Asashosakari

First juryo kachikoshi for Tobizaru in his 4th tournament there. With 3 MK he was waiting on the third-longest streak among active rikishi (following Kizenryu's 9 and Sakigake's 5).

A truly brilliant decision to clash this with a tournament by the pros, even more so as it's taking place in nearly the same time zone this year. That's the way to build an audience for the sport. Hopefully they'll at least archive the live streams. Edit: The linked Youtube stream now appears to be for the adult competition on Sunday.

Juryo yusho race: 10-1 J3w Takanoiwa 9-2 J4e Takanosho 8-3 --- 7-4 J3e Kotoyuki, J11e Chiyonoo, J12w Chiyonoumi, J13w Tobizaru We're arguably down to two contenders now after Kotoyuki and Chiyonoo weren't able to keep up with the winning frontrunners. With only four days to go it would take quite the collapse by Takanoiwa just to allow the 7-4's to get into playoff contention. Day 12 sees Takanoiwa go up into makuuchi early, but just for a visit against struggling Kotoeko for now. Takanosho meets Chiyonoumi, Kotoyuki and Chiyonoo are paired up, and Tobizaru faces Mitoryu (J11w 6-5). Lower division yusho races (Day 11 results and links to video where available): 6-0 Ms1e Hakuyozan (Takadagawa) 5-1 Ms24e Daishoryu (Oitekaze) 5-1 Ms34w Tomisakae (Isegahama) 6-0 Ms49w Takayoshitoshi (Takanohana) 6-0 Sd11w Kagamio (Kagamiyama) 5-1 Sd26e Byakko (Azumazeki) 6-0 Sd47e Kototebakari (Sadogatake) 5-1 Sd61e Saio (Nishikido) 5-1 Sd86e Torakio (Naruto) 6-0 Sd91e Sasakiyama (Kise) 5-1 Jd10w Shuji (Kise) 6-0 Jd35w Sadanohikari (Sakaigawa) 6-0 Jd46e Kawamoto (Kasugano) 5-1 Jd71e Daishosei (Oitekaze) 6-0 Jd81e Rao (Tatsunami) 5-1 Jd100w Sakura (Takadagawa) 5-1 Jd106e Terunosato (Tagonoura) 6-0 Jk28e Tsushida (Tokitsukaze) 6-0 Jk29w Roman (Tatsunami) Most of the 10 race matches turned out to be fairly one-sided. Tomisakae gave it all he had but Takayoshitoshi just proved too strong, and Daishoryu stood little chance against Hakuyozan. Should hopefully be a good match for the makushita yusho on Day 13, both leaders certainly look to be of juryo strength. The sandanme bouts featured only foregone conclusions, with Kagamio fully in control of Byakko, Kototebakari on defense just briefly before he overpowered Saio, and Torakio (with a big ol' arm and shoulder taping) having absolutely nothing to offer against Sasakiyama. The best match(es) of the bunch was delivered by Sadanohikari and Shuji who had to go through a redo to determine the winner. Lanky Mongolian Sadanohikari was on the offensive in both matches and won the rematch decisively. The earliest four pairings were all over quickly with the favourites winning, leaving aside the strange false stop by the gyoji in Roman's bout that was already mentioned elsewhere. So, that's 10 unbeaten rikishi at 6-0 now, the right number to match them all up directly. And given the respective ranks of the contenders I would be surprised if something else happened. Sasakiyama and Sadanohikari are close enough with a 44-rank difference to be paired up across divisions, with the winner enabling a playoff in his division, and makushita and jonokuchi should see straight yusho-deciding bouts. (The only conceivable alternative would be to put the lowest-ranking contender in both sandanme and jonidan against a higher-ranked 5-1 opponent, but I don't see what would be gained by that.)

