dingo

He could fight with a neck brace covered in tape, Terunofuji style.

Wow, Onosato reacted to that henka really well, even if it wasn't well executed. Excellent response and now he's 2 wins ahead with 5 days to go. This basho all the circumstances have turned out well for him, starting of course with his own condition. Also I want to note Ura's great bout against Abi. Ura stayed so low that Abi didn't really know how to utilize his tsuppari effectively. Wonderful timing by Ura for the tottari as well.

Has anyone noticed the likeness in names? ChiyOSHOMA? No wonder Oshoma is doing his best Chiyoshoma impression. He just can't help it, puppetteered by fate itself.

Wow, Oshoma didn't pull... and promptly lost. I expect him to learn the lesson and return to his winning technique tomorrow. Kotozakura couldn't handle Ura's low centre of gravity, let him get under and that was it. His quest for a yusho will continue next basho. Onosato won, but that was pretty close. Yet a win is a win which means just three wins left to the magical 12. I don't want to jinx him so I'm gonna stop here

Hokutofuji had to resort to some escape artistry against Nishikifuji but some dohyo edge dancing got him in position for the pushout win. It's a sign of Hokutofuji's improving condition that he managed to get out of a situation he'd probably had lost from at the beginning of the basho. Nishikigi likewise did well at the tawara and got a nice kotenage win over Kitanowaka, though it came at the last moment. Having suffered three big makekoshi in a row, is this the basho when Nishikigi finally turns his record around? Bushozan's hot start has come to an abrupt stop at 4-4. On the other hand, Onokatsu looked a little better today, though winning on the belt against an oshi rikishi is not exactly a huge upset. Kinbozan decided to turn around his horrible basho with a HNH special against Shirokuma and executed it perfectly. Though I feel a bit bad that Shirokuma is edging closer to falling back to juryo, he was too easy prey for Kinbozan. 74 years total on the dohyo and equally shared between Takarafuji and Sadanoumi. It's quite amazing both of them are still strong enough to be competing for kachikoshi in makuuchi. Today Sadanoumi got the upper hand, but 4 wins more shouldn't be too much for Takarafuji either. After his win on day 2 against Roga, Kagayaki has looked quite hopeless. It wasn't much different today as Takayasu made short work of him. I might have to really eat my words on Takayasu as he's seemingly getting better day by day. Perhaps it's sumo that hurts him and sumo that heals him too... Though I was commending Ryuden yesterday for succeeding with his regular yotsu, today he was bested with a throw by Roga. I know Roga is decent in grappling sumo but I was still a bit surprised he won. Perhaps not handing Ryuden a grip on the belt was key. For a few moments it seemed as though Wakatakakage couldn't move Tamawashi back at all and Tamawashi would have the upper hand, but Wakatakakage recovered soon and managed to push out his opponent. Good on Tamawashi for putting up a serious fight, but that unfortunatly didn't save him from his fifth loss. The European Fighting Horse doesn't really fight much, only pulls. Has he been taking lessons from another European, Aoiyama? Coincidentally Aoiyama himself is not doing well at all with 2 wins and 6 losses at Juryo 13. 1-win Meisei was a prime target for Midorifuji to get another much-needed win, and he got it though it didn't come too easily. 