Nishikigi, faces Hakuho’s Ishiura, who has seven losses and can’t afford another one. Ishiura has the faster tachiai and slips in his arms. It takes him about a second to secure a grip – but Nishikigi already has him at the edge, and makes sure he is no longer a dew-gatherer as of next basho (only Makuuchi wrestler participate in a Yokozuna dohyo-iri).

Takanosho, the newcomer, faces Okinoumi, with the NHK broadcast team (Japanese) making much of the fact that Okinoumi has sanyaku experience. Takanosho cares about none of that – goes low and upwards at the tachiai, applies “hazu” to Okinoumi’s armpits, and quickly drives him out. Takanosho has a good chance of achieving kachi-koshi in the next few days.

The next bout features the man who would have been the natural replacement for Ishiura in Hakuho’s dohyo-iri. Alas, Kyokutaisei has gone kyujo again. Damage to the meniscus in the right knee. Chiyomaru gets the fusensho, and Kyokutaisei will join Ishiura in Juryo next basho.

Chiyoshoma starts his bout with Sadanoumi with a kachiage, but has no follow-up, and Sadanoumi uses his right elbow to push the Mongolian to the edge rather quickly. Then he slides his arms around Chiyoshoma and drives him out… or so he thinks. Chiyoshoma does some of his acrobatics, and turns the tables with a throw. Pay attention to how Chiyoshoma works to keep his tiptoe planted on the dohyo until the very moment Sadanoumi touches ground. Thus, no monoii, and it’s Chiyoshoma’s win.

Daieisho overwhelmes Yoshikaze with some windmill tsuppari. A few thrusts, then a hazu to direct Yoshikaze around towards the nearest bales, then some more thrusts. Yoshikaze tries to land a grip, but can’t get through the barrage, and ends up landing on Futagoyama oyakata.

Takanoiwa and Kotoshogiku are kenka-yotsu – meaning that they prefer opposite grips. This normally means that whoever manages to land his favorite grip has the advantage. In this bout, it’s Kotoshogiku who gets his hidari-yotsu. But Takanoiwa is unfazed, secures a strong grip on both sides, and pulls Kotoshogiku up, occasionally even lifting him off the ground a bit. This completely neutralizes Kotoshogiku’s ability to chug, because a gaburi-yori is less about the pelvis, and all about the traction your feet have transferring power into aforesaid pelvis. Not touching the ground, he can’t do that, and when he gets a start, Takanoiwa finishes him with a shitatenage. Takanoiwa well deserves the spot in the yusho arasoi where he finds himself at the moment.

Hokutofuji is getting tired of seeing his kachi-koshi slipping away time and time again. This time he sticks to his guns. And although Shohozan throws his own guns and the kitchen sink at him, he just patiently continues with that tsuppari, his right hand forming large circles, each pushing Shohozan further. Oshi-dashi and kachi-koshi.

Aoiyama and Onosho start their match with the expected exchange of thrusts. Aoiyama probably realizes that Onosho plans to pull at some point and let him drop, so he envelopes him in his big arms. Onosho, with his inferior reach, can’t do much against that, and the bout ends with a yori-kiri and a make-koshi for Onosho, who will have to spend some time in the nether regions of Makuuchi before regaining his Prince Tadpole status.

Asanoyama falls for Daishomaru‘s henka, hook, line and sinker. His hand touches the ground before the gyoji even completes his “hakki-yoi”. For some reason, Daishomaru looks disappointed.

Takarafuji can’t recreate his magic from yesterday. He tries to circle around the dohyo until he gets his grip, but Myogiryu makes sure he leaves orbit. Oshidashi. Takarafuji 5-6, Myagiryu nearing his kachi-koshi.

Tochiozan slams into Chiyonokuni. Kuni doesn’t really have much power in him this basho, and soon finds himself outside – and make-koshi.

Endo has a good tachiai vs. Kagayaki, but Kagayaki has the better reach and, really, Endo doesn’t have much power in him. At the edge he tries to sidestep and start his own attack. Kagayaki rallies, and Endo runs out of gas. It seems to me that whatever mystery disease was plaguing Yoshikaze in the previous basho has taken Endo in this one. He simply can’t produce any power. But while everybody was very gentle with Yoshikaze, nobody is giving Endo any breaks. Must be all those kensho envelopes.

