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Before announcing our winner, please note in the last post, Kofuji’s rikishi pick, NISHIKIFUJI, scored 3 END-OF-YEAR TORCH POINTS for RIKISHI. As arranged before his passing..... Kofuji-ICAN's rikishi pick would always be his highest ranking adapted rikishi, and his rank pick would always be the average rank of all his active adapted rikishi's ranks. For every point Kofuji scores, a donation is made to the international cancer advocacy network (ICAN). Three points for Kofuji-ICAN!!! I encourage everyone to make a “3” donation to ICAN in Kofuji’s name. It can be ¥3,000, £3, $300 €30, ₮30,000. Thank you Kofuji for all you did for the data base, this forum, and the sumo diaspora. For those curious, his adopted rikishi were always: rikishi with “kifuji” or “kofuji” in their shikona -- (Tsubakifuji, Nishikifuji, Masakifuji); and any rikishi from "Kofu-shi" in Yamanashi-ken -- (i.e., Ryuden). OK, now the winner! With all the points added, our final standings put 89 players on the board: FINAL TORCHBEARER 2023 POINT STANDINGS: 40 points - Jesinofuji 32 points - Chankomafuji 31 points - LLCoolKay 27 points - Andonishiki 27 points - Asterix 27 points - charliki/Gibuten 27 points - Cydrome 27 points - Takanorappa 20 points - Sukubidubidu 19 points - Sakura 19 points - Yukiarashi 18 points - Aled ap Tomos 18 points - Munjeezy 17 points - Ganzohnesushi 17 points - Haidouzo 17 points - Yarimotsu 16 points - Jejima 16 points - Kotogouryuu 15 points - Obana 14 points - Naganoyama 14 points - rokudenashi 13 points - Itachi 13 points - kuroimori 13 points - umbriel2 13 points - Unkonoyama 13 points - Wakatake 12 points - nutzername 11 points - Chisaiyama 11 points - Fujisan 11 points - Hakuhonofan 11 points - Pitinosato 10 points - Godango 10 points - Houmanumi 10 points - Leoben 10 points - rhyen 10 points - Torideyama 10 points - wolfgangho 9 points - Holleshoryu 9 points - Kintamayama 9 points - Taikoubana 9 points - Umigame 8 points - Domichi 8 points - Fatakiyama 8 points - itchyknee 8 points - Shitamachi 8 points - Suwihuto 8 points - Terarno 8 points - Yubinhaad 7 points - Ronnie/Gawasukotto 6 points - kaioshoryu 6 points - Kitanoedo 6 points - mt fuji 6 points - Nekonishiki 6 point - Tochyatsu 6 points - Toratorii 5 points - Kintaro 5 points - Mmikasazuma 4 points - Churaumi 4 points - Daughter of Sukubidubidu 4 points - Gurowake 4 points - Joaoiyama 4 points - McBugger 4 points - Miselet 4 points - Sumo Spiffy 4 points - Tsuchinoninjin 3 points - ChickyStarr 3 points - Kofuji-ICAN 3 points - Senkoho 2 points - dingo 2 points - Kaito 2 points - maorencze 1 point - Achiyama 1 point - Akōgyokuseki 1 point - Amamaniac 1 point - Andreas21 1 point - Benihana 1 point - code_number3 1 point - Derek 1 point - Ganzekiiwa(Rocks) 1 point - Jason 1 point - kotoshikona 1 point - Kuhne 1 point - mugatake 1 point - orandashoho 1 point - Pandaazuma 1 point - sagi 1 point - Shio-kago 1 point - Shokikogi 1 point - sumojoann Congratulations to Jesinofuji, the TORCHBEARER 2023 winner. I’ll be corresponding to send the prize. For those keeping tabs on how often the 25-point TORCH bullseye is achieved: 2011 - 3 2012 - 1 2015 - 3 2016 - 3 2017 - 2 2018 - 2 2019 - 1 2021 - 1 2022 - 1 2023 - 3 Thanks for participating and I hope you all can update your pick or, if a new player, submit a pick for next year. You can send your TORCHBEARER 2024 picks to me now, or wait until the Hatsu banzuke is released. An invite (with rules for new players) will be out soon. Pick one rank and one rikishi where you think the TORCH will be at the end of the year. This sumo game has a prize. New players are always welcome. Again, thanks. -shimodahito @sumojoann @Shokikogi @Shio-kago @Rocks @Pandaazuma @orandashoho @mugatake @kotoshikona @code_number3 @Benihana @Andreas21 @Amamaniac @Akōgyokuseki @Achiyama @Tsuchinoninjin @Sumo Spiffy @MISELET @Joaoiyama @Gurowake @Churaumi @Kintaro @mt fuji @Kaioshoryu @Torideyama @WAKATAKE @Unkonoyama @umbriel2 @kuroimori @Yarimotsu @Yukiarashi @Jesinofuji