Day 11 (results, text-only results): Yusho arasoi: 11-0 Sw Mitakeumi 10-1 --- 9-2 M13e Tochiozan, M13w Asanoyama 3-3-5 Kakuryu Y1 Hakuho 3-1-7 kyujo Kisenosato Y2 8-3 Goeido O1 Takayasu 7-4 O2 Tochinoshin 5-2-4 Mitakeumi smartly neutralized opponent Kaisei's main offensive weapons en route to another decisive victory, so it's now 11-0 for the yusho leader. Both low-ranked pursuers did their part to maintain some modicum of suspense, however, with Tochiozan defeating Chiyotairyu in a merry-go-round pulling battle and Asanoyama grabbing hold of Nishikigi before patiently marching him out. Only one ozeki can celebrate shedding the kadoban tag today, and it's Goeido who went into full-on Goeido desperation mode and tried to rush his opponent off the dohyo in split-seconds. Lucky for him the opponent was Daishomaru who didn't have any response to it. Takayasu on the other hand ran into a suddenly reawakened Ichinojo and found himself at the receiving end of a powerful shove that dropped the ozeki to 7-4. The big winner of the day in the sanyaku promotion race was Ikioi as the only one among the top four maegashira contenders to win today; he defeated komusubi Tamawashi after torinaoshi, overcoming a 4-10 H2H history. Chiyonokuni lost to the other komusubi, already-MK Shohozan, while Takakeisho was defeated by Endo. The latter may still get back into the race himself if he goes back to winning now, after his Day 9/10 losses had seemed to end his hopes already. Kotoshogiku had to withdraw from the action with an arm injury and thus picked up his makekoshi via fusenpai. 5-6 Ichinojo S Mitakeumi 11-0 6-5 Tamawashi K Shohozan 3-8 (x) M1 Kotoshogiku 3-8 (x) 6-5 Ikioi M2 Chiyonokuni 6-5 M3 Takakeisho 7-4 7-4 Kaisei M4 M5 8-3 Endo M6 Chiyotairyu 7-4 M7 M8 7-4 Myogiryu M9 Yutakayama 8-3 ... 9-2 Tochiozan M13 Asanoyama 9-2 As mentioned by earlier posts, they're starting off Mitakeumi's top three bouts a day early by putting him against ozeki Takayasu for Day 12. It's possible indeed that they're simply trying to alternate Mitakeumi and Ichinojo's ozeki matchups, but it does also mean they have bought themselves another day (and possibly two) to determine the yusho leader's last maegashira opponent. It had looked as though the default candidate, Endo, was fading, which didn't leave any obvious choice. The two M13's are arguably too low to get picked, and ironically the fact that there are two of them probably makes it even less likely. We'll see if the Day 13 torikumi brings us Mitakeumi-maegashira or already Mitakeumi-Goeido in a few hours. Mitakeumi-Takayasu did get turned into an inspired choice by today's events, although I'm not sure they really expected Takayasu to miss the kachikoshi. Among the pursuers it's Asanoyama who gets an upper-ranked opponent for tomorrow in Kaisei, after it was Tochiozan's turn with Chiyotairyu today (he meets Myogiryu now). Meisei avoided the makekoshi for a second day, this time against Chiyomaru, so there's still no definite demotion. Fellow debutant Kotoeko was less fortunate and got overpowered by higher-ranked Takarafuji, and he is now MK. Both of them will need to win all remaining matches in order to stay in makuuchi. Things have also turned ugly for Arawashi, with a basho record of 5 straight losses, followed by three wins (in which he looked pretty good), and now three one-sided losses again. To add insult to injury, Aoiyama shoved him into the third row today. Yoshikaze continues to be without any wins in Nagoya, and it's all getting rather late and desperate for him at this stage. Today's Yoshikaze defeater was Kyokutaisei and he can now look forward to more top division action back in Tokyo. Okinoumi