Abi and Chiyotairyu start a tsuki-oshi match, which suddenly comes to a halt as Abi holds Chiyotairyu at arms length. Abi, however, shows the same lack of patience he has shown yesterday, miscalculates his footing, and tries to restart the attack, promptly falling on his face. Chiyotairyu doesn’t say no to free gifts.

Takakeisho slams into Ikioi, knocking the air out of him, then sidesteps, and lets the taller man find his way to the opposite side. By the time Ikioi turns back, the tadpole is there to give him that final farewell. Given the joi carnage this basho, Takakeisho is doing rather well with a 5-6. Ikiyoyo is 1-10.

Yutakayama still has nothing to offer having returned from kyujo. He lands a classic tsuppari on Tamawashi‘s chest. Tamawashi, unimpressed, gives him one big shove for his trouble, which seems to land him on Kaisei. See, Tamawashi is very considerate about Yutakayama’s health (less so about Kaisei’s).

I don’t know what posessed Mitakeumi to try that little henka, but Kaisei sees through it. He gets all over Mitakeumi and hands him what must be his most humiliating loss so far. Mitakeumi is 6-5, and kisses his Ozeki run goodbye. Although some media people still hope that he can do something if he wins out (giving him 10-5, thus 32 wins over three basho), Shibatayama oyakata says “not with this sumo”, rather emphatically.

Goeido continues his generally good performance this basho. Slams into Shodai, and starts pushing him. Shodai can only pride himself on surviving more than the one second it usually gets to reach one side, as he causes Goeido’s circle to be larger than usual. That’s all.

And then Kakuryu meets Kadoban Ozeki Tochinoshin.

Really, Kakuryu has been absolutely wonderful this basho. He went through those wins day after day. Straight forward and with power. But Tochinoshin is both desperate and, apparently, on the mend.

Kakuryu starts with his usual tachiai this basho, which looks like he is dropping head first into his rival’s chest. And he gets not just a grip – he gets a tight morozashi. Now, in that situation, most rikishi start saying their prayers and wondering which shimpan they are about to hit. But not Tochinoshin. His weapon against morozashi is a soto-yotsu grip, which means both arms outside. With the height difference between him and the yokozuna, he gets a very good one. And then it starts to look like a crane game in one of the ubiquitous Japanese arcades. Lift once… drop… lift again… and you got your prize toy. The kadoban is not clear yet – one more win needed – but the Incredible Hulk (red version) is back, and tomorrow’s bout between him and Hakuho is going to be a doozy.

Moving on to the next Yokozuna match, Kisenosato, and his much celebrated kachi-koshi, faces up the near make-koshi Ichinojo. Now, although he lost to Hakuho yesterday (and got that annoying extra push), Ichinojo already looked better in that match than he did most of this basho. So my guess is that his back stopped hurting. Ichinojo has a good-boy tachiai – both fists on the ground waiting for his rival’s initiative – so there is nothing the gyoji can do to help the ailing yokozuna this time. Ichinojo straightens, and hands Kisenosato three servings of kaiju nodowa. The Yokozuna doesn’t get to lift a finger, he is blown away that fast. And he is very very unhappy about that. He has to sit down for the last bout as make-nokori, and his face is more clouded than the Tokyo sky.

Musubi no ichiban. Hakuho faces Takayasu, who is just one behind at this point. Win, and given Kakuryu’s loss, Takayasu would be in the leader group for the yusho. Lose, and he drops behind the chasers.

Takayasu stands up too early. Matta. Bad, bad mistake. This pisses off Hakuho, who reacts by stepping over the shikiri-sen and giving Takayasu a penetrating death stare.

Now, the Yokozuna is trying to get Takayasu to lay both fists on the ground like a good boy. Takayasu lays just one fist down, as does the Yokozuna. Hakuho doesn’t like the fact that Takayasu is not committing himself, and straightens up. It’s a second matta.

Now, the third time that Takayasu tries a tachiai without committing himself, Hakuho  throws hinkaku to the wind. He doesn’t care what they say – he shoots at Takayasu who still doesn’t have his fists on the ground, hands him a slap from the right side, and a kachiage aimed at the nose from the other. Let tongues wag. That… wasn’t really sumo. And yes, there was another dame-oshi there.

hakuho-takayasu-blink-of-an-eye

Mere mortal, don’t try playing mind games with a kitsune. The Dai-yokozuna is now the sole leader of the yusho arasoi – although Tochinoshin may change things come tomorrow.

