Asashosakari

Juryo yusho race: 9-2 J11e Kotonowaka, J12w Ikioi 8-3 --- 7-4 J2e Takanosho, J5e Daishomaru, J13w Kizakiumi, J14w Kaisho And so, just two days removed from having half the division in contention, it looks like this has become a pure two-horse race. Kotonowaka sent sole pursuer Daishomaru to two wins off the pace, and Ikioi continued his resurgence against Tobizaru to keep in touch with the rookie. Of course a lot can still happen and the co-leaders might well both pick up two more losses along the way, but I'm not so sure anyone in the 7-4 group will be able to post the required four straight wins to take advantage of it if it does happen. In any case, for Day 12 it's now Ikioi who gets to face Daishomaru, while Kotonowaka gets 6-5 Kyokutaisei. Lower division yusho races (Day 11 results): 5-1 Ms7w Chiyootori (Kokonoe) 6-0 Ms27e Terunofuji (Isegahama) 6-0 Ms46w Chiyonokuni (Kokonoe) 5-1 Sd1w Oazuma (Tamanoi) 6-0 Sd6e Tsushida (Tokitsukaze) 5-1 Sd36w Tsushimanada (Sakaigawa) 6-0 Sd46w Sadanohikari (Sakaigawa) 5-1 Sd63e Hitenryu (Tatsunami) 5-1 Sd75e Suzuki (Fujishima) 6-0 Sd96w Fujinowaka (Fujishima) 5-1 Jd15w Sakurai (Naruto) 6-0 Jd16e Motobayashi (Naruto) 6-0 Jd48w Sadanohana (Sakaigawa) 5-1 Jd72w Tomiyutaka (Tokitsukaze) 5-1 Jd92w Higonoryu (Kise) 6-0 Jd98w Aomihama (Dewanoumi) 5-1 Jk9e Mimori (Irumagawa) 6-0 Jk27e Murata (Takasago) 6-0 Jk30e Omura (Michinoku) The most anticipated yusho race battle was also the by far most competitive one, with Terunofuji already moved back to the tawara by Chiyootori before he employed his bulk to prevent the forceout, rallied, and eventually secured a deep enough position to move Chiyootori back and down. He'll now get to contest the makushita yusho on Day 13 against Chiyonokuni whose thrusting attack looked very much like the Chiyonokuni of old, and which was easily sufficient to move Oazuma back and out of the dohyo. All in all we entered this round with no less than four possibilities for same-stable playoffs, of which exactly zero managed to stay intact. Sakaigawa's smallish Tsushimanada engaged in some frantic thrusting as he usually does, but got the tables turned on him by Tsushida in short order. Stablemate Sadanohikari did better, quickly flinging down Suzuki with uwatenage after they'd entered yotsu off the tachiai. That broke up the Fujishima duo, whose other part Fujinowaka managed to score a rather easy oshidashi victory over veteran Hitenryu. Sadanohana-Sakurai in jonidan was the other reasonably close contest, in which some back and forth action eventually led to Sadanohana gaining the upper hand and then ending it soon after. So, no Naruto playoff either, but last basho's jonokuchi champion Motobayashi did maintain his shot at doing the double; a brief advance off the tachiai by Tomiyutaka was quickly smothered and turned into Motobayashi's yorikiri victory. Much earlier in the division we saw Aomihama succeed as he was fast out of the blocks and easily yorikiried veteran low-ranker Higonoryu. And down in jonokuchi both Murata and Omura scored very easy oshidashi wins over their opponents Mimori and Itakozakura. There shouldn't be any surprises in the match-making for the final round now. Makushita and jonokuchi will get the straight-up yusho deciders between each division's respective 6-0 contenders (in jonokuchi it's been a year since we last had that), while there should be a cross-divisional Sd/Jd pairing between Fujinowaka and Motobayashi to decide which of these two divisions will see a Day 15 playoff. You'd have to think it'll be jonidan.

He's already toned it down significantly though, or maybe refined it. His early stuff below juryo was frequently total car crash viewing with him rushing the opponent and himself off the dohyo with reckless abandon.

