aderechelsea

if looks could kill then Gyoji Kimura Tamajiro would be dead after what Tokitenku would attest it was a matta by Shohozan, but never called by the gyoji. personally a have no problem with the decision but i can see his point here. A replay would help but while streaming it looked like a matta indeed. EDIT: after a nice correction by Akinomaki i have to say that the goyji for this match was Shikimori Kandayu and not Kimura Tamajiro as my laziness ordered me to post ... :-P

Kotoyuki's development is also surprising to me too. He found a way to fix his footwork and he stopped ending up on his belly in the dohyo. He maintained the aggression that is his characteristic but he is not over-extending much lately. His oshi sumo is not bad (not the best around but definitely not the worst either) and now that he is following it up with his legs he can be hard to push or pull around. Nice ..... (i still don't like his pre-bout "rituals" though) Aran had a nice greco-roman ..... eh ... i meant "sumo" bout that was made to order so that he can be in his comfort zone. Takarafuji can be so lethargic sometimes that it hurts my eyes. And i would love it if he could give me reasons from time to time in order to excuse myself for liking him. Really bad today ... damn. Toyonoshima could be genki after all. Beating Yoshikaze is always a good sign as he should rarely lose to rikishi with this style of sumo. Now we just need a win against a strong opponent after maintaining morozashi in order to feel safer for his future.

nice story there. Suddenly this match-up sounds more interesting and i will definitely try to watch it in the stream tonight.

but we are talking about Wakakoyu ... his style of sumo is all over the place. the conversation about the toughness of Homasho as an opponent is mainly because of his defensive style. He is not in top form either but he is a more worthy aite style-wise. well ... we will see how Osuna can handle a rikishi like Homasho and we (and i mean "he") can move on to the next first match against an opponent he might face more times in the future and with a style that could make anyone uncomfortable from time to time (ask Asasekiryu's opponents for example).

Homasho as a defensive rikishi (at least that's how i see him) will indeed be a good test. Osuna is a prime candidate for a hikiotoshi loss against a rikishi with patience. Maybe Asasekiryu will be a good test too even though he lacks the power he used to portray back in his good days. Homasho vs Osuna will be one of the top 3 bouts in Juryo tomorrow. Definitely the most interesting one. Homarefuji - Kyokushuho (as a fan) and Wakakoyu - Satoyama (i find Satoyama reborn this basho) are the other ones that i am also expecting to watch.

i won't matter anyway ... Takekaze without the right elbow against Kakuryu is like a "fusenpai" in the making.

personally i disagree on all accounts.None of them should retire any time soon. Too early to stop for Shironoryu. He was a sekitori earlier this year and he got injured. He could come back when healthy (and banzuke lucky). Takanoyama? Not really .He could stay in high makushita/juryuo for some time more. And for a guy that took him 9 years to become sekitori i think he is hard-headed enough to stick around and give it another go. Not to mention that he is exciting to watch from time to time and i couldn't agree on missing the chance to watch him fight again. Ryuo ... well. He is not effective in high Sandanme any more so this is a sign of things to come but i think he is still young enough to stick around. He must have had an injury or a health condition. He lost quite a few muscles over the years and his tachi-ai is non-existent. The telling story for his troubles is the fact that he is crouching really far from the lines and he seems to do that just to avoid the close contact after the tachi-ai. He doesn't seem like he has a plan for that (like Kyokushuzan did in the past). ok maybe you are making a strong case about Ryuo but i think i would rather watch him trying to get back in form, rather than a random jonidan/sandanme/lower makushita rikishi trying to stay under the radar in these divisons.

Oshu just embarrassed himself once again. I doubt that he needed that henka in the tori-naoshi ... and he lost easily after that. just for the record ... i thought he clearly won the first bout but what do i know? (i cannot complain though since i predicted a Takayasu win in the 2 daily games i am currently active)

ok ... maybe this is the one. edit: i tried to search for a bigger version of this pic but had no luck. Anyone who comes across one please post here :-)

​ wallpaper maybe? this is priceless ....

not really .... he will be ranked lower in jonokuchi than the ones with better records. for example Kaikoki had a 0-5 record in mae-zumo.

i should add that Ogiryu lost today against Sharinoumi and stands at 1-2 . now all new guys have 3 matches each.

Takekaze did catch Hayateumi in mid-air at some point .... As did Aminishiki.

and logic wins in the end. I would enjoy a basho without the words "Kisenosato" and "Yokozuna" in the same sentence. Well ... if "lost to the" connects them i cannot complain at all.

Shohozan hates losing to Goeido. (well ... he looks like he hates losing to anyone ... or like he just hates everybody but you catch my drift) That a great staring contest between those two and what a bitch-slapping at the end from the "pride of Fukuoka" !!! the final slap while Goeido was out and falling on his rear end was priceless. I am adding this one in "my favourites" in Youtube. the most enjoyable (at least for me) bout of the basho thus far.

i would advise Kyokushuho to enroll in a class like that.

i was going to post something in that vein .... As a fan i am really worried ... he should be looking better even when losing. He is not even a definite winner with a morozashi these days ... this is troubling.

Chiyonokuni seems to be hurt really badly too. What the hell is going on? edit: he won the mono-ii decision nonetheless. He seemed like the stayed in a matawari-like position for too long "waiting" for Aoiyama to fall down. I also thought he won when watching the stream. He is done for the basho though .... he couldn't even get up to the dohyo to accept the win. He went back to shitakubeya on a wheelchair. :-(

unfortunately it looks like he is done for the basho.

the looks the part and he also does solid sumo this far. I am also expecting big things from him. But i said that for Futeno too i think .... :-P btw .... how about that Satoyama win today?. A fine piece of sumo by both Sotairyu and himself.

Ishiura did it again .... won from a disadvantageous position after the tachi-ai. When he gets figured out round the top of makushita he should have problems but he may also transform into something else. Surprisingly effective sumo thus far. Another one to watch for a definitely entertaining bout.

What a great bout indeed. I should keep an eye for Kotomatsuo if i want to watch an exciting match. (Applauding...)

since i was watching these i'll post the results after the day 5 matches: 3-0 Jk19E Horikiri Jk19W Ikeru (nice bout against Yato. Take a look) 2-1 Jk22W Yato (lost to Ikeru today) Jk20E Kaminoyama (not looking good at all ... really messy. His loss to Ikeru who is becoming the "new-recruits killer") 1-1 Jk20W Ogiryu (had the day off) 0-3 Jk21E Kiyomusashi (Musashimaru must pull a rabbit out of his hat with him ...)

great and at the same time weird win for Ishiura. I was quite flabbergasted when i watched the bout ... it was quite early (or late?) too. But he is an exciting rikishi to watch.

i think it was almost at the same time that Daikamikaze stepped outside and the other guy fell on his back. Maybe they gave it to Kamikaze because he was the attacker. Not clear enough for a isamiashi maybe.