Hoku ends the streak!

[Kaikitsune Makoto 209]

How otherwise do you think Asashoryu suddenly stopped winning, Zentoryu san ?

Zentoryu-san is without a doubt willing to reply to you too but can I try too?

Maybe because winning streak is always stopped suddenly?

Come on.....this saddens me to great extent. Life is life. I was sure your initial comment was irony as Tokimori thought too. It really wasnt't I suppose....

I sincerely hope your attitude doesn't speak for the majority of Shoryu-fans' attitude. Otherwise Shoryu-fans seem to possess the same disrespect to Shoryu's foes as does Shoryu. It is even more insulting than was the occasion some time ago when it was declared by some people that if Shoryu now loses (can't recall what bout was that), it is a fix to make Azuma the champ (ah yes..that was it!)! Nice way to undermine the credibility of the foe.

[Zentoryu 154]

How otherwise do you think Asashoryu suddenly stopped winning, Zentoryu san ?

He got beat by someone else on a hotstreak.

Asashoryu, no matter how good he is, is not invinceable. He will loose once and a while. He will suffer shocking upsets. They're shocking because he is that damn good.

Asa is not the first Yokozuna to ever lose to a Maegashira. Taiho suffered some surprising losses. Futabayama's legendary winning streak was stopped by a nobody rikishi like Hokutoriki.

If you know anything about Asashoryu, you should know that he hates to loose. It is what seperates him from all other rikishi. We've all seen that he follows his own path, often flaunting in the face of tradition. No one is going to tell this guy what to do. He's not going to lose intentionally for anyone or for any reason.

If anything this loss will likely light a fire under his mawashi and send him on another prolonged winning streak. Why? Because he's gonna be pissed that he lost to someone like Hokutoriki.

Takamisakari, his opponent today, may indeed be a deadman walking as he will have to absorb all of Asa's fury at losing.

Edited May 14, 2004 by Zentoryu

[Tumppi 0]

How otherwise do you think Asashoryu suddenly stopped winning, Zentoryu san ?

Oh my god he was serious :-P (Applauding...) (Sign of disapproval)

This is the best example of the Shoryu-mania.

[Kashunowaka 300]

How otherwise do you think Asashoryu suddenly stopped winning, Zentoryu san ?

Oh my god he was serious (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Sign of disapproval)

Come on, surely Coo-Cook is taking you for a ride!! I thought his first comment was rather amusing, so I assumed that was the point with it. :-P

[Coo-cook 0]

(Sign of approval)

Confess, you were seriously thinking I was serious.

(Applauding...)

[Tumppi 0]

How otherwise do you think Asashoryu suddenly stopped winning, Zentoryu san ?

Oh my god he was serious (Applauding...) :-P (Sign of disapproval)

Come on, surely Coo-Cook is taking you for a ride!! I thought his first comment was rather amusing, so I assumed that was the point with it. (Applauding...)

Maybe amusement was the point with the first comment but the second one seemed more or less dead-serious (Applauding...)

Of course I could be wrong :-)

[Asashosakari 19,669]

It is even more insulting than was the occasion some time ago when it was declared by some people that if Shoryu now loses (can't recall what bout was that), it is a fix to make Azuma the champ (ah yes..that was it!)! Nice way to undermine the credibility of the foe.

The (non-)seriousness of Coo-cook's comment notwithstanding, I was just thinking about that this morning. Remember what those conspiracy theories were, around the start of the year?

"The NSK is leaning on Asashoryu to lose a couple of bouts so he doesn't look as dominating" - result: Shoryu goes on to win 35 bouts in a row.

and the other one:

"The NSK is fixing bouts in order to push Taikai/Kaio/Azuma to the Yokozuna rank" - result: less than half a year later, Azuma is about to lose his Ozeki rank, and the other two have busted their next tsunatori chance early on by losing easy bouts.

I guess the Illuminati were too busy to show the NSK how to properly influence important events. :-P

Here's my own attempt at a mock conspiracy theory...just when Tochiazuma is about to drop below Ozeki and increase the number of ex-Ozeki on the banzuke to 4 (which would be a record, I believe), Takanonami retires, and he does so very early on during the basho while he still has a chance to fight on and stay in the division. The Kyokai has never liked having so many former Ozeki competing, and Azuma is going to make the situation worse, so they had to do something...surely part of the 37 million yen they paid Nami for his "past contributions" was a pay-off for him retiring earlier than necessary. It all fits together.

See, it's incredibly easy to play along. (Applauding...)

[Mark Buckton 1]

Azuma is going to make the situation worse, so they had to do something...surely part of the 37 million yen they paid Nami for his "past contributions" was a pay-off for him retiring earlier than necessary. It all fits together.

See, it's incredibly easy to play along. (Applauding...)

And the Tamanoi move, notwithstanding financial problems they are said to face could be Azuma's gift for slipping out of the Ozeki ranks - I like this game.

[Asashosakari 19,669]

And the Tamanoi move, notwithstanding financial problems they are said to face could be Azuma's gift for slipping out of the Ozeki ranks - I like this game.

Oh, good one! Yes, we need to clear the Ozeki ranks for all the promising newcomers currently in Juryo and mid-Maegashira. The next step will surely be a "keiko accident" for Musoyama, no? (Applauding...)

