Tobizaru

Hatsu 2025: Day One

Andy Hatsu 2025, Hatsu Basho ,

I hate to lead with injury news. But the update from the infirmary is that Hokutofuji is kyujo, which means he will be the first on the barge to Juryo — barring a miracle recovery from surgery. Roga is also out and Bushozan is out down in Juryo.

So many storylines coming into this tournament but the big ones are the return of Terunofuji and the possible promotion runs of Kotozakura and Hoshoryu.

Murray Johnson kicked things off for us on NHK’s English-language coverage. We recently read Josh’s interview of Priyanka Yoshikawa but I do want to remind everyone of Josh’s excellent, four-part interview of Murray. Both are now available in the menu at the top of the homepage.

NHK footage of tonight’s bouts are located here: Juryo Part I and Part II, Makuuchi Part I and Part II.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Makuuchi Bouts

Tokihayate defeated Nishikifuji. Tokihayate drove into Nishikifuji powerfully. He worked him to the edge with his right-hand overarm grip. Tokihayate then heaved Nishikifuji with that right hand and toppled him over onto the bales under the green tassel. Uwatenage.

Tamashoho defeated Kagayaki. Tamashoho executed, perhaps, the slowest henka in living memory. Kagayaki shifted and pressed forward, driving Tamashoho back. The bullet train charged forward but Tamashoho slipped deftly to the side while pulling Kagayaki off the rails. The makuuchi debutant won his first bout ranked in the top division! Congratulations! Hatakikomi.

Hakuoho defeated Kitanowaka. Hakuoho popped the gear into Drive and left it there. Kitanowaka reversed and shifted, switched up his grip…desperate to stymie Hakuoho’s continued attack. Hakuoho pursued Kitanowaka along the edge and drove Kitanowaka off the fighting surface as he fell forward. Hakuoho’s forward moving was judged to have won. Kitanowaka dead in the air before Hakuoho flopped to the ground. No mono-ii. Yorikiri.

Kinbozan defeated Kotoshoho. Kinbozan forcefully hoisted Kotoshoho to the bales and continued to press forward. Kotoshoho fell backwards under the red tassel. Yoritaoshi.

Onokatsu defeated Shonannoumi. Onokatsu locked onto Shonannoumi at the tachiai. Shonannoumi had a hold of Onokatsu’s left shoulder and reversed, yanking Onokatsu back to the edge. But that was a bad move as Onokatsu kept his balance and pressed Shonannoumi over the tawara. Oshidashi.

Takerufuji defeated Nishikigi. Takerufuji drove Nishikigi to the edge. Nishikigi slipped to his left and shoved Takerufuji under the right armpit. This almost spelled disaster for Takerufuji but he was able to maintain his balance and regroup. As he retreated, he pulled Nishikifuji down with his right-hand belt grip. That was a great escape by Takerufuji. Nishikigi looked solid today. Uwatedashinage.

Midorifuji defeated Meisei. Meisei retreated too quickly and backed himself out of the ring. Midorifuji will take that. Oshidashi.

Tamawashi defeated Oshoma. Tamawashi shove Oshoma. Oshoma fall down. Simple. Well, maybe not quite so simple. Tamawashi’s final shove happened to be timed perfectly. His right hand shoved Oshoma’s left shoulder hard just as Oshoma tried to slip to his right, driving Oshoma completely off balance. Oshitaoshi.

Churanoumi defeated Takarafuji. Churanoumi blocked Takarafuji to the side and then followed up with a nodowa, which forced Takarafuji to the edge. Churanoumi finished him off with a shove. Oshidashi.

Mitakeumi defeated Endo. Mitakeumi let Endo press forward with all his might. As Endo over committed, Mitakeumi jumped to the right and Endo flopped forward. Tsukiotoshi.

Halftime

Ichiyamamoto defeated Takayasu. Ichiyamamoto-style sumo here as he shoved Takayasu to the bales and then pulled Takayasu forward to the ground. Hikiotoshi.

