Persistence Watch

[Washuyama 635]

Thank you!! (Holiday feeling...) Not a big fan of the possible shikona change, though.

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Now there's a forum debut! Many, many thanks, fujinohana, and (Welcome...)

And oh me of little faith...Daiseishin kachikoshi!! (Holiday feeling...) :-O (Neener, neener...) Maybe I should have doubted him more often all along... Unlike the all-loss whitewash of the last two days, senshuraku actually produced the most favourable results possible to put a satisfying cap on this basho, as Kawahara also improved to 3-4. Yutoyama took the direct club matchup against Kawabata to finish 3-4 as well.

[Asojima 2,870]

It's time for another look at the Persistence Alumni. Where are they now??

The Pesistence Grads as of August 09

ShikonaGradBashos

W-L

KKs %KKs

High Rank

CurrentRemarksAkatsuki 09/07

15

48-52

7

47

Jd55wJd86eAkita 11/08

8

21-28-7

2

25

Jd90eJd95eNow Ryujofuji Asaamami 03/08

13

31-49-11

3

23

Jd87w Jd101w Daikosei 09/06

29

56-147

3

10

Jd80w Jd121e Daiseishin 07/09

7

13-37

1

14

Jd12e Jk19w Daisahiryu 11/08

31

60-150-7

1

3

Jd105e Jk3e Daishoai 09/08

13

21-30-33

2

15

Jd50e BG Ebisumaru 09/08

14

39-59

2

14

Jd94w Jk6w Eigashima --/--

8

15-26-15

0

0

Jd131e Ret. 09/06 Hamadayama 01/09

14

37-61

1

7

Jd86w Jd125e Hashimoto 05/08

14

36-62

2

14

Jd85w Jk6e Now Higonohana Higashi 01/09

11

19-47-12

2

18

Jd96e Jk26e Ikataumi 11/07

14

41-51-6

5

36

Jd27e Jd27e Ishii --/--

20

24-103-13

0

0

Jd133e Ret. 01/08 Iwanaga 09/07

18

31-95-7

1

6

Jd116e Ret. 07/08 Iwasa 01/07

20

58-82

6

30

Jd38e Jd38e Now Teraonami Iwashina 09/06

23

75-86

9

22

Jd28e Jd28e Now Hamaazuma Kanai 01/08

20

47-86-7

4

20

Jd94e Jd121e Kida --/--

6

12-17-13

0

0

Jk19e Ret. 03/07 Kotoyamaguchi 11/07

20

56-84

4

20

Jd82e Jd124w Now Kotomyozan Masuda 03/08

9

18-38-7

1

11

Jd95w Ret. 11/08 Miyakita 03/09

8

24-32

1

13

Jd91e Jd117w Omori 01/07

18

45-69-13

3

17

Jd90w Ret. 03/08 Shintaku 03/09

11

24-53

1

9

Jd79w Jd118e Shuho 09/08

11

20-56-1

1

9

Jd107e Jk18w Sugishita --/--

7

1-41-7

0

0

Jk30e Ret. 05/07 Takada 03/09

8

23-34

2

25

Jd99e Jd122w Takama 09/08

11

29-41-7

1

9

Jd76w Jd117e Takeda 01/08

14

41-57

4

29

Jd78W Jd78w Tateishi 09/07

19

43-91

4

21

Jd97e Jd97e Now Daikoyama Toshi 11/07

14

44-52-2

4

29

Jd63w Jd87w Tsunehikari 05/07

20

59-71-10

5

25

Jd42w Jd69w Tsurushinobu --/--

4

4-11-13

0

0

Jk25w Ret. 11/08 Tsuzuranuki 11/07

9

18-31-14

1

11

Jd116w Ret. 11/08 Wakahizen 09/07

20

51-88-1

4

20

Jd82e Jd82e Wakashiraishi --/--

5

6-13-16

0

0

Jk27w Ret. 07/06 Yamamoto 09/07

25

64-104-7

4

16

Jd79w Jd87e

Hamaazuma is on a three KK roll. If he keeps it going, he could become the first persister to break into sandanme.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Asojima

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Blergh, forgot the basho roundup again. Well, here we go:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	37	Jonokuchi 12 West	Jonidan 132	62-194-3	0.242	2-5	3-4
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	14	Jonokuchi 17 East	Jonokuchi 3	25-73	0.255	2-5	2-5
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 4 East	Jonokuchi 4	22-34	0.393	3-4	3-4
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 9 East	Jonokuchi 9	18-33-5	0.353	3-4	2-5
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 16 West	Jonokuchi 16	7-49	0.125	3-4	2-5
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 22 East	Jonokuchi 8	17-39	0.304	2-5	2-5
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 23 East	Jonokuchi 11	14-33-9	0.298	1-1-5	0-3-4
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Jonokuchi 21 East	Jonokuchi 3	17-32	0.347	1-6	3-4
Daiseishin	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	6	Jonokuchi 19 West	Jonokuchi 12	13-36	0.265	2-5	4-3

Daiseishin moves on to hopefully better things after a year on the persistence circuit. Best of luck to my adoptee! :-) Wakatoohashi finished 2-5 for the sixth straight time, while Yutoyama continued his odd streak of scoring exactly 3 wins outside of Tokyo and always less than that in the capital.