Day 11 (results, text-only results) 9-2 Sw Takakeisho, M10w Meisei 8-3 Se Mitakeumi, M2w Asanoyama, M8e Okinoumi, M8w Takarafuji, M14e Tsurugisho 7-4 O1w Goeido, Kw Endo, M11w Enho, M12e Shohozan, M16e Yutakayama The same 7 rikishi remain in the lead or one win off the pace after Day 11, but the two groups were jumbled up quite a bit. Takakeisho is now arguably in the driver's seat of the yusho race after he defeated Tochinoshin with ozeki-caliber sumo. Only Meisei managed to keep up with him with a dominant victory over Ishiura. Ryuden engaged in some smart close quarters defending of Mitakeumi's pushing attempts and eventually turned the tables on the sekiwake, Asanoyama got muscled all around the dohyo by Hokutofuji and finally out of it, and Okinoumi was far too eager to dispose of Tsurugisho and found himself with his legs not following his body. Tsurugisho is KK in his makuuchi debut with that, and should be in the weekend sansho conversations. Takarafuji also moved up to 8-3 by patiently outlasting Daishoho, picking up his earliest kachikoshi in over two years. Komusubi Endo dispatched of Shodai and is closing in on his first-ever sanyaku kachikoshi, while Abi got thrust down by Tamawashi and has a little more work to do in order to duplicate last basho's 8-7 record. Kadoban ozeki Goeido defeated struggling Chiyotairyu after many-a-matta and appears very likely to retain his rank now. 4-4-3 Kakuryu Y Hakuho 0-2-9 kyujo Takayasu O1 Goeido 7-4 5-6 Tochinoshin O2 8-3 Mitakeumi S Takakeisho 9-2 6-5 Abi K Endo 7-4 5-6 Hokutofuji M1 M2 Asanoyama 8-3 4-7 Daieisho M3 Tomokaze 6-5 6-5 Tamawashi M4 M5 Ryuden 6-5 M6 Myogiryu 6-3-2 M7 8-3 Okinoumi M8 Takarafuji 8-3 M9 M10 Meisei 9-2 Takakeisho only requires one more successful day to reclaim his ozeki rank, which would be well deserved. It could come as early as tomorrow against Myogiryu, who has yet to defeat Takakeisho in six attempts and is nursing a leg injury. Tochinoshin, conversely, needs to win 3 out of 4 to avoid exchanging places with the sekiwake; for Day 12 he has Mitakeumi in his sights - or the other way around, as the case may be. The sekiwake could really use the win himself, not only for the yusho race but also his own ozeki aspirations. Myogiryu's ailing calf wasn't enough to stop him from beating Terutsuyoshi and at 2-9 the Isegahama youngster is getting close to a full-on reversal of last basho's 12-3 record. Daishoho's fortunes have also started to turn south again after a brief surge, and he is now the most endangered rikishi - that is, considering that Takagenji went makekoshi in a one-sided match against Onosho today and has moved from endangered to outright done. Tochiozan received a favourable matchup with juryo visitor Chiyomaru and scored his 5th straight head-to-head win against the burly Kokonoe rikishi. (But boy does Tochiozan look slow nowadays...) Yutakayama and Nishikigi had a good ol' safety playoff today, and the Tokitsukaze man (soon to have a yokozuna in his heya?) improved to 7-4 while Nishikigi will have to wait a bit longer to secure his makuuchi spot for Kyushu. Kagayaki and Ishiura also failed to collect their last needed shiroboshi, but Azumaryu continues to surprise and he also stands just one win away from more top division action after today's defeat of Kotoyuki. The merry go round in juryo continues, and Takanosho is the top promotion contender again after Chiyomaru's loss up in makuuchi. Wakatakakage, Yago and Kiribayama were the other winners of the day in the top 5 ranks, but all were only lesser contenders before this, so they're not anywhere near making a definitive mark on the promotion