Chiyoshoma defeated Hiradoumi. Chiyoshoma pivoted in the center of the ring and let the eager Hiradoumi charge past. He stuck with Hiradoumi and continued to press forward until Hiradoumi fell out under the black tassel. Oshidashi.

NHK World’s free coverage kicked in just in time for Shodai vs Ura.

Ura defeated Shodai. As if Shodai was going to get low against Ura. Come on now. At least he tried to go forward a little bit. Ura quickly got Shodai moving in reverse with his head in under Shodai’s chin. Shodai only earned a reprieve from Ura’s attack by walking over the bales. Yorikiri.

Sanyaku

Oho defeated Abi. Abi-zumo as he drove forward into Oho. However, Oho turned the tables at the edge by slipping to Abi’s right. As Abi’s momentum continued forward, Oho shoved him from behind. Okuridashi.

Daieisho defeated Gonoyama. Gonoyama took the initiative in this bout, pressing forward. But he was baited by Daieisho. Gonoyama over-committed at the edge so Daieisho slipped to his left and shoved Gonoyama down. Tsukiotoshi.

Wakamotoharu defeated Atamifuji. Wakamotoharu locked on with the right hand outside and drove Atamifuji back. Atamifuji was busy trying to bat Wakamotoharu’s left hand away but never stopped his backward momentum. Wakamotoharu kept pressing forward. Yorikiri.

Tobizaru defeated Onosato. Press forward and then quickly pull backward and the Ozeki goes down. Abi-like tachiai here as he slammed into Onosato, attacking the head, driving Onosato back. With a lightning quick pull on Onosato’s right arm, Tobizaru picked up the first big upset of the new year. Priyanka must be pleased. Great start for the flying monkey. And he won with his head and solid sumo, rather than hopping around like Daffy Duck. Hikiotoshi.

Hoshoryu defeated Kirishima. Hoshoryu attached himself to Kirishima’s belt with his right-hand, over-arm grip. Kirishima tried everything he could to free himself from Hoshoryu but the Ozeki stuck with him and eventually worked him over the edge. It felt like a sport fisher had reeled in a sailfish and the sailfish dragged the boat around before tiring. Yorikiri.

Kotozakura defeated Takanosho. Takanosho nearly pulled out another upset but Popeye the Ozeki remained calm and eventually pressed Takanosho over the bales. Yorikiri.

Wakatakakage defeated Terunofuji. Firm tachiai. Terunofuji charged forward but Wakatakakage slipped to the right and pulled Terunofuji down by the shoulder. “Wham, bam, thank you man.” Katasukashi.

Wrap-up

Wow. Day One is in the books! Two big upsets to start off the tournament. Both Onosato and Terunofuji fell today in David vs Goliath showdowns. In both cases, we see the underdogs clearly studied their opponents and prepared well for quick attacks. In both cases, the higher-ranked champion was pulled to the clay before they had much chance to execute any attack of their own. Absolutely beautiful work.

Preparation was key today. Earlier, we saw Churanoumi dismantle Takarafuji with the same effectiveness. We also saw the division’s newbie, Tamashoho, pick up a win in his debut. That backwards-style sumo will grow stale quickly at this level, though. He will need to pick up the aggression of his stablemate and brother-in-law, Tamawashi, to hang around.

Pivoting to Day Two, I saw Kawazoe on the torikumi! He’s paired up with Taiga. This is good news as Kawazoe mysteriously disappeared from view after winning his first bout in Kyushu. It was quite the disappointment since he started well. Also on the torikumi is his Miyagino-beya colleague, Enho. Enho will fight Hogasho.

Hatsu 2024: Day 6 Highlights

Andy Hatsu 2024, Hatsu Basho , , , , ,

Hoshoryu lost last night, leaving us with two undefeated leaders heading into Day 6: Kotonowaka and Asanoyama. Terunofuji and Kirishima are performing well despite the early upsets.

