Asashosakari

BTW, was it mentioned at the time that the November tournament was the 500th of the yusho era?

In a similar vein, 3+ losses to open a title defense: by sanyaku winners 4 Takahanada 1992.09 K1w 14-1 -> 1992.11 S1w 10-5 Takakeisho 2020.11 O1e 13-2 -> 2021.01 O1e 0-4... 3+fusenpai Asashio 1961.03 Yw 13-2 -> 1961.05 Ye 0-4-11 Wakanohana 1995.11 O1w 12-3 -> 1996.01 O1e 0-4-11 Kaio 2001.07 O3e 13-2 -> 2001.09 O1e 0-4-11 3 Chiyotaikai 1999.01 S1e 13-2 -> 1999.03 O1w 3-8-4 by maegashira winners 13 Kyokutenho 2012.05 M7w 12-3 -> 2012.07 M1e 2-13 7 Kongo 1975.07 M1w 13-2 -> 1975.09 S1e 6-9 5 Fujinishiki 1964.07 M9w 14-1 -> 1964.09 Ke 4-11 Tokushoryu 2020.01 M17w 14-1 -> 2020.03 M2w 4-11 4 Dewaminato 1939.01 M17w 13-0 -> 1939.05 Kw 5-10 Takamiyama 1972.07 M4e 13-2 -> 1972.09 S2w 5-10 Kotofuji 1991.07 M13e 14-1 -> 1991.09 K2e 4-11 3 Orochiyama 1926.05 M8w 10-1 -> 1927.01 M2e 6-5 Tamanoumi 1957.11 M14e 15-0 -> 1958.01 K1w 5-10 Takahanada 1992.01 M2e 14-1 -> 1992.03 Sw 5-10 (I did not include rikishi who had two losses on the dohyo and a third by fusenpai.)

Seki-Oracle (play): Normally I wouldn't crowd the sekiwake rank like that, but Kitakachiyama and Kaito are on stronger ozeki runs than the three incumbents. Choshu-yuki (Y2e 9-6) Y1 Pandaazuma (Y1e 8-7) Norizo (Y1w 6-9) Y2 - - O DeRosa (Ow 7-8) chishafuwaku (S1e 10-5) S1 Golynohana (S2e 9-6) Susanoo (S1w 8-7) S2 Kitakachiyama (K1w 9-6) Kaito (K2w 9-6) S3 - Oortael (M1w 9-6) K Andrasoyamawaka2 (M6w 10-5 Y) Kishikaisei (M2w 8-7) M1 Sakura (K1e 7-8) Kurofuji (M6e 9-6) M2 Ganzohnesushi (M2e 7-8) Frinkanohana (M7w 9-6) M3 Wamahada (M8e 9-6) Asashosakari (M1e 6-9) M4 Andoreasu (M11e 10-5) Bill (M9w 9-6) M5 Oshirokita (M5e 7-8) Jejima (M3e 6-9) M6 Unkonoyama (M3w 6-9) Taka (M9e 8-7) M7 ScreechingOwl (M11w 9-6) Konosato (M4e 4-11) M8 Oskahanada (M4w 4-11) Torafujii (M7e 6-9) M9 Shatsume (M5w 4-11) Ryoshishokunin (M10e kosho) M10 Mariohana (M10w kosho) Athenayama (J1e 10-5) M11 Holleshoryu (J2e 10-5) Kashunowaka (J7e 12-3) M12 Tsuchinoninjin (M12w kosho) Hakase (M12e 7-8) M13 Profomisakari (M8w 5-10) Kaiowaka (J1w 8-7) M14 Gaijingai (M14w kosho) Ruziklao (J4e 9-6) M15 Pitinosato (M13w 6-9) Metzinowaka (J3w 8-7) M16 - Balon (M15e 6-9) J1 Asapedroryu (M15w 6-9) GONZABUROW (M16e 6-9) J2 Kotononami (M13e 4-11) Kyoju (J8w 9-6) J3 Flohru (J2w 7-8) Kobashi (J11e 10-5) J4 joaoiyama (J3e 7-8) Mmikasazuma (M16w 5-10) J5 Terarno (J6w 7-8) Tenshinhan (J12e 8-7) J6 Anjoboshi (J9w 7-8) Kintamayama (J4w 4-11) J7 Fujisan (J9e 6-9) Demon Taka (J8e kosho) J8 Saruyama (J11w 7-8) Pahomu (NR 8-7) J9 Gansekiiwa (M14e 0-0-15*) Takanorappa (J10e kosho) J10 Kasamatsuri (J5e 3-12) Seki Haruaki (J7w 4-11) J11 Andonishiki (J5w 0-0-15) Haidouzo (J6e 0-0-15*) J12 Kajiyanosho (Ms2w 2-13) reeeen (Ms2e 1-14) J13 Toyama (J13w 0-0-15) Chelseayama (J14e kosho) J14 Kazejihi (NR 0-15)