race yet. (2) 2-9 Terutsuyoshi M9 M10 (o) 5-6 Onosho M11 M12 Daishoho 3-8 (3) (1) 5-6 Kagayaki M13 Nishikigi 5-6 (1) M14 Toyonoshima 1-9-1 (x) (1) 6-5 Ishiura M15 Azumaryu 6-5 (1) (0) 7-4 Yutakayama M16 Tochiozan 6-5 (2) (~) 3-8 Takagenji M17 --- (2) 6-5 Chiyomaru J1 Daiamami 4-7 (4) (2) 7-4 Takanosho J2 Chiyoshoma 5-6 (4) (3) 6-5 Tokushoryu J3 Wakatakakage 5-6 (4) (4) 6-5 Yago J4 Kiribayama 5-6 (~) (3) 7-4 Daishomaru J5 J6 Hidenoumi 6-5 (~) (~) 6-5 Kyokushuho J7 ... (4) 9-2 Kotonowaka J11 J12 Ikioi 9-2 (~) I'm fairly sure that Yutakayama is in fact safe already, but given that the M17e spot could still disappear if Tochinoshin hangs on as ozeki, I've marked him as zero wins needed rather than the usual (o) safe mark for now. On the other hand it's still conceivable - if highly unlikely - that Takagenji could survive with 7 wins. (But where is he going to get those on his current form?) Second time was the charm for Kizakiumi and he should now be safe for November after defeating Sokokurai, who continues to require one win himself. Rookie Kaisho ran his winning streak to 5 and can start to dream of a kachikoshi in his juryo debut, even moreso as he faces Chiyonoumi on Day 12 - the Kokonoe man dropped another bout, this time to high-ranked Wakatakakage, and he is now closer to demotion than he was at any point last basho (which was enough of a disaster for him already). Asagyokusei lost to Kyokutaisei and sports the mirror record to fellow debutant Kaisho's 7-4, so he's got a 4-win mountain to climb as well if he still wants to stay in juryo from here. Gagamaru defeated fellow demotion candidate Irodori and has put himself into the slightly better - but by no means good - position of the two. Lastly, Seiro isn't coming back to action again, so his demotion has become a certainty. Meanwhile the second free spot has been awarded as we welcome Akua back to juryo for his third sekitori appearance, following a full year spent in makushita. Given other events of the day he didn't even need to win for it, but he did so anyway and has improved his record to 5-1. Veteran Arawashi was sent to makekoshi by Hoshoryu and will have to win his final match now just to keep himself ranked high enough for another shot at returning in two months. Chiyonoo was dropped to 3-3 by Churanoumi and will face a make-or-break bout of his own soon. Kototebakari picked up his kachikoshi and looks very likely - though not certain - to earn his juryo debut by senshuraku. J5 Takanofuji kyujo (x) J6 J7 Yoshikaze 0-0-5 (i) ... (2) 4-7 Gagamaru J10 Sokokurai 5-6 (1) J11 Chiyonoumi 2-9 (4) (x) 2-7-2 Seiro J12 (3) 4-7 Irodori J13 Kizakiumi 7-4 (o) (4) 4-7 Asagyokusei J14 Kaisho 7-4 (1) (o) 5-1 Wakamotoharu Ms1 Arawashi 2-4 (x) (o) 5-1 Akua Ms2 Chiyonoo 3-3 Ms3 Ms4 Kototebakari 4-2 3-3 Hoshoryu Ms5 Akiseyama 3-3 4-2 Churanoumi Ms6 Tsurubayashi 3-3 Ms7 Chiyootori 5-1 Chiyootori wasn't able to come through his zensho matchup with Terunofuji and has lost the opportunity to return to juryo on a 7-0 record, but given the large number of open slots we may end up with there's a non-zero chance that even 6-1 could do it for him, so I'll keep him listed for now. The two Ms6's have been (re-)added for the same reason, just to be on the safe side. (I could have probably left it to just Churanoumi, but anyway...) There is currently no need to send makushita rikishi into juryo to complete the schedule, so it remains to be seen how many of them (and who) they'll bring up between Days 13 and 15. Chiyonoo-Hoshoryu hasn't happened yet, so that could be a straight-up KK/MK decider, and Kototebakari-Churanoumi is a possible pairing as well.