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yokozunameter-2018-aki-day-11

Aki Day 4 Recap – Casualties and Bloodshed

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aoiyama-hokutofuji
Aoiyama pushed by Hokutofuji – yet another casualty

Day 4 is the day where the injuries start to make appearances in the top division. While yesterday we had to bid goodby to Seiro from Juryo, today Kyokutaisei announced his kyujo, and Aoiyama may be the next one in line.

The bouts of the day start at the very bottom with Ishiura facing Chiyoshoma. Chiyoshoma lands a firm morotezuki on both of Ishiura’s shoulders, to keep the Miyagino man from trying to get to the front of his mawashi. He follows this with a quick pull for a hatakikomi. But Chiyoshoma being Chiyoshoma, he just can’t keep his hands to himself and as Ishiura starts to rise, adds a hearty slap to the little man’s back that nearly sends him off the dohyo. Because what’s the best way to celebrate an easy win if not a good dame-oshi?

Kotoyuki decided to wear his light-cyan mawashi again, saying that the purple one, which served him when his girth was greater, is now too long and doesn’t fit well. Apparently, with a mawashi that fits, winning is easier. Apparently, it helps when you are faced with Chiyomaru, who is looking out of sorts so far this basho. Kotoyuki finishes him off with a few thrusts. Oshidashi.

I don’t know what the cause of Yoshikaze‘s ugly rash is, but it appears to be a +2 Blessed Rash of Victory, because the berserker keeps winning this basho. His rival today is Takanoiwa, who looked good in the first two days of the basho, and is now 2:2. Takanoiwa is not bad off the tachiai, but Yoshikaze just starts his engine and steamrolls him out of the dohyo, making sure the Mongolian is out before rolling head over heels himself.

Nishikigi looks very good this basho. He overcomes Takanosho‘s nodowa, lifts his opponent and starts a convincing tsuppari that brings his opponent to the rim. However, Takanosho manages to grab his arm and pull him down, giving him his first loss, by tsukiotoshi.

At this point Ryuden gets his freebie in the bout he was supposed to have with Kyokutaisei.

Okinoumi seems to be in control of the bout with Daieisho from the tachiai. Kachiage, then some tsuppari, then he encircles Daieisho and walks him over to the rim. But in doing so, he shifts too much of his own weight to one leg, and Daieisho uses that to twist him and reverse the outcome, winning by makiotoshi.

Hokutofuji slams into Aoiyama at the tachiai with that iron right hand of his. It seems the Bulgarian had his breath knocked out of him –  he doesn’t even try to start his own tsuppari, just stumbles backwards and falls off the dohyo with little assistance from the astonished Hokutofuji. While falling, he somehow hurts his ankle and finds it hard to rise back. The kachinanori – calling of the winner’s name and awarding of kensho if any – takes place without waiting for him to come up the dohyo and bow first. He goes to the shitaku-beya on his own feet, and later leaves the Kokugikan entering the awaiting car on his own feet – but he refuses to answer questions from the press, who report he looks in pain. Keep your eyes on the kyujo lists tomorrow.

Daishomaru drives his head into Sadanoumi‘s chest. Sadanoumi is not impressed, and moves forward. Daishomaru tries to circle around, but somehow steps outside before Sadanoumi gets off balance and falls forward. Sadanoumi wins, not a quality bout.

But the next bout, between Kotoshogiku and Shohozan, is certainly worth viewing several times over. Shohozan leads with his head into the former Ozeki’s chest at the tachiai, and gains a morozashi. Kotoshogiku quickly performs a makikae (switch from overhand to underhand) and operates his pelvic pistons. Shohozan turns and twists, but Kotoshogiku does not let go, and continues the chugging. Eventually Shohozan uses those artillery-grade guns to pull the pump off his feet – uwatedashinage. Good entertainment.

Takarafuji looks a bit hesitant off the tachiai. Perhaps he thought it was a matta. Tochiozan takes advantage of this, takes control of the match and drives the Isegahama man out, securing his first win this basho. Not a good day for that heya, by the way. All three of its sekitori lost.

