robnplunder

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.

M17 has produced a few yusho takers in recent years. Takerufuji may add his name to the list. Can Wakatakakage make it to M17 in the next basho with a juryo yusho?

Good riddance to both.

I didn't believe he could still pull that move off. That was very fun.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hoshoryu goes kadoban. He looked unimpressive even beating 0-4 Tamawashi today.

Nagoya offers a sure opportunity for not one, not two, but three Sanyuku rikishi for promotion to Ozeki rank. Let's track their progress on this. We can also track how the new Ozeki and Takakeisho are doing, Takakeisho - Got out of Kadoban in the last basho with an 8-7 record. Looked shaky in the process. Kirishima - Shin Ozeki, looked good for the last 3 bashos Daieisho - 22 wins in the last two bashos. 10 more wins for the promotion? Hoshoryu - 21 wins in the last two bashos. 10 or 11 more wins needed? Wakamotoharu - 21 wins in the last two bashos. 10 or 11 more wins needed? (My personal favorite to make it is Daiesisho. But really, all 3 of them can make it if they keep their current form.)

We have a new Ozeki! Hoshoryu deserves it with his 33 wins in 3 Basho. Wakamotoharu & Daieisho's Ozeki runs get reset.

True. Thanks for pointing it out. Daieisho wins with henka (sigh). If he wins tomorrow, that will give him 32 wins but I don't think he gets the promotion.

With the win over Wakamotoharu, Hoshoryu secures a jun-yusho, thanks to Hakuoho. Even if he loses tomorrow, I believe he gets the promotion. Winning tomorrow will be the icing on the cake though.

Watching Hokuseiho is more frustrating than watching Ichinojo.

That was a good match. I was rooting for Hokutofuji but the rookie was simply dang good. He is tied for the lead going into day 15 on his 4th basho. Wow! Just wow!

Yeah, it makes sense. Let's hope he finishes strong.

I don't think 31 will be enough no matter how they are accumulated.

Nope. I want Hokutofuji to take the Yusho in his 50th tournament.

Realistically, only Hoshoryu still has a chance to get promoted. Daieisho's loss was painful to watch. He needs to regroup and finish with 2 wins if he wants to continue his Ozeki run in the next basho. Ditto for Wakamotoharu.

Even 1 is not a sure thing now. Wakamotoharu won't be promoted even if he wins the remaining matches. Daieisho has to beat Wakamotoharu, Onosho, and Hoshoryu. Daieisho's win-loss record against those 3 is at about 50%. Hoshoryu has to beat Kirishima, Wakamotoharu, and Daieisho. Hoshoryu has an 18-13 win-loss record against the 3 combined. Statistically, he has a better chance than Daieisho to finish the basho with 3 straight wins. Both can still get promoted if they lose one and get a piece of jun-yusho. But only Hoshoryu has a realistic chance at getting a piece of jun-yusho (or better). Assuming Hoshoryu & Daieisho win their other matches, if Daieisho beats Hoshoryu, both end up with 32 wins and could get a piece of jun-yusho. Will the powers-to-be promote them both if this happens? Maybe. If Hoshoryu beats Daieisho and gets a piece of jun-yusho (11-4), he has a chance to get promoted. If 11-4 is not good enough for a jun-yusho, Hoshoryu may be out of luck. Then again, there were instances when 32 wins were good enough for the Ozeki promotion.

That is a very strong possibility now. If they don't make it with Terunofuji, Takakeissho out, and Kirishima returning from a kyujo stint, they are not ready to be an Ozeki yet.

Daieisho is now back against the wall as he loses to Tamawashi. He falls out of the Yusho race, too. Tomorrow, he faces Wakamotoharu. Hoshoryu falls against Hokutofuji for the first time in 5 head-to-head matches. Like Daieisho, no Yusho for him. He faces Kirishima tomorrow. I believe Hoshoryu will beat him though and stay in the race. Wakamotoharu is done, done, done. One down, two still alive.

Not yet. It has gotten tougher though. He faces Hakuoho tomorrow. Not an easy task after a loss.

Gotta love Kotoeko! He beats Hokuseiho in a spirited match. The latter need to figure out how best to use that size of his.

Hoshoryu beats Tamawashi for his 9th win and faces Hokutofuji on day 12. That is going to be a tough match given Hokutofuji's current form. He almost beat Wakamotoharu today. Wakamotoharu stayed alive with a tough win. He faces Kirishima on day 12 and should get another win against Kirishima who may not be at 100% physically. Daieisho looked lackluster in his loss against Kirishima. That was a shocker! But he faces Tamawashi on day 12 and should be able to notch another win despite having a career loss record against the latter. He was 4-1 against their last 5 matches. 30 wins for Hoshoryu & Daieisho - they need to go 3-1 the rest of the way for a sure promotion. 2-2 & a jun-yusho for a likely promotion. Wakamotoharu must run the table.

That'd work, too. As long as they have 32 total wins, either "yusho" will help get them promoted.

A 32 with a jun-yusho just may work for one of them. Daieisho yusho, Hoshoryu jun-yusho can net two Ozeki promotions.

What!!!!! Kotonowaka beats Hoshoryu for the 1st time in the last 10 matches between the two. He faces Tamawashi tomorrow, a must-win for the younger Mongolian. Daieisho is looking better and better for the promotion. He should be able to beat Kirishima on day 11.