Uncle Sumo’s bout with Ryuko today ended with injury. His knee seems to have collapsed, and he limped his way from the dohyo and got wheeled away from the hana-michi.
Once he finished changing, he left the venue for a hospital, where he underwent checkups, and got back to Isegahama beya’s lodgings on crutches.
Isegahama oyakata announced that Aminishiki will be absent as of day 3, which will give Arawashi a freebie.
However, he says that if the inflammation recedes and the pain goes away, Aminishiki intends to show up again. “He did not tear a ligament or anything, and the man himself wishes to attend if he can”, he said.
If Aminishiki does not return to action, he will be ranked at Makushita for certain next basho, and many fans doubt that he will then choose to fight his way back through the heaven/hell border that is the top of Makushita. Instead, he is more likely to retire and make use of his vacant kabu (right to an elder name).
We wish Aminishiki good health and for his career to continue safely and fruitfully down the path he chooses.
We kicked off Kyushu Act 2 in fine style, and with just the Ozeki holding down the big end of the torkiumi, it’s makes for a really quick final division. While whoever wins this basho will always have an asterisk next to it (due to Nokozuna), its still an official tournament, and everything that happens does indeed count.
Somewhere in the stands today, our own “man in exotic lands” Josh was enjoying the matches. If I could guess, we may see some of his thoughts on this blog before the end of the day.
In other news, an off-hand remark I made in the day 6 preview seems to have severely impacted my weekend chanko recipe. This shall be painful, smelly and foul tasting. But it must be done.
Highlight Matches
Aminishiki defeats Daiamami – It’s one thing to have Uncle Sumo visit the top division for a day, and it’s another thing (a special, wonderful thing) to have him unleash sumo magic. I am certain Daiamami was looking for a henka, instead Aminishiki drove inside and set up a rare kimarite: Amiuchi (aka The Fisherman’s Throw).
Arawashi defeats Daishomaru – Notable because for the injured Arawashi, this is his first win of the basho. As you can see post-match, he can put very little pressure on that injured leg. Ranked at Maegashira 16, a make-koshi is a return trip to Juryo.
Onosho defeats Chiyomaru – There seems to be almost no hope for “Love Chunks” Chiyomaru, as Onosho puts him up for adoption with the nearest Oyakata.
Aoiyama defeats Takanosho – Aoiyama appears to have reconnected with his sumo, and improves to 4-2, meanwhile Takanosho looks to be in trouble.
Chiyonokuni defeats Endo – After Endo’s day 5 match, people began to think he had his body and his sumo re-connected. However, Endo ceded control of the match to Chiyonokuni at the tachiai, and Chiyonokuni never let him do anything more that try to react to his sumo.
Ikioi defeats Yutakayama – This is Ikioi’s first win over Yutakayama, and it underscores the impact of Yutakayama’s injuries. Ikioi made fast work of him, and we saw no defensive pressure from Yutakayama.
Shohozan defeats Kotoshogiku – THE match of the basho thus far! These two went at it with gusto, and neither one let an offensive move go unanswered. As the battle raged across the dohyo, the two swapped roles, techniques and advantages. In the end I think it was all down to Shohozan outlasting the former Ozeki. The crowd went wild for these two hometown favorites. I loved the bow that Kotoshogiku gave at the end of that match, pure respect for a worthy opponent, and a match that might be the highlight of his year.
Chiyotairyu defeats Takanoiwa – Takanoiwa did not survive Chiyotairyu’s cannon-ball tachiai with his balance intact, and the burly Kokenoe rikishi advanced and pushed the still-recovering Takanoiwa clear of the tawara.
Abi defeats Asanoyama – Two happy rikishi enter, one rikishi leaves happy. Again the double arm tsuppari of Abi-zumo left his opponent unable to do anything other than get pounded into defeat.
Yoshikaze defeats Kagayaki – As thought, the overwhelming intensity of Yoshikaze’s berserker attacks proved more than Kagayaki’s strong low stance and solid fundamentals could absorb. Kagayaki opened strong, but Yoshikaze rallied at the tawara. I will say that Kagayaki is getting better at enduring that style of attack, which is good news for his future sumo.