Day 11 Two streaks were extended by another kachikoshi today, namely for Kototebakari up in makushita-joi and for Yuma in upper sandanme. The latter will be featuring as a makushita debutant on the next ballot now, and Kototebakari just might get to juryo, too. The scoring was all over the place with 5 entrants picking up one point, and 4 players each either hitting twice or not at all. Our first successful applicant for ballot inclusion has also been found with sandanme regular Hokutoo moving up to 4-2 today. The updated standings - the perfect scores are no more: Day 11: 6/14 Decisions, TB 5-16 Pos Player Pts TB 1 wolfgangho 5 12 2 Mmikasazuma 5 13 3 chishafuwaku 5 14 4 robnplunder 4 13 5 WAKATAKE 4 6 Rocks 3 11 7 Profomisakari 3 12 8 Ryoshishokunin 3 13 9 Sakura 2 10 9 Tsuchinoninjin 2 10 11 Asashosakari 2 9 12 Pandaazuma 1 11 12 Tenshinhan 1 10

Corporate spending still means that somebody thinks it's worth their money to support it. The reasons really don't matter. And I don't think of tax exemptions as particularly relevant considering they're omni-present in all manner of economic activity, for better or worse. Surely a lot (most?) of those volleyball players are just corporate amateurs with (at least nominally) a regular job? Would be nothing wrong with that model for a women's sumo league, but I certainly don't see the demand for it. There's corporate men's sumo like that, of course, and nobody really gives a damn about that either.

I think that's a bit unfair on Kotoshogiku. Enho's shortness of stature plus the submarining (which he doesn't always use, but did to great effect here) simply is a terrible match for Giku's gabburi style, and he just doesn't have that many other useful weapons in his arsenal. Oh please. Wannabe career advisor comments such as that one are getting old. He'll retire when he's ready to do so, not when people with misguided "must protect his legacy" notions say he should. As it should be.

All toriteki matchups between rikishi with sanyaku experience: 1979.09.09 Ms8w (S) Kotokaze* [4-0] Ms1w (K) Oshio 1987.05.08 Ms3e (K) Oshio [3-0] Ms8e (S) Hoo* 1989.07.05 Ms8e (S) Tochiakagi* [1-1] Ms6w (S) Hoo 1989.09.11 Ms3e (S) Tochiakagi* [1-4] Ms10e (S) Hoo 2017.11.04 Ms14e (K) Jokoryu* [1-0] Ms13w (S) Toyonoshima 2019.09.11 Ms27e (O) Terunofuji* [5-0] Ms7w (K) Chiyootori [ ] = records before match * = winner

Regardless of what anyone in the Kyokai or among sumo fans might think about women's sumo, there's nothing stopping anyone from establishing a professional women's sumo circuit. The problem, as with anything professional sports-related, is that enough people will need to be willing to pay to watch it. Unless you believe the Kyokai (or some other entity) should be forced to subsidize it?

I'm afraid not...

The results so far: Day 7 The earliest possible MK for former top talent Tochimaru as his latest attempt to get back to high makushita comes to a screeching halt. Only 4 entrants thought that would happen. Day 9 Another makekoshi in makushita, this time for Midorifuji in his first promotion zone appearance. This was a lot more widely expected and only 3 players got it wrong. Conversely the day also saw a KK for Tanakayama who thus maintains his MK-free streak since debuting 8 basho ago. Just under half of us correctly predicted that. Day 10 Also projected by not quite a majority of entrants, much-heralded Kotonowaka is already KK in juryo once more (and is in the yusho race, to boot). Meanwhile, the 9 potential rikishi additions to the Kyushu ballot have fared rather disastrously so far, with young Wakaryusei missing his first scheduled bout on Day 2 and fully absent from the basho since, followed by Day 8 makekoshi (i.e., 0-4) for Higoarashi and Tsugaruumi, and another pair of MK on Day 10 for Munakata and Amatsu. (On the upside, the remaining four rikishi are all 3-2, so we're likely to get at least some KK here in the end.) The standings as of Day 10, including two still-perfect scores: Day 10: 4/14 Decisions, TB 2-16 Pos Player Pts TB 1 Mmikasazuma 4 13 2 chishafuwaku 4 14 3 wolfgangho 3 12 4 robnplunder 3 13 5 Asashosakari 2 9 6 Sakura 2 10 7 WAKATAKE 2 8 Tenshinhan 1 10 8 Tsuchinoninjin 1 10 10 Pandaazuma 1 11 10 Rocks 1 11 12 Profomisakari 1 12 13 Ryoshishokunin 1 13

