Chiyonofuji turned 60 and the sumo kyokai rolled out the red tsuna (the rope belt yokozuna wear). I had to make the joke.
Two of the three current yokozuna accompanied him for the event as his sword bearer (Hakuho) and dew sweeper (Harumafuji).
yokozuna
Analysis: Kinboshi Rates for Current Yokozuna
*Update 6 (7/12/16): Okinoumi defeated Harumafuji. Tochiozan defeated Kakuryu.
*Update 5 (5/10/16): Ichinojo defeated Harumafuji again. I will recalculate the totals. He faces Myogiryu tomorrow, another maegashira who already has a gold star, so another update may be coming tomorrow.
*Update 4 (3/24/16): Several tournaments of updates. He gave up another kinboshi to Osunaarashi in November but still won the tournament. Another kinboshi to Shohozan in January and Kotoyuki in March. I still hope to expand this analysis but I need to figure out a way to automate these updates.
*Update 3 (8/6/15): Tochinoshin’s default win over Harumafuji does not count as a kinboshi but I wanted to make a note.
*Update 2 (5/19/15): I tried to go to sleep but had to wait to see if Gagamaru would get a gold star. Surprise, surprise! I’m trying to also keep the numbers in the article below up-to-date. Harumafuji was at almost 1 gold star per 10 bouts but after this streak it’s almost 1 every 9 bouts!
*Update 1 (5/18/15): Harumafuji has given up 2 more kinboshi in the May tournament…and counting. I will try to update this article to keep it current. The latest recipients are M5 Tamawashi and M3 Sadanoumi.
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After Harumafuji gave up 3 gold stars in the Haru basho, I wondered how many he’d yielded overall and how his rate compared with the other active yokozuna. I found out Harumafuji is quite prone to losing to maegashira, yielding one for every 9.1 bouts. He’s given up 26 in all, in about 209 bouts as yokozuna. The kinboshi seem to come in spurts. Also, Takayasu and Toyonoshima have been particularly effective against Harumafuji, winning 3 gold stars each. However, against Toyonoshima Harumafuji still holds a big 35-10 lead in their rivalry but he’s lost 3 of their last 9 bouts. Against Takayasu he’s only lost 3 of their 12 bouts.
In comparison, Kakuryu has given up 5 gold stars in the 74 bouts he’s had as yokozuna – a rate of 1 per 14.8 bouts, or about one per tournament. *(3/24/16) He’s given up 2 more in the past year, one to Aminishiki and another to Yoshikaze.
However, superzuna Hakuho has an amazing record against maegashira. He’s given up half as many gold stars as Harumafuji has but he’s fought in about 700 bouts as yokozuna. That’s an astonishing rate of 1 gold star every 70 bouts, or 1 gold star in just under 5 tournaments. I hope to expand this analysis to look at where these yokozuna fit in with other yokozuna through history.
Plainly, if Harumafuji is going to win another tournament soon, he can’t give up any losses in the first 10 days. *update, not only did he lose on Day 2 and win the Kyushu basho, he gave up yet another gold star to Osunaarashi.
Here’s a list of the gold stars Harumafuji has given (up-to-date as of 3/24/16):
Okinoumi (2),
Sadanoumi,
Ichinojo (2),
Tochinoshin,
Toyonoshima (3),
Jokoryu,
Takayasu (3),
Myogiryu,
Tochiozan,
Yoshikaze (2),
Osunaarashi (2),
Takekaze,
Shohozan (2),
Aoiyama,
Chiyotairyu (2),
Tamawashi,
Gagamaru,
Kotoyuki
Omedetou, Kakuryu!
Kakuryu’s fiancee, Dashnyam Munkhzaya, is expecting the couple’s first child in May. The two met in Mongolia in 2013. Since then he has won his first yusho and been promoted to yokozuna so hopefully this bodes well for their nuptuals. In a statement, Kakuryu stated that right now his primary goal is to win his first yusho as yokozuna. Given the drama of November’s tournament, where he led for several days, it is certainly possible.
Ichinojo Dodges Kisenosato
Yes, Hakuho (11-0) still leads. He’s peerless, the best. He dispatched Takekaze (5-6) with ease. There was no surprise in that, unlike yesterday when Osunaarashi was, for a moment, able to challenge the Yokozuna.
What was surprising was Ichinojo’s (10-1) near-henka victory over Kisenosato (7-4). Kisenosato has a very slow tachiai. He draws more than his fair share of false starts – matta, in Japanese. However, I think the rookie and his coaches outwitted the Ozeki. After being “tempted” into two false starts where he appeared to charge straight at Kisenosato, Ichinojo dodged to his left – exactly opposite Kisenosato’s taped shoulder – and gave Kisenosato a shove to make sure he fell flat on his face. BRAVO.
You’re on notice, Kisenosato, Ichinojo exposed the weakness in slow-rolling your tachiai. He hopes to gain the advantage of knowing his opponent’s plan of attack – but Ichinojo disguised his planned dodge beautifully. This is speculation but I think the youngster planned to bait Kisenosato into thinking he’d take the injured left shoulder head-on. He faked it twice to reinforce the point…then dodged to Kisenosato’s right! Beautiful. I look forward to watching this youngster develop. He’ll face a desparate Goeido (6-5) tomorrow.
In other matches, Kakuryu (10-1) is tied with the young upstart, one loss off pace. Unlike Ichinojo, Goeido really was a bit over-eager to face the Yokozuna. He false started, and on the fair-start Kakuryu was able to quickly gain control and show Goeido to the floor. Osunaarashi fell to 4-7 against Kotoshogiku (7-4). Kotoshogiku bulled through Osunaarashi’s aggressive slapping attack and pushed the maegashira #4 off the dohyo.
Endo (2-9) got a win against Chiyotairyu (1-10). Ikioi (7-4), still the only rikishi to defeat Ichinojo, won his match against Takanoiwa (4-7). Aminishiki (8-3) is alone with 8 wins since Kyukutenho lost against Tochiozan (both on 7-4). Okinoumi (9-2) still has an outside chance for jun-yusho with his win over Sadanoumi (6-5) as Kakuryu and Ichinojo will be facing stronger opponents in the coming days. Both of them will be battling Ozeki tomorrow while Okinoumi will face maegashira #10 Kitataiki.
In non-tournament related news, I’m eager to start a conversation based on comments made by ex-Kotooshu where he expresses an intent to use data and scientific methods to improve sumo training. It’s a brief article and I’m very eager to learn more. I’m a data hound and love to pour over the data available over at sumogames (linked in the menu above). However, I know there’s so much more data that could be collected…like information on match duration, injuries, taped body parts, and how many ad banners each rikishi has from sponsors.