Tamawashi at 1568 consecutive matches, with the record at 1630. Barring injury withdrawal, falling to makushita or retirement, he will break the record on day 3 of Aki 2024

The 172nd Otoi-ozumo in Seiyo, Ehime started today, after 4 years again with ozumo rikishi participating - Seiyo local Kataonami (Tamakasuga) sent the regular Tamawashi for the usual duty: help with the baby dohyo-iri, also Asanoyama was invited for that - CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTNxamXxydg o About 2000 spectators news clips: vid vid https://sites.google.com/view/otoi-sumou/ホーム The pro-ama tournament includes makushita & below - no list of rikishi on the site (yet), but old posters https://sites.google.com/view/otoi-sumou/ホーム/乙亥の記録#h.frhgohf8l3nv - with Tamanoshima and Tochiazuma for the 154th edition, Kisenosato and Tamawashi for the 165th The local Ehime TV station streams both days live, day 1 was 10h Shonichi Senshuraku https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdk9N1zNBA the videos from 4 years ago disappeared soon, those of the last 3 years without pro-rikishi are still there though news about the event from 4 months ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG5-tIW5gLs Both days have pro-ama tournaments and baby dohyo-iri

The YDC was full of admiration for Kirishima and his yusho. "If he repeats this in the same fashion in January, we will suggest a promotion to Yokozuna," said Mr. Yamauchi. They did, however, criticize Houshouryuu's tachiai (at first he was not named by name but in the end it was admitted that this was aimed at Houshouryuu..) behavior with all the stares and 90 second waiting. "Ugly" was the word used, "He will surely be one of the contenders to become Yokozuna in the future and it is very regrettable that he showed this kind of behavior. I personally like him, but." said Mr. Yamauchi. "He's an Ozeki. This cannot be. Watching it, it was unseemly," added Shibatayama. "After day 5 when he was called to the offices and was admonished for his 90 second stare-down tachiai, we expect the Oyakata will be guiding him in the right direction," summed Mr. Yamauchi As for Terunofuji, they expect him to enter January. "It is truly unfortunate that the yokozuna was absent. We will watch his progress, hoping he overcomes his health problems and will enter Hatsubasho.If he doesn't show up it will be regrettable. If that happens, comments may arise.." they said. When asked if he will be faced with one of the three things- "encouragement", "caution", or "intai-advice" - "We haven't gone that far yet. No, it will probably be a statement of our general feelings. We haven't decided anything yet. We'll have to see what happens in January," summed the chief.

Yokozuna defcon level raised to 4 “pre-encouragement”

I just realized that Ura will finally make it to Komusubi after generating lots of hype eight years ago. I guess most have given up hope by now.

Torikumi below Juryo is incomplete before the Heisei era, but in the available data I can find only three bouts between rikishi who had yumitori-shiki experience. Stay tuned in 2063 for the next instalment. 1973.07 9 Ms4e Okabe 4-1 (5-2) tsukiotoshi J13e Tochizakura 3-6 (6-9) 1993.05 5 Sd9e Hokutoasahi 1-2 (3-4) uwatenage Sd6e Hidenohana 2-1 (5-2) 2023.11 15 Sd8w Yuki 4-3 oshidashi Sd4e Shohoryu 5-2 The first and third bouts were between the incumbent performer (Okabe and Yuki) and a predecessor. In the second bout, both rikishi were ex-performers on the day, although Hokutoasahi actually twirled the bow twice a few days later, perhaps a retirement gift in what was his final basho.