4 days to go until kachikoshi, but it'll be a tough journey for the small rikishi. Gonoyama vs Ichiyamamoto could've been an amazing pushing and slapping contest yet Ichiyamamoto went for the easy pulldown win. Can't blame him because Gonoyama seems especially susceptible to pulling this basho. Why did Endo choose 1-6 Shonannoumi as the target for a henka is beyond me. Perhaps he didn't want to end up in a tiring lengthy yotsu battle. While the henka did't quite work it set Endo up nicely for the subsequent win. I think today was the first time I noticed Atamifuji's funny warmup wiggle dance before entering the dohyo. It didn't help him much though, as he got pushed out too easily after weathering Kotoshoho's tsuppari. The mono-ii result could be perhaps questionable but I tend to agree that most of his body was outside the dohyo space even if he was trying to push Kotoshoho down. Atamifuji is now been in the joi a few basho but isn't yet quite able to take the next step, perhaps for lack of experience. I thought Oho looked suddenly aged but then I realised it's the black eye from yesterday's bout that makes him look somehow older. Maybe the extra imaginary life experience helped him stay patient against Tobizaru and claim and important win to take another step towards staking a claim for sanyaku. Be that as it may, it's good to see Oho maturing well. Great spirited bout between Hiradoumi and Takanosho! Both were loath to lose, Takanosho trying to stop his fall closer to makekoshi and Hiradoumi attempting to keep his ozeki run alive somehow. I don't quite believe Hiradoumi is yet ozeki material, but he's getting closer. Daieisho did an uncharacteristic cautious upright tachiai, perhaps trying to prevent Abi pulling a henka on him, which gave Abi a good opportunity to start his pushing onslaught. However maybe Daieisho was confident enough in his staying power that he chose to take Abi's attack. In any case, some nimble maneuvering got him behind his opponent and that was it. It's not the Daieisho we've gotten used to seeing, but he's getting his wins. This basho the vintage Kirishima is back. He managed to stay amazingly calm in front of Ura who was trying to distract him with all kinds of wild swings and attempts to get inside. However Kirishima chose his moment well and in the end Ura was the one who got pushed out. Yusho run very much alive and a bout with Onosato may turn out to be decisive. Onosato got his revenge against Mitakeumi for the loss last basho, but it wasn't as easy as Mitakeumi's record this basho could've suggested. But day 8 kachikoshi and the yusho lead are secure for now. Even if for some reason he wouldn't get the yusho in the end, I think "only" 12 wins and ozeki rank would still be a great outcome for Onosato this basho. For a moment I thought Shodai could possibly get another ozeki scalp from Kotozakura, but in the end he couldn't use the opening Kotozakura gave him by being less than clinical at the first opportunity to finish the bout. With 5-2 in pursuit, Kotozakura can still hope to have a say in the yusho race. All I could think of while watching Hoshoryu's bout preparation antics was "is this another case where he loses after puffing himself up before the bout"? But nope, that was a great match by Hoshoryu, going toe to toe with Wakamotoharu and coming out on top with a wonderful kakenage-ish kubinage win. Half of the basho gone and I definitely would've expected seeing Onosato on top, but after the last few basho Kirishima as the sole runner-up is somewhat surprising. Can't wait to see how the second half of the basho goes for our leaders.