Seki-Quadrumvirate (play): Unfortunately even expanding sanyaku from 10 to 12 spots was insufficient to accommodate everybody who had a reasonable claim for promotion...sorry about that. Recently demoted ScreechingOwl returns to ozeki the easy way with 10 wins, but will start his renewed ozeki time soft kadoban in accordance with the rules. Norizo and DeRosa are also soft kadoban, while Flohru and Kobashi cleared their names in November. Flohru (O2e 11-4) O1 Kobashi (O2w 9-6) Norizo (O1e 7-8) O2 DeRosa (O1w 4-11) ScreechingOwl (S2w 10-5) O3 - Asashosakari (S1w 9-6) S1 Bill (S2e 9-6) - S2 chishafuwaku (S1e 8-7) Choshu-yuki (Ke 8-7) K1 Golynohana (Kw 8-7) Taka (M1w 10-5) K2 Ganzohnesushi (M1e 9-6) Konosato (M2e 9-6) M1 Jakusotsu (M8e 12-3 Y) Andrasoyamawaka2 (M5w 9-6) M2 Getayukata (M4e 8-7) Metzinowaka (M6w 9-6) M3 Kyoju (M10e 10-5) Asapedroryu (M8w 9-6) M4 Susanoo (M2w 7-8) Kuroimori (M9w 9-6) M5 GONZABUROW (M10w 9-6) Kaito (M13w 10-5) M6 Fujisan (M6e 7-7-1) Gaijingai (M7w kosho) M7 Pandaazuma (M4w 6-9) Achiyama (M7e 7-8) M8 Chocshoporyu (M5e 6-9) Kishikaisei (M15e 9-6) M9 Kitakachiyama (M3e 4-11) Athenayama (M3w 4-11) M10 Hakushin (J4e 11-4) Kashunowaka (J7w 12-3 D) M11 Jejima (M15w 8-6-1) Terarno (M11w 7-8) M12 Anjoboshi (M12e 7-7-1) Kaiowaka (M12w 7-8) M13 Andoreasu (J3e 9-6) Sakura (M14w kosho) M14 Andonishiki (M11e 5-9-1) Chankoyama (M9e 4-11) M15 Kotononami (M14e 6-9) Unkonoyama (M13e 5-9-1) J1 Kintamayama (J7e 9-6) Balon (J8w 9-6) J2 Nantonoyama (M16e 5-10) McBugger (J10w 9-6) J3 Oortael (J9e 8-7) kamogawa (J13w 10-4-1) J4 Rowitoro (J9w 8-7) Hironoumi (M16w 4-10-1) J5 Profomisakari (J10e 8-7) Frinkanohana (J2e 5-10) J6 Oskahanada (J2w 5-10) Fujiyama (J1e 4-11) J7 Unagiyutaka (J3w 5-6-4) Holleshoryu (J8e 7-8) J8 Kajiyanosho (J12w 8-7) Kasamatsuri (J5w 5-10) J9 Takanorappa (J14e 8-7) Hakase (J6e 5-10) J10 reeeen (J6w 5-8-2) Gernobono (J11e 7-8) J11 Oshirokita (J11w 7-7-1) Kyodaitimu (J12e 7-8) J12 Mmikasazuma (J14w 7-6-2) Gurowake (J1w 0-0-15*) J13 Oyama (NR 8-7) Ruziklao (J13e 5-10) J14 joaoiyama (Ms1w 6-9) Haidouzo (J4w 0-0-15*) Ms1 Sebunshu (J5e 0-0-15*) Saruyama (Ms2e 5-7-3) Ms2 Tsuchinoninjin (Ms2w kosho) Tenshinhan (Ms3w 4-11) Ms3 Neko (Ms5w 4-4-7) Kazejihi (NR 4-11) Ms4 wolfgangho (Ms4e 0-0-15) Toyama (Ms6e 0-0-15) Ms5 - Hakushin was previously known as Reijnguoshan; new entrant Oyama played as Igiski many years ago.