Week two summary: A combined score of 8-17-2, or 7-16 adjusted for the sole intra-squad bout, for a winning percentage of .304, a bit down from the first week. The list of individual heroics:

Day 15: Jk21e  Yutoyama (3-4)	  yoritaoshi	 Jk22e  Kawabata (2-5)

Day 10: Jk19w  Daiseishin (3-2)	yorikiri	   Jk18w  Shuho (2-3)
	Jk12w  Morikawa (2-3)	  oshitaoshi	 Jk14w  Amakusa (1-4)
Day 11: Jk16w  Sakuma (2-4)		oshidashi	  Jk32e  Kato (1-5)
	Jk9e   Yoshizawa (2-4)	 yorikiri	   Jk3e   Daishiryu (1-5)
Day 12: Jk12w  Morikawa (3-3)	  oshidashi	  Jk13e  Fukukasuga (2-4)
Day 15: Jk19w  Daiseishin (4-3)	yorikiri	   Jk33w  Masukoma (3-4)
	Jk4e   Kawahara (3-4)	  oshidashi	  Jk1w   Aratobi (2-5)

Moving to Aki basho...

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Starting roster for Aki:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	37	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonidan 132	62-194-3	0.242	3-4
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	14	Jonokuchi 21 West	Jonokuchi 3	25-73	0.255	2-5
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 9 East	Jonokuchi 4	22-34	0.393	3-4
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 20 West	Jonokuchi 9	18-33-5	0.353	2-5
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 21 East	Jonokuchi 16	7-49	0.125	2-5
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 24 West	Jonokuchi 8	17-39	0.304	2-5
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 32 West	Jonokuchi 11	14-33-9	0.298	0-3-4
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Jonokuchi 16 East	Jonokuchi 3	17-32	0.347	3-4

So we're now down to just 8 club members, but reinforcements are likely on the way - out of the Haru debut class 10 rikishi are still looking for their career-first KK and could end up joining the list if they don't succeed this basho.

As always, good luck to everyone! :-)

[Sashohitowa 6]

Are they all your adoptees, or just Daiseishin in particular? I think there might be a big fight for Morikawa, if somebody tried to claim him... :-)

I am very surprised (positively) by Sakuma. After the lightning career start that drove comparisons with The One And Only Sugishita, Sakuma made a 3-4 and 2-5... I am actually tending to believe that he'll be the net one out of the club..

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Are they all your adoptees, or just Daiseishin in particular? I think there might be a big fight for Morikawa, if somebody tried to claim him... :-)

No, just Daiseishin.

I am very surprised (positively) by Sakuma. After the lightning career start that drove comparisons with The One And Only Sugishita, Sakuma made a 3-4 and 2-5... I am actually tending to believe that he'll be the net one out of the club..

Maybe Hakkaku-oyakata knows what he's doing. :-)

[Washuyama 635]

I make a point to cheer for Morikawa whenever I'm at the KK. His win on Day 1 actually looked like he knew what he was doing. Here's hoping he can keep it up and get that elusive first KK!! (Maybe if he does get that KK, he'll go ahead and shave his back... He could do a GEICO advert: So easy even Morikawa can do it...! :-) )

Edited September 13, 2009 by Washuyama

[Asashosakari 18,784]

I am very surprised (positively) by Sakuma. After the lightning career start that drove comparisons with The One And Only Sugishita, Sakuma made a 3-4 and 2-5... I am actually tending to believe that he'll be the net one out of the club..

Maybe Hakkaku-oyakata knows what he's doing. :-)

And just to add, I just ran into a proto-Sakuma again today - Maekawa/Daikosei also started out in Sugishita fashion, but then turned a bit more respectable in his results relatively quickly.

Day 4!

I guess we know the best way out of the club - lots of torikumi luck. ;-) Yoshizawa drew two fellow club members as his first opponents (Sakuma and Wakatoohashi) and beat both of them to become the only clubber with a 2-0 start. Sakuma also ran into former long-timer Daishiryu and finds himself at 0-2. The Kawa* duo is also off to a bad start - Kawabata lost to two 2009 shindeshi who we may yet welcome to the list, Kawahara against 2008 guy Enami (one KK in 8 basho, but early enough to never be club-bound) and super veteran Kasachikara.