and Ishiura took crucial steps to secure their own survival, beating Daieisho and Chiyoshoma respectively. With what seems like 3 or 4 slots becoming available in the end, the race should be on in juryo. But there's not much of that, and it may turn out that some endangered maegashira will get to stay with subpar records. The two juryo frontrunners did win on Day 11, so Takanoiwa (surviving a hectic match with Terutsuyoshi) is now 10-1 and absolutely certain to return to makuuchi, and Takanosho (beating Chiyonoo) improved to 9-2 and can also start to plan for his makuuchi debut. Kotoyuki got slapped down by demotion-threatened Tokushoryu, but he's still in a good position to earn the promotion, while everybody else already needs to win at least 3 out of 4 to have any chance, and all 4 matches to be credible candidates. The Akiseyama kachikoshi quest is still on, however, now with 4 wins from 0-7. M5 Yoshikaze 0-11 (2) ... (1) 3-8 Chiyoshoma M8 Kyokutaisei 4-7 (o) M9 (1) 4-7 Chiyomaru M10 M11 M12 Arawashi 3-8 (3) M13 (4) 3-8 Kotoeko M14 Okinoumi 5-6 (2) (2) 5-6 Ishiura M15 Ryuden 6-5 (1) (o) 8-3 Hokutofuji M16 Meisei 4-7 (4) J1 Akiseyama 4-7 (4) (4) 5-6 Daiamami J2 Takagenji 4-7 (~) (2) 7-4 Kotoyuki J3 Takanoiwa 10-1 (o) (1) 9-2 Takanosho J4 Aminishiki 6-5 (4) (4) 6-5 Daishoho J5 Hidenoumi 6-5 (4) (x) 5-6 Seiro J6 Kyokushuho 6-5 (~) (~) 6-5 Tsurugisho J7 ... (x) 7-4 Chiyonoo J11 Both J14 fell to 3-8 makekoshi today, Homarefuji against Chiyonoumi and Churanoumi to Tsurugisho. Both are now obviously demotable if there's a need, but with Sokokurai already headed down and Kizenryu potentially getting a terrible record as well, it might still be slightly possible to survive with a 7-8 finish. Kizenryu for his part finally won again after six straight losses, but it may all be too little too late. The rest of the candidate field was thinned out considerably. Chiyonoumi, Tobizaru (vs. Aminishiki) and Gagamaru (vs. Takekaze) reached safe shores, and Tokushoryu is also almost safe after today's victory over Kotoyuki. Wakatakakage remained at one needed win as he lost to makushita visitor Kiribayama in a totally crazy bout. Kiribayama isn't the only one to be 3-3 down there now; Gokushinho prevailed against ex-juryo Dewahayate and he can also still hope to ascend to the paid ranks. The head-to-head meeting between Akua and Jokoryu was decided in favour of the less prominent ex-sekitori with the aquatic name. Ordinarily that would be curtains for Jokoryu's promotion hopes, but in this basho he could well have a shot even with just 4 wins from Ms5. Of course, he'll need to win his final match now. (FWIW, Nikkan Sports even opined today that Toyonoshima is in the running for a lucky promotion; he's currently 4-2 at Ms7w. Irodori faces Ms7e Sagatsukasa on Day 12, and I might well include the winner of that and Toyonoshima in the table for the last few days.) Hakuyozan and Enho were also in action, both victorious, so the former continues to gun for the yusho and the latter is now certain to return to juryo. (1) 4-7 Tokushoryu J9 Gagamaru 5-6 (o) (x) kyujo Sokokurai J10 J11 (1) 6-5 Wakatakakage J12 Chiyonoumi 7-4 (o) (4) 3-8 Kizenryu J13 Tobizaru 7-4 (o) (~) 3-8 Homarefuji J14 Churanoumi 3-8 (~) (o) 6-0 Hakuyozan Ms1 3-3 Gokushindo Ms2 Enho 5-1 (o) Ms3 Kiribayama 3-3 Ms4 3-3 Jokoryu Ms5 Akua 4-2 Ms6 Irodori 3-2 Kotoshogiku's exit from the basho means there's no need for makushita rikishi in juryo now, so no such matches are on the Day 12 schedule. Barring further withdrawals, they will need an even number of fill-ins for the last three days, and I would guess they will be sending all of Gokushindo/Kiribayama/Jokoryu/Akua up there.