Seki-Toto (play): After going 6-9 and 7-8, Andoreasu's time as ozeki has unfortunately already come to an end again after just 3 tournaments. Susanoo (Y2e 10-5) Y1 Norizo (Y1e 8-7) Pandaazuma (Y1w 7-8) Y2 - Unkonoyama (O1e 10-4-1) O1 ScreechingOwl (O1w 10-5) - O2 Athenayama (O2w 8-7) Konosato (Se 8-7) S Andoreasu (O2e 7-8) Chankoyama (M5e 11-4) K1 Gernobono (M6e 11-4) Herritarooo (M2w 9-6) K2 DeRosa (M1e 8-7) Flohru (M1w 8-7) M1 Metzinowaka (M10e 11-4) Taka (M3e 8-7) M2 Kishikaisei (M5w 9-6) Kotononami (M3w 8-6-1) M3 Chijanofuji (Kw 7-8) Kitakachiyama (M4e 8-7) M4 Toonoryu (Ke 6-9) Asashosakari (M2e 7-8) M5 Ganzohnesushi (M6w 8-7) Ketsukai (Sw 5-10) M6 Golynohana (M9e 8-7) Takanorappa (M13w 10-5) M7 Kuroimori (M9w 8-6-1) Oortael (M10w 8-7) M8 Kaiowaka (M4w 6-9) Gaijingai (M8e kosho) M9 Jakusotsu (M13e 9-6) Gaanaa (M7e 6-8-1) M10 Achiyama (J2e 10-4-1) Chishafuwaku (M14w 8-7) M11 Gawasukotto (M15e 8-7) Damimonay (M11w 7-8) M12 Hana-ichi (M7w 5-10) Andrasoyamawaka (M12e 7-8) M13 Fujisan (M8w 5-9-1) Andonishiki (M11e 6-9) M14 Choshu-yuki (J11w 12-3 Y) Benihana (M12w 6-8-1) M15 Kyoju (J6w 10-5) Kaito (J4w 8-7) J1 Joaoiyama (J7e 9-6) Onakaderu (J1e 7-8) J2 Sakura (J2w kosho) Kobashi (J5w 8-5-2) J3 Frinkanohana (M16e 6-9) Sutarokku (J6e 8-7) J4 Anjoboshi (J9e 9-5-1) Umigame (M15w 5-10) J5 Oskahanada (J3w 7-8) Chelseayama (J1w 6-9) J6 Asapedroryu (J12w 10-5) Kintamayama (J3e 6-9) J7 Mmikasazuma (M14e 3-11-1) Nantonoyama (J12e 9-6) J8 Bill (J10e 8-7) GONZABUROW (J10w 8-7) J9 Terarno (Ms1e 10-5) Sherlockiama (J13e 9-3-3) J10 Holleshoryu (J11e 8-7) Balon (J8w 7-8) J11 Atenzan (Ms3e 10-5) Getayukata (J7w 5-10) J12 Kashunowaka (Ms4w 8-7) Oshirokita (J8e 4-10-1) J13 Ulishimaru (J13w 6-8-1) Unagiyutaka2 (Ms7e 8-4-3) J14 Rowitoro (J14w 6-9) Chudorj (Ms10w 9-5-1) Ms1 Oyama (Ms8e 8-7) Kajiyanosho (Ms3w 7-8) Ms2 Gansekiiwa (J4e 0-0-15*) Haidouzo (J5e 0-0-15*) Ms3 WAKATAKE (Ms1w 5-8-2) Profomisakari (J9w 2-13) Ms4 Ahokaina (J14e 4-11) Toyama (Ms5e kosho) Ms5 Wolfgangho (Ms7w 7-7-1) Saruyama (Ms5w 6-6-3) Ms6 Tenshinhan (Ms2e 4-11) Effinojo (Ms9w 6-9) Ms7 Dan Koloff (Ms6e 4-10-1) Domichi (Ms4e 3-12) Ms8 Jejima (Ms12e 6-9) Neko (Ms10e 2-6-7) Ms9 Hakuryuho (Ms9e 1-1-13) Iepii (Ms11w 0-0-15) Ms10 Takayumi (Ms12w kosho)