Aww, just 13 entries for Aki basho? Was it the fact that the thread was actually up early for a change? Anyway, welcome to those who did join us! Here are the selection stats: Player Tomo Tanaka Waka Shima Kiriba Ichi Midori K'teba Tochi K'haya Yuma Abi K'waka Asagy TB Cons chishafuwaku + + + + + + - - - - + + 8-7 + - 14 1.89 Mmikasazuma + + - + + + - + - - - - MK + - 13 1.63 Pandaazuma - - + + + + - - + - - - MK - - 11 1.48 Sakura - - - + + + - - + - - - MK + - 10 1.37 WAKATAKE - + - - + - - + + - + - MK - - 1.58 Profomisakari + - - + + + + + + + + - MK + - 12 1.70 Rocks - + - - + + + + + + + - MK - - 11 1.65 robnplunder - + - + + + - - + + + - MK + + 13 1.63 Ryoshishokunin - - + - + + - + + + + - MK - - 13 1.58 wolfgangho + + - + + + - + - - + - MK - + 12 1.70 Tenshinhan - - - - + + - - + - - - MK - + 10 1.56 Tsuchinoninjin + - + - + + + - - - + - MK - - 10 1.79 Asashosakari - - - - - - - - + - - - MK + - 9 1.87 5:8 6:7 4:9 7:6 12:1 11:2 3:10 6:7 9:4 4:9 8:5 1:12 6:7 3:10 Results 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 In accordance with the rules kyujo Takayasu has been removed from the scoring, leaving Abi as the sole sanyaku representative for the basho - but he might as well be ranked anywhere else as he only attracted a single kachikoshi prediction, making his the co-most lopsided predictions entered. (Alongside Kiribayama's, on whom people went the other way with just one MK guess.) The most average entry comes courtesy of Sakura this basho, followed by Pandaazuma. Both share all but two picks with the majority of the field. The most unusual selections were posted by chishafuwaku, but only a smidgen ahead of Asashosakari. In addition Mmikasazuma has managed the feat of entering a ballot that goes against the grain on no less than 6 slots (same as chishafuwaku's extreme outlier, and more than Asashosakari's), but with an overall consensus score of 1.63 that's actually better - i.e. more "normal" - than the average score of 1.65. The mutually most similar choices are those of our two most majority-like pickers Pandaazuma and Sakura, with 12 of the 14 slots voted identically. The other end of the agreement spectrum features Asashosakari and wolfgangho who selected the same outcomes for only 4 rikishi. Tie-breaker selections were made in the range of 9 to 14 this time around, with the two extremes attracting one selection apiece and all numbers in between being picked multiple times. Good luck, everyone!

The ex-sekitori through Day 10. new KK: Wakamotoharu, Akua, Gokushindo, Keitenkai new MK: Asahisho, Yoshiazuma Record Rank Shikona Heya Age Out 5-1 Ms1e Wakamotoharu Arashio 25 3 2-3 Ms1w Arawashi Minezaki 33 1 4-1 Ms2e Akua Tatsunami 28 6 3-2 Ms2w Chiyonoo Kokonoe 28 5 kyujo Ms3w Ryuko Onoe 21 1 2-3 Ms5w Akiseyama Kise 34 1 3-2 Ms6e Churanoumi Kise 25 2 2-3 Ms7e Asabenkei Takasago 30 8 5-0 Ms7w Chiyootori Kokonoe 26 11 3-2 Ms9w Daiseido Kise 26 3 2-3 Ms10w Toyohibiki Sakaigawa 34 10 2-3 Ms12e Fujiazuma Tamanoi 32 15 4-1 Ms14e Sakigake Shibatayama 33 28 2-3 Ms16w Kizenryu Kise 34 7 3-2 Ms17w Hakuyozan Takadagawa 24 2 2-3 Ms18w Chiyoarashi Kokonoe 28 37 2-3 Ms24w Sagatsukasa Irumagawa 37 33 5-0 Ms27e Terunofuji Isegahama 27 8 2-3 Ms27w Higonojo Kise 34 32 3-2 Ms28e Kitaharima Yamahibiki 33 12 2-3 Ms29e Jokoryu Kise 31 4 2-3 Ms35w Takaryu Kise 27 25 4-1 Ms36w Kagamio Kagamiyama 31 20 2-3 Ms37w Nionoumi Yamahibiki 32 37 4-1 Ms39w Gokushindo Nishikido 23 5 1-4 Ms40e Asahisho Tomozuna 30 14 4-1 Ms43e Keitenkai Onomatsu 29 42 5-0 Ms46w Chiyonokuni Kokonoe 29 2 3-2 Ms49w Tokushinho Kise 35 23 2-3 Ms56w Masunoyama Chiganoura 28 27 1-4 Sd23w Yoshiazuma Tamanoi 42 30 0-5 Sd25e Kaonishiki Azumazeki 40 48 3-2 Sd27e Amakaze Oguruma 28 9 1-4 Sd28w Dairaido Takadagawa 39 78 3-2 Sd52e Homarefuji Isegahama 34 7 5-0 Sd63e Hitenryu Tatsunami 35 48 2-3 Sd89e Daikiho Miyagino 30 10 kyujo Jd36w Ura Kise 27 10 Surprisingly low early MK count this basho.

