Afrozuna 8 Posted July 10, 2011 With all the Ozekis seemingly content with the status quo and with Hakuho now @ 19 yushos we have now reached territory where we seriously start considering the Yokozuna prospects of breaking the 32 yusho record. With no scandolous behaviour to distract him and no elbow problems to speak off it is highly possible that Hakuho can equal asashoryu's 25 THIS YEAR at the reasonably young age of 26. This will set him up good to break the record. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shumitto 418 Posted July 11, 2011 With no scandolous behaviour to distract him and no elbow problems to speak off it is highly possible that Hakuho can equal asashoryu's 25 THIS YEAR at the reasonably young age of 26. This will set him up good to break the record. He can't, not in this calendar year as there are only 3 Basho remaining to cut it. Anyway, if you mean he can do it in the next 6 Basho, I also disagree. It's possible he will drop at least one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afrozuna 8 Posted July 12, 2011 With no scandolous behaviour to distract him and no elbow problems to speak off it is highly possible that Hakuho can equal asashoryu's 25 THIS YEAR at the reasonably young age of 26. This will set him up good to break the record. He can't, not in this calendar year as there are only 3 Basho remaining to cut it. Anyway, if you mean he can do it in the next 6 Basho, I also disagree. It's possible he will drop at least one. lol I must have had a huge brain mulfunction posting that 25 yusho stat, nonetheless 22 yusho by year end seems to be pretty much written in the stars Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harry 67 Posted July 13, 2011 Unless these ozeki step it up I can see him easily winning 20 more yusho in the next 5 years. Where is the next one? With the yaocho scandal some of the real hopes have moved way up and we're seeing that at higher ranks they are rather underwhelming which is too bad. Perhaps with a few bashos under their belts in makuuchi they will fare better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afrozuna 8 Posted July 13, 2011 Unless these ozeki step it up I can see him easily winning 20 more yusho in the next 5 years. Where is the next one? With the yaocho scandal some of the real hopes have moved way up and we're seeing that at higher ranks they are rather underwhelming which is too bad. Perhaps with a few bashos under their belts in makuuchi they will fare better. Am also hoping the same, Sumo needs rivalries to be popular. In fact most individual sports need rivalries to be popular be it F1 or tennis or sumo. Without a rivalry the fans see no need to fill the stadiums, because sport is supposed to be a competition. I remember the times when Roger Federer was winning just about every Grand Slam in tennis it was a very boring time for the mens game and yet on the other hand Venus ans Serena Williams were in the middle of a fierce rivalry contesting 5 straight Grand Slam finals. Everyone was saying the women's tour is carrying the men's tour. It also helps if the people at the forefront of the sport have a lot of charisma/aura. As much as his behaviour was shameful at time Asashoryu was very charismatic, it was easy to see why he polarised everyone to either love him or hate him. Even though he was my favourite while active I always wanted to see him lose to someone like Kaio, Tochiazuma or Taikai just to spice things up. I really thought defeating the Yokozuna in may was going to light a fire in Kaio and took it as sign that his much talked about injuries would have healed with two basho off but alas! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harry 67 Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) In the west I think a rivalry is expected but in Japan they seem to like having a champion who is expected to win. The mentality is different I thought but the current low attendance perhaps shows that this has changed. Now that baseball, soccer and golf are popular in Japan I think they too now enjoy a good rivalry and find it more interesting when there is a good competitive landscape. I don't think they want Asashoryu's antics right now. With all the scandals they want boring personalities at the moment... I too loved having the 'black yokozuna' Asashoryu to match up against Hakuho. Even though Asashoryu was obviously in decline with age he made it interesting, more interesting than Barto, Kotooshu and Harumafuji have been able to make it so far. Chiyotaikai and Kaio sadly make it (edit: of course "made it" interesting for the retired Chiyotaikai, now Sanoyama oyakata) interesting to see if they will go kyujo and kadoban rather than to see if they will challenge for the yusho... Kaio is very old. I am older but I am not being slammed on the dohyo every day! I am amazed that Kaio is still competing at all so while I would love to see him pull out an impossible yokozuna run, I know that it is indeed impossible. Edited July 14, 2011 by Harry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jakusotsu 5,894 Posted July 14, 2011 I am amazed that Kaio is still competing at all so while I would love to see him pull out an impossible yokozuna run, I know that it is indeed impossible. Begone, unbeliever! (Sigh...