Based on your sumo games and forums participation track record from the last decade, are you sure you're even going to be here in two months?

Banshunada (4-1) vs Roman (5-0). Does it really count as a torinaoshi if... (Alternative description: Almost as embarrassing as making the wrong public announcement on jungyo.)

Damage to his left arm biceps and triceps muscles, 3 weeks treatment expected.

Day 11 Our lower-division members have finished up their LKS duties early: 23-year-old sandanme Takiguchi scored his 4th win today to complete his 6th straight kachikoshi. It's quite an impressive streak actually from somebody who struggled with upper jonidan before - he's in mid-sandanme now, and depending on how his last bout goes, he'll have moved up between 125 and 140 ranks in that year. Leaving us, on the other hand, is Miyazakiyama whose KK streak ended with a 2-4 today. Just 5 players correctly expected Takiguchi's KK, and as all five unfortunately also predicted kachikoshi for Miyazakiyama, nobody managed to score both available points. Day 11: 5/11 Decisions, TB 3-15 Pos Player Pts TB 1 Tsuchinoninjin 3 6 2 Asashosakari 3 9 3 Gurowake 3 10 4 WAKATAKE 3 11 5 Bumpkin 2 9 5 Tenshinhan 2 9 7 Holleshoryu 2 11 7 kuroimori 2 11 7 Mmikasazuma 2 11 7 Pandaazuma 2 11 7 Sakura 2 11 12 Rocks 2 12 13 Achiyama 2 13 14 Tsubame 2 15 15 Ryoshishokunin 1 11 16 chishafuwaku 1 12 16 Profomisakari 1 12 16 ryafuji 1 12

As always, the only sure win in Quad is with two fusensho. (Not true, actually - I once had two fusensho available but no gambitable bout...)

Day 10 Ozeki Tochinoshin won't be rejoining the basho, so it's now assured that he'll not only miss his 10-5 target record, but also finish makekoshi altogether and drop out of LKS again. And among makushitans it's also bye-bye for Ichiyamamoto who fell to 2-4 in his visit to juryo, while Tomokaze clinched his kachikoshi at 4-1 so he'll be with us again in September. With the Ichiyamamoto MK largely unexpected, nobody managed to score all three points today. Day 10: 3/11 Decisions, TB 2-16 Pos Player Pts TB 1 Tsuchinoninjin 2 6 2 Asashosakari 2 9 2 Bumpkin 2 9 4 Gurowake 2 10 5 WAKATAKE 2 11 6 Tenshinhan 1 9 7 Holleshoryu 1 11 7 kuroimori 1 11 7 Mmikasazuma 1 11 7 Pandaazuma 1 11 7 Ryoshishokunin 1 11 7 Sakura 1 11 13 chishafuwaku 1 12 13 Rocks 1 12 15 Achiyama 1 13 16 Tsubame 1 15 17 Profomisakari 0 12 17 ryafuji 0 12

I'm sorry, next time I'll tailor my workflow to your expectations.