Myogiryu gets Onosho in a lengthy nodowa, which he then converts into a pull for a hikiotoshi. This is Onosho’s third loss, and he is doing a lot worse than most of us would have thought. Also, it doesn’t look related to his injury. His game is just not as sharp as we would have expected, especially given his pre-basho practice sessions.

Asanoyama has Kagayaki chest to ample chest very quickly. One would think, with Kagayaki being the oshi-man and Asanoyama a yotsu-man, that this would give the advantage to the Takasago rikishi. But Kagayaki is not fazed, moves quickly this way and that, and eventually gets Asanoyama off-balance and down with a kotenage. As the NHK announcers noted, this leaves only two Maegashira with a clean slate: Hokutofuji and Yoshikaze.

Yesterday, I was afraid Shodai will get back into his old tachiai habit. He did his “good boy” stance, with his weight on his fists, and was awarded with a win. But to my relief, today again he started his tachiai on his feet rather than on his fists. Abi started up with his usual morotezuki. Landed a few thrusts – or were they nodowa? – at Shodai, who knew the drill: wait for an opening, grab a long arm, then get into your own game. In Shodai’s case, his own game is a morozashi and a yori-kiri. NHK showed footage of Shikoroyama oyakata in his Terao days, in which he engaged in a beautiful yotsu bout with his sworn rival. Why doesn’t he teach Abi some of that, then?

Endo keeps Chiyonokuni at bay, tries once or twice to get a grip, but when that doesn’t work, simply pushes him out with an oshidashi. Not a spectacular bout, but at least Endo secures his first win.

Now comes what was supposed to be a big bout – two Sekiwake facing each other in the first week. But Ichinojo is like a box of chocolates (in more ways than one). He tries to do something at the tachiai, but from there he just goes backwards and backwards, and over the bales. Mitakeumi fans will put that down to the might of the future Ozeki. I just think Ichinojo woke up today with his lower back acting up.

Put up Tamawashi against Tochinoshin, and you know that trouble is brewing. Tamawashi denies Tochinoshin the belt. A wild exchange ensues, and eventually Tochinoshin tries for a pull down, at which point it’s not clear whether Tamawashi’s elbow or Tochinoshin’s heel touched first. A monoii is called. Somehow through all this Tochinoshin bruises his eye and starts bleeding profusely. By the time the shimpan conference is over, it seems that the bleeding has stopped (it wouldn’t do to bleed on the dohyo). The shimpan call for a torinaoshi.

The torinaoshi starts with a heavy slam, after which Tamawashi is the one leading the attack. But Tochinoshin takes advantage of his uncontrolled forward motion and finishes with a tsukiotoshi. Tamawashi still doesn’t have a win this basho. Tochinoshin’s eye starts bleeding again, and doesn’t stop as he steps down and waits to give the chikara-mizu. I hope all his facial bones are in one piece.

Takayasu wrecking-balls into Takakeisho at the tachiai, then holds the bowling-ball’s face in his hand for a couple of seconds, debating in his head whether to rip it off or just rattle him to death. Eventually he decides that murder will not be acceptable, and just dumps him. Takakeisho once again finds himself doing less than dignified splits on the dohyo. Easy one for the grizzly bear.

Goeido and Ikioi starts off with a mighty clash of craniums (ouch). Ikioi starts a tsuppari and Goeido retreats, then pulls sideways. Ikioi falls like a stone. Hikiotoshi for the Ozeki.

Kisenosato and Kaisei enter into a heavy yotsu battle. Neither seems able to get a full mawashi grip, though. They each hold one side, and do whatever they can to deny the other. Kaisei is the first to get a firm grip on both sides, but Kisenosato uses his experience to shake that hand off again. Kisenosato then achieves his own double handed grip, and starts pushing the Brazilian to the edge. He has to summon every ounce of stamina to push the heavy man out, but eventually he does so, and stays perfect – though, like Tochinoshin, bleeding. Kaisei, as he heads down the hanamichi, does this:

kaisei-after-kisenosato

“At least I am extending my record” he later responds to the press mentioning the fact that this is the 35th loss he has vs. a Yokozuna (0 wins).

