Rainoyama

Since my post about Kisenosato, Mitakeumi and Tochinoshin yesterday was somewhat a success, let's continue with it today. Kisenosato : Lost to Tamawashi today, didn't show anything 6-2 isn't that bad on paper but he needs to produce let's say 3 more wins to be safe and it's hard to tell who he can actually beat to get them. He faces Tochinoshin tomorow who doesn't look good either but still better than him. Mitakeumi: Took a major major blow today, 6-2 still needing five wins losing to to a 0-7 Ikioi who he beat 6-0 before. He needs to beat a few of the top guys more than ever now. If he fails this basho, and gets let's say 10, he'll "only" need ten next basho which seems more doable, let's see how it turns out. He get Hakuhou tomorow so not the best Aite to bounce back. Tochinoshin : 5-3 lost to Goeido without showing anything so quite worrying, he still needs 3 more win but has a few more easier bouts coming next so there's still hope for him. Facing struggling Kisenosato in a must win bout for both.

Ichinojo is not too well this basho, he is big heavy but slow, maybe he can get that one depending which Ichinojo shows up that day...

With tomorow being nakabi already, I thought he'd be nice to talk a bit of three men who have something more to fight for than the yusho : Kisenosato - his career, Mitakeumi- promotion to Ozeki and Tochinoshin - not losing his rank. Kisenosato has looked shaky so far yet still managed to stay in the race with a 6-1 record. So far he beat M1e Ikioi, K1w Takakeisho, M2e Yutakayama, M1w Kaisei, M3e Shodai and M4e Chiyonokuni today. He lost to M2w Chiyotairyu. Let's say at least 9 win is his target, he is just 3 more wins away.We already know he faces winless K1e Tamawashi tomorow and has a 9-2 record against him. Tamawashi hasn't looked good this basho but is still a tough guy to beat especially for a shaky Kise, he'll be fighting to get his first win and avoid MK so it'll be a tough one for Kisenosato. For the seven next days, he is going to face fellow yokozunae Hakuhou and Kakuryu who I don't think he can beat even though everything can happen. He won't face heyamate Takayasu but he'll face Goeido and Tochinoshin. Goeido is unconsistent but has looked somehow solid this basho (6-1 and still in the race), Tochinoshin is shaky too but needs he 8 wins, ideally he'd need to beat one if he can. He is likely to face sekiwake Mitakeumi and Ichinojo, and he'll have one more hiramaku match up (Endo ? Abi ?). Let's say he gets wins against Tamawashi, Ichinojo and a the Hiramaku and he is at 9 seems doable but can he pull it off ? Mitakeumi needs 11 wins. He is at 6-1 so five more to go. He looked quite good so far and managed to win on day 7 after his loss against Goeido on day 6. He beat M3e Shodai, M2w Chiyotairyu, K1e Tamawashi, S1w Ichinojo, O2w Tochinoshin, and K1w Takakeisho. He gets M1e Ikioi (0-7) tomorow 6-0 record against him so this is a must win one for Mita. He is yet to face all three Yokozunae and Ozeki Takayasu (always a fun match up to watch), plus three other match ups to be determined. Tochinoshin, 5-2 injured toes, injured eye, somehow shaky but only needs 3 more wins so quite close. Yet to face all three Yokozunae and fellow Ozeki Takayasu and Goeido (who he faces tomorow !), he'll have two more match ups with Hiramaku guys to be determined. He is the closest to reach his goal imo.

He is in Makuuchi only since January 2017, only just turned 22, has already reached Komusubi twice, has 1 jun yusho, 2 shukun-sho, 1 kanto sho, 3 Kinboshi. This kid has a bright future for sure ! I am curious to see if he'll ever make it to Ozeki though. His bout against Mitakeumi today was amazing.

I agree completely, both fought the best they could. They are young talents and want to climb as high as they can, as fast as they can. they both wanted the win and did everything they could to get it. It's a kinboshi, it's a win and it's a loooooot of money too I don't think they'll pass on that.

As expected from what we could see yesterday, Kyokutaisei is kyujo from today it has been announced on twitter. Let's hope it's not too serious. With only one win from this rank he'll be in juryo next basho if he doesn't come back and get a few more wins (very unlikely). His aite today is Ryuden M13E he'll get the freebie and is 3-1 now.

Man that's just embarassing and sad, I hope he got a nice memo from his boss. Also it's sad for Shodai who is reminded he has no charisma and doesn't look like he is ever gonna make it to the next level.

King Yamatama

Another great day of sumo today, amazing Basho so far. Kisenosato had a bit of trouble again today but fought so hard, I am pretty sure they called the mono-i just so the head shipan could actually finish a sentence without making any mistake and sound like an idiot.

Oh ok thank you ! I didn't know that ! So it means they either keep Meisei in Juryo or over demote someone then ?