Late-breaking news tonight that Hokuseiho is kyujo. He injured his knee in last night’s bout against Shonannoumi and will sit out for the rest of the tournament. This puts him in real danger of demotion to Juryo, depending on how many promotion and demotion candidates we have.

Many of you will know that I love to make visualizations. One that I made a couple of years ago visualizes promotion and demotion history based on the previous tournament’s record. When we look at 2-win records by clicking on the small “2-win” bar, and use data from SumoDB going back to 1970, only in one instance the wrestler remained in Makuuchi and the rest are spread from J1 all the way to J6.

There is a small number of cases here, especially recent cases, so I am calling this as one of the early challenges for Guess the Banzuke participants. Hokuseiho’s chances of staying up will be made more certain if guys like Aoiyama, Endo, and Tomokaze continue to fare poorly and if there aren’t strong promotion candidates from Juryo. But slotting them appropriately will be the nature of your quest.

The same thing is possible via query on SumoDB, directly. I just like pretty charts because it makes it easier for me to see a trend than a text-based table. This data only goes through 2021 and needs an update. I’ll put it on the to-do list.

Well, let’s get to the action.

Makuuchi Highlights

Mitoryu (J1W, 3-3) defeated Shimazuumi (3-3). Shimazuumi drove forward at the tachiai and… Mitoryu slung him around and out. What was that? This is the best move I have seen from these early bouts and it was performed by a Juryo visitor. What a slick throw. How are they calling it oshidashi? That was a sukuinage or something.

Bushozan (3-3) defeated Tomokaze (1-5). Rather ineffective tsuppari from both as neither made much headway. Tomokaze’s clearly favoring that right leg and slipped as he started to yield ground. Oshitaoshi.

Onosato (5-1) defeated Takarafuji (3-3). Onosato dispatched Takarafuji with ease. Oshidashi.

Kotoshoho (5-1) defeated Aoiyama (0-6). Aoiyama threw one, two, three! slaps before Kotoshoho drove forward and shoved him out. Aoiyama is hurt, bad, and had trouble walking after the bout. Oshidashi.

Onosho (5-1) defeated Myogiryu (1-5). Myogiryu also looks hurt. Onosho shoved him out quickly. Tsukidashi.

Takanosho (4-2) defeated Tsurugisho (1-5). Tsurugisho whiffed with a half-hearted (maybe quarter-hearted) slap at the tachiai and Takanosho gingerly walked him out. Yorikiri.

Oho (5-1) defeated Endo (1-5). Endo made a better go of it but was no match for Oho. After his early slapdown attempt failed, Oho put his head down and drove forward and blasted Endo from the dohyo. Two female fans in the front row seemed thrilled by the premium-level fansa. Oshidashi.

Churanoumi (4-2) defeated Sadanoumi (1-5). Sadanoumi locked in and started to churn those legs…but they quickly started churning in reverse as Churanoumi plowed forward. Yorikiri.

Meisei (4-2) defeated Tamawashi (3-3). Meisei laid into Tamawashi and walked him out. Yorikiri.

Ichiyamamoto (2-4) defeated Mitakeumi (3-3). Mitakeumi never read the brief. Ichiyamamoto’s thing is tsuppari and misdirection. Mitakeumi fell forward on his face. Hikiotoshi.

Hiradoumi (4-2) defeated Shonannoumi (1-5). Shonannoumi’s slapdown attempts were ineffective as Hiradoumi plugged ahead. Yorikiri.

Halftime

Ryuden (3-3) fusen, Hokuseiho (2-4) kyujo.

Asanoyama (6-0) defeated Nishikigi (3-3). Great belt battle here as Asanoyama fought to get his favorite grip and Nishikigi did what he could to stop him. Once Asanoyama got the left-hand inside, he started to tug, hard while trying to also lock up the right. It wasn’t needed as he dropped Nishikigi to the clay. Shitatenage.