Sakurai, one of the new guys who succeeded against Kawabata, was in turn beaten by Wakatoohashi to leave the latter at 1-1. Morikawa is at a level score for now as well after a win over Fukukasuga, yet another familiar name around these parts, and a loss against club alum Higonohana (ex-Hashimoto). Our lowest-ranked member Iwabuchi also stands at 1-1 with a win against recent shindeshi Akitomo (who has yet to complete a basho, 0-3-4 and 0-2-5 thus far) and a tough-luck loss against Mongolian rookie Shoma. Yutoyama is absent so far and will drop off the banzuke if he doesn't return (or worse, retire).

FWIW, the potential qualifiers to the club aren't doing much better, with a single 2-0, six 1-1, two 0-2 and an 0-1-1.

[Asojima 2,870]

It's time for another look at the Persistence Alumni. Where are they now??

Hamaazuma is on a three KK roll. If he keeps it going, he could become the first persister to break into sandanme.

So much for his roll. On day 8 of Aki, he is 0-4.

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Nakabi summary:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	37	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonidan 132	63-197-3	0.242	3-4	1-3
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	14	Jonokuchi 21 West	Jonokuchi 3	27-75	0.265	2-5	2-2
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 9 East	Jonokuchi 4	24-36	0.400	3-4	2-2
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 20 West	Jonokuchi 9	20-35-5	0.364	2-5	2-2
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 21 East	Jonokuchi 16	8-52	0.133	2-5	1-3
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 24 West	Jonokuchi 8	19-41	0.317	2-5	2-2
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	8	Jonokuchi 32 West	Jonokuchi 11	15-36-9	0.294	0-3-4	1-3
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Jonokuchi 16 East	Jonokuchi 3	17-32-4	0.347	3-4	0-0-4

Looks like this basho may go much like the last one did, without any very depressing results but little in the way of really positive news either. On the upside, with four rikishi level at 2-2 there are still some possibilities to celebrate a club graduation.

Yoshizawa unfortunately wasn't able to parlay his good start into a positive score, collecting two losses against former 8-MK member Wakahizen and historical dai-persister Higohikari (who predates our tracking, but started his career with 12 MK half a decade ago). The Kawa duo has taken the opposite route, improving from winless to 2-2 - admittedly with a rather cupcake schedule. Kawabata lucked into consecutive bouts against Kato and Mizuta, two members of the Natsu shindeshi class who both started their career with a 1-6 last basho and look set to do just about as well this time. Kawahara beat Haru shindeshi Amakusa followed by a win over Morikawa today. And speaking of whom, Morikawa fell from 1-1 to 1-3 with that loss combined with a bad-luck one against 29-year-old jonidan regular and career-high Sd45 Shimasegawa (in his first jonokuchi appearance in over 12 years). Iwabuchi also found himself in the two-loss boat, while Sakuma (with a win over Masukoma, another Haru deshi) and Wakatoohashi (beating Sakuma) have gone 1-1 over the last couple of bouts.

On the upside, nearly all the Haru basho debutants who may or may not be ending up in the club this basho have gone either 1-3 or 2-2 as well, so we could be seeing a lot of bouts between current and future club members, which ought to favour the current residents and perhaps provide one or two of them the opportunity to sneak away with a 4-3 in the end. Anyway, the first week brought a total score of 11-17, featuring a fairly large number of 4 intra-squad matchups for a clean winning percentage of .350 on 7-13. That's not half-bad, but less than one ought to expect for an Aki basho which together with Kyushu generally marks the annual nadir of competitive level in jonokuchi (after every half-decent March debutant has filtered out of the division). Here are the wins:

Day 2:  Jk20w  Yoshizawa (1-0)	 yorikiri	   Jk21e  Sakuma (0-1)
Day 4:  Jk20w  Yoshizawa (2-0)	 yoritaoshi	 Jk21w  Wakatoohashi (1-1)
Day 7:  Jk21w  Wakatoohashi (2-2)  uwatenage	  Jk21e  Sakuma (1-3)
Day 8:  Jk9e   Kawahara (2-2)	  yoritaoshi	 Jk10w  Morikawa (1-3)

Day 1:  Jk21w  Wakatoohashi (1-0)  yorikiri	   Jk22e  Sakurai (0-1)
	Jk10w  Morikawa (1-0)	  oshidashi	  Jk11e  Fukukasuga (0-1)
Day 2:  Jk32w  Iwabuchi (1-0)	  yorikiri	   Jk33e  Akitomo (0-1)
Day 5:  Jk24w  Kawabata (1-2)	  oshidashi	  Jk26w  Kato (0-3)
	Jk9e   Kawahara (1-2)	  yoritaoshi	 Jk12e  Amakusa (0-3)
Day 6:  Jk21e  Sakuma (1-2)		oshidashi	  Jk19e  Masukoma (0-3)
Day 8:  Jk24w  Kawabata (2-2)	  oshitaoshi	 Jk27e  Mizuta (1-3)

Spot the unexpected kimarite. (Shaking head...) Here's hoping we do get to have a club kachi-koshi when all is said and done. On to week two...