Hakuho starts for the third day in a row without any tricks or shticks. No harite in sight, just goes straight in for a grip. Only, he can’t get that grip on the bulky Chiyotairyu. He gets inside, but it’s a hidari-yotsu (left hand inside), and he is a migi-yotsu man. For a few moments he tries for the mawashi with his left hand, the right hand hanging in the air above Chiyotairyu’s arm. Then he gives up, slips out, catching the mawashi with his empty right hand, then executing an uwatenage. There is always a plan B. And a plan C.

Kakuryu and Yutakayama clash heads (oof, again), and the Yokozuna doesn’t give Yutakayama much time before he grabs his mawashi with his right hand, pulls aside and spins him around, then pushes him outside the dohyo. Nothing that Yutakayama tries to do makes any difference.

 

Aki Day 2 – Recap

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Another excellent day has rolled out of the Ryogoku Kokugikan. I’ll refer to Ura’s revival bout and Enho’s survival bout in my separate lower division post (if I succeed in writing it – I have a family dinner this evening…). But for the time being, here is what the top division provided us with.

tochinoshin-yutakayama

Kotoyuki starts with a morotezuki (thrust with both hands off the tachiai), but Chiyoshoma is already to his left, and gets him going, gone, gone. Kotoyuki says Chiyoshoma employed a henka. Chiyoshoma says he didn’t, and he is happy with his own sumo. It was a hit and shift, I would say.

Ishiura plants his head, securing his left hand on Yoshikaze‘s mawashi. But while doing so, he  loses ground, and Yoshikaze quickly disposes of him. It looked like Ishiura was trying to imitate Enho’s earlier bout vs. Hakuyozan.

It’s Takanosho and Ryuden‘s first meeting. Takanosho blocks Ryuden from getting his famous morozashi (grip with both hands inside), but that doesn’t disturb Ryuden’s thrusts. Takanosho says he concentrated too much on his ottsuke and failed to move forward.

Chiyomaru can hardly move this basho. Takanoiwa is unmoved by his morotezuki, quickly secures his favorite grip, then starts a low gaburi (hip pump).

Okinoumi doesn’t give Sadanoumi any opening. A couple of tsuppari, then secures a morozashi, and yorikiri.

Nishikigi seems to be posessed. He begins with a not more than decent tachiai and a bit of tsuppari, then suddenly shoves Kyokutaisei all the way to the third row. Where is Nishikigi-mama? Who is that murderous bully in the green mawashi?

There’s not much to say about Hokutofuji vs. Daieisho. Daieisho’s foot slipped on the layer of salt. 

Daishomaru does a half-henka, and Aoiyama finds himself biting dust.

Takarafuji determined to win, even though he doesn’t get his favorite grip. He does manage to keep Shohozan from executing his killer tsuppari with a right ottsuke, and pushes him away.

Kotoshogiku slams into Tochiozan, and gets him out without leaving him any breathing space. It’s the best Kotoshogiku has looked in a long time.

Kagayaki and Myogiryu are stalemated in the first few seconds of the match, when Myogiryu manages to pierce Kagayaki’s left side, pushes forward, adding a hazu attack on the other side, and disposes of the golden boy.

Asanoyama‘s bout with Onosho was hot. They clash mightily at the tachiai, with Onosho slapping at Asanoyama’s face, floating way above his head. Onosho tries to pull and thrust Asanoyama down. Asanoyama keeps his balance and momentarily gets Onosho into a grip. Onosho releases himself, at least partially, but Asanoyama stays close and keeps the pressure all the way to the rim. Exciting sumo.

Konosuke calls a matta that didn’t look like a matta in the Chiyonokuni vs. Shodai bout. Perhaps one of Shodai’s hands didn’t quite touch but…

I think what threw Konosuke off was the fact that Shodai changed his tachiai. Shodai used to always have his fists on the ground like a good boy, waiting for his rival to quickly imprint his – which is why he would take ages to get into a fighting stance. And here we have Shodai waiting, hands in the air, his weight on his feet rather than on all four of his limbs. I think in the second time his hands touched even less than in the first. But anyway, Konosuke let it continue.

Chiyonokuni throws some of his signature tsuppari, goes in, goes out, Shodai’s forward inertia makes him fall forward, and Chiyonokuni wins. Huge bandaging on his left arm, remnant of his encounter with Tamawashi in the previous basho.

