Tigerboy1966

Channel 4. Broadcast sumo in the UK in the late 80s & early 90s. I was there...

...and threw the yusho winner Mitakeumi on Day15. That was his shining moment and I will never forget it.

Promoting Takayasu to S and Kotonowaka to K makes things very slightly easier. But you still have the problem of the demoted sanyaku taking up a block of slots which should be going to the mid-to upper maegashira with winning records.

And what an "interesting" banzuke it looks like being. I'm one of those people who is working up a first draft before the championship interview has finished and, well, you'll see what I mean. The upper M ranks are just horrible.

Did you all see Ryuden's performance today? He used every ounce of courage, resourcefulness, skills and guile to stay in the match. I was hugely impressed but that is exactly what we have a right to expect from a sekitori: for 20 seconds or so I want to see them fight as though winning the bout was the most important thing in the world. We saw that from Ryuden today, and the match stuck out like a sore thumb because we haven't seen enough of that spirit this basho. There's been too much giving up on the bales, putting the hands down after being slightly off-balance and generally sloppy sumo. And finally, what is up with Ryuden's hairdo. Today was an extreme case, but even in his first makuuchi run he often ended a match with the mage looking like it was about to fall off his head. I would blame the tokoyama but Kagayaki does not seem to suffer from the same problem. Does Ryuden have problem hair, or is he an impatient, fidgety type who refuses to sit still?

A less charitable suggestion: "Hey Daiamami, that crazy ex of yours got past security again. Whatever you do don't make eye contact."

Much schadenfreude to be had in jonidan today as would-be bad boy Ohtani ran into a man he couldn't bully and got squished by Asashiyu (Murata). He gave a big, petulant yelp as he hit the ground drawing a look from Asashiyu that said "Jeez kid, show some dignity".

First win for Takarafuji but he looks to be in real pain, and what is a man who favours hidari-yotsu supposed to do when he can't use his left arm. I haven't seen a promotion/relegation topic yet but what do you think he needs to survive? Would 3-12 be enough?

Thanks to Tobizaru for restoring my faith in the sport. Just give him the Fighting Spirit prize now, because nothing is going to top today's barn burner.

More dodgy than Okinoumi-Azumaryu two days ago? The dodginess quotient in today's match was a 9.3 as verified by the Tinfoil Hat Academy of New Brunswick. Points to notice: 1 Kiribayama twice had Takayasu side-on and did absolutely nothing to capitalise on the opportunities. 2 One of the best belt wrestlers on the planet never moved his hands anywhere south of Takayasu's chest 3 That extended nodowa which did nothing other than say "here's my arm, please grab it" 4 The finish where Kiribayama reacted to a relatively* innocuous shove like Shawn Michaels overselling Hulk Hogan's offense at SummerSlam 2005. *"relatvely innocuous"... if Takayasu did that to me I would have gone flying into the middle of next week, but I'm a fat 56 year old with the muscle mass of an elderly guinea pig.

Looks like Terunofuji will be y-o in January. Mitakeumi has looked awful in the last 2 days and probably should be nursing his injuries rather than competing... but this is sumo. 4 wins from 7 shouldn't be a difficult task for an ozeki but Shodai has so far faced only one sanyaku opponent, and he lost that bout. I think Mike at ST will have some fun describing today's match between Takayasu and Kiribayama. I am sure there is an innocent explanation but viewed through "cynicism goggles" it would look very dodgy.

Wish him the best. I've liked him since watching "An Ordinary Life" It is possible, of course that he is going to do that Ryuden thing where he just competes in one match to avoid dropping off the banzuke.

They have four men (Nokuni, Tairyu, Maru & No-o) who meet the qualifications, have no kabu, and are on the wrong side of 30. I don't know if Shoma is seeking Japanese citzenship but he would make five.

Phew! Just made it. Joining Terutsuyoshi and Hiradoumi in a collective sight of relief!

Agreed on both points.