ScreechingOwl

Ama. He had great technique and ferocious tenacity. He never let go of a mawashi hold and never broke a fall if winning was in the balance. I was doubtful he'd be able to make ozeki at 126 k, and had mixed feelings about his being promoted to yokozuna because I wasn't sure he'd be able to hold the rank and didn't want him to be forced to go intai. But he sustained his rank and during the reign of the dai yokozuna of all dai yokozuna he won 9 yusho (3 zenyusho). Harumafuji was simply magnificent. And I'd throw in Kotoshogiku in second place. In a sport where so many rikishi underachieve, he was an overachiever. Kisenosato was the rikishi almost everyone thought would end the Japanese yusho drought, but it was Kotoshogiku who did it. And Kotoshogiku beat Kise to ozeki too. He had a limited technique and ability and he made the most of it.

Takayasu was a good ozeki and unfortunate to have lost his position due to injury. He appears to now have regained much of power, but even so he has never had more than 10 wins in a basho since Kyushu 2018, almost three years, including some basho against depleted upper competition. Moreover he's 31 now and even 33 wins over three consecutive basho may not be enough for promotion for him at this stage. (Let's not forget that Miyabiyama was denied a re-promotion to ozeki even after registering 34 wins over three basho.) The second time around things are often much tougher. With Ichinojo, despite looking very good last basho he still only managed 10 wins. In fact, in the 4 1/2 years since Hatsu 2017 Ichinojo has only managed more than 10 wins only once. And in addition, of course, he has a bad back which frequently limits his mobility and performance. It's very difficult (at least for me) to see how he's going to manage at least 33 wins over three consecutive basho. Meisei, Takanosho, and Wakatakakage are all 26. I'm not sure if any of them will get to ozeki: Meisei have never won more that 10 victories at any level; maybe he'll develop ozeki-level ability, but I don't see it. I guess I like Wakatakakage's chances best of all of this group, but I wouldn't bet on any of them. Mitakeumi has the ability but thus far lacks the consistency. We'll see if that changes. Hoshoryu is young enough and talented enough that if he can put it together he might be able to get to ozeki like Ama did, but it will take some time and a lot of heart. I'm most interested in seeing how two rikishi who won't be wrestling this basho look: Hokuseiho and Oshouma. Maybe one of them will be the next ozeki. Or perhaps it will be Asanoyama....

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Really? Most striking of many precedents is Kotomitsuki. Another more recent precedent is Ichinojo at Aki 2014, where he was ranked M10 and on days 11 and 12 faced ozeki, followed by facing yokozuna on days 13 and 14 - and that was Ichinojo's first basho in makuuchi too. Quite the performance.

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Shonichi: Ono

Happy new year and thank you for setting up TUG again, Angel. If the sekitori are at Hatsu I'll be there as well!

I've tended to underestimate Takakeisho (I'm not fond of oshi rikishi in general), so I may be doing so again here: still okeki; 1 yusho 2 jun-yusho; 11 match win streak

1-5 Pandaazuma (everyone in this category is fantastic, but Pandaazuma is the dai yokozuna)6-10 Flohru (he's so talented and consistent that if this were the Bundesliga he'd be the central midfielder)11-20 Unkonoyama (an unidentified rocket ship continuing to rise)21-40 ScreechingOwl (I've never selected myself previously, but I have to believe I can beat 2020's 29th place)41-80 Konosato (elevator going up)81-120 Chochoporyu (too good in too many games to stay this far down in the year-end rankings) 121-200 Wolfgangho (I'm gun-ho on his chances)201+ Next-ozeki-ura (Have to admire the confidence the name implies)

Happy birthday, Profomisakari!

Happy belated birthday, Asojima. 80 years is a good start, but no bragging until you reach 90. I hope it's a good year for you.

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1 yusho 34 wins 12 win streak No Zensho Intai in September

Well, the senshuraku smoke has cleared, and things look a little better for a number of the centipedes. Omedeto to Ama who overcame a final day loss to finish 12-3 and claim the Makushita yusho on tie-breakers. Congratulations also to Dustin, QB and Jejima for gaining kachi kochi. In Juryo, kudos go to Unkonoyama for finishing 10-5 and gaining a jun-yusho and promotion to Makuuchi. In the top division, Miyako (10-5!), Rupert, and yours truly got their kk. It was tougher sledding for everyone else: losing a tie on the final day makes Simon a soft kadoban. Sagi will likely drop to komusubi while Gary will join the rest of us in the rank-and-file. Another shout out goes to Alexander, who played better than any of us, gaining 104 points, but had the misfortune to have his aite play even stronger, with an unreal 110. For those of us in the states, enjoy Thanksgiving. And for everyone, best wishes for a relaxing end of the year and a healthy and joyful holiday season. I hope to see you all again at Aki. SG Shikona Real Name Rank Record Points Ties Ties Won Pandaazuma Simon Yokozuna E 7-8 97-97 10 5 Sagi Stefan Sekiwake E 7-8 103-103 4 2 Chocshoporyu Gary Sekiwake W 5-10 99-103 8 3 ScreechingOwl Douglas Maegashira 4E 9-6 94-93 4 3 Rupantengu Rupert Maegashira 8E 9-6 99-100 6 5 Chankoyama Miyako Maegashira W10 10-5 102-102 3 3 Chishafuwaka Sergio Maegashira E11 5-10 92-101 3 2 Gonzohnesushi Alexander Maegashira W11 7-8 104-110 9 3 Fujiyama Mark Maegashira W16 4-11 91-98 2 0 Unkonoyama Unkown Juryo W2 10-5 96-89 3 1 Gawasukotto Juryo E13 7-8 97-94 4 1 Chelseayama Steve Juryo W13 7-8 94-95 5 2 Domichi Dustin Makushita W18 9-6 92-89 6 3 Kaito QB Makushita W26 10-5 100-94 4 3 Jejima Jejima Makushita E33 8-7 93-91 5 3 Amakaze Ama Makushita E40 12-3 99-93 3 1