Shodai must be frustrated – here he goes and fixes the one thing that was really wrong in his sumo, but he still can’t manage to win. I hope he sticks to it, though, because once he adjusts he could finally level up to his real potential.

Who said that everybody has figured out Abi‘s single weird trick? Endo apparently hasn’t. Abi with a morotezuki. Abi with fierce though slow tsuppari making use of his immense reach. Abi wins.

Chiyotairyu nearly gets Mitakeumi with a fierce kachiage followed by heavy tsuppari. Mitakeumi manages to slip a hand in and slide sideways, buying time. Chiyotairyu attacks again, but this time Mitakeumi is stronger and sends him outside. Mitakeumi said that he kept his cool on the dohyo, but his matta prior to the bout kind of belies that.

Goeido tries a harizashi, but he doesn’t have Hakuho’s speed. Tamawashi starts a fierce tsuppari attack, and Goeido defends, finally finding an opening for his left hand, whereupon it’s his game.

Yutakayama manages to deny Tochinoshin his grip for a few seconds, but he keeps going backwards all the time. Eventually Tochinoshin secures his grip, and from then it’s just a question of time – though he does let go of one of his hands to give Yutakayama the final push, as the latter has very strong toes holding on to the tawara.

Ichinojo is not moved by Takayasu‘s kachiage. Neither can land a grip and instead go for a pushing attack, which goes wilder and wilder until the Ozeki has his entire body driving the Sekiwake out. I’m sure the yobidashi will have to do something about the depression left in the floor next to the shimpan.

Kakuryu splashes into Kaisei‘s big body at the tachiai, easily grabbing his mawashi with his left hand, then shifts to the left, using the Brazilian’s own inertia as well as that mawashi grip to get behind him, and then carefully leads him out. Kaisei simply wasn’t in this bout, and really seems to always forget to take his talent out of his akeni when he is matched with Kakuryu.

Takakeisho is totally fearless. Starts with a murderous tsuppari attack, then tries to get the Yokozuna off balance. He grabs the Yokozuna’s left arm and tries to hurl him across the dohyo. Then when that fails goes for another attack. But this basho, Kisenosato is a lot more calm and collected than he was in previous basho. First, he defends against that hurl by a well positioned foot against the tawara. Then when Takakeisho tries his next attack, he spots the overcommitment – ever the bowling ball’s problem – and lets him fly outside with an expression on his face of “Boy, I’ve dealt with worse”.

Hakuho gets a grip quickly, but Ikioi actually has him moving backwards, being able to transfer power through the ground better than the Yokozuna. He even lifts him somewhat and shifts him sideways, when the dai-yokozuna employs plan B, wriggles away and throws his mimic to the ground. 900 bouts as a Yokozuna, 794 wins.

 

Natsu Jungyo 2018 – Final Report

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Yes, we made it! Day 26 of this long-long-long Jungyo is here. Sit back and fasten your seatbelts, because today there is a lot of sumo action.

🌐 Location: KITTE, Tokyo

venue

This Jungyo event is different than the rest of the events we have been covering. KITTE is a chain of malls in Japan. This one in particular takes place in the KITTE mall at Tokyo Station. And it takes place on the last day of every Natsu Jungyo (for the past 5 years).

In addition to being a fixed location on the schedule, the order of the day is different than a Jungyo day. For one, there is no keiko, only bouts and “okonomi” performances. And a “talk show” (on-stage interview) with selected rikishi – in this case, Tochinoshin and Mitakeumi.

In fact, the Juryo wrestlers did not participate in this event at all – except for Akiseyama who had a Makuuchi bout.

But this doesn’t mean there was no goofing around. Here you see Chiyomaru, Daieisho and Takakeisho. They got a huge fan, and play rock-paper-scissors to see who is “it” – the one who has to cool off the other two.

Turns out, Takakeisho sucks at rock-paper-scissors:

The event started with sumo Jinku, followed by an oicho-mage tying demonstration, featuring both Endo and Yutakayama – so that spectators in all directions can enjoy the view.

As you can see, a large part of the oicho-mage preparation process is actually getting the pomade (“suki-abura” – apparently binzuke-abura is no longer used) evenly spread in the hair.

Next, Sandanme and Makushita had bouts in the form of an elimination tournament. The Makushita brackets were:

  • Enho-Tochiseiryu
  • Chiyootori-Nakazono
  • Chiyoarashi-Kyokusoten
  • Ikegawa-Ichiyamamoto

Here is the tournament itself.