Decided to flip the order around to get the lower division summary done before the Day 11 bouts started taking place. Day 10 (results, text-only results): Yusho arasoi: 10-0 Sw Mitakeumi 9-1 --- 8-2 M13e Tochiozan, M13w Asanoyama (Current Japanese hope, former Japanese hope, future Japanese hope?) 3-3-4 Kakuryu Y1 Hakuho 3-1-6 kyujo Kisenosato Y2 7-3 Goeido O1 Takayasu 7-3 O2 Tochinoshin 5-2-3 It's now a two-win lead for sekiwake Mitakeumi who comprehensively defeated Kagayaki for his 10th straight victory. Asanoyama lost decisively to fellow former top collegiate Hokutofuji and had to yield the direct pursuer's spot. He's joined at 8-2 only by his M13 mate Tochiozan after an easy win over Ishiura. Takayasu (against Kaisei) and Endo (against surging Chiyonokuni) fell back to 7-3 records. Goeido now has the same line after beating Shohozan, so both he and Takayasu only require one more shiroboshi to remain ozeki. Shohozan's loss was also his makekoshi-clincher so the first sanyaku slot has become available. And Day 10 dutifully turned up the heat on the promotion race, with all the main contenders improving their scores: Aside from Kaisei and Chiyonokuni the torikumi also saw victories for Ikioi over Shodai and Takakeisho over Abi, both matches close to "blink and you'll miss it" territory. Both losing rikishi fell to makekoshi with that. Sekiwake Ichinojo was the latest beneficiary of a matchup with zenpai Yoshikaze, although he actually seemed to believe he'd already lost it. Could anything be more typical Ichinojo? At 4-6 he's still got a lot of work to do just to stay in sanyaku, let alone reach kachikoshi; both ozeki and Mitakeumi still await him. Komusubi Tamawashi has the opposite record after defeating Kotoshogiku and continues to be a likely heir of the sekiwake slot if Ichinojo can't KK. Meanwhile it's been announced that injured Tochinoshin won't be rejoining the tournament after all, so he'll be taking up residence on the kadoban carousel for September. 4-6 Ichinojo S Mitakeumi 10-0 6-4 Tamawashi K Shohozan 2-8 (x) (x) 2-8 Shodai M1 Kotoshogiku 3-7 5-5 Ikioi M2 Chiyonokuni 6-4 (x) 2-8 Abi M3 Takakeisho 7-3 7-3 Kaisei M4 Kagayaki 3-7 (x) (x) 3-7 Daishomaru M5 7-3 Endo M6 Chiyotairyu 7-3 (x) 4-6 Takarafuji M7 Daieisho 4-6 (x) M8 7-3 Myogiryu M9 Yutakayama 7-3 ... 8-2 Tochiozan M13 Asanoyama 8-2 Very favourable matchups for both ozeki tomorrow as they seek their kachikoshi refuge: Takayasu goes against Ichinojo, while Goeido faces Daishomaru. Mitakeumi's next opponent en route to his hoped-for yusho is Kaisei. Debutants Meisei and Kotoeko finally won again after four and five days respectively, so they're not yet makekoshi but still almost certain to fall back to juryo in the end. Meisei's opponent Arawashi, as well as Ishiura (third straight loss) and Okinoumi (fourth straight), all found themselves losing today, and their place in the demotion race should be assured for the rest of the basho; all three will need to win 3 times in 5 days to definitely avoid juryo. Aoiyama and Sadanoumi (beating Okinoumi) can plan for another makuuchi appearance in September, however. The juryo division sees its first credible promotion claim after today: Takanoiwa improved to 9-1 at Aminishiki's expense and also maintained his spot atop the yusho race. Takanosho clinched kachikoshi and is in a very good position to secure his makuuchi debut, possibly even with just one more win if the lower maegashira results continue to be bad. Kotoyuki rounds out the small field of strong candidates with today's victory against Gagamaru (who may not be sekitori for much longer on this year's form). After today's loss Aminishiki now needs four wins "by the numbers" and three wins for sure to have a shot at promotion. Ditto for Daiamami whose small 3-day winning streak came to its end against Kyokushuho. All others will likely depart the list over the next few days. (I'm rooting for Akiseyama to finish 8-7 though.) M5 Yoshikaze 0-10 (2) ... (1) 3-7 Chiyoshoma M8 Kyokutaisei 3-7 (1) M9 (1) 4-6 Chiyomaru M10 (o) 5-5 Aoiyama M11 (o) 6-4 Sadanoumi M12 Arawashi 3-7 (3) M13 (4) 3-7 Kotoeko M14 Okinoumi 4-6 (3) (3) 4-6 Ishiura M15 Ryuden 6-4 (1) (1) 7-3 Hokutofuji M16 Meisei 3-7 (5) (x) 2-8 Takekaze J1 Akiseyama 3-7 (5) (4) 5-5 Daiamami J2 Takagenji 4-6 (5) (2) 7-3 Kotoyuki J3 Takanoiwa 9-1 (o) (2) 8-2 Takanosho J4 Aminishiki 6-4 (4) (5) 5-5 Daishoho J5 Hidenoumi 5-5 (5) (~) 5-5 Seiro J6 Kyokushuho 6-4 (5) (~) 5-5 Tsurugisho J7 Azumaryu 4-6 (x) (x) 5-5 Shimanoumi J8 Yago 5-5 (x) J9 J10 (~) 7-3 Chiyonoo J11 Mitoryu 6-4 (x) Kizenryu lost to Tsurugisho and is the first makekoshi in juryo, and even though he's not demotable yet it appears virtually impossible for him to go on a 5-bout winning streak here, which is what it'll take now. Homarefuji finds himself in the same predicament after today's match with Chiyonoo. Churanoumi even had the unenviable task of needing 7 straight wins as of two days ago, but for now he's hanging in there; yesterday's victory over Yago was followed by another one against Azumaryu today. Young(ish) hope Ichiyamamoto visited juryo for the first time today, but it won't be an occasion that created happy memories - he is now makekoshi thanks to Chiyonoumi and won't be competing for the promotion slots this basho. The same fate befell Wakamotoharu in makushita, where a lengthy battle with Satoyama resulted in him getting pulled down via shitatehineri in the end. Jokoryu also competed unsuccessfully today and dropped to 3-2, as did outside contender Irodori. (2) 3-7 Tokushoryu J9 Gagamaru 4-6 (1) (x) kyujo Sokokurai J10 Terutsuyoshi 6-4 (o) J11 (1) 6-4 Wakatakakage J12 Chiyonoumi 6-4 (1) (5) 2-8 Kizenryu J13 Tobizaru 6-4 (1) (5) 3-7 Homarefuji J14 Churanoumi 3-7 (5) (o) 5-0 Hakuyozan Ms1 2-3 Gokushindo Ms2 Enho 4-1 (x) 2-4 Ichiyamamoto Ms3 Kiribayama 2-3 Ms4 Wakamotoharu 1-4 (x) 3-2 Jokoryu Ms5 Akua 3-2 Ms6 Irodori 3-2 It's looking quite likely that there will be banzuke luck to go around here, although it's not yet sure who will benefit from it. Neither the potential lucky survivors in juryo nor the possible lucky promotees from makushita look all that deserving at their current record trajectories. In any case, the series of rank-based crossover matches continues with #6, so tomorrow will see Kiribayama going up against Wakatakakage, hoping to avoid his makekoshi. Gokushindo is also in action at 2-3, and Jokoryu and Akua even meet directly.