Juryo yusho race: 8-2 J11e Kotonowaka, J12w Ikioi 7-3 J5e Daishomaru 6-4 J1e Chiyomaru, J2e Takanosho, J3e Tokushoryu, J6w Hidenoumi, J7e Kyokushuho, J13w Kizakiumi, J14w Kaisho Well, that field got thinned out in a hurry. KK-clinching wins for both leaders, and just one of five pursuers managed to keep up. It's juryo and all, but I do feel it's rather likely that the winner will be coming from these three now. Kotonowaka and Ikioi haven't met yet despite their very similar ranking positions, and it'll be interesting to see how much they delay their meeting now. We do get a highlight bout for Day 11 with Kotonowaka going against chaser Daishomaru, so we could end up with anywhere from one to three leaders after tomorrow. Ikioi has to deal with 5-5 Tobizaru meanwhile, and among the 6-4's we get Takanosho against Hidenoumi. Tokushoryu meets 4-6 Kiribayama, and the remaining four all get 5-5 opponents (Chiyomaru-Tochiozan in makuuchi, Kyokushuho-Yago, Kaisho-Ichiyamamoto, Kizakiumi-Sokokurai). Lower division yusho races: 5-0 Ms7w Chiyootori (Kokonoe) 5-0 Ms27e Terunofuji (Isegahama) 5-0 Ms46w Chiyonokuni (Kokonoe) 5-0 Sd1w Oazuma (Tamanoi) 5-0 Sd6e Tsushida (Tokitsukaze) 5-0 Sd36w Tsushimanada (Sakaigawa) 5-0 Sd46w Sadanohikari (Sakaigawa) 5-0 Sd63e Hitenryu (Tatsunami) 5-0 Sd75e Suzuki (Fujishima) 5-0 Sd96w Fujinowaka (Fujishima) 5-0 Jd15w Sakurai (Naruto) 5-0 Jd16e Motobayashi (Naruto) 5-0 Jd48w Sadanohana (Sakaigawa) 5-0 Jd72w Tomiyutaka (Tokitsukaze) 5-0 Jd92w Higonoryu (Kise) 5-0 Jd98w Aomihama (Dewanoumi) 5-0 Jk9e Mimori (Irumagawa) 5-0 Jk27e Murata (Takasago) 5-0 Jk30e Omura (Michinoku) The decision has been made to keep the sandanme and jonidan races separate from each other, so the Fujishima duo in sandanme faces higher-ranked opponents Sadanohikari and Hitenryu, while the Naruto duo meets the lower-rankers Sadanohana and Tomiyutaka in jonidan. That has led to a rather awkward matchup between Motobayashi and Tomiyutaka with a rank difference of no less than 56, which is quite rare for a round 6 pairing. Needless to say I expect both Naruto deshi to advance here and then we'll get to play the same guessing game for the Day 13 torikumi again. (Especially if both Fujishima guys lose and the lowest sandanme 6-0 ends up being middle-ranked Hitenryu...) Everything else proceeds as expected, including Chiyonokuni against Oazuma as a cross-divisional Ms/Sd pairing. Sorry Terunofuji fans, but I'm rooting for both Kokonoe rikishi here. Lowest-ranked Omura is the odd man out once again in this field of 19, and will face a 1-loss rikishi for the third straight match.

