pisipepu

Nasty henka from Baruto, but maybe it was necessary to remind other guys that this is still an option - as clearly he is not in form at the moment and adversaries are delivering fast tachi-ai's in a row which he is in trouble countering. so maybe it will slow down next guys just a bit to help B to finish with winning streak.

As Estonian myself, i feel i have to warn you, that average Estonian vodka (there is around 20-30 different) is nothing special. Buy some high quality russian or ukrainian stuff to drink and keep those (estonian) as memento. In addition to estonian (naturally), english and japanese, he should be able to express himself little also in finnish and russian. It comes from living in northern estonia (everybody here at least understands finnish and russian) , not that i have had any personal contact with Baruto.

Ok, thats different case then. But anyway - i hope in his case daily regime is aimed towards losing weight, not gaining, as is "classic" approach.

Inching ever closer to Konishiki's all-time record (285kg). Daaaaamn this guy is fat... Sure in sumo weight (up to certain level) gives advantage, if due to hard training guys are still strong enaugh to move this bulk around with respectable speed. So goal shoul be to achieve best weight/strenth/speed combo. This guy (as are most 200+ kg actually) is way too fat to do anything but hope that smaller guys dont push them over before they lean on them and crush with their weight. I know that part of rikishi daily regime is big and extra nutritious meal followed by nice nap in order to gain weight, but in case of those guys they should really change regime (and traditions on which this regime is based i quess) and let those guys lose those extra 50-100 kg.

what is that from 1:18? some comedians?

That was really scary landing, i was afraid they will break their necks :O It also brought me a guestion - as this was really tough decision for gyoji to make (shinpans came together and all) will he still be required to give "resignation" if he makes mistake in such case?

If he manages to keep his focus and get 2 more wins out of next 3 fights, then yes, promotion should be secure. But nothing is sure yet. And still there is faint chance that someone might still upset Hakuho and we may still see fight for yusho :D

Miracle didnt happen. I have to admit, i had faint hope that after holding first charge, maybe Bart would find some way, but what he attempted to do - stood completely upright to try to wiggle arm inside - seemed not good idea to me. Any rikishi with little bit of sense, would have used the moment to push Bart out. Before that he let Hakoho get right belt grip too easily, not even trying to block it. Was he intimidated by Hakuho? Or is Hakuho really so good that makes everyone else look stupid? Or maybe i just dont understand sumo at all....

Who are those all that know that Osh and Bart are friends or even so good buddies that Osh would throw a bout for him? Hmm, i remember reading about it some time ago but as i can not provide You source, i take it back. Maybe they are not friends. But there is still good possibility that as colleagues and proffessionals thay might occasionally do this. We have numerous examples from other "proffessional" fields of sport (mostly when they get caught - F1, football, boxing etc) so it is not so unreasonable to think that such things may happen also in sumo.

I would be very-very surprised if they would not help eachother every now and then. But of course, You have to be consistently on certain level to expect favours. Even Don King couldnt arrange ozrun for Aran for example, there is no way he can collect so many favours (In jonokuchi...) So we are talking maybe 1-2 maches every other basho among sanyaku mainstay rikishi "influenced" by such agreements and certainly there are situations where those favours are not handed. Todays mach with Kotoshu might have been actually "with favour" - Kotooshu has nothing to lose and all know that they are friends with Baruto...

tough fight today and even tougher one tomorrow. I quess there is no chance Hakuho will take him easy, as he might have done last basho. So while Barutos performance so far has been very impressive (seems his thumb is not bothering him too much in last few days), win tomorrow woul be nothing short of small miracle. Fingers crossed ;)

tosay the only thing that saved him was the difference in height.....because is that much taller than toyonoshima he wass able to reach for the back of the mawashi and win by leaning on toyonoshima......not a "lucky" win, but still one that had nothing to do with "technique" in my eyes True, his technic can not be even compared to several others, but being big and slow, he uses whatever tools he has and today in my eyes he used them well.

Another day and Baruto still firmly on the track. Todays match must have been quite intimitating for future opponents (except Hakuho of course) as Baruto was able to counter every move that opponent had to offer and literally crushed the "little guy" at the end :)

As there is sometimes talk about wether Baruto is ready to be ozeki or wether his sumo quality is up to oz level, i did some meaningless number-crunching. Starting from his last KK-after-MK (64 bouts) winning percentages are Baruto - 75% Yokozunas - Hakuho 92,2% Asashoryu 80% Ozekis Harumafuij 64% Kotoshu 68,8% Kaio 54,7% Kotomitsuki 56,1% Chiotaikai 29,3% (with last 2 i didnt count bouts not fought due injury) Of course we all know recent numbers, but to just once more to rub it in, seems to me that at least last 4-5 tournaments he has been more ozeki than other ozekis... ;)