Kaninoyama

Takekeisho is once again an Ozeki (and has emerged as the favorite to win this basho).

Hokutofuji having a roller coaster ride of a basho. A kinboshi, followed by 6 straight losses, followed by 5 straight wins. Will the real Hokutofuji please stand up?

Asanoyama's yusho hopes fade with a 2nd consecutive loss.

Takakeisho rolled a strike.

Down go both Asanoyama and Mitakeumi. A Meisei yusho is looking more and more possible.

Asanoyama is looking to me like the favorite to win.

At 4-5 with both Yokozuna kyujo, Tochinoshin is still drawing live to pull of a kachikoshi and save his Ozeki rank.

Great win by Asanoyama. He got spun completely around by Abi and then driven to the edge of the dohyo and still managed to pull off a win. Definitely a contender for this basho.

Down goes Okinoumi. This basho is now completely wide open.

Aminishiki joins Mainoumi in the announcer's chair as a commentator for today's NHK broadcast. First interesting tidbit: he plans to diet down below is makuuchi debut weight of 117 kilos.

The question is: can he hatakikomi his way all the way to Yokozuna?

The added weight was just my imagination then, but his steadily improving sumo is not.

And Tomokaze hatakikomi's his way to yet another big win.

Meisei continues to impress. Is it just me or has he added some weight this basho? If so, the added size, together with his considerable skills, are paying dividends thus far.

Am I the only one who likes predominantly oshi-zumo? Don't get me wrong, ideally there would be a full palette of contrasting styles making for diverse match-ups. But I also remember the dark days of sumo several years ago around the time of the yaocho scandal, when we had Hakuho dominating a bunch of slow, lumbering yotsu wrestlers and every match was decided by a boring yori-kiri with little movement. I find today's brand of sumo, where smaller, quicker wrestlers like Enho can compete, vastly more entertaining.