Kinbozan (3-3) defeated Shodai (3-3). Shodai nearly pulled off something clever as he escaped with a clever little swim move/slapdown. Unfortunately, when Kinbozan recovered his balance, Shodai couldn’t get himself righted to launch an attack on Kinbozan. Instead, Kinbozan re-engaged from behind. Okuridashi.

Hokutofuji (4-2) defeated Midorifuji (1-5). Hokutofuji’s tsuppari was effective at keeping Midorifuji at bay and set up a well-timed slapdown. Hatakikomi.

Sanyaku

Takayasu (2-2-2) defeated Ura (1-5). The suicide throw here as both men had opposing belt grips and attempted to tip the other over. Ura’s head hit first. Ouch. Uwatenage.

Wakamotoharu (3-3) defeated Kotonowaka (5-1). Kotonowaka tried to keep Wakamotoharu at bay with a left hand to WMH’s face. When Wakamotoharu batted it away, Kotonowaka stumbled forward. Wakamotoharu pounced as Kotonowaka attempted to regain his balance and position at the center of the ring. A few powerful shoves from Wakamotoharu and we have another big upset from WMH. Oshidashi.

Atamifuji (2-4) defeated Daieisho (4-2). Daieisho plugged forward with his powerful tsuppari. At the edge, Atamifuji got his arm up under Daieisho’s armpit and dragged him forward for the win. Almost effortless. Tsukiotoshi.

Abi (1-5) defeated Hoshoryu (4-2). Abi looked a bit more like Daieisho here. Rather than rapid-fire tsuppari, he thrust forward and drove into Hoshoryu with his right hand. He pressed forward hard and then suddenly dropped away. Hoshoryu fell forward. Hikiotoshi.

Kirishima (5-1) defeated Gonoyama (2-4). Kirishima dug deep and overpowered Gonoyama. More of this, please. Yorikiri.

Terunofuji (5-1) defeated Tobizaru (3-3). Tobizaru half-henka’d Terunofuji, jumping a half-step to the side. As he shoved and kicked out at Terunofuji, the Kaiju seemed to get angrier and angrier. Terunofuji grabbed at Tobizaru’s right arm and seemed to trigger Tobizaru’s escape function. This shut off Tobizaru’s attack mode and sent him into “flight.” Terunofuji pursued until Tobizaru lept from the dohyo, into the crowd. Oshidashi.

Wrap-up

Hopefully, Aoiyama, Tsurugisho and Myogiryu join the growing kyujo queue. They’re injured and listless. Watching them “compete” is painful.

This tournament might be what Wakamotoharu needed for his confidence. He seemed very bashful when, ranked at Sekiwake, the media started talking about an unprecedented 3-way Ozeki promotion which included him. His head should be in the game now. He deserves to be in sanyaku.

Abi picked up his first win with the big upset of the day. I felt that his attack was a bit different today, more like Daieisho’s. I may be parsing hairs here but Abi’s attacks have always felt like they lack follow-through, compared to Daieisho’s. I’ll be watching to see if there is an evolution in Abi’s technique that makes him more effective at this level on a consistent basis. So far this tournament, he has been anything but.

Asanoyama remains the lone undefeated wrestler. He will face Meisei on Day 7. Terunofuji will face a dangerous Shodai, while Kirishima will face Hokutofuji and Kotonowaka will get Ryuden. Any upsets here will have serious implications on promotion and yusho hopes. These should all be wins.

Lower on the banzuke, Oho, Kotoshoho, Onosho, and Onosato sit on 1 loss. Oho and Onosato will face off tomorrow. Kotoshoho will face Shimazuumi while Onosho will take on Aoiyama, if Aoiyama shows up.

Updated – More thoughts on the concussion issue

Timothée Heinz Hatsu Basho 2021 , , , ,

2021’s Hatsu Basho started amid fears, if not controversy, brought by the pandemic. It ended amid true controversy, on a different, albeit also health-related, matter: brain concussion among sumo wrestlers.

Before moving on this topic, let’s have a look back at what happened.

What happened?

