robnplunder

As soon as a Yokozuna senses he will have a bad basho (or fall to an early losing record), he finds the slightest excuse of an injury to go kyujo. That's not "saving face." That's chickening out. I respect Harumafuji, who opted to finish most bashos even when it wasn't going well for him. Hak, Kak, Kise, Teruno - I wonder how many of their kyujo were for a real "serious" injury.

It will be fun to track Kusano, Aonishiki, and Kotoshoho in the next basho.

Did anyone imagine that after day 5, Kotoshoho (3-2) would win 10 straight matches and would go on to win the tournament? Even after day 11, I was expecting Koto to lose against Taka, Ono, Kiri, and Ao. What happened to him, a perennial mid-Makuuchi sometimes Juryo rikisshi?

I wonder what if Takerufuji and Hakuoho didn't have their early career injuries. Hopefully, Ao avoids a similar happenstance.

Onosato is not Hakuho, but could be a more successful Yokozuna than Kise (for sure), Harumafuji, and Kakuryu. He could be a dominant force going forward, more so than Hoshoryu could. Is Aonishiki real? He was 1-5 against Sanyuku before this basho. He completely turned that around by going 5-2 against the lot. That is freaking impressive. If the others can't crack Ao's sumo style, he'd be an Ozeki in no time.

Hokutofuji was one of my favorites. I am sorry to see him retire at that age.

Size cannot be taught.

It's tougher for the little guys.

He has a shot b/c there aren't enough elite competitors to stop him from becoming one. Also, his smart can make up for his lack of size & power.

That's sumo. Congrats to the winner.

My sentimental choice is Tamashoho. I am hoping Hakuoho to make it, too. He looked so promising before the injury.

I think Ryuden is safe with four wins. He can make sure to stay with a win tomorrow. There could be only three openings for the MK promotion. Hakuoho may not make it to MK unless he wins tomorrow.

I thought so too. A photo finish equipment would have benefitted Hiradoumi.

I knew he would be injury-prone given his phisic, and sumo style. Still, he overachieved IMO. I wish him well.

It's nice to see Tekarufuji's run. The current crop of Sanyuku is crap (relative to the days of Hak, Haru, Kise, Kak when the current yokozuna Ternofuji was just another rikishi). I sure hope the likes of Tekarufuji and Onosato can bring better quality to the top sumo. Meanwhile, the boy-wonder Hakuoho seems to struggle to get his machi-kochi in juryo. Has he fully recovered from his injury? I don't see the same power he displayed on his way to Makuuchi from MS15TD.