Aki day 10, just before noon in Tokyo, Texas sumotori Wakaichiro faced off against fellow 1-3 Sandanme rikishi Tochimitsuru. The loser would leave the dohyo with a make-koshi (losing record), and the winner would remain in the hunt for a winning record.
In a back-and forth match, Wakaichiro prevailed, improving to 2-3. We expect him to fight day 12, with a chance to improve to 3-3. We will share video of the match as soon as it shows up online.
Another rikishi we are following in Sandanme is none other than Texan Wakaichiro, who fights day 10 against Sandanme 79 Tochimitsuru. Tochimitsuru is a 23 year old rikishi from Kasugano heya, and has been moving between Jonidan and Sandanme for the past 4 years. The two are similar height and weight, so this will be an interesting contest.
Wakaichiro comes to his day 10 match with a 1-3 record, looking to improve by picking up his second win, and avoid a loss and a make-koshi / losing record for Aki. As always we will bring you news as soon as we know it, and video as soon as it crops up on the internet.
Fan favorite Ura once again used one of his standard techniques to rapidly dispatch his day 8 opponent, Maenofuji. Ura ducks at the tachiai and swings to his left, circling behind his opponent and then applying a firm shove to send him to the zabuton.
With this win, Ura improves to 3-1, one win away from kachi-koshi and a winning record to start is road to recovery.
Thanks to Herouth’s searching, Tachiai can now bring you fan videos of Wakaichiro’s day 6 and day 7 matches. The day 6 match in particular is of great interest to me, as I had only previously seen the match one, and it was from the Abema camera angle. The person who so kindly uploaded this video had an excellent view of the last moments of the fight, and it reveals some details not noticeable in the Abema feed.
Wakaichiro is in control for most of his day 6 match, strongly moving forward against his opponent, Amanishiki, who has been crumpled over but is still on his feet. Amanishiki reverses and begins to advance. As Amanishiki pushes Wakaichiro towards the bales, Wakaichiro puts up a vigorous defense. With his heels on the tawara, he works to ensure that Amanishiki steps out, before he can hit the clay. And he nearly pulls it off.
This improving ring sense, and solid footwork is seen again in day 7 action, where Wakaichiro snatches a win from Hokutoo as Wakaichiro manages to keep his feet inside the ring as Hokutoo steps out.