Tochinoshin is Ozeki now which means the top of the banzuke is gonna be even again (3Y 3O) it means the bottom of the table is gonna be changed to keep an even number in the highest division right ? I'm not a banzuke pro so please correct me if I am wrong but to me it would mean that : 1) If the ranks stop at M16W now they have to choose between not promoting Meisei or over demoting Ishiura, Ryuden or Hokutofuji 2) If they add a M17W they can promote Meisei, keep Ishiura, Ryuden, Hokutofuji and promote Akiseyama too

I think it'll be Shohozan yes. Abi, Kotoshogiku and Ikioi are out of the race and Shodai has just one more win than him at M4 which I don't think is enough to beat him to the spot, besides Shodai lost his last bout whereas Shohozan won and got the shukun-sho (he is the only one who beat Kakuryu this basho). Shodai will be M1E

I have a question : Ozeki Takayasu and Goeido are both Kadoban next basho, with Tochinoshin more and more likely to be promoted, will he still be outrank them both thanks to a better record or will he be outranked despite them being kadoban as he is shin-ozeki ?

Isn't there a rule that says that at least two Ozeki are needed ? What if Takayasu gets a zensho and Tochi not enough wins. What do they do ? Do they keep Takayasu as Ozeki or promote Tochi ? or a random guy ?

Dear members of the forum, I'm happy to finally join this fantastic website not just as an observer but as a member and meet you all ! I'm 22 from Paris, France and learning japanese at university. I've always been interested in Japan and discovered sumo a few years ago when it was still on Eurosport. I started to follow it with more interest after I discovered Kintamayama's channel on youtube about 3 years ago I'd say. I'm a big fan of some of the young hopes such as Mitakeumi, Hokutofuji and Shodai (A)... to name a few. I probably won't post a lot but I don't know anybody who likes sumo like me, so I think it's good to be able to post on this platform to share my views with people with the same interest. I can't wait talk about this wonderful sport with you all !

I really like him, he always look very happy and seems to be a nice guy, he showed good sumo this basho, if he can add a bit more variety to his arsenal and become a bit less clumsy I think he can do it !

I'm new to the forum and it's my first post so I hope I'm posting this in the right section and that it's not an already existing topic... Since last year, Yokuzuna Harumafuji retired, Ozeki Kisenosato was promoted to Yokozuna but is struggling and put his career on the line, Ozeki Kotoshogiku lost his rank, Ozeki Terunofuji too, Takayasu was the next Ozeki after all and young guys are banging on the door. I know sumo is really hard to predict especially so far in the future, but I thought it'd be fun to give a try and imagine what a banzuke from the decade of 2020 looks like. I picked this date because Hakuhou said he wants to be there until the olympics, let's assumed he is retired: who do you think is Yokozuna, who's Ozeki, who is regular sanyaku and jou- i and who is middle to low rank ?

I really do agree with a lot of these predictions and it seems believable to me ! thank you so much for your answer Wow that is amazing ! It's interesting to see someone who thinks Mitakeumi can't become at least ozeki, what is your take on him I'm curious ? To me he is better than Hokutofuji so far although I like both. Hokutofuji was not healthy this basho and got destroyed and Mitakeumi barely got his kk after 7 consecutive wins but still he'll be sekiwake for 5 consecutive bashos next basho and he is still quite young, surely he can start a run when he stops losing bouts he shouldn't lose. With that said an healthy Hokutofuji is really fun to watch and I think he can be at least ozeki.

Thank you all so much for answering, aha as always Goeido is so hard to predict and dividing people ! I'm curious to see if he can finally step up. He did clinch his kk today and may well beat Kakuryu tomorow at this rate but he's gonna get older and I agree with Ack! , I think he is too unconsitent to ever become Yokozuna even with some of the current top guys retired.

Very interesting ! And some really bold choices I like it ! I would really like to see Kisenosato still around by this time, I really hope he can come back from whatever is wrong with him, we should know more about his future by the end of the year I think. For Goeido Yokozuna this year wow ! Really ? this one is hard to believe to me, he is yet to get his kachi koshi this basho and has always been so unconsistent, I actually think he is gonna lose his ozeki rank by them, I guess we'll see who's right aha ! Tochinoshin is a beast and Ozeki material but his knees are an issue and it won't improve with time. I agree with you that Mitakeumi can make it to yokozuna, and I agree that Onosho have a very bright future, like you I think he can be ozeki by then. To me I see Mitakeumi as sole Yokozuna, Takayasu, Onosho, Shodai, Hokutofuji and Ichinojo Ozekis and no one really winning two consecutive bashos to be promoted. Sanyaku/ Jou-i pool : Takakeisho, Asanoyama, Kagayaki, Abi, Ryuden, Daiesho, Mitoryu, Endo, Takagenji... Middle-ranks : Chiyomaru, Chiyonokuni, Chiyoshoma, Yutakayama, Takarafuji, Daiamami, Yago, Ura, Enho... Lower-ranks: Old Kaisei B, Daishomaru, Ishiura, Kotoyuki, Nishikigi