Seems like they're waiting to appoint a new yokozuna before preparing to fire the current one. A smart business decision

Thanks for the feedback. The half -foreigners are there because that's how this all started. I forgot about Koutokuzan, just like I left out Tochimusashi after he dropped back to Makushita.. As for Fukai, he's been around for quite some time and I still feel he's not good enough. Kitaharima is a good idea. Shouketsu too. And Satonofuji is no longer the yumitorikishi so I'll need to deal with that as well. And Tanji is better than Taiga for now, so I decided to leave the Tiger out for now. Tanji isn't that spectacular either, but half-foreigner. All in all, it's a subjective list of who I think should be followed. It's way too long, inconsistent as you rightly pointed out, and probably something we can do without, but it's stronger than me.. Points taken, will incorporate some of them next basho. Higonomaru? Gut feeling. Wrong, I guess.

Hello peoples of the world, hello fat-guys-in-diapers gawkers! It's time again and here's the meat, already. But still, the extensive comments below might be worthwhile. Whenever I think there's nothing left to improve/do, I seem to receive some inspiration for exactly that. Thus, the graph has seen quite some (mostly cosmetic) work since last year: The two Ozeki promotions triggered me to visually clarify the win-loss indicators of successful Ozeki (re)runs. Naturally, I extended this new scheme to Yokozuna runs as well. The major retirements on the main graph were a bit redone. I never really liked how they visually dominated, so I did the natural thing and likened them to the intai scheme of the lower part of the graph. The record indicators (most ex-champions on the banuke etc.) have been redone. They now don't look like shit anymore. New record indicators for Most Foreigners at the different levels of interest added. The win indicators for 12- win yusho and playoff yusho got a mild touch-up in order to visually emphazise the 12- win yusho. The two Yokozuna event rows, which are naturally dominated by whitespace, are now additionally used to indicate Yokozuna eras. The indicators (circles/rings) that show the amount of non-competing former champions have been reviewed, particularly in respect to the color coding. Each completely absent ex-champion is now represented by a white fill, independent of where he's placed on the banzuke. Only if a former champion actually competed for at least a single bout in a lower division, the circle/ring gets colored. Also the order of colored vs. non-colored rings has been reversed. As for the visual info provided by the graph for 2023: In May, we saw the highest number of former champions on any banzuke. That number is 13. This was immediatly rectified by the intai of Ichinojo and Tochinoshin, which let the number drop to 11 for July. Together with the retirement of Tokushoryu we therefore had three ex-champion intai this year, which is not super common, but also not explicitly rare. In March we had another record: Five former champions didn't compete for the Makuuchi yusho, courtesy of Tochinoshin, Ichinojo, Asanoyama and Tokushoryu all competing in Juryo (which is a record by itself), while Terunofuji took