ShinreiGensho

Indeed it seems like a tall order for him. He definitely showed some gambarizing against Jokoryu though, even getting a good yori-charge going. Maybe that indicates that he's not willing to leave that easily.

Although performing in the low-maegashira vicinity at the moment, i think Takayasu's Day 8 - kachikoshi is a tremendous effort. I really like his sumo at the moment. Composed, yet versatile and focused. Let's see how far it'll get him. As for Kyokutenho, I'm afraid he will have a mighty hard time celebrating his 40th birthday in Makuuchi. Maybe he ought to try and employ some more throws since his yori-defense is shaky to say the least.

I agree. He's remarkably quick on his feet this basho as well, so that has improved since Hatsu (see fight against Chiyotairyu). Also his mix of experience/timing and power/athletic ability is unmatched among the current sekitori (with the exception of most of sanyaku of course). In that respect, I'm also quite impressed with Takekaze. He also is holding his ground very well against much younger competition.

I think Tokitenku is injured. His drop in performance from what he displayed the last few basho is too sudden to be just a result of getting older. Of course, the older one is, the more possible it gets for an injury to send one home... I agree with you. But throughout the last few basho - well, at least in the most recent one - he had his hands full just holding his ground against any oshi-attack. There were a few great bouts however, especially on the belt. Your right about his injury, I think that there might be some pulled muscle in his left upper leg, I don't believe that any joints are affected. Let's hope that he recovers well and can go full force next year.

What is interesting to see as well is that Kyokutenho's poor score is not displaying his performance correctly. He is still a decent belt worker but just cannot keep up with san'yaku-style speed and creativity. He was ranked way too high this basho. As for Kisenosato, he is obviously well ahead of all the other ozeki and that harsh contrast might be in his favour as far as promotion is concerned. I'm not sure whether or not that would be good for his game though. Early 2014 will be Tokitenku's intai. No spirit, not even any more trickery. The wins that he eeks out are not really based on his effort anymore, but much rather on the mistakes that the others make. On a positive note, Wakanosato seems to be doing well. He won't drop away through juryo like Miyabiyama did. He still is a formidable competitor, who might even visit Makuuchi once again some time in the future.

Sadly enough, many rikishi start acting rudely and disrespectfully. Terunofuji has done it all basho long, Toyohibiki had his hand in Osunaarashi's face until way after the decision and Tokitenku almost knocked Kaisei out with a vigorous harite today. I appreciate the NSK / the shimpan taking action in repremanding those involved. Kisenosato on the other hand seems a lot less arrogant lately, maybe he was advised to try and at least mentally take a step further towards promotion.

The fewer legs Tokitenku uses, the more stable his sumo seems to be. That sort of compliments his eccentric style. I'd also like to mention that Fujiazuma does very well this basho (so far), resorting to a solid, no-thrills but also quite effective style of sumo. If both Hakuho and Harumafuji stay in shape and unbeaten until day 15 we'll be in for a treat.