Day 10 (results, text-only results) 8-2 Se Mitakeumi, Sw Takakeisho, M2w Asanoyama, M8e Okinoumi, M10w Meisei 7-3 M8w Takarafuji, M14e Tsurugisho 6-4 O1w Goeido, Ke Abi, Kw Endo, M11w Enho, M12e Shohozan, M15e Ishiura, M16e Yutakayama Time for the erstwhile leaders to turn back into mid-maegashira pumpkins, it seems. Meisei met his bane Tsurugisho (H2H 1-5 from makushita and juryo), and the top division rookie promptly managed to swing down Meisei with uwatenage despite the latter's far superior grip. Okinoumi for his part got punished for an ill-advised pulling attempt against well-balanced Sadanoumi and found himself rushed-and-crushed out of the dohyo in response. All three yusho-experienced pursuers from the joi-jin marched to KK in unison to catch up with the lead; Takakeisho and Asanoyama proved overwhelming to opponents Shodai and Shimanoumi, while Mitakeumi needed to win going backwards against dangerous Tamawashi (and had to pass a hair pull check mono-ii on top of that). Ozeki Goeido dropped to 6-4 with the sort of awkward loss to Abi that only Goeido seems capable of, while Tochinoshin prevailed over Chiyotairyu by going against his usual tactics of trying to finish bouts in a hurry, which was probably a good idea given how relatively un-dangerous Chiyotairyu is in the clinch. (Anyone up for the surely thrilling senshuraku musubi no ichiban featuring an 8-6 Goeido versus a 7-7 Tochinoshin...? At least we've got the likely Mitakeumi-Endo and Takakeisho-Abi undercard to look forward to.) In any case, we're arguably down to two maegashira who can still provide the banzuke committee with promotion headaches. Freshly kachikoshi Asanoyama is one of them, of course, and the other is top-ranked Hokutofuji who remains in the mix at 4-6 after defeating komusubi Endo today. Tamawashi and Tomokaze (loss in yotsu to clever Ryuden) can no longer finish better than 10-5 and they're at ranks where we've seen the committee easily give the thumbs down on promotion. The same goes for Daieisho who had dropped to 6 losses yesterday, but who at least stays in the hunt for a second straight joi kachikoshi with today's defeat of Aoiyama (now MK). 4-4-2 Kakuryu Y Hakuho 0-2-8 kyujo Takayasu O1 Goeido 6-4 5-5 Tochinoshin O2 8-2 Mitakeumi S Takakeisho 8-2 6-4 Abi K Endo 6-4 4-6 Hokutofuji M1 Aoiyama 2-8 (x) M2 Asanoyama 8-2 4-6 Daieisho M3 Tomokaze 5-5 5-5 Tamawashi M4 M5 Ryuden 5-5 M6 Myogiryu 5-3-2 (x) 4-6 Kotoshogiku M7 Kotoeko 4-6 (x) 8-2 Okinoumi M8 Takarafuji 7-3 M9 M10 Meisei 8-2 M11 (x) 6-4 Shohozan M12 Kotoyuki played pinball with Ishiura off the tachiai, so the diminutive Miyagino rikishi failed to secure his spot in makuuchi for the third straight day. A lot of others made their move towards safety, however, with Onosho, Kagayaki, Nishikigi and Yutakayama all just one white star away from their makuuchi ticket for Kyushu after today. Nishikigi got there as a freebie courtesy of ailing Toyonoshima's decision to withdraw after his makekoshi became official yesterday. Tochiozan was the other winner down here, besting Azumaryu with a quick pulldown. Both remain with some work to do, and so do Terutsuyoshi (fourth straight loss, today to Kagayaki), Daishoho (defeated by Yutakayama), and bottom-ranked Takagenji. The latter is in a heap of trouble now with just one loss standing between him and juryo after today's kuroboshi against juryo visitor Daiamami. Takanosho lost again in juryo, this time to Mitoryu, and has ceded his spot as the top promotion contender to newly 6-4 Chiyomaru