another 15-day breather. Tied rank 2 in that category (four non-Makuuchi-competing ex-champions) occured three times: Twice this year (January and May) and once way back in V-2000, when Yokozuna Musashimaru and Ozeki Musoyama were out, while Kotonishiki and Mitoizumi were placed in Juryo and both additionally didn't turn up (covered by the kosho rule back then). Each banzuke of the year had extended sanyaku ranks. Such a full extension year happened twice before, namely 1993 and 1961. With the current results, this streak of extended sanyaku ranks is bound to end at 8 (IX-22 to XI-23). This is the third longest streak of extended sanyaku ranks after III-92 to I-94 and VII-60 to V-62 (both 12). There were three Ozeki yusho this year. This last happened in 2012, which included Harumafuji's Yokozuna run and Baruto's one-off yusho. There was only one Yokozuna yusho this year, which happened only once before, which was last year. Zero Yokozuna yusho happened only in 1992, just before and including part of the Yokozuna-less couple of months prior to Akebono's ascension. While the amount of foreigners at several levels has principally stabilized (certainly due to the protective restrictions set up by the NSK), we saw a low outlier in November, with only six Makuuchi foreigners on the banzuke. You have to go back to 2003/2004 to find such a low number. This is just when Asashoryu kicked (shoved?) off at the top, and the slower members of the Second Mongolian Wave slowly dripped into Makuuchi. As for the elephant in the room: For a second year in a row, the wins-per yusho average was 12.33. Which is amazingly bad. My grandmother could currently yusho. And she's dead! On Takayasu's grave it will be written: "He couldn't even yusho while the wins-per-yusho average was 12.33 for the second year running!" Well, probably not. It will most likely say "He was a nice chap." OK, Terunofuji is absent a lot. But he wouldn't necessarily help either. With 8 career yusho, he already has three yusho won with only 12 wins. The only other ex-champions with 3+ Makuuchi yusho that amassed at least three 12- wins yusho are: Musashimaru (1x11, 3x12 with 12 career yusho), Chiyonofuji (4x12; 31), and Wajima (3x12; 14). So the weakness of the current yusho level made me consider if I could represent that visually. As it turned out: Yes I could! But with a caveat. The measure that I applied goes like this: Take a banzuke. Look at all former champions that compete for the Makuuchi yusho. Look at all the yusho those guys had so far and average the necessary wins they needed for their accumulated yusho. Voila. This can be plotted onto the graph. The problem is only, that the each datapoint is somewhere between 12 and 14.5, while the graph generally shows stuff between 0 and 63. Of course you could map the values, sneak in some extra labelling and whatnot. And I did! But this is so specific that I decided to leave that feature out of the "normal" Graph. As a fan service to the real afficionados I have attached the extended version here. There you can learn – once more – how awsome Hakuho was, how pathetic the current crop is, and how freakish the banzuke/competition situation of July 1972 was. Comment, like, subscribe, make me feel worthy.