+ Kotoshoho 10 Terunofuji + Yoshii + Murata - Jokoryu + Ura - Tosamidori + Takakento - Nakazono - Dewanoryu - Watanabe 8 Takanosho - Ichinojo + Oho TB 13

I don't know about hardest usually, but I suspect they'll be plenty hard this time, simply because the lack of available rikishi will probably mean that the committee can't do a lot of similar-record matchmaking at the end. If you're sitting on underperforming rikishi for the last few days, you just might find that they're still only facing tough opponents. And yeah, May 2011 ended up being won with a 7-6-2 record and the kachikoshi line for the banzuke was at 5 wins. This will likely be similar. BTW, for players who prefer to have losses over absences on their tally: You can always elect to pick absent rikishi through the alternative (banzuke-based) entry form to make a daily lineup if nobody is available in actual matches.

I think that's meant to imply "it's safe to compete so there's no valid reason to stay away". That, of course, is clearly not an accurate representation by the guy, considering over the years we've had plenty of stories of rikishi not participating in a basho because they had either run away from the heya and later returned, or because they were held out by their shisho as internal punishment for something or other. No way all of those involved a medical certificate being submitted, nor did these cases somehow lead to different treatment of the rikishi afterwards (for the banzuke at least). (BTW, I think it's Miyata, not Takada?) This whole thing makes very little sense from all sides. And like Raishu, I'm left to wonder if what Kotokantetsu actually asked for was a no-penalty absence.

Asashoryu never defeated a yokozuna in his time as ozeki either. He lost to both Takanohana and Musashimaru in his debut at the rank in September 2002, then didn't get an opportunity to face them again in the next two tournaments which clinched his quick promotion to the top rank. Incidentally, apropos the last point in my previous comment: While Asashoryu went 14-1 for his two titles there, the runner-up score was 11-4 both times.

You're free to feel that way, but I'm afraid you'll likely come to find out that your position isn't shared by the people with relevant influence on the matter, Isegahama's predictable saber-rattling notwithstanding. Of course nobody's going to tell Takakeisho, "Yeah, sure, just aim for a 12-3 yusho with a playoff win over Kiribayama or something." The stated expectations are always higher than what will end up being considered acceptable when all is said and done. But why? If he gets a 12-win yusho here, he'll have gone 12-13-12 with two titles and one runner-up. If that's sufficient to be - by quite some margin (!) - the best active rikishi in the current mini-era, what justification is there for requiring 14 or 15 wins? Yokozuna (rikishi in general, really) aren't measured by all their predecessors, they're measured by their own competition. It's not like the quality of a promotion run is much of an indicator of future results in any case. Kakuryu went 14-14 with prime Hakuho around to earn his promotion, then needed almost three years to score over 12 again and won only one yusho in the interim (with a 12-3). Musashimaru scored just 13-13 at a time when nearly all his contemporaries were somewhere between "subpar" and "toast", yet proceeded to be the dominant rikishi of the next three years and won 7 more yusho, but still only one of them with a 14-1 record. (And he had a sizable schedule advantage with all the other Musashigawa-beya ozeki around at the time...) Sometimes 12's and 13's are all it takes. Actually, not sometimes, most times. That the likes of Asashoryu and Hakuho have routinely demolished the field with 14-1 and 15-0 records in recent decades is kind of irrelevant when many of those yusho could have been won with 13-2 or even 12-3, too. Their standing as successful yokozuna didn't need those large margins of victory. Yusho is yusho.

