Highway

Someone please slap Aoiyama before the start of every bout, look what he does when fired up!

Aoiyama crashing and burning out a bit after that great opening day bout. :( Kakuryu and Tochinoshin the clear favorites even at this point now that Takakeisho is out. My money is on Tochi, when he is healthy he looks absolutely unstoppable.

Aoiyama my man one of his best opening bouts in ages! He looks a force to be reckoned with. Can he keep it up?

My man Aoiyama such a massive leap to Komusubi? I am pleasantly surprised, that's like 7 places he leaped up, I can't remember that happening often. Hopefully he has a new strategy for dealing with the top guys though, I think he has a fairly bad record and looks pretty helpless when he faces someone with clearly more technique.

Hakuho the GOAT of GOATs.

Did Takakeisho think he has Abi's arms there for some reason? My man Aoiyama ending up with a great double-digit tournament so I'm very happy - but I do enjoy seeing him go forward instead of backwards so often. Unforunate for Tamawashi, I guess it really shows the difference between a healthy roster and injury-hit one. Wow what a massive matchup tomorrow Tochi vs Takakeisho. If I had to pick though I'd root for Takakeisho... Hakuho is a show all by himself...

Aoiyama and Takakeisho both gave it a heck of a good go, but wasn't to be this tournament. Hakuho seems to have re-entered invincible mode.

Aoiyama still looking like a boss, blew Shohozan away. Two absolute mountains clashing tomorrow with him and Ichinojo, really looking forward to that.

Brilliant basho so far for my favorites Aoiyama and Goedo, the former especially has looked very powerful the last couple of bouts. Has to be careful about getting henka'd though with those charges... Hakuho again looking like the master that he is, but then his losses usually come out of nowhere. The (injured) irresistible force vs the immovable object tomorrow, usually one of the funnest bouts in a basho.

I may have to eat my words but I see Aoiyama giving him a good run for his money tomorrow.

I'm as mystified as everyone else at Hakuho's losing streak. He doesn't look like he's injured, it's just straight out losses. Makes things incredibly exciting though, it's a 3-way race now.

Mitakeumi THE MAN today. wow.

Gah! Aoiyama started off well, but as always has no answer for the underarm throw, which IMO is one of Hakuho's best weapons. I think Hak could even get a zensho this basho, he looks very, very good.

As an Aoiyama fan I am more than a bit ticked off with what happened on day 4, hopefully it doesn't derail him in what has been his best run for years it feels. Very strange, but exciting basho so far.

Wow what an ending. I actually felt quite bad for Takayasu at the end. But at the same time very happy for Takayasu, I could sense a few basho ago there was something special about him, and here it is paying off already. Of course he'll have to show consistency when the yokozuna are back next time around, but he sure seems to have greatness ahead of him. Shout out to Shohozan and Tochinoshin as well, they went to war or what. My man Aoyiama his best performance in a long time it sure feels like. Very good basho, really enjoyed it.

Gosh what a last two days. Takakeisho lost kind of the same way he won yesterday, had the initiative but slipped up. Down to the wire on the last day now, I think the chances for a playoff are very high.

Very fun to see my top two, Aoiyama and Takakeisho, going at it. Aoiyama actually gave him a better challenge than most this basho, until that bad luck with the toe. Very much looking forward to Takakeisho-Takayasu and how that will pan out, definitely feels like a championship decided, even if not technically.

- That should have been a re-do between Ichinojo v Takayasu, especially since the former was driving the latter out. Too bad he didn't put up a similar fight earlier this basho though, a sleeping giant if there ever was one. - Can't believe Aoiyama has gone 9-0 after losing the first two, what a turnaround - though one of those loses was Onosho, so makes sense. He deserves it though, he has been fighting very well.

- Happy to see my man Aoiyama on a bit of a roll, he's getting to use his strength - Mitakeumi VS Takakeisho was quite entertaining...despite the loss I'm still backing Takakeisho to win this basho - It seems that many have figured out that they can't let Tochinoshin get the belt no matter what, and it seems to not have too much of a plan B

I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Takakeisho. Really love watching his bouts. He has a youthful spirit about him that is refreshing. Very sad about what's happening with Kisenosato...the full extent of his injuries is likely hard to measure. But I respect him for going out and trying.

Hakuho, what an achievement. 1 off from a zensho, and this at such a stacked basho where pretty much all the top guys are there and healthy, something we haven't had in forever it feels. The man.

Would love to see Goeido pull off the upset and take down Hakuho today. Will be worthy of a championship bout for sure.

Great to see all the big guys back and doing so well. Feels like a whole different ball-game compared to the last few bashos. Quietly rooting for Kisenosato. But on the opposite end of the scale...my man Aoiyama is tanking a little bit here. A number of the bouts so far he starts pushing well, but then can't get the job done, and loses balance too easily. Needs to rethink his strategy.

The rapid change of form of wrestlers is still one thing that surprises me about Sumo. Earlier this year Takakeisho looked like the next big thing, beating yokozunas and looking real good, and now he seems headed more toward juryo than sanyako. And he doesn't seem to be injured or anything, at least that I know of, just plain bad form.

No issues at all with Goeido. I understand it would be a problem if he did it like 5 times a basho or something, but once or twice at most should be acceptable. And if you want a high rank you should be ready for any and all kind of challenges, Tochinoshin was not today.