Kotomiyama

I was very nervous in the moments leading to the Playoff. I would have loved a Takayasu yusho, it might have been a perfect ending for his career. I can't help but like the guy. Probably his destiny, like a lot of sportsmen before him, is to be an eternal second. I only hope that he will come to terms with his fate and look back to his career proudly. Happy also with Onosato, he has the tsuna within reach.

Believing that this could be a soft promotion is compatible with thinking that Hoshoryu has what it takes to be a successful Yokozuna. Those are different matters.

Sometimes I jump from the couch for sheer excitement after a great bout. Today I did it twice. Before today I didn't think a yusho would be enough to grant a promotion for Hoshoryu, but his performance today was a display of power and hunger. I even saw glimpses of his uncle. Nevertheless, I would like the YDC to be harsh and demand another yusho in March. I don't like a Yokozuna handling kinboshi in the first quarter of a basho...

Congratulations to Tamawashi for his kachikoshi. Is there a list of the oldest rikishi who got a kachikoshi on Makuuchi? I wonder if Tamawashi is on the top 10...

Glad to see that Kiribayamashima is back!

With Abi beating his doppelganger we have avoided a major upset in the balanceof the sumo universe.

It is not surprising that Ura is one of the favourites of the fans. What he did today justifies a ticket. Pure magic.

At the moment @Kintamayama is our only hope.

I kinda liked the basho. In fact I would say that the prospects for 2025 are bright. Sumo is well past the era of dominant rikishi and each tournament is an opportunity for nearly everyone with the necessary amount of ambition, health and luck. Speaking of health: I doubt that Tamawashi will retire in 2025. The guy is standing his ground against opponents that could be his children.

You can count me among his detractors. I didn't like his manners at all, it always seemed to me that he barely bowed when losing a bout. I didn't like his sumo either, too one-dimensional for me. Yet here I am, paying my respects to the great Takakeisho. I have come to appreciate the sheer effort of the man, maximising the attributes that he was born with. He was a true fighter who probably exchanged years of his life for four yusho and an Ozeki rank. I wish him a happy retirement, a fast lose of weight and a healthy life from here on.

Everything was going the epic way and here we are, amidst a tragedy. I love Sumo.

I can't figure why Hoshoryu doesn't become the dominant Ozeki he cam be. Those silly loses in the beginning of the tournament...

Farewell mighty Terutsuyoshi. I wish he gets to see other worlds and a live a happy life.

I recently received a Hakuho's tegata. Now it rests in a cupboard and I wonder if one day will it hang on a wall of my house. Frow, it is suspended.

Exactly. You can have a harsh lifestyle, with hard training and austere living conditions, while respecting others and keeping a healthy ambient in the Heya. Lines have been drawn for some years now and there is no going back... and I as a fan want it this way.

Hokuseiho? I don't care, I didn't like the guy. He was wasting a nature's gift and his relarion with the GOAT. Hakuho, on the other hand... I just hope that he learns from all of this. If he wants to revolutionise the NSK, which I am sure he does, he must first set the highest standard for his heya and all of his pupils. And that certainly doesn't include bullying.

Fantastic day of Sumo! Ura served a top appetiser to prepare our palate for the main course: a sheer dominance display from Terunofuji. Some said that he was waiting for Kirishima to get the rope to retire... well I guess Terunofuji made a statement today. Not only he handled the Yokozuna prospect like a baby, he also dominated the new Ozeki. His intai will have to wait.

I felt a pang of pain after Takarafuji's loss today. The way he fell and how he took a moment to stand up, felt like a farewell to Makuuchi to me. I will miss him.

39 years old and Tamawashi is still going strong. Today he upset Asanoyama and opened the yusho arasoi. We have a nice second week coming!

I screamed when I saw Ura's elbow trapped in that kotenage. Fortunately, his agility prevented any damage (I hope)

Will a senshuraku makekoshi be enough to keep Tomokaze in Makuuchi? That's all that matters to me now.

My soul has been cleansed by the sheer gracility of Kinbozan's utchari. A bout to show to your friends when they say that sumo is about two fat men shoving each other in the sand.

Fantastic nakabi, every option is open except Takakeisho becoming Yokozuna. That should wait, maybe forever. I suggest that those that still ride the Hokuseiho wagon transfer to Atamifuji's in the next station. The boy's only argument is height and that's not enough for upper Makuuchi.

Takayasu will surely retire without a yusho, but I am sure that in twenty years we will still remember him before a lot of yusho winners of his era.

Indeed. I was impressed yesterday with his sheer patience when cornered against the tawara, a quality that only the chosen have.