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikanohara 171 Posted July 14, 2011 In the west I think a rivalry is expected but in Japan they seem to like having a champion who is expected to win. The mentality is different I thought but the current low attendance perhaps shows that this has changed. Now that baseball, soccer and golf are popular in Japan I think they too now enjoy a good rivalry and find it more interesting when there is a good competitive landscape. Well, since about 1890 there hasn't been a decade with less rivalry than we have now. So perhaps in Japan they do love to worship a sole champion a bit more than we do here, but maybe they don't want to see it take forever ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ashikawazu 43 Posted July 16, 2011 Unless these ozeki step it up I can see him easily winning 20 more yusho in the next 5 years. Where is the next one? With the yaocho scandal some of the real hopes have moved way up and we're seeing that at higher ranks they are rather underwhelming which is too bad. Perhaps with a few bashos under their belts in makuuchi they will fare better. The question is will sumo be around in 5 years time.. :( With the popularity decline due to recent scandals, lack of competition and a Japanese champion, all time low attendance and sponsers at the basho's, inability of sumo to catch the younger generations, television broadcast reductions... I think the continued existence of sumo at this point is Hakuho's biggest rival for smashing the records... :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Treblemaker 254 Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) Unless these ozeki step it up I can see him easily winning 20 more yusho in the next 5 years. Where is the next one? With the yaocho scandal some of the real hopes have moved way up and we're seeing that at higher ranks they are rather underwhelming which is too bad. Perhaps with a few bashos under their belts in makuuchi they will fare better. The question is will sumo be around in 5 years time.. :( With the 1. popularity decline due to recent scandals, 2. lack of competition and 3. [lack] a Japanese champion, 4. all time low attendance and 5. [reduced] sponsers at the basho's, 6. inability of sumo to catch the younger generations, 7. television broadcast reductions... I think the continued existence of sumo at this point is Hakuho's biggest rival for smashing the records... :( To which I add: 8. inability of the Kyokai to govern itself with regard to Heya ownershiip 9. inability of the Kyokai to even partially understand that the Management team MUST be from outside the sumo family (ie., professional managers) 10. inability of the Kyokai to correctly make even the most basic of decisions. late addition: 11. inability for the Kyokai to make itself believable and credible to the Japanese public and 12. totally come clean with regards to correcting age-old traditions and things like heya hierarchy and feudalism, 13. using real coaches for the younger guys, 14. revamping their system so that even the youngsters get some kind of financial incentive to continue in the game and (finally) 15. get rid of some of the more useless Oyakata and replace them with people who know how to communicate with today's younger generation. 16. inability to underdstand that they have to go out and HIRE a PR company to (1) make the changes necessary and (2) PROPERLY get the message out to the people that sumo is here to stay..... All of which leads to another important question: With all of the issues that Ashikawazu lists (and these are almost the Perfect Storm) at what point does the Kyokai (of even the Wizards at the Ministry) realize that Sumo may have indeed "Jumped the Shark", and to continue staging 6 basho a year may not be affordable? And of course if that happens, with the slippery slope Sumo is currently on, how long will it take before there just aren't enough bums on the cushions on a regular basis to support Professional Sumo? Edited July 17, 2011 by Treblemaker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afrozuna 8 Posted July 24, 2011 Looks like we've experienced a minor setback, will it be road to 99 yusho now (Showing respect...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Afrozuna 8 Posted July 13, 2016 This thread might become very relevant soon :) . Amazing reading these old comments, how far Sumo has come in a few short years Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dapeng 233 Posted July 13, 2016 If Hakuho stays until Tokyo Olympics, he will probably reach yusho-50. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jyuunomori 226 Posted July 14, 2016 This thread is amazing. Sumo was seriously suffering in 2011. But it seems that everything is fine now. Hakuho is still going for 100 Yusho's and it doesn't seem that anyone is there to stop him either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