Is that a certainty? Only moving up to M1E seems possible, not that I GTB... A total of 4 losses from maezumo to juryo was (and still is) hype-worthy. I'm amazed he managed to come back from the knee injuries and establish himself as a joi regular.

Though, to be fair, they give them these shikona with that in mind. It's not an accident, after all.

The man is literally falling apart. Hopefully there's enough of him left for a life after danpatsushiki.

Kirishima has achieved something that wasn't seen in a while; winning the yusho with a shikona of a different makuuchi yusho winner in the past. Tochiazuma was the latest occurrence of this. This query here shows all the past occurrences, though it leaves out one other Wakamisugi who later became Wakanohana II (the query doesn't allow repeating of rikishi): https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&shikona=Asashio,Kirishima,Nishinoumi,Takamiyama,Takanohana,Tamanoumi,Tochiazuma,Wakamisugi,Wakanohana&group_by=rikishi&form1_y=on&form1_m=on&gsort_by=shikona

good day all, The 2023 TORCH prize is ready for the winner. The TORCH MATCH point leader is charliki/Gibuten with 23 points. But now it’s time to award the end-of-year FINAL TORCH POINTS. To recap the rules for end-of-year TORCH POINTS, 25 points are awarded if you picked the FINAL TORCH position RANK or RIKISHI. Additional points are awarded to the next 10 closest picks. (10 points to the closest pick, down to 1 point for the 10th closest pick). We’ll start with the END-OF-YEAR TORCH POINTS for RANK. Three players, chankomafuji & Jesinofuji & LLCoolKay, claimed the bullseye with their JURYO 5 EAST pick. In all, 39 players earned FINAL TORCH RANK points! Kudos to rookie nutzername who was just one away from the bullseye, and Kintamayama who scored a point with a very rare Maegashira pick. MAEGASHIRA 16 WEST...(1 point: Kintamayama) MAEGASHIRA 17 EAST... JURYO 01 EAST........ JURYO 01 WEST........ JURYO 02 EAST........(5 points: Aled ap Tomos) JURYO 02 WEST........(6 points: Holleshoryu & Nekonishiki) JURYO 03 EAST........(7 points: Fujisan & Hakuhonofan & Pitinosato) JURYO 03 WEST........(8 points: Kotogouryuu) JURYO 04 EAST........(9 points: Umigame) JURYO 04 WEST........(10 points: nutzername) FINAL TORCH RANK: JURYO 5 EAST...(25 points: Chankomafuji & Jesinofuji & LLCoolKay) JURYO 05 WEST........(10 points: rhyen) JURYO 06 EAST........(9 points: Itachi & Leoben) JURYO 06 WEST........(8 points: Chisaiyama & Domichi & Shitamachi & Suwihuto & Yubinhaad) JURYO 07 EAST........(7 points: Haidouzo & Munjeezy) JURYO 07 WEST........(6 points: Cydrome & Takanorappa) JURYO 08 EAST........(5 points: Kitanoedo & Naganoyama & Tochyatsu) JURYO 08 WEST........(4 points: Ganzohnesushi & itchyknee & Jejima) JURYO 09 EAST........(3 points: Fatakiyama & Sukubidubidu & Terarno) JURYO 09 WEST........(2 points: ChickyStarr & Senkoho) JURYO 10 EAST........(1 point: dingo & Kaito & maorencze) @Aled ap Tomos @ChickyStarr @Chisaiyama @Cydrome @dingo @Chankomafuji @Fujisan @Holleshoryu @Haidouzo @Itachi @Fatakiyama @Ganzohnesushi @Itachi @Kotogouryuu @nutzername @Umigame @Hakuhonofan @Jesinofuji @itchyknee @Nekonishiki Banji @Domichi @Leoben @maorencze @Naganoyama @Munjeezy @Senkoho @Sukubidubidu @Takanorappa @rhyen @LLCoolKay @Pitinosato @Shitamachi @nelimw @Jejima @Terarno @Kaito @Suwihuto @Yubinhaad

Tanji being makushita 29 at 17 is impressive, and I think he has a bright future - my interest in him isn't about him being half. I believe according to Gurowake's calculations, going into last basho he was the lower division rikishi furthest ahead of same age peers; that certainly counts as standing out to me. If he cant progress in 2024, then maybe it's worth a reconsider, but for now he should stay put in my view.

My ignorance is bliss.

It surely looks like that. The previous highscore I could find was 8: XI-90 to XI-92.

They are still being very patient with Terunofuji. 'Participate in January or we'll have to say something' is fair. They may not come out and say it, but the 3 current ozeki winning 5 basho in 2023 is a great indicator and they can sense the potential of either Kirishima or Hoshoryu making the grade some time in 2024. They can reasonably start allowing their patience to run out.

Sell-out of 6980 on day 15, after Atamifuji lost 10% left, another 10% after the final bout, after the yusho interview about 50% remained - NHK coverage ended there as well. By the time the NHK cup was awarded, about 10% remained, even less than that for the final kami-okuri ceremony that concludes the basho, about 17 minutes after the broadcast stopped at 18h JST. o

The most wins of the year award from the sponsor NishiNippon shimbun, which this basho provided a daily gallery for important rikishi from Kyushu o the company president hands it over