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 10:

Morikawa and Sakuma unfortunately secured their continued presence in this thread, falling to 1-4 in the last round of bouts. Yoshizawa, Kawabata and Kawahara also had losses to fall to 2-3, while Iwabuchi improved to the same score with a win to keep his KK chances alive. And Wakatoohashi is even one step closer, going to 3-2 today.

Meanwhile, the first three Haru shindeshi have been conscripted into the club courtesy of their third makekoshi:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2009.05	2009.07	2009.09
Maenokatsu	Takadagawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 East	Jonokuchi 17	5-14	0.263	1-6	3-4	1-4
Masuhayato	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 24 East	Jonokuchi 21	5-14	0.263	2-5	2-5	1-4
Akitomo	Musashigawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 33 East	Jonokuchi 33	1-9-9	0.100	0-3-4	0-2-5	1-4

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 12:

Well, that was a pretty good round of bouts. Iwabuchi beat Kawabata in head-to-head competition, and three of the other five bouts resulted in wins. For Morikawa and Sakuma this merely serves to dress up their records a bit (now 2-4), but for Yoshizawa it actually keeps his chance for KK alive. Iwabuchi is also 3-3 after sending Kawabata to MK. The other Kawa[hara] also fell to 2-4 to keep us continued company in the club. Lastly, Wakatoohashi was already having a chance to get his 4th win, but he was unable to come through against veteran lower-division guy Higohikari (previously mentioned when he beat Yoshizawa on Day 7).

So, still three guys who have a shot. It looks like all three will get their opportunity on Day 14. Meanwhile, three more 'successful' applicants for the club:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2008.07	2008.09	2008.11
Amakusa	Onoe	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 12 East	Jonokuchi 12	8-12	0.400	3-4	3-4	2-4
Masukoma	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 19 East	Jonokuchi 19	5-9-6	0.357	0-1-6	3-4	2-4
Masunoshin	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 25 West	Jonokuchi 25	4-10-6	0.286	0-1-6	2-5	2-4

All three Chiganoura rikishi who debuted in Haru basho are now with us.

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 14:

No interesting events yesterday, unless one considers Morikawa falling to his trusty 2-5 record "interesting". Today took the somewhat expected but still disappointing route - all three KK candidates lost. Of these, Yoshizawa probably had the best shot against Haru shindeshi Kototakahashi who'd been 1-6, 3-4 in his previous appearances and narrowly avoids a club membership with today's win. Wakatoohashi ran into lower-jonidan regular Kirimaru (on visit to the bottom of the banzuke due to absences), and Iwabuchi didn't fare any better against 22-year-old shindeshi Tokishibata.

We're mopping up the basho with our three remaining 2-4 rikishi Kawabata, Sakuma and Kawahara tomorrow, the first two of which will meet future club members Masunoshin and Masuhayato. And speaking of which, applicant #7 entered our hallowed halls today:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2008.07	2008.09	2008.11
Sakurai	Hakkaku	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 22 East	Jonokuchi 18	7-14	0.333	2-5	2-5	3-4

Up to three may still follow after Kyushu, so we might be in for a crowded roster in 2010.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Blah, backfilling again...improving my work ethic vis-a-vis this thread really ought to be my New Year's resolution. (Applauding...)

Aki Day 15 brought wins all around to improve those three rikishis' scores to 3-4. In fact...

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	38	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonidan 132	64-199-3	0.243	3-4	2-5
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	15	Jonokuchi 21 West	Jonokuchi 3	28-77	0.267	2-5	3-4
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 9 East	Jonokuchi 4	25-38	0.397	3-4	3-4
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 20 West	Jonokuchi 9	21-37-5	0.362	2-5	3-4
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 21 East	Jonokuchi 16	10-53	0.159	2-5	3-4
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 24 West	Jonokuchi 8	20-43	0.317	2-5	3-4
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 32 West	Jonokuchi 11	17-37-9	0.315	0-3-4	3-4
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Jonokuchi 16 East	Jonokuchi 3	17-32-7	0.347	3-4	0-0-7

Why yes, Morikawa was the only active club member not to get three wins in Aki basho. Of course, as they say "close enough" only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, so despite that all-around decent performance we'll still have everybody aboard for Kyushu. (Including Yutoyama who's now banzuke-gai but not [yet?] retired.)

Week two summary: 9-12 with one intra bout, so 8-11 for a very good winning percentage of .421. Too bad that none of the wins came in a 3-3 decider...

