Tigerboy1966

A sekiwake yusho followed by an ozeki yusho has never happened in the modern era, so we would be in uncharted waters if Terunofuji wins. The only pre-modern example gives little occasion for optimism: http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&columns=3&form1_rank=s&form1_y=on&form2_rank=o&form2_y=on I suppose that when Futabayama failed to earn promotion there were already 3 yokozuna and as he was so obviously a stone-cold certainty to get the rank it didn't hurt to make him wait one more basho.

The cruel thing is that Enho probably needs one win to be sure of staying in juryo, so even if he pulls out now there would be pressure on him to return later.

And that does not look good for Enho. Elbow injury.

If you follow the link to the query I did, it's clear that he was counting Makuuchi only, and counting the previous 5 basho plus this one. If you count the 6 most recent completed basho, the numbers should all be way higher, and there you'll see Kotoeko's and Terunofuji's most recent Juryo basho as the one that gets added on. That's what I was trying to do. Unfortunately I went to bed just after posting and didn't explain it properly.

Terunofuji maintains his ten point lead in the imaginary "most wins in the last six basho" competiion. My sums aren't the best but I have the top ten as follows: 58 Terunofuji 48 Takayasu 47 Daieisho 46 Takakeisho, Shodai 45 Asanoyama 44 Mitakeumi, Takanosho 42 Hokutofuji 39 Kotoeko (yes really)

Now, now, there's no need to get phrasmotic and compunctuous on this forum.

It looked to me as though Meisei was taking a few liberties before his match with Terunofuji today. He seemed to be delaying things which meant that Terunofuji had to spend more time than necessary in a probably painful "knees bent" posture. I think that's why Teru decided to chuck him off the dohyo rather than just easing him over the bales. Old Welsh proverb says "Don't poke a dragon in the eye unless you want a scorched arse".

...which means he's likely to be down at around sandanme 20 in July. It doesn't look promising, does it?

And as they did not have any mae-zumo matches in March, none of the new lads had a chance to earn a higher spot, so they have to fill up the bottom ranks. I just hope the new highest rank doesn't go to Shonanzakura's head. It would be a shame if it spoiled him.

It's gone awfully quiet round here, considering that we are only a few hours away from the start of the basho. I see that the the three men who had sanyaku-worthy records but got stuck at the top of maegashira will (predictably) get a chance to prove how unlucky they were in the first two days: Wakatakage gets Takakeisho and Shodai Meisei gets Terunofuji and Asanoyama Hokutofuji gets Shodai and Terunofuji Good luck lads!

His knees were busted already a long time ago. And with one knee, one and a half knees, or half a knee, he's the best wrestler competing in this basho... and there isn't a close second, (adopts Kevin Keegan voice) and I would LOVE IT if he beats them all.

Hakuho we knew about, Midorifuji was obviously hurt in March, Ryuden has historic injury issues, but Aoiyama is a shock to me.

I was just wondering about the rankings in jonokuchi... with no mae-zumo how do you think they put the new lads in order? They seem to have put the younger ones higher up.

I don't think that Kakuryu, who entered the sport as a fifteen-year-old foreign kid with no wrestling background, would find a place in a heya in 2021.

Fortunately the ranking in jonokuchi doesn't mean much, as (since 2008) a kk gets you promoted to jonidan wherever you are on the list.