If his giving up early is an intentional ploy, it worked for the first time in about 20 attempts...

The former sekitori after 10 days. new KK: Enho, Daiseido, Keitenkai, Hitenryu new MK: Yamaguchi Still three yusho contenders. Record Rank Shikona Heya Age Out 5-0 Ms1e Hakuyozan Takadagawa 23 1 4-1 Ms2w Enho Miyagino 23 2 kyujo Ms4e Asabenkei Takasago 29 1 3-2 Ms5e Jokoryu Kise 29 13 3-2 Ms5w Akua Tatsunami 27 3 kyujo Ms6e Terunofuji Isegahama 26 1 3-2 Ms7e Sagatsukasa Irumagawa 36 26 3-2 Ms7w Toyonoshima Tokitsukaze 35 11 1-4 Ms8w Kitaharima Yamahibiki 31 5 2-3 Ms9w Dewahayate Dewanoumi 29 12 2-3 Ms11w Higonojo Kise 33 25 3-2 Ms12e Tochihiryu Kasugano 31 3 4-1 Ms13e Daiseido Kise 25 4 0-2-3 Ms13w Amakaze Oguruma 27 2 2-3 Ms14e Satoyama Onoe 37 6 4-1 Ms14w Toyohibiki Sakaigawa 33 3 3-2 Ms16e Tokushinho Kise 34 16 3-2 Ms17e Chiyoarashi Kokonoe 27 30 4-1 Ms18e Keitenkai Onomatsu 28 35 3-2 Ms22e Nionoumi Yamahibiki 31 30 4-1 Ms22w Tenkaiho Onoe 33 13 1-4 Ms26e Yamaguchi Miyagino 29 3 3-2 Ms31e Fujiazuma Tamanoi 31 8 3-2 Ms38e Asahisho Tomozuna 28 7 3-2 Ms41e Chiyootori Kokonoe 25 4 2-3 Ms46w Sakigake Shibatayama 32 21 2-3 Ms47w Takaryu Kise 26 18 5-0 Ms49w Takayoshitoshi Takanohana 21 2 5-0 Sd11w Kagamio Kagamiyama 30 13 kyujo Sd13w Masunoyama Chiganoura 27 20 kyujo Sd30w Ura Kise 26 3 4-1 Sd32e Dairaido Takadagawa 38 71 4-1 Sd41e Hitenryu Tatsunami 34 41 3-2 Sd72e Yoshiazuma Tamanoi 41 23 3-2 Sd73e Kaonishiki Azumazeki 39 41