Nishikigi defeats Tochiozan – No really, undefeated Tochiozan went down to the tragically over-promoted Nishikigi for his second win in a row. I am not sure what they did to him, but Nishikigi has decided to win. Wow…
Takakeisho defeats Kaisei – Stand him up, slap him down. Takakeisho is now the only unbeaten Makuuchi rikishi at Kyushu. Without any Yokozuna or credible Ozeki to contain him, Takakeisho is really racking up the wins.
Mitakeumi defeats Hokutofuji – Mitakeumi decided to bring his sumo today, and while Hokutofuji started strong, it was clearly a grade below Mitakeumi’s “A Sumo”.
Myogiryu defeats Ichinojo – I am starting to feel quite sad for Ichinojo, as he continues to fade. Myogiryu, however, is bringing fire and energy to each match, something that is sorely missing in many other rikishi at the top end of the banzuke right now.
Takayasu defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi allowed the match to go chest to chest at the tachiai, and gave up his primary advantage: mobility. At that point it was Takayasu’s fight, and it ended as could be expected with the big man applying a straightforward but powerful yorikiri.
Goeido defeats Ryuden – The Goeido techs were able to wipe the “Bouncy Castle” zero day exploit from his battle control systems, and the Goeido 2.1 stack functioned normally today.
Shodai defeats Tochinoshin – Once again Tochinoshin allows his opponent to dictate the terms of the match. Unable to land any sort of grip, Tochinoshin was helpless to stop Shodai’s cartoon physics from completely disrupting his sumo. He drops to 3-3.
Welcome to act 2 of the Kyushu basho! This is where we sort who is hot from who is not, and begin to shape the yusho race. At the start of act 2, we are in a Nokozuna status, and none of the Ozeki or Sekiwake are undefeated. The basho is possibly being conducted in “toon town” of Roger Rabbit fame, where the rules of the normal world do not seem to apply.
That said, it’s still an official basho, and the results are all too real. While many are thrilling to both Takakeisho and Tochiozan, the mechanics of act 2 are quite a bit different than act 1. Endurance, experience and a number of factors will govern the race for the cup, and we won’t have even an idea what the yusho race will be until the middle day of the tournament on Sunday. Until then, cheer your favorite rikishi, and try not to worry too much – it’s going to be a great tournament.
What We Are Watching Day 6
Daiamami vs Aminishiki – With the Yokozuna out, the imbalance in the torikumi is made up by a random Juryo guy of the day. As fortune would have it, today’s guest rikishi is none other than Uncle Sumo!
Onosho vs Chiyomaru – You can either be sad that Chiyomaru is likely going to earn defeat number 5, or happy that Onosho continues to strengthen following his surgery over the summer. Or both.
Chiyonokuni vs Endo – The time has come for Endo to throw Chiyonokuni the grumpy badger aside and strive for a strong (more than 8 win) kachi-koshi. Chiyonokuni continues to underperform even at this lowered level of the banzuke. Maybe there is something amiss with the chanko at Kokenoe?
Ikioi vs Yutakayama – Two from the scratch-and-dent bin, but I would likely nod to Ikioi to be less damaged. Yutakayama needs to find a way to heal up, we need him strong and ready in the future.
Chiyotairyu vs Takanoiwa – The key to beating Chiyotairyu is to survive the first few seconds on your feet and with your balance intact. Takanoiwa is highly mobile, but still nursing an injury.
Abi vs Asanoyama – Abi-zumo seems to be on a roll, where Asanoyama is working to just tread water, so I am going to concede a slight advantage to Abi, in spite of Asanoyama’s tendency to disrupt Abi and toss him around like a dachshund with an old sock.
Kagayaki vs Yoshikaze – I like both rikishi, and I have no idea if deliberate and strong is going to carry the day over fast and agile. I would tend to think that Yoshikaze wants it a bit more.
Tochiozan vs Nishikigi – If Nishikigi wins this, I am prepared to eat both my own buttocks. But I am going to assume my seated posture is safe for today.
Takakeisho vs Kaisei – I am fond of saying that being enormous is not necessarily a strategy for top division sumo, but there is the consideration of Newtonian mechanics to consider in this match: 500+ lbs of Brazilian rikishi who does have some skill. Takakeisho with his powerful “wave action” attack, but his tiny short little T-Rex arms may not allow him to scratch his head and his lower back at the same time, let alone reach Kaisei’s body. Advice to Kaisei, do your best impersonation of a teppo pole and just let him wear himself out. You don’t have to move, or even acknowledge him. Just let kindly Isaac Newton take care of business.