Unconfirmed Final Standings: Here are the inofficial Final Standings for the Kyushu Masters and the World Championship. Results for Hoshitori Game, Salarycap Sumo, and UDH are provisional - I did my best to calculate the scores, but there is always the possibility that I semi-manually botched some things that will deviate from the official standings once they are in. For Hoshitori Game, I forgot to jot down the estimated points, but the winner was Suwihito, followed by Beeftank and Pitinosato (who was outside of the Top 10 on Day 14). For Salarycap Sumo, my standings have Sakura (2446) on top, followed by Joaoiyama (2383) and Beeftank (2305) And in UDH I see Gonzaburow winning (370) in front of Oyama (362) and Kishikaisei (359). If that is true (and probably even if it isn't) the winner of the Green Mawashi is Golynohana (54.51). Oskanohana is not only World Champion, but also ended Kyushu on a high note in second place (with a glorious Odd yusho on senshuraku), giving him 50.77 points as well as gino-sho and kanto-sho. Beeftank (46.00) finishes in 3rd place. Other players above 30 points are Gonzaburow (43.71), Pandaazuma (41.59, kanto-sho), Athenayama (41.00), Andoreasu (39.60), Papayasu (34.30), and chishafuwaku (31.80). Oskanohana wins the 2023 World Championship miles ahead of his competitors. Congratulations for a fully deserved title (and please PM me with a postal address in case you want a trophy). Kaito is the only other player to finish north of 200 points, giving him 2nd place. The battle for 3rd place went in favor of Pandaazuma who outdid Gonzaburow (4th) and Susanoo (5th). The battle for 6th place was decided by Norizo over Joaoiyama and Golynohana. Andoreasu remains in 9th place, and chishafuwaku rounds out the Top 10 of the year. The only player with triple digits who is not on the chart is Bill (103.38).

Heya Watch Annual Report 2023 (sorted by kk percentage) HEYA RIKISHI_AVERAGE SCORE PERCENT KK KKPERCENT Irumagawa 7 32-17 65 6 86 Oshiogawa 6 166-114 59 27 68 Takekuma 7 200-135 60 28 67 Nishonoseki 18 433-352 55 62 57 Hanaregoma 8 227-194 54 29 56 Futagoyama 15 342-321 52 49 54 Ikazuchi 7 143-126 53 19 54 Onoe 12 262-228 53 38 53 Sadogatake 25 584-552 51 79 52 Oitekaze 19 547-541 50 60 52 Asakayama 9 192-184 51 28 52 Takasago 25 577-528 52 76 50 Miyagino 19 430-410 51 59 50 Arashio 14 335-308 52 44 50 Ajigawa 3 65-40 62 9 50 Naruto 17 335-275 55 50 49 Fujishima 13 304-280 52 41 49 Oshima 6 122-107 53 19 49 Tagonoura 12 271-271 50 36 47 Minato 9 193-187 51 27 47 Kise 23 565-595 49 64 46 Tokitsukaze 17 362-384 49 47 46 Shikoroyama 14 302-301 50 41 46 Yamahibiki 14 278-279 50 39 46 Kataonami 4 115-141 45 11 46 Tatsunami 18 420-441 49 51 45 Ounomatsu 14 295-309 49 38 45 Tokiwayama 10 251-242 51 27 45 Musashigawa 16 275-292 49 42 44 Kokonoe 26 528-596 47 68 43 Isegahama 20 473-441 52 52 43 Hakkaku 18 410-413 50 49 43 Kasugano 17 355-403 47 44 43 Takadagawa 19 488-507 49 49 42 Sakaigawa 19 429-462 48 47 41 Tamanoi 21 439-509 46 52 40 Dewanoumi 19 367-414 47 46 40 Isenoumi 14 284-305 48 33 39 Otake 13 266-289 48 30 38 Michinoku 11 235-234 50 27 38 Shibatayama 8 148-174 46 20 38 Asahiyama 7 136-142 49 16 36 Shikihide 18 307-405 43 38 35 Nishiiwa 8 139-163 46 14 27 Nishikido 2 51-67 43 2 13

No grand finale basho for him like Akebono or Hakuho. He tries to enter Hatsu, loses his first match to a Komusubi, goes kyujo immediately, changes his mind and goes intai when Kirishima wins yusho to secure a tsuna.

Kyushu 1996, first ever yusho ketteisen with 5: Kaio, Takanonami, Musashimaru, Akebono, Wakanohana - the basho was the first kyujo of Takanohana o drawing the lots for the first round 2 first round bouts and one lucky to go into the tomoesen - Musashimaru yusho with 3 straight wins http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Results.aspx?b=199611&d=16