Juryo yusho race: 9-1 J3w Takanoiwa 8-2 J4e Takanosho 7-3 J3e Kotoyuki, J11e Chiyonoo And the list of conceivable yusho contenders continues to dwindle. Two-off pursuer Aminishiki wasn't able to derail leader Takanoiwa and is likely out of the race at 6-4, and Mitoryu also fell off the pace in a hikkake-like defeat by Terutsuyoshi (called oshidashi though). Takanosho maintained his spot as the top pursuer, but had to survive a very close finish + mono-ii against Yago. Kotoyuki is also still giving chase, having beaten Gagamaru in a nice big-man shoving fest, and so is Chiyonoo who prevailed against bottom-ranked Homarefuji. The Day 11 matches for the leaders: J10w Terutsuyoshi (6-4) - J3w Takanoiwa (9-1) J4e Takanosho (8-2) - J11e Chiyonoo (7-3) J3e Kotoyuki (7-3) - J9e Tokushoryu (3-7) Lower division yusho races (list cleaned up, nothing new): 5-0 Ms1e Hakuyozan (Takadagawa) 5-0 Ms24e Daishoryu (Oitekaze) 5-0 Ms34w Tomisakae (Isegahama) 5-0 Ms49w Takayoshitoshi (Takanohana) 5-0 Sd11w Kagamio (Kagamiyama) 5-0 Sd26e Byakko (Azumazeki) 5-0 Sd47e Kototebakari (Sadogatake) 5-0 Sd61e Saio (Nishikido) 5-0 Sd86e Torakio (Naruto) 5-0 Sd91e Sasakiyama (Kise) 5-0 Jd10w Shuji (Kise) 5-0 Jd35w Sadanohikari (Sakaigawa) 5-0 Jd46e Kawamoto (Kasugano) 5-0 Jd71e Daishosei (Oitekaze) 5-0 Jd81e Rao (Tatsunami) 5-0 Jd100w Sakura (Takadagawa) 5-0 Jd106e Terunosato (Tagonoura) 5-0 Jk28e Tsushida (Tokitsukaze) 5-0 Jk29w Roman (Tatsunami) No surprises with the matchups for Day 11 - it's all the expected pairings straight down the rankings, plus Roman against a 4-1 opponent (tying a record in the process). They did go big in making that match, as Roman has to go up by over 30 ranks right into low jonidan to find his aite, Jd109e Banshunada. He's a 20-year-old who is normally more at home in the middle of the division, but had back-to-back MK recently. Working our way up: Jonidan should have three clear favourites for this round in upper sandanme-quality injury returnees Shuji and Rao, plus new university entrant Kawamoto. 40-year-old Terunosato should be the underdog against fresh talent Tsushida from jo, so those three may constitute the field of contenders for the final round after today. Of course, upsets are always possible, but the yusho will almost certainly be going to one of them as I can't imagine all three falling in round 6 or 7 or a possible playoff. Sandanme is significantly harder to call today, though on name value you'd probably have to go with Kagamio (won the Ms yusho just 10 months ago, let's not forget), Kototebakari and Sasakiyama. And finally makushita where the favourites on paper are top-ranked Hakuyozan and recent sekitori Takayoshitoshi, but if there's a division where surprises happen frequently, it's up there.