Mitakeumi vs Hokutofuji – Hey, Mr “I could have been a contender”, Hokutofuji is on a bit of a hot streak. You can redeem yourself with a win here. Your fans are legion, but even they have to be noticing that you are a half-step slow at every tachiai.
Myogiryu vs Ichinojo – Does Ichinojo have any drive to win, this tournament? We never get know much about the health of rikishi except for the Yokozuna, but it’s tough to explain a 1-4 start from this guy. Nobody should assume they can beat Myogiryu this basho, he’s in the right place at the right time and he’s trained to peak performance.
Tamawashi vs Takayasu – Evenly matched with a 10-10 career record, these two were San’yaku fixtures for a good number of consecutive tournaments, and each know how to attack and defeat the other. I am looking for Takayasu to bounce back from his day 5 loss. In spite of my frustration, he is still very much a contender to finish this tournament on top.
Goeido vs Ryuden – What is Goeido going to do? Who knows! After his loss to otherwise hapless Nishikigi, I don’t know what is real and what is cartoon any more. I have to assume that Goeido has some injury we are not aware of.
Shodai vs Tochinoshin – The newest Ozeki has been struggling with foot injuries, and we have only seen use his trademark “power sumo” sparingly in this basho. While Shodai would seem to be the mayor of cartoon town, he can and sometimes does beat just about anyone. So hopefully Tochinoshin operates with greater care than he showed in his embarrassing loss to Hokutofuji on day 5.
Great day of sumo… Our operatives inside the Kokugikan report that the Great Cat himself was well pleased with today’s activities, and blessed sumo fans with some fantastic matches. Find a way to watch all of day 14.
Nagoya has enormous potential, given today’s results. I will discuss more in the day 15 preview. The Natsu yusho is for Kakuryu to lose now, and his sumo was absolutely amazing today. Many sumo fans had dismissed Kakuryu in the prior year, perhaps thinking he was lazy, or would rather not compete. His style of sumo is rather unique, and it’s quite difficult to watch at times. Many fans want to see an all out, guns blazing battle. Where the best attack wins. Sometimes, the best attack is not to try and overpower your opponent, but rather to keep your opponent from winning. It’s somewhat alien in western sports, but it’s amazing to see Kakuryu use it with such great effect.
In Juryo, we are indeed going to have a final day barnyard brawl for the yusho. There are 3 Juryo rikishi with 11 wins at the end of day 14: Onosho, Kotoeko and Tsurugisho. I urge you to find and watch Kotoeko’s day 14 match – because he is bringing that kind of sumo to Makuuchi in Nagoya.
Highlight Matches
Ishiura defeats Kyokutaisei – Ishiura wins doing actual sumo. This is noteworthy.
Aoiyama defeats Daiamami – A large man oshi-matsuri, with Aoiyama once again focusing on his opponents head. This is not really working for him, and then he decides, “Yeah, let’s put some force center-mass!”, and shifts to Daiamami’s chest. Hey! Look, out goes Daiamami! Aoiyama gets his 8th win and his kachi-koshi.
Chiyonokuni defeats Tochiozan – Chiyonokuni takes it to 11, and hands Tochiozan his make-koshi. I would guess we may see Chiyonokuni pick up a special prize, and that would be his first! If he can stay this genki, he is going to be a lot of fun in Nagoya.
Takakeisho defeats Myogiryu – Myogiryu having a great basho, but Takakeisho seems to have snapped back into his sumo finally, and he’s on a mission. I am so eager now for Nagoya, as Takakeisho will be in the top half of the banzuke, Onosho will be back, and it’s going to be tadpole time.
Yoshikaze defeats Nishikigi – First match resulted in a monoii, and a re-match. Second match was a clear Yoshikaze win. It’s still possible for him to pick up a kachi-koshi on the final day, when his opponent will be Abi. That, dear readers, could be a wild and chaotic match.