Day 11: Jk32w  Iwabuchi (3-3)	  yorikiri	   Jk24w  Kawabata (2-4)

Day 9:  Jk32w  Iwabuchi (2-3)	  yorikiri	   Jk26w  Kato (0-5)
Day 10: Jk21w  Wakatoohashi (3-2)  yoritaoshi	 Jk17w  Kototakahashi (2-3)
Day 11: Jk20w  Yoshizawa (3-3)	 yorikiri	   Jk19e  Masukoma (2-4)
	Jk10w  Morikawa (2-4)	  oshidashi	  Jk17e  Maenokatsu (1-5)
Day 12: Jk21e  Sakuma (2-4)		oshidashi	  Jk29e  Shintaku (1-5)
Day 15: Jk24w  Kawabata (3-4)	  oshidashi	  Jk25w  Masunoshin (2-5)
	Jk21e  Sakuma (3-4)		oshidashi	  Jk24e  Masuhayato (2-5)
	Jk9e   Kawahara (3-4)	  yoritaoshi	 Jk7w   Morimoto (2-5)

Well, at least they've mastered the basic techniques...

As mentioned throughout Aki basho, the new wave of persisters has arrived, and despite only some 40 shindeshi showing up for Haru basho we still got 7 new recruits out of them. Here they are again all together:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2009.05	2009.07	2009.09
Amakusa	Onoe	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 12 East	Jonokuchi 12	9-12	0.429	3-4	3-4	3-4
Maenokatsu	Takadagawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 East	Jonokuchi 17	6-15	0.286	1-6	3-4	2-5
Masukoma	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 19 East	Jonokuchi 19	5-10-6	0.333	0-1-6	3-4	2-5
Sakurai	Hakkaku	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 22 East	Jonokuchi 18	7-14	0.333	2-5	2-5	3-4
Masuhayato	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 24 East	Jonokuchi 21	6-15	0.286	2-5	2-5	2-5
Masunoshin	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 25 West	Jonokuchi 25	4-11-6	0.267	0-1-6	2-5	2-5
Akitomo	Musashigawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 33 East	Jonokuchi 33	1-11-9	0.083	0-3-4	0-2-5	1-6

Anybody wanna adopt the Chiganoura trio?

FWIW, the old guard went 18-8 against the new guys during their three qualifying tournaments. Kawabata is responsible for no less than five of the eight losses by the incumbents, three of them against Masuhayato and once each against Sakurai and Masukoma. The other three oldster losses are by Wakatoohashi (against Sakurai and Amakusa) and Iwabuchi (against Maenokatsu). Sakuma, of all people, sports the best record, being flawless in five matchups. I guess Sashohitowa was right to be positively surprised. :-)

On to a land downunder...okay, just Kyushu. Let's hope we won't have to track 15 rikishi for too long! (Shaking head...)

Edited November 19, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Naganoyama 5,841]

...

Well, at least they've mastered the basic techniques...

...

That might be a bit of an exaggeration.

[shumitto 418]

Anybody wanna adopt the Chiganoura trio?

Did it (Annoyed...)

Yoshizawa, Kawabata, Iwabuchi & Maenokatsu all are 2-0. There is only one winless in Akitomo. So Kyushu is off to a good start.

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Finally playing catchup..."welcome" to Kyushu basho! (Showing respect...) Our newly-expanded roster looks like this:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho
Moriurara	Otake	Natsu 2003	38	Jonokuchi 16 East	Jonidan 132	64-199-3	0.243	2-5
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	15	Jonokuchi 11 East	Jonokuchi 3	28-77	0.267	3-4
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 6 East	Jonokuchi 4	25-38	0.397	3-4
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 10 East	Jonokuchi 9	21-37-5	0.362	3-4
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonokuchi 10	10-53	0.159	3-4
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 12 East	Jonokuchi 8	20-43	0.317	3-4
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 14 West	Jonokuchi 11	17-37-9	0.315	3-4
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 3	17-32-7	0.347	0-0-7
Amakusa	Onoe	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 8 East	Jonokuchi 8	9-12	0.429	3-4
Sakurai	Hakkaku	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 11 West	Jonokuchi 11	7-14	0.333	3-4
Maenokatsu	Takadagawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 16 West	Jonokuchi 16	6-15	0.286	2-5
Masukoma	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 East	Jonokuchi 17	5-10-6	0.333	2-5
Masuhayato	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 West	Jonokuchi 17	6-15	0.286	2-5
Masunoshin	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 18 East	Jonokuchi 18	4-11-6	0.267	2-5
Akitomo	Musashigawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 20 West	Jonokuchi 20	1-11-9	0.083	1-6

With almost everyone squished in between Jk10e and Jk18e there should be quite a number of matches among club members this basho.