The Kyokai brass (and quite a few fans) weren't all that happy when Wakanohana's second yusho was only a 12-3. The YDC recommended him for promotion unanimously anyway. I'd expect things to go roughly the same way here for Takakeisho if push comes to shove (no pun intended).

Rules note: As it looks like we'll be stuck with heya having to go kyujo involuntarily due to Covid-19 for the foreseeable future, I'm going to include affected rikishi in the game if they are on a KK streak that was interrupted only by their Covid absence and said absence has been treated kosho-like with no loss of rank. So far, no game ballots have been affected by this (via Tamanoi-beya's absence in September), but I'm expecting it to become relevant for upcoming tournaments.

Yes, there is currently a problem when data from Hatsu 2021 is intended to appear in a query anywhere except the first column, e.g. this works but this does not. It's been reported to Doitsuyama (not by me, @Jakusotsu was faster).

Please be aware that Kotokuzan (part of the 4-KK extra rikishi) and possibly others may be required to go kyujo due to Covid-19 concerns. Update: Kotokuzan is the only LKS rikishi affected.

Assuming the basho doesn't get cancelled at the last moment, this is your ballot for Hatsu basho: 1. Kotoshoho 12 2. Terunofuji 10 [score?] 3. Yoshii 9* 4. Murata 7 5. Jokoryu 6 6. Ura 6 7. Tosamidori 6 8. Takakento 5 9. Nakazono 5 10. Dewanoryu 5* 11. Watanabe 5 12. Takanosho 4 [score?] 13. Ichinojo 4 14. Oho 4 TB: [pick?] (* marks rikishi with no makekoshi since debut) The scoring and thus your game assignment: For sanyaku: Please predict an exact record for each rikishi. The target record will be calculated after the deadline and will be chosen so that it bisects the predictions as evenly as possible. The predictions will then be converted into + and - votes as usual; one point for each correct prediction. For lower-ranked rikishi: Please predict for each rikishi if he will finish KK or MK; one point for each correct prediction. (For clarification: If you're expecting an outright makekoshi for one of the sanyaku high-rankers, just predict MK, exact records are only needed on the kachikoshi side of things.) First tie-breaker: From among those 14 guys up there and the further 13 rikishi (8 'veterans' and 5 newcomers) who are currently just shy of a 5-KK streak, please guess how many KK you expect in total. Your tie-breaker guess may be anything from 0 to 27. Only exactly correct guesses qualify at this tie-breaker stage. Note: Sanyaku count as correct for the tie-breaker if they achieve KK, they do not need to meet their target records. Next 13 tie-breakers if needed: Correctly predicted rikishi, one-by-one in ballot order, i.e. starting at Kotoshoho. Extra tie-breakers, should two or more players have entered identical ballots: Proximity of their tie-breaker guesses to the correct number, followed by proximity of their sanyaku rikishi guesses to the correct records (one-by-one in ballot order). Final tie-breaker: earliest entry. Note: Rikishi who show up on the before-shonichi kyujo list will be excluded from scoring (even if they end up joining the basho later), so it is not necessary to re-submit your entry if you picked such a rikishi as a KK; he will not count for points anyhow. You may, however, notify me if you'd like to reduce your tie-breaker guess by one point to compensate for the "missing" rikishi. Your position on the entry list (for final tie-breaker purposes) will be deemed unchanged in this special situation. Any other changes to a ballot will be considered a new entry, with correspondingly lower priority for the final tie-breaker. Deadline: Shonichi noon JST. ----- Simplified entry template: 1. Kotoshoho KKMK 2. Terunofuji W-L 3. Yoshii KKMK 4. Murata KKMK 5. Jokoryu KKMK 6. Ura KKMK 7. Tosamidori KKMK 8. Takakento KKMK 9. Nakazono KKMK 10. Dewanoryu KKMK 11. Watanabe KKMK 12. Takanosho W-L 13. Ichinojo KKMK 14. Oho KKMK TB xx ----- Good luck!