now. Tokushoryu also collected his 6th win overall and his fourth in a row, and is very much in the mix. All in all the we're seeing some rather crushing mediocrity atop the juryo rankings, with everybody in the top 4 ranks somewhere between 6-4 and 4-6. Daishomaru of all people is the bright spot at J5, winning his fifth straight to move up to 7-3. (2) 2-8 Terutsuyoshi M9 M10 (1) 4-6 Onosho M11 M12 Daishoho 3-7 (3) (1) 5-5 Kagayaki M13 Nishikigi 5-5 (1) M14 Toyonoshima 1-9 (x) (1) 6-4 Ishiura M15 Azumaryu 5-5 (2) (1) 6-4 Yutakayama M16 Tochiozan 5-5 (3) (5) 3-7 Takagenji M17 --- (2) 6-4 Chiyomaru J1 Daiamami 4-6 (4) (3) 6-4 Takanosho J2 Chiyoshoma 5-5 (4) (3) 6-4 Tokushoryu J3 Wakatakakage 4-6 (5) (5) 5-5 Yago J4 Kiribayama 4-6 (~) (3) 7-3 Daishomaru J5 J6 Hidenoumi 6-4 (5) (5) 6-4 Kyokushuho J7 (x) 5-5 Kaisei J8 Tobizaru 5-5 (x) ... (5) 8-2 Kotonowaka J11 J12 Ikioi 8-2 (~) With five lower juryo rikishi close to safety we were likely to see some good news today, and in fact one bit was guaranteed to come as Ichiyamamoto and Kizakiumi were paired up. The taller guy with the longer shikona prevailed here and can start to plan for his third juryo tournament now. He was joined on safe shores by Mitoryu as well as Kyokutaisei, who sent Chiyonoumi to his second straight Day 10 makekoshi. If he wants to survive yet again, he better be starting soon... Debutant Asagyokusei defeated Gagamaru which leaves both in significant danger still, and Irodori also remains in trouble after losing to upper-ranked Yago. Kaisho picked up his fourth straight victory (and sixth in seven days) against Kaisei, whom he had previously done tsukebito work for, and is in surprisingly good shape to retain his juryo spot after all. Lastly (or firstly in torikumi terms), Seiro decided to put the lie to my "back in action" comment from yesterday and failed to show up for his scheduled match with makushitan Wakamotoharu. As he's not on tomorrow's action list he has clinched a demotable record, and barring yet another return (attempt) for Day 12 and four straight wins he's toast now. Wakamotoharu on the other hand is certain to stage his second juryo appearance in Kyushu after today's free win, given that he'll finish no worse than 3rd in the promotion queue. J5 Takanofuji kyujo (x) (o) 4-6 Mitoryu J6 J7 Yoshikaze 0-0-5 (i) J8 (o) 5-5 Ichiyamamoto J9 Kyokutaisei 5-5 (o) (3) 3-7 Gagamaru J10 Sokokurai 5-5 (1) J11 Chiyonoumi 2-8 (4) (~) 2-7-1 Seiro J12 (3) 4-6 Irodori J13 Kizakiumi 6-4 (1) (4) 4-6 Asagyokusei J14 Kaisho 6-4 (2) (o) 5-1 Wakamotoharu Ms1 Arawashi 2-3 4-1 Akua Ms2 Chiyonoo 3-2 Ms3 Ms4 Kototebakari 3-2 2-3 Hoshoryu Ms5 Akiseyama 2-3 Ms6 Ms7 Chiyootori 5-0 Kizakiumi gets to feature in another safety playoff tomorrow, this time with Sokokurai. And as it's an odd-numbered day we're getting loads and loads of action in high makushita as well, including veteran Mongolian Arawashi against upstart compatriot Hoshoryu with makekoshi on the line. Chiyonoo and Kototebakari are both 3-2 but have faced each other already, so they're going against Ms6-ranked duo Churanoumi and Tsurubayashi (both Kise-beya, incidentally). Akiseyama meets Hungarian Masutoo - at his highest position ever at Ms8 at 33 years of age - and for Akua they've had to reach down all the way to semi-prospect Oki at Ms12 as there's no 4-1 left between them. Last not least there's also the anticipated yusho race match between Chiyootori and Terunofuji, of course.

I sure didn't... Upper makushita just ain't the cakewalk far too many people assume it to be.