Edited November 21, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 4:

As already mentioned by shumitto, things started off pretty well in Kyushu. Through their first two bouts our club has actually sported a positive record of 15-13. That does include 7 team head-to-heads, but of course that also implies an 8-6 record against other opponents - let's just say, plenty of those guys are either former members (such as Kasachikara) or somebody who will likely be joining the club before too long. (Showing respect...) Four club members were involved in two straight intra bouts, and of these four Maenokatsu made the most of it by beating the newly renamed Moriurara and Masuhayato. At the other end of the spectrum we have Wakatoohashi (who's rapidly approaching ichidai persistence status) with losses against Sakuma and Sakurai.

Besides Maenokatsu three others started off 2-0 in Yoshizawa, Kawabata (actually beating a fresh club member, Sakurai) and Iwabuchi. On the other hand, Wakatoohashi was joined at 0-2 by Moriurara and Akitomo, the latter certainly looking a lot like a future club mainstay. BTW, Moriurara's Day 1 loss against Maenokatsu was career #200 for him. (Or maybe we should start the count anew with the name change...)

There are three youngsters who started in Natsu basho and subsequently collected two MK. All three have started off 0-2, so any potential club departures are likely to be replaced immediately. More news if/when they've officially clinched their third MK.

Edited November 21, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Finally arriving in real-time... It just so happened that Days 6 and 7 saw a KK playoff of sorts between our four unbeaten club members. In the first round, Iwabuchi beat Maenokatsu and Yoshizawa prevailed over Kawabata, and in today's final Yoshizawa was victorious against Iwabuchi, earning him the fastest-possible kachikoshi. (Showing respect...) (Showing respect...) (Applauding...)

In opposite news, Akitomo ran himself into a quick 0-4 and signs up for continued club membership. We also have our first new applicant from the Natsu class already:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2009.07	2009.09	2009.11
Mizuta	Tagonoura	Natsu 2009	3	Jonokuchi 14 East	Jonokuchi 14	4-14	0.222	1-6	3-4	0-4

Edited November 21, 2009 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Nakabi summary:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Moriurara	Otake	Natsu 2003	38	Jonokuchi 16 East	Jonidan 132	66-201-3	0.247	2-5	2-2
Wakatoohashi	Shikihide	Haru 2007	15	Jonokuchi 11 East	Jonokuchi 3	29-80	0.266	3-4	1-3
Kawahara	Onomatsu	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 6 East	Jonokuchi 4	28-39	0.418	3-4	3-1
Yoshizawa	Kasugayama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 10 East	Jonokuchi 9	25-37-5	0.403	3-4	4-0
Sakuma	Hakkaku	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonokuchi 10	11-56	0.164	3-4	1-3
Kawabata	Shikoroyama	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 12 East	Jonokuchi 8	22-45	0.328	3-4	2-2
Iwabuchi	Tamanoi	Haru 2008	9	Jonokuchi 14 West	Jonokuchi 11	20-38-9	0.345	3-4	3-1
Yutoyama	Shibatayama	Natsu 2008	7	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 3	17-32-7	0.347	0-0-7	---
Akitomo	Musashigawa	Haru 2009	4	Jonokuchi 20 West	Jonokuchi 20	1-15-9	0.063	1-6	0-4
Amakusa	Onoe	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 8 East	Jonokuchi 8	11-14	0.440	3-4	2-2
Sakurai	Hakkaku	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 11 West	Jonokuchi 11	9-16	0.360	3-4	2-2
Maenokatsu	Takadagawa	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 16 West	Jonokuchi 16	8-17	0.320	2-5	2-2
Masukoma	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 East	Jonokuchi 17	6-13-6	0.316	2-5	1-3
Masuhayato	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 17 West	Jonokuchi 17	8-17	0.320	2-5	2-2
Masunoshin	Chiganoura	Haru 2009	3	Jonokuchi 18 East	Jonokuchi 18	5-14-6	0.263	2-5	1-3

Bout rounds 3 and 4 didn't go quite as well as the first two. Only three rikishi succeeded in posting two straight wins, one guy from each results group. At the top of the club standings we of course have Yoshizawa with his 4-0 start, getting off the roster right before reaching dai-persistence. Improving from 1-1 to 3-1 was Kawahara who now has a good shot to avoid reaching double-digit MK as well. And going from 0-2 to 2-2 we have Moriurara - will the name change actually be followed directly by his first KK?

Moriurara's potential successor as first-in-persistence-command, Wakatoohashi, looks likely to stick around, going from 0-2 to 1-3. At least he didn't join Akitomo in his 0-4 start.

Looking at the rest of the Haru 2008 class, Iwabuchi may have enabled Yoshizawa's KK with yesterday's loss, but it still leaves him with an excellent shot at 3-1 as well. Kawabata, loser of a KK playoff semifinal, proceeded to lose another one to find himself at 2-2. (As did more recent joinee Maenokatsu, the losing side of the other semifinal.) Sakuma is the only one of the 9-MK guys with a negative record after also posting two more losses, pretty unfortunate after his recent resurgence.