I just hope that elusive yusho won't be in juryo (which he also doesn't have!).

Yeah I recognize that, but for me the difference is that this time he's at M15 and had a tough start to the basho with visible discomfort in his back. The last time he was at double digit maegashira rank was in 2020 right after he'd dropped from ozeki with his injury. He's recovered admirably, but for me the writing is now really on the wall. I hope he'll prove me wrong, but he's not exactly getting younger. Besides, a broken record is also correct twice per day or something like that

Ryuden is somewhat on a roll this basho. He's not doing anything overly special, just utilizing his strong yotsu skills to maximum benefit. That's exaclty what he did today as well against Kitanowaka, who had not much hope to resist once Ryuden got his grip. Nishikigi steamrolled Onokatsu who really shouldn't have that much difficulties against lower makuuchi. I can't believe he'd be that much overwhelmed or awed by his opposition, so could be an injury? Hokutofuji had a slow and not really promising start to the basho, but he seems to be adjusting well as the days go on. Today he managed to focus his pushing attack on Takarafuji to the right spot and got a pretty smooth win. He seemed quite satisfied himself too. Takarafuji however is slumping a bit, but with half of the basho still ahead he's got plenty of time to get his wins. Although Kinbozan was being pushed back by Nishikifuji, he basically stumbled on his own to hand Nishikifuji the win. At this rate he has to start looking over his shoulder as juryo might be looming soon. If not this basho, then next. Shirokuma seemingly has a big and strong body reminiscent of Takarafuji, but gets pushed out too easily. Might be that he's not too experienced in positioning or balancing himself well to better use his weight or strength. If he gets that right, he can be a solid maegashira rikishi. Takayasu keeps ploughing on, even though he seems to be at 50% power at best. I suppose he's desperate to stay in makuuchi, but as we've seen his back is not getting better even after 2 months break between basho. It's sad to see but perhaps this is the beginning of the end for him... Tamawashi used his experience on Bushozan well. Bushozan on the other hand finds himself on the belly for the third time this basho. All his losses have been similar, but he's not managed to adjust and after a good start is now 4-3. Oshoma repeats himself again and gets another pulldown win. I suppose rikishi will stop falling for it at some point, but not Kagayaki today. Ichiyamamoto thought he had Wakatakakage, but one side-step and all he had was air. Smart sumo by Wakatakakage, though he might be a bit worried by how easily he was pushed back and almost defeated. I guess Gonoyama learned from his previous losses and was extra careful with Midorifuji whom he probably expected to do everything he did. Gonoyama managed his offensive and defensive expertly this time and in the end was simply too big for Midorifuji to move. Well fought bout by both rikishi. Endo seems more focused for the last few basho. Even if this time he doesn't look as much fired up as before, he looks sharp and ready for his opponent. I suppose that means his body is doing reasonably well, and that helps him to move up again. How far up exactly is hard to say but maegashira joi doesn't seem to be out of reach. Shonannoumi was too defensive and let Churanoumi control the bout, and obviously in this shape that didn't end up well for him. Sixth loss in seven days is not what I expected after Shonannoumi was doing quite well in the last few basho. Hopefully he'll get over whatever is bothering him soon. Ura tried to do big man sumo but it totally failed. He couldn't push Mitakeumi out and the pull ended in disaster. Too bad for Ura, but I do like that he tries to mix it up and not only do trickster sumo every day. For Mitakeumi it was one of the rare days when he actually can stop someone's pushes, but considering it's "only" Ura that's not too encouraging. Tobizaru didn't seem to have a plan against Atamifuji, except for the hapless pulling attempt which looked fairly improvised. Easy win for Atamifuji. When Daieisho retreats instead of going all out charging, it's a sure sign that he's not well. For a moment it seemed like Takanosho might take Daieisho's place with the all-out charge but Daieisho exploited it perfectly and got a pulldown win. Actually is it me or are there a lot of pulldowns today? Kotoshoho did really well against Kirishima and almost got a nice utchari win, but his left foot shifted down from the tawara and touched outside the ring first. Although Kirishima was in charge for most of the bout, having an inside grip, he escaped rather narrowly in the end. In the ozeki-contenders' match Hiradoumi proved to be no match for Onosato. Onosato was a bit more aggressive than usual, perhaps trying to prevent Hiradoumi getting into an attacking position and thus neutralising his main weapon. Out of those two the ozeki lookout is definitely favouring Onosato who doesn't seem to be too much bother neither by his yusho leader position nor the ozeki perspective. Let's see if he remains so carefree until the end. I think this is about the first time I've seen Oho's backwards movement and pulling attempt result in a win. I hope it doesn't reinforce his occasional habit to do retreating sumo since he's so much better moving forward. But pulldowns are good to have in the arsenal nevertheless. Oh and Oho got a pretty nasty black eye from Abi's thrust as well. Jeez, Hoshoryu vs Shodai couldn't have been more one-sided. Hoshoryu was understandably pretty winded up because of his bad performance this basho. Shodai was either a bit apprehensive of Hoshoryu or just plain lazy and did probably the worst version of his upright tachiai, ending up getting bulldozed out in a few seconds. I hope he's not too demoralised by that. Kotozakura lost pretty convicingly to Wakamotoharu who today showed his best sumo of this basho. Falling two wins behind Onosato seems to dampen Kotozakura's hopes for a yusho chance quite a bit. However, we still have 8 days left and I think any of the leaders, including Kotozakura himself, are capable of dropping a few wins. The yusho race remains wide open, as it should.

On the brighter side he's still managed to stick in makuuchi. Compare that to Hakuoho who's struggling to even get out of juryo, which he should be able to easily do if healthy. Yet he's 4-3 (was 2-3!) at juryo 5, losing even to Mitoryu.

Oho is getting a nice reward for his efforts against the ozeki. I still expect Onosato and perhaps even Kirishima will catch up with him.