Makushita, day 10. Shonannoumi faces Asagyokusei. Shonannoumi botches the tachi-ai, moves forward as his opponent still stands behind the shikiri-sen. Asagyokusei raises, both collide heavily on the head, and Shonannoumi falls to the clay.

The victim: Shonannoumi


At this point, the gyoji has two options:

A) Approving the tachi-ai. In that case, Asagyokusei has to be called the winner;

B) Calling a matta. That’s what happened during the bout. The gyoji orders a redo – the shimpan judges even quickly reunite in order to discuss on that matter, only to order to proceed further.
But Shonannoumi is obviously unable to do any kind of effort whatsoever – he stands up several times, only to lose balance and fall awkwardly again and again.
Eventually, he stands on his feet, the bout is a go, and Shonannoumi even wins it. But that’s not the point at all. Obviously, his health has been seriously endangered.

Has it happened before?

Of course, the Hokutofuji bout against Ryuden, in May of 2018, springs to mind. Basically, the story is the same.

Hokutofuji also suffered from concussion, in 2018



I’d also like to mention a crazy bout where Azumaryu and Tobizaru faced each other in juryo in 2019 (on day 9 of the Nagoya basho, to be exact). After a long fight full of twists and downs, after even a mawashi matta, both sekitori send each other outside the limits of the ring, and fall heavily to the ground. The catch is, it was realistically impossible to declare a clear-cut winner, and a torinaoshi was ordered. Here, Azumaryu, and especially Tobizaru, looked too exhausted to fight once more. The latter lost the re-match without being at full capacity.

What could have been done ?

My question would rather be: does a sumo bout necessarily have to see out a winner ?
As a chess player, I know individual sports can see contests concluded without a winner. It does not happen in tennis or in Formula One, but it does happen in darts, another lesser known sport.

Anyway, if football or rugby have an extended medical protocol in case of a concussion, in my opinion a handy solution exists. If this were unfortunately to happen again in sumo (and some day, it will happen again): the reintroduction of draws in sumo.

In fact, sumo initially allowed various kinds of draw. Let’s examine them.

Firstly, azukari used to be called, when a bout’s issue was too close to call, and no clear-cut winner could be nominated.The bout then just ended in a draw.

Secondly, hikiwake used to represent the situation when the opponents fought for some time, and no one could take the advantage. Here, too, the result would just be a draw.

Obviously, both cases don’t appear any more today. Instead of an azukari, a torinaoshi would just be called; and instead of a hikiwake, the shimpan judges would raise their hands after four minutes, and a mizu-iri would be orderer: the “water break”.

To be exact, the last azukari was seen in 1951, whereas the last hikiwake could be witnessed in 1974. And, obviously, neither of these calls fit to Shonannoumi’s situation.

Thirdly, the case of a mushōbu is interesting. That call could be heard if a bout was too close to call, and if the gyoji decided not to point his gumbai to anyone. In the 1860’s, that system was replaced, and only the shimpan judges could then decide not to declare someone as the winner. And then, that system has been replaced by the torinaoshi rule.

And finally, the itamiwake is what we’re looking for. It occurred when a rikishi got injured and could not continue – usually, not taking part in a torinaoshi.

The last wrestlers to benefit from some itamiwake respite were Narutoumi and Wakabayama, back in 1958.

Couldn’t Shonannoumi benefit from such an allowance?

Let’s reintroduce itamiwake in sumo!

Update: that issue, and the Shonannoumi case have seemingly given fruits. The shimpan department has just decided to act, not allowing any more hurt rikishi to fight again. From now, rikishi suffering from concussion prior to a match (or, of course, right after a matta) will lose by default:

That may not be the end to all our problems, but that’s definitely a great start.

Kyushu 2019, Senshuraku, Final Bouts From The Lower Divisions

Herouth Kyushu Basho 2019 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A day late, here are some of the bouts from the lower divisions that took place on Senshuraku. This includes some tidying up – regular bouts featuring rikishi we have followed through Kyushu basho – and some playoffs.

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