Finishing up, the other recent entrants: Amakusa, Sakurai and Masuhayato continued where they left off, moving from 1-1 to 2-2. The other two Chiganoura deshi Masukoma and Masunoshin fell from 1-1 to 1-3 with straight losses.

All in all, there's a good chance that Kawahara and Iwabuchi will be able to join Yoshizawa on the way up, and perhaps one of the six rikishi at 2-2 can catch a break or two and follow along, perhaps by being matched up against each other some more to give us some guaranteed winners.

Week one in summary: Bolstered by the early success the week finished with a total record of 26-30. Even adjusting that to 12-16 (.429) for the 14 intra-squad bouts it's been a pretty good basho so far. The list of wins:

Day 1:  Jk16w  Maenokatsu (1-0)	hikiotoshi	 Jk16e  Moriurara (0-1)
	Jk12e  Kawabata (1-0)	  tsukiotoshi	Jk11w  Sakurai (0-1)
Day 2:  Jk10w  Sakuma (1-0)		oshidashi	  Jk11e  Wakatoohashi (0-1)
Day 3:  Jk18e  Masunoshin (1-1)	oshidashi	  Jk20w  Akitomo (0-2)
	Jk16w  Maenokatsu (2-0)	oshidashi	  Jk17w  Masuhayato (1-1)
	Jk10e  Yoshizawa (2-0)	 yorikiri	   Jk10w  Sakuma (1-1)
Day 4:  Jk11w  Sakurai (1-1)	   tsukiotoshi	Jk11e  Wakatoohashi (0-2)
Day 6:  Jk14w  Iwabuchi (3-0)	  shitatenage	Jk16w  Maenokatsu (2-1)
	Jk10e  Yoshizawa (3-0)	 yoritaoshi	 Jk12e  Kawabata (2-1)
	Jk8e   Amakusa (2-1)	   kotenage	   Jk10w  Sakuma (1-2)
Day 7:  Jk16e  Moriurara (2-2)	 uwatenage	  Jk11e  Wakatoohashi (1-3)
	Jk10e  Yoshizawa (4-0)	 yoritaoshi	 Jk14w  Iwabuchi (3-1)
Day 8:  Jk11w  Sakurai (2-2)	   unknown		Jk17e  Masukoma (1-3)
	Jk6e   Kawahara (3-1)	  unknown		Jk8e   Amakusa (2-2)

Day 1:  Jk17w  Masuhayato (1-0)	tsukiotoshi	Jk19w  Kato (0-1)
	Jk14w  Iwabuchi (1-0)	  yoritaoshi	 Jk14e  Mizuta (0-1)
	Jk6e   Kawahara (1-0)	  hatakikomi	 Jk6w   Kasachikara (0-1)
Day 2:  Jk10e  Yoshizawa (1-0)	 yoritaoshi	 Jk9w   Azumahana (0-1)
Day 3:  Jk14w  Iwabuchi (2-0)	  shitatenage	Jk15e  Daishorin (1-1)
	Jk12e  Kawabata (2-0)	  tsukiotoshi	Jk13e  Kotookazaki (1-1)
Day 4:  Jk17e  Masukoma (1-1)	  oshidashi	  Jk19w  Kato (0-2)
	Jk8e   Amakusa (1-1)	   yorikiri	   Jk6w   Kasachikara (0-2)
Day 5:  Jk16e  Moriurara (1-2)	 hikiotoshi	 Jk14e  Mizuta (0-3)
	Jk11e  Wakatoohashi (1-2)  yorikiri	   Jk9w   Azumahana (0-3)
	Jk6e   Kawahara (2-1)	  yorikiri	   Jk5e   Daikoyama (1-2)
Day 6:  Jk17w  Masuhayato (2-1)	hatakikomi	 Jk19e  Shintaku (1-2)

Looking ahead: If I didn't make any mistakes, we'll be getting a matchup between Moriurara and Masuhayato on Day 10 that will leave the winner in position to go for KK in his two remaining bouts. And our four 1-3 rikishi appear to be paired off in MK avoidance bouts with Masukoma-Sakuma tomorrow and Wakatoohashi-Masunoshin the day after.

[Oimeru 0]

Moriurara (ex-Morikawa) is 3-2 after 10 days and he will meet Fujinoumi tomorrow, one of the Saito twins. A difficult opponent, but even with a loss there will be another chance to finally secure the first kachi koshi. Maybe the name change really helped, who knows? (Holiday feeling...)