いってらっしゃい！

A few late thoughts about yesterday. I'm starting to dislike Oshoma a bit. He does nothing but downward slaps and pulldowns. Where's the real sumo content in his sumo? Right now he's getting the wins but I sincerely hope he can get a taste of his own medicine soon. Onosato and Shodai both have high tachiais so it was interesting to see how their meeting turns out. The result was Onosato's victory as expected, but it was good to see him being aggressive and not reactive on tachiai. Maybe he'll learn something from it. Oho the ozeki killer! Every basho he shows these flashes of great sumo but he rarely puts enough good days together to really move up in the rankings and grab a sanyaku position. He might have a good shot this time as the maegashira above him are on track for a losing record, but the sanyaku results look like they might not work out so well for him. Anyway, it's still early in the basho and first of all Oho has to make the case for promotion himself.

Takayasu is trying his best not to faal down juryo. It was visible in today's bout that he by no means doing well, yet we'll enough to make his experience count over Shirokuma. I'm still a bit concerned if he'll last until he end of the basho. At least 5 days to go until kachikoshi... Ryuden being solid on the mawashi is not a surprise, but today's win came relatively easily. If he can continue that form he can look forward to a nice kachikoshi. Takarafuji vs Nishikigi was the prime example of veteran sumo -- slow, careful, deliberate. Funny to hear Murray Johnson commenting how the two of them got away "racing" whereas on the screen Takarafuji took a small step forward while Nishikigi was clinging to him and standing still. Racing indeed. Onokatsu finding the makuuchi landing still hard with a loss to so-so Hokutofuji. The trajectory is back towards juryo, but I have a feeling he'll bounce back with a vengeance. Bushozan has found his groove and while not as spectacular as body double Takakeisho, at least he's still in the basho and racking up wins. In a match of the less in-form rikishi, Kinbozan finally got his first win of the basho. Again, his sumo is not as bad as the 1-4 score suggests so perhaps he'll do a bit better after tasting victory. The slapdown competition between Sadanoumi and Oshoma ended with Oshoma making the better pulling move. Despite his bigger body size he's quite good at it too, though with his body should really do more forward moving sumo and not try to claim Chiyoshoma's mantle. Roga managed to survive Ichiyamamoto's thrusts and finally got a mawashi hold to yori his opponent out. Decent sumo by Roga and a necessary win for him to avoid getting a 4th loss this early. Tamawashi shows he's not to be discounted yet, as he nicely breaks Endo's grip and thrusts him out. Though I think Endo really should've won it and will rue an easy loss. Midorifuji was too fast for Churanoumi, starting with a Harumafuji special at the tachiai and maneuvering well to get behind his opponent. Well planned and executed. Wakatakakage was not exactly at his best today as he didn't manage to push out Shonannoumi but a pulldown was enough to get the win. Looks like it's going to be a long basho for Shonannoumi. Wonder if he's injured somewhere. Ura showed off his excellent balance and dohyo awareness with an amazing foot turn on the tawara to stay inside and let Meisei fall down first. Poor Meisei must've thought he'd won that one but he has to try again tomorrow to get his second win of the basho. Kotoshoho apparently paid good attention to Ura' bout as he also survived Gonoyama's pushing and remained in while Gonoyama went down flat on his belly. Maybe playing with the sagari helps Kotoshoho to focus? Tobizaru got a strong pull on Wakamotoharu's left arm but couldn't unbalance him enough and fell victim to a strong push. I got the impression that Tobizaru didn't really think his approach through too much beyond the pull and lost because of that. Shodai has to be pretty pissed at himself as he blew a perfect opportunity to be in the 5-0 leading group. How he fell to Daieisho's last moment pull is a mystery, especially as Shodai used to do these kind of last moment escapes quite often himself. Really confusing, aimless sumo from Abi. A side jump, pulling, pushing, what was he going to do against Atamifuji I suspect even Abi himself doesn't know. Third loss and tomorrow he has to regroup if he wants to remain sekiwake. Excellent sumo by Hiradoumi, looking more ozeki like than the ex-ozeki Kirishima himself. Especially considering Kirishima was doing really well the first for days and Hiradoumi gave him a fairly decisive loss. Onosato despite his still suspect upright tachiai this time managed to get into position to exert his power and push Takanosho. Five wins in a row is a solid step towards his goal of 12, now let's see what happens when he gets closer to the magic number and pressure starts building as he's leading the yusho race. Mitakeumi is sadly absolutely useless at his maegashira 3 rank. Except for his one win, I haven't seen him doing any competitive sumo against his opponents so far. Basically almost anyone who faces him this basho is getting a freebie and Hoshoryu happily collected his. Wow, *this* Oho decided to show up today! Excellent tachiai and stamina to keep up with Kotozakura and after a lengthier than usual bout yori him out on the mawashi no less! I think Kotozakura took Oho a bit lightly and paid for it. Exciting end to Day 5, let's see how long Onosato can hold the lead.

