Tigerboy1966

So has he bought the kabu or is he just borrowing it?

1981 Kotokaze promoted to ozeki with 31 wins 9-10-12Y.

Two consecutive 10-5s for Kagayaki. And he takes a 2-1 lead over his old buddy.

He tends to henka a lot and goes for sneaky pulls. And he's just got one of those faces you want to see punched. He's actually very talented and I usually root for him, but I do have a habit of siding with the bad guy.

Kiribayama is Chiyoshoma with all the nasty bad bits removed.

Opponent pushes Tokushoryu to the bales then falls over. Haven't I seen this before?

There are few precedents for this kind of rank/score result. I think the consensus among the wise ones is that 14-1 should do it with ordinary banzuke luck.

And of course Kagayaki is 4-1 lifetime against Takakeisho, so go figure, or go go penguin if you prefer... We're heading for a rock, paper, scissors finale.

If we wait for a basho with a fully fit roster of Y & O competing all 15 days we are going to be waiting for a very long time.

They won't do that but I think they will slacken the criteria. One big problem of late is that the steady stream of demoted ozeki has meant that there has usually been only one slot available for an upwardly mobile sekiwake. This narrows the list of ozeki candidates as you really need a winning record at S in the most recent basho. 32 wins in the last 3 basho for a sekiwake could well do it.

He's got what is in effect a quarter-final match against Ichiki, a 26 year old from Tamanoi-beya tomorrow. If he gets through that one he would face a lower ranked opponent in his sixth bout, giving him a good chance to go up against Wakamotoharu for the makushita yusho. Good luck to the lad.

What are Goeido's prospects of getting 5 more wins from here and retaining ozeki status? He has Enho tomorrow, which should be a hoot. In the last 6 days he should face Takakeisho, Asanoyama, Takayasu and three others- I'm guessing Takarafuji, Tochinoshin & Shohozan. I'd give him a 35% chance: what do you think?

Of course he is only competing to complete his programme of Tagonoura Therapy, the controversial medical technique in which serious injuries are treated with daily participation in high impact combat sports.

And he might well have to face Jokoryu to get that record as the latter is also unbeaten on 3-0.

I think he's hoping to get one more win and secure his place in the division. Painful to watch.