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 10:

The good news keep rolling in as Iwabuchi beat former dai-persister Hamadayama on Day 9 and Kawahara won against recent deshi Matsugahama today, both going to 4-1 and earning their first-ever kachikoshi. Well done! (Clapping wildly...) (Showing respect...) (Clapping wildly...) That makes three guys who have now managed to jump off before reaching the double-digit length club membership. The other two aren't doing quite so well - Kawabata fell to 2-3 today, and Sakuma lost the intra-squad bout to Masukoma to go makekoshi. The other internal bout also took place as expected and Wakatoohashi continues to follow in Morikawa's footsteps, losing to Masunoshin and collecting MK #16.

That leaves those two Chiganoura rikishi at 2-3, and the third one is also at that record, albeit coming from the other side; as mentioned by Oimeru, Moriurara was victorious today, sending Masuhayato down to 2-3 and giving himself two shots at that elusive first KK.

Also getting those two shots will be rookie member Sakurai who improved to 3-2 yesterday to become the only new guy in positive territory. Would be nice to see at least one immediate exit. :-) Rounding up the rest of recent entrants: Amakusa and Maenokatsu fell to 2-3 on Day 9, and Akitomo collected his second career win and first of the basho by beating upcoming member Mizuta.

And speaking of upcoming members, today brought in "successful" application number two:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2009.07	2009.09	2009.11
Kato	Musashigawa	Natsu 2009	2	Jonokuchi 19 West	Jonokuchi 19	3-16	0.158	1-6	1-6	1-4

I have a feeling we'll be seeing him around for a while...

And of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that Yoshizawa ran his winning streak to 5. Unfortunately he'll now likely face ex-makushita Terashita on Day 12, but it was fun while it lasted. (Holiday feeling...) Also coming up tomorrow: Moriurara goes for KK against one of the Saito twins, a head-to-head between Masukoma and Maenokatsu that will leave one KK and the other with a chance for kachikoshi, and Masunoshin and Kawabata are also trying to avoid their 4th loss (though not against each other). Likely coming up on Day 12: Sakurai going for KK against Matsugahama (looks quite winnable to me), Amakusa trying to avoid MK against Kotookazaki (this one, too), and Masuhayato doing the same against veteran low-ranker Shikinokawa (not so sure about this one).

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 11:

As splashed across about three threads already, Moriurara had to take the expected loss against Fujinoumi today, leaving him at 3-3. Two-thirds of the Chiganoura trio are also 3-3 with wins, Masukoma sentencing fellow club rookie Maenokatsu to at least one more basho with us in the process. (Masunoshin was the other winner, against ex-persister Daishoai who just returned from banzuke-gai.). On the other hand, Kawabata failed to follow along a few minutes later, completing a disappointing turnaround from 2-0 to 2-4 for his 10th MK. In non-decisive bouts, Sakuma improved to 2-4 against yesterday's inductee Kato and already-KK Kawahara took a loss and stands at 4-2 now. Tomorrow's deciders are as predicted yesterday, so hopefully we'll have another kachikoshi and two more rikishi earning a shot for their final bout.

[Asashosakari 18,784]

Day 12:

My predicting could use some improvement as the club member I had with the longest odds for Day 12 turned out to be the only winner: Masuhayato succeeded in joining his two stablemates at 3-3, while Sakurai is now at the same record after a loss and Amakusa even finds himself makekoshi. In other bouts, KK Iwabuchi and Yoshizawa picked up unsurprising losses against Fujinohana and zensho Terashita and Akitomo beat shindeshi Onuki to ensure his first multi-win basho, sending the latter to 1-5. He still has two more basho to prove his mettle but I would presume that Onuki will become a more permanent fixture here after Haru basho...

And speaking of permanent fixtures, Kyushu applicant #3 also failed to escape our deadly grasp, and this one was even brought to the fold by a current club member as he was beaten by Wakatoohashi today. Say hello to:

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	2009.07	2009.09	2009.11
Kaikisho	Tomozuna	Natsu 2009	3	Jonokuchi 30 East	Jonokuchi 18	5-15	0.250	3-4	0-7	2-4

In fact, in a weird chain of circumstances our three incoming members have linked their fates as pertains to the Persistence Watch: Mizuta was sent to makekoshi #3 by Kato, who in turn was sent to makekoshi #3 by Kaikisho one bout later. And another bout later Kaikisho is now here as well, roped in by a club member proper, and possibly even our most senior member in case Moriurara succeeds in his final bout. (Yes, I'm probably overthinking this.)

Three of our five kachikoshi-chasing members will be in action tomorrow. Moriurara goes against Kotookazaki, Masukoma gets Daishorin (who would collect his second straight MK from debut with a loss) and Masunoshin draws a somewhat lucky assignment against bottom-ranking shindeshi Hirose. The subsequent 3-3 matches will likely be Sakurai-Sakabe and Masuhayato-Hakkairyu. Best of luck to everyone!

Edited November 26, 2009 by Asashosakari