Kagayaki defeats Asanoyama – Asanoyama failed to get his kachi-koshi today, and will have to hope for a win on the final day. Kagayaki continues to execute solid, basic sumo, and has been winning with it. Any hopes Kagayaki has for double digits are going to be tempered by his final day bout against Chiyonokuni. Yikes!
Aminishiki defeats Ryuden – Ryuden (now 2-12) in a world of hurt with the Nagoya banzuke now, as Uncle Sumo uncorks some kind of magic genki sauce and blasts him out of the ring after some preliminary struggle. As always, the crowd in the Kokugikan goes nuts whenever Aminishiki is on the dohyo, and goes double nuts when he wins.
Sadanoumi defeats Chiyomaru – Sadanoumi somehow survives a really powerful osha-battle with Chiyomaru to pick up his kachi-koshi. To me it looks like Chiyomaru had a tough time getting into basho mode, and is struggling with his sumo. Maybe a bit too much mass from the bulbous one? Sadanoumi lands his 8th win and can take comfort in his kachi-koshi.
Shohozan defeats Daieisho – This one was another in a series of Shohozan brawls disguised as sumo matches. Both men were going for some kind of painful death grip on the other, and the winning move was a nicely executed watashikomi thigh trip. Shohozan can still finish kachi-koshi if he wins day 15.
Tamawashi defeats Ikioi – Tamawashi switches to freight-train / densha michi mode and runs Ikioi down the tracks, improving to 7-7 going into the final day.
Kotoshogiku defeats Kaisei – Kotoshogiku kachi-koshi!!! The two go chest to chest straight away, and the enormous mass of Kaisei is clearly near the limit for the Kyushu Bulldozer. But he revs up, engages his tracks and lowers his blade.
Shodai defeats Mitakeumi – What the hell Shodai? Again, his mechanics are abysmal, but his instincts are dead on. Big outcome of this match may be the fact that Shodai seems to have crushed Mitakeumi’s right ankle when they both went to cuddle the kita-kata shimpan.
Kakuryu defeats Tochinoshin – Watch this match, maybe a few times. Tochinoshin really puts a lot into this match, and Kakuryu does some of his best “Big K Sumo” ever. Kakuryu is a reactive sumo expert. His plan is to stalemate Tochinoshin until he makes some kind of mistake, and then use that mistake to finish him. Tochinoshin immediately goes to land his left, and Kakuryu shuts that down, opting for a palm to the face. Tochinoshin tries to go left again, and gets a bit of a grip, but Kakuryu shifts his hips and denies him leverage. Tochinoshin now has a double outside grip on Kakuryu’s loose mawashi, and can’t find a way to keep the Yokozuna from shifting around, robbing Tochinoshin of his ability to lift and shift (his primary weapon). Kakuryu is deep double inside, and leaning in at 45 degrees, stalemate for the Georgian Ozeki hopeful. Tochinoshin tries to pull out a leg trip, but Kakuryu is too far back for the trip, shifting his hips again as Tochinoshin is now dangerously unbalanced. Kakuryu advances, and Tochinoshin tries to pivot for a throw, further impeding his defensive stance, Kakuryu has his opening now, raises his foot and pops a trip against Tochinoshin’s left knee (the good one), and collapses the Georgian at the tawara. Holy smokes! What a match!
Ichinojo defeats Hakuho – Sumo fans could have ended their day with the Kakuryu v Tochinoshin match with satisfaction, but the Great Sumo Cat of the Kokugikan had one last treat in store for us. The Boulder squared off against the dai-Yokozuna, but this was not the passive version of Ichinojo today. Huge, powerful and motivated, Hakuho, who is clearly not quite at full power, had his hands full with 500 pounds of pony tossing, ice cream eating behemoth. Hakuho unleashed a pair of his usually disruptive moves at the outset, but Ichinojo must have gone into the match with the intent to endure the Yokozuna’s initial attacks however he could. It seems he wanted to play a longer game. With Hakuho’s initial gambits exhausted, they spent a moment leaning chest to chest in the center of the dohyo. As Ichinojo moved to advance, Hakuho timed a weight shift to load a throw against Ichinojo. Ichinojo sensed the Yokozuna shifting for leverage, and took advantage of it, pivoting into the uwatenage as the Yokozuna went to the clay. Kokugikan erupts, cushions fly and it’s ice cream and ponies for everyone.
