Highway

My man Aoiyama can beat the simpler guys, but he seems to have no ideas vs stronger opponents....guess that's why he is where he is, pretty straightforward. I'll say this...of all the sumo wrestlers, Tochinoshin is the last one I'd want to fight in a back alley. Georgian beast indeed. He can easily be ozeki one day soon. Hakuho will come back big in January is my prediction.

it's a tough, tough life at the M1 rank....

Wow at Endo....a couple of bashos ago I could have bet my house that he would never beat Hakuho. Seemed a million miles off it.

Disappointed my compatriot Aoiyama didn't get into sanyaku, but happy he is the highest-ranking European again.

Man....the king has returned.

wow, super surprised at Hakuho last match. I really...can't buy that he would actually throw the match, but that was just the most careless I've seen him, in a majorly important match at least. And he didn't even seem that bothered or the least bit surprised with the loss, which was also strange. I am sure that Goeido will put up a decent fight tomorrow though, it's not over yet.

Complete joke. Aoiyama won that match 100%. Goeido also technically touched the ground first the match before, but they correctly judged that he had the momentum and was the rightful winner. Same situation here, but they gave it to Kise...for fun. They really screwed over Aoiyama with M2 this basho, and now not giving him very clear victories....

Oh hold on a bit now - Aoiyama should get the Komusubi slot....yes Yoshi and Oki did great, but Aoiyama had to fight pretty much every yokozuna and ozeki before getting his kk...

Hakuho sole leader again - but he'll do well to win both his final bouts. Should be interesting. Important clash tomorrow as well in Aoiyama - Myogiryu.....san'yaku on the line. But Aoiyama doesn't do well vs smaller quicker opponents, so I don't know...

Wow that is the fastest I can remember to have seen Hakuhou lose a bout. Very unusual, and he had a shocked look on his face. But what an entertaining basho......4 way tie, and I'd be very surprised if there isn't some kind of playoff at the end. If I was forced to pick, at this point I would possibly go with Terunofuji. He really displays confidence.

Great wins for two of my favourites Aoiyama and Goeido today, so quite happy. Kakuryu looks the best he's ever looked as a yokozuna.

Man we're heading for one super three way race. All three contenders look as solid as they've ever been. Just a shame Hara has to miss the party too. I'm going to make the prediction that Kotoshogiku will find some way out of this. He looked good today, if he can get a momentum going, he can get 8 wins.

Thats a big shame that Haramafuji is out....it seems like every basho at least one yokozuna sits out. It's shaping up to be a 3-man-race so far. And we'll have one less ozeki next basho.

Heart-stopping basho, one of the most exciting ones I've seen. I must agree though, nothing against Terunofuji, but he was very fortunate to come away with the cup. Some questionable referring decisions went against Hakuho, though he also lost way more than usual, plus Terunofuji never had to fight Haru, never beat Hakuho himself, and Kakuryu of course was out injured. Exciting but weird basho, in which there really wasn't a clear winner - but Terunofuji walks away with it. He deserves to be ozeki though.

What a crazy final day coming up indeed. But I fully expect Hakuho and Terunofuji to both win and secure the playoff, with Hakuho likely taking that as well. It's still very hard to bet against him. But I would love it if they actually lost and we got a super playoff as well, I'll be rooting for Kise if so.

Feel bad for Kise, he goes on some mini runs where he looks impressive, but can't sustain in for long enough. Still, he sometimes give Hakuho a good match. And nothing wrong with Goeido's henka....exactly how much bigger is Kaisei than him? In most other sports they wouldn't even be allowed to compete against each other.

Aoiyama isn't in the same stable as Kisenosato and Takayasu; the Tagonoura-beya that Aoiyama was a member of closed down a few years ago and he's in Kasugano-beya today. The Tagonoura-beya with Kise and Takayasu is a completely different entity that just has the same name.Members of the same stable are never paired up, except in a yusho playoff. Ah, I see....I suppose the wikipedia info is out of date then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_sumo_wrestlers

Question about stables, which is one area I've never really read much about....is there any rule to how often stable-mates can face off against each other? As in, I think I heard they generally seek to avoid putting stable-mates against each other, but Aoi wrestles Takyasi pretty much every baso, and used to go up against Kise when he was ranked higher up...

Really liked seeing my man Aoiyama shove out the ozeki with such ease today, that's what he can do at his best - strength and weight that's gonna be tough for anyone. Trouble is, he has almost no resiliency. He takes a wrong step, momentum goes against him, and you can be pretty sure it's all over. It's all or nothing with Aoi. It is going to be pretty interesting tomorrow vs Kaisei, they're not too different from each other....but would love to see him get his kk. Terunofuji has done so well recently you actually think he had a solid chance against Hakuho. But it was not meant to be, I think the champion will be retaining the cup this basho. Unless Kise has other plans, but he just never displays that championship-winning mentality at the end.

Well you're right that the current crop of Ozeki really aren't putting up good numbers - only Kisenasato has at least been somewhat in the running in the last few days in past tournaments, from what I recall. However, I think there is a much bigger difference between say yokozuna and ozeki than ozeki and sekiwake...to be a yokozuna, you don't just need good numbers, you need to be winning entire bashos. Though ironically it's also the only one from which you can't be demoted.... I thought that ozeki are essentially yokuzuna in everything but name/ring entrance ceremony? regardless, to me there is a higher standards/expectations to meet as an ozeki. single digit wins each basho seems pretty crappy for those a rank away from yokuzuna. I would expect them to be a bit more of a challenge.

But he is meeting the minimum standarsts at least, it is why he is still an Ozeki. Like it or not, kachi-koshi is all that is needed. If they wanted to maintain a higher standard, they should bump that up to 9 wins minimum, but that's not on the cards.

Harumafuji is the master at defeating himself...

Wow, I rarely comment on gyoji decisions, but it seemed like there were two big ones called wrong today. Kisenosato v Tochinoshin should have been a re-do, it seemed way too close for anyone to decide there was a clear winner there. But even more so Harumafuji - Sadanoumi -- in the first bout the latter's body clearly touched the ground first, I mean it wasn't even nearly as close as the Kisenosato match. So two big decisions that could be deciding for the cup at the end...

woow. Amazing. A legendary champion who has carved his name amongst the very top of a very long and proud tradition...and it takes mere seconds of a lapse of concentration and the champion falls. Kind of a lesson in life. What a start to the basho.

Amazing. What a feat by Terunofuji. He has often hinted that he is capable of achieving something special, today he did that.