I’m very disappointed in Enho there. He really shouldn’t be imitating Ishiura, for crying out loud. Tochiseiryu takes care of him very quickly.

Kyokusoten is an example of an underachieving foreigner. He is a nice guy, has many friends, has decent English and a very nice shiko. But his sumo is meh.

The deciding battle is between members of the same heya (which can happen in elimination format bouts) – Chiyootori and Chiyoarashi

The winner of the Sandanme tournament won ¥50,000. The winner of the Makushita tournament won ¥70,000.

This was followed by the aforesaid “Talk Show”, whose highlight seems to be that while Tochinoshin’s favorite animal is the wolf, Mitakeumi actually likes pigs.

By the way, take a look at what Tochinoshin was wearing:

Do you think that he’ll get the same kind of flack that Hakuho got for wearing that “Mongolian Team” jersey in the Fuyu Jungyo?

(I don’t think so. First, those deadbeats probably wouldn’t recognize the Georgian flag if it spat in their eye. If Hakuho had a flag on his back rather than a phrase in English, they would probably have never caught on. Second – there’s no semi-organized effort to get Tochinoshin out of the sport. He is perceived as harmless, I guess).

After the Shokkiri, Hakuho had his rope tied. Note the symmetrical Shiranui rope:

Then came the Makuuchi and Yokozuna dohyo-iri. And then…

Sumo! Sumo! Sumo!

  • Hoktofuji – Akiseyama
  • Kotoeko – Okinoumi
  • Sadanoumi – Tochiozan
  • Ryuden – Onosho
  • Aoiyama – Ishiura
  • Nishikigi – Yutakayama

Onosho is here to win. Aoiyama is not even slightly surprised by Ishiura, catches him in mid air, and gives him the potato-sack lift. Tsuri-dashi, and Ishiura is frustrated. Please don’t do that in honbasho, Ishiura – you’ll find yourself in Juryo before you can say “hassotobi”.

And that was an impressive Nodowa Yutakayama applied to Nishikigi.

  • Myogiryu – Chiyomaru
  • Kyokutaisei – Daieisho
  • Endo – Chiyotairyu
  • Daishomaru – Takakeisho

Chiyomaru uses his famous stomach push. Daieisho with a mighty tsuppari. Daishomaru not even putting up a fight.

Now, the next set starts with Kaisei vs. Ikioi. Here is this bout in another video first – watch what happens when Kaisei lands on Shodai:

Poor Shodai. After being abused by Kaisei he is being further abused by the shimpan (not sure – is that Onomatsu oyakata?)

So here is the set of bouts:

  • Ikioi – Kaisei
  • Kagayaki – Kotoshogiku
  • Shodai – Shohozan
  • Tamawashi – Mitakeumi

I think there should have been a monoii on that Ikioi-Kaisei bout, but the shimpan’s attention was drawn elsewhere…

Did you see Kagayaki beating Kotoshogiku by… gaburi yori?

Shohozan continues his bar brawl style, and Shodai finishes this day very very frustrated.

Tamawashi has a really scary nodowa.

Finally, we have:

  • San-yaku soroi-bumi
  • Ichinojo vs. Tochinoshin
  • Kisenosato vs. Goeido
  • Kakuryu vs. Hakuho
  • Yumi-tori shiki

Ichinojo must have heard that Tochinoshin likes wolves. He came ready for the kill. Please, please, Ichinojo – that’s the Ichinojo we want to see in Aki. Not the Leaning Tower of Pizza.

Hakuho is back on the torikumi – well, it’s just the one last day. I have a hunch he’ll need to be kyujo again in Aki. Those legs don’t carry him, despite having lost a couple of kilos since Natsu.

Kasugaryu’s technique with the bow has improved! His behind-the-back passes are getting smoother.

Here is your final Enho in a black mawashi. May he never wear one again in his long, healthy sumo career:

enho

By the way, this is what he looks like today – with his newly assigned tsukebito (Takemaru and Kenyu) and white mawashi:

enho-with-tsukebito

Did Miyagino oyakata manage to find Enho a tsukebito who’s shorter than he is? Apparently so… but Takemaru is actually only 17, so this may actually change.

Jungyo over – and out!