Orudo Toriitorunku

Henka is to Sumo what Offside is to football; a necessity that most find annoying, but without which the sport would not be the same. If it was illegal to sidestep the initial attack, there would be no smaller sumo wrestlers at all. Everyone would have to specialize in Takakeisho style Sumo. Sumo would become a sport where wrestlers built like tanks tried to run each other over. Not fun at all.

This Basho has been the most hopeful for quite a while. Several healthy wrestlers showed marked improvement and will fill the top ranks shortly (Abi, Kotonowaka, Mitakeumi, Hoshoryu, Wakatakakage). This is great since Teranofuji, Shodai and Takaleisho seem unlikely to hold on to their spots for long. I think neither Ozeki will be able to advance or even remain Ozeki the full year. And Teranofujis knees seem to have gone as far as they will take him As a bonus Ishiura and Ura provided a lot of exiting sumo, even if they do not have the physique to go all the way to the top. 2022 seems set for a lot of exiting sumo!

I have followed Mitakeumi for the last few years and think it is logical that it took him all this time to get into a position where he can get to Ozeki. He started out as a very one sided wrestler in the same extreme pusher style as Meisei, Takaleisho, Deisho and Onosho. Of these only Takaleisho has been able to win relatively consistently. But he fights on a knife edge with his body weight resulting in frequent injuries. Mitakeumi instead changed his fighting style to include more throws and belt work. At first with disastrous results. He was really bad at anything than pushing. Over time his technique has improved and he has now got a much wider arsenal than the other pushers. I think he now has the chance to become a good Ozeki. A few years back an ozeki promotion would have been a catastrophy (like Shodai's).

I fully agree. During his relegation he bulked up. As a result he has gained stability without losing to much speed. Abi used to be all about lightning attacks that either gave him a win or lost him the match. This version of Abi seems to be a lot harder to beat, while still capable of beating anyone. If he keeps his focus and stays injury free I expect him to make Ozeki within the year. Never liked his old erratic windmill style much, but the new concentrated Abi is a joy to behold.

Might it be because Ura has spoilt us with a seemingly endless row of unexpected wins and near wins in difficult situations? When he takes the easy route, rather than pulling something unexpected out of his hat of tricks, it feels a bit like a letdown. Enho and Terutsuyoshi on the other hand, do not have much choice. They are so physically limited size-wise that no matter what they do, a win is always impressive.

I normally do not like henkas, but this one was so perfectly executed that it is hard not to like it. And the threat of henka is necessary. Without it, sumo would turn into a competition of who is able to turn himself most into a freight train running into a wall.

I agree with the earlier comments: What on earth was Okinoumi trying to do? It is very obvious that no current wrestler is able to run straight into Terunofuji, grab his belt and then defeat him. The second Terunofuji gets even one hand on the belt and has two feet on the ground, the match is over. Since he changed his style into being less aggressive, he seems to have become more or less impossible to defeat as long as he is in balance. And running into the front of him will not unbalance him...

I remember reading somewhere that Enho has great difficulties gaining weight. He literally eats himself nauseous, but still can not gain weight. He is now down on 92 kg. I think he weighed in on 99 a couple of tournaments ago. The fighters now all know that he has no defence against a careful straight push out. He is just to light weight. As long as they don't let him slip in under them or to the side of them, there is precious little he can do to defend against a cautious push out attack. I wish I shared Enho's weight gaining problem

Whatever has happened to Shodai? He has been a good wrestler for a long time, but has lacked the edge needed to win consistently. In this basho he suddenly acts like a force of nature and crushes top rankers without mercy. The way he easily dispatched Endo today was a surprise to me. Endo is tricky and almost always puts up a good fight, but he had nothing today.