Kotozakura is gonna run away with the most kensho this basho, isn't he...

Day 4, let's see how makuuchi does today. Takarafuji played the role of the immovable wall, resisting every push from Kitanowaka until the wall was suddenly gone and Kitanowaka went down in his belly. 3-1 is a great start for Takarafuji and he looks to be in reasonably good shape to go for kachikoshi. Onokatsu's adjustment period to makuuchi continues. Will he be able to push back and stay in maegashira ranks for the next basho? Fellow makuuchi newcomer Shirokuma is doing slightly better than Onokatsu, getting his second win after weathering Hokutofuji's oshi. Whether that makes him more likely to stay in maegashira compared to Onokatsu is still too early to say. Takayasu's back unfortunately lasted only one bout longer than last basho. Unless something miraculously improves he's on the way to Juryo. Wonder if he's gonna attempt a comeback or is it time for a double-Taka intai announcement soon... I comparison Kinbozan is not exactly seem to be doing horribly, just worse than his opponents so far. Though on the lower half of makuuchi a 0-4 start is a bit ominous regarding the banzuke. Bushozan recovered well from yesterday's loss where he looked uncannily like a slapped down Takakeisho. Strong pushing nets him a third win and a bright outlook for the rest of the basho. No bright day unfortunately today for Sadanoumi who had a rather one sided loss to imposter Abi, I mean Ichiyamamoto. That means Sadanoumi drops from the yusho leaders list, which I suppose is not a big surprise. Neither of Roga and Oshoma don't seem to be in a good condition, so unsurprisingly today's bout between them was decided by a sidestep as Oshoma decided getting an easy win is better than risking a hard fought loss. Tamawashi again fell to dohyo trickery as Midorifuji managed to stay on the tawara just long enough for the win. Perhaps due to yesterday's the shimpan actually called a mono-ii today, though it was pretty clear cut. At least they'll feel nice and warm inside I guess. Whereas Tamawashi's bout perhaps didn't warrant a mono-ii, Ura vs Wakatakakage certainly did and the shimpan were on target again,noticing Ura stepping out before pulling down his opponent. The men in black are definitely on a roll today... Shonannoumi seems to be another rikishi who's not doing exactly terrible sumo but remains winless. I'm still confident he'll recover at some point and will get at least a few wins, though kachikoshi seems a challenge. Kotoshoho aka The Diddler had a spirited encounter with Meisei and emerged victorious. He seems to be in a pretty good shape this basho, sagari diddling notwithstanding. Wow, Shodai! Not only did he put good pressure on Wakamotoharu, he also did not give up in a disadvantageous position and pulled off a nice last moment reversal. 4-0 and in the leading pack seems a bit unbelievable coming from the king of underachieveing, but as mentioned a few days earlier he has that in him. Hiradoumi made the much bigger Oho look like his grandmother, pushing him out with ease. Hiradoumi's fire is burning strong and who knows where it'll take him. Kirishima is one basho late to having a great performance as he's putting in now. The ozeki rank is gone but perhaps not permanently as an injury free Kirishima is still able to beat most of makuuchi. Although Onosato clearly was stronger than Daieisho, the win was a bit too close for comfort as both of them fell down within a split second. Daieisho has lost half of his explosiveness somewhere, has he looked under the sofa? Abi used his mobility well against Takanosho who doesn't seem to be in the zone this basho. Abi will do well to remain sekiwake this basho, and seems that's his goal as well. Atamifuji did a weird backwards step and that was all Kotozakura needed to push him out like a cart on wheels. Easy win, especially considering how Hoshoryu lost against Atamifuji yesterday. Epic pulldown by Tobizaru, forcing usually well balanced Hoshoryu to touch the dohyo with his hand. Seems like this basho Hoshoryu is playing the part of the generous win-dispensing ozeki. But there doesn't seem to be much physically wrong with him so I hope he recovers.