[Zentoryu 154]

The next step will surely be a "keiko accident" for Musoyama, no? :-)

(Applauding...) (Applauding...) :-D (Applauding...) :-P (Bleh!)

[Tadanisakari 0]

And the Tamanoi move, notwithstanding financial problems they are said to face could be Azuma's gift for slipping out of the Ozeki ranks - I like this game.

Oh, good one! Yes, we need to clear the Ozeki ranks for all the promising newcomers currently in Juryo and mid-Maegashira. The next step will surely be a "keiko accident" for Musoyama, no? (Applauding...)

Ha! Nothing that could "accidentally" happen to the Moose during keiko will compare to the immense pain that Sho is gonna dish out to Takamisakari tonight. Sakari is light enough, and Sho is pissed off enough. I'll be looking out for that tsuriotoshi special.

[Higashimori 0]

I can't decide which thread to post this in so here is my vastly uneducated opinion on this.

Asashoryu beat himself yesterday. Not to take anything away from Hokutoriki's dream basho, it's been really fun to watch him just take on these big guys and come away a winner each time.

That said, I think Asa's attitude and mental failure were the main causes of his loss. Of course against a lesser opponent he might have been able to overcome them, but not against Hokutoriki. It was mentioned above (i think?) that Asashoryu completely dictated the timing of the tachi-ai. I for one don't have a problem with this, it was obviously a reaction against Hoku's two matta's. But Asa didn't let it stop there, he first had to do his little stare-down routine as if to say "don't you realize I'm the yokozuna here, wtf are you doing jumping the gun?" To me this indicated that all of a sudden he got wrapped up in head games and seemed to care more about putting Hoku in his place than in actually winning the bout. I dare say he probably even forgot what strategy he had decided to take at the tachi-ai.

I actually think you could also look at Asa's bout from the day before against Shimotori and see the same tendencies at work, he didn't seem to be as concerned with winning that bout (and against an opponent who all but raised a white flag even before the bout started) as he did in showing up Shimo, trying to pull some tsuriotoshi instead of just winning the bout convincingly (which he did of course, but more because of Shimotori's white flag than anything Asa did). To me that bout was as embarrassing for Asa as it obviously was for Shimotori.

So, while I fully agree that we'll probably see some fury in less than 2 hours when he takes on Takamisakari, I for one would hope (unrealistically I'm afraid) that he would let a cooler head prevail. Forget about revenge, forget about being embarrassed yesterday (and embarrassing himself), and get on with winning the yusho which he still has every chance of.

Granted, as has been pointed out often, the kid is still young, so I'm confident this kind of immaturity will fix itself over time. But until it does, as much as I'll root for him and enjoy his matches above all others, it won't be with the unconditional support I would like.

[Tadanisakari 0]

It was mentioned above (i think?) that Asashoryu completely dictated the timing of the tachi-ai. I for one don't have a problem with this, it was obviously a reaction against Hoku's two matta's. But Asa didn't let it stop there, he first had to do his little stare-down routine as if to say "don't you realize I'm the yokozuna here, wtf are you doing jumping the gun?" To me this indicated that all of a sudden he got wrapped up in head games and seemed to care more about putting Hoku in his place than in actually winning the bout. I dare say he probably even forgot what strategy he had decided to take at the tachi-ai.

I agree with you here. I think the mental game is a weapon that Asashoryu uses masterfully. From the moment he enters from the East and sits next to the dohyo, his menacing glare and his crossed arms are very intimidating. He has an arrogant glare and a confident stride. Maybe that's brash youth, but I think he's just acting the way any Yokozuna should... confident that he's at the peak of his sport.

When I said that Sho controlled the timing of the tachi-ai, I definitely think he had his mind on intimidating Hoku. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with that, either. Did he overthink the bout before it even began? Maybe. I felt that Sho didn't show the quickness and dohyo sense that he usually displays in order to get out of the way of strong tachi-ais, which might come from a lack of concentration. The thing is, as he showed tonight against (admittedly far weaker) Kotonowaka, you need a truck to stop Hokutoriki's deashi. His oshi is just too powerful.

I think Hokutoriki's double matta was very much on purpose. Just to annoy the Yokozuna and to show him that he was ready and even anxious to come at him.

On a similar note:

Did anyone else root for Takamisakari at the edge of their seat tonight?? He stuck with Sho in oshi-zumo for far longer than I had expected him to. One day, my friends, Sakari is going to find his game again. Keep the faith.

[Kashunowaka 300]

I think Hokutoriki's double matta was very much on purpose.  Just to annoy the Yokozuna and to show him that he was ready and even anxious to come at him.

I think you are perhaps reading to much into Hokutoriki's matta. He leans forward at the tachiai more than anyone I can think of, and causes matta quite often.

[Asashosakari 19,669]

I think Hokutoriki's double matta was very much on purpose.

[BuBa 77]

Higashimori, I second each and every sentence in you post. This is most objective post on this matter so far.

[hoshidango 0]

Which is why I was incredibly surprised to see that Hokutoriki actually won the bout against Asashoryu after two mattas. Normally when he has those false starts, he gets all flustered and usually is dead meat when the bout gets started proper. Not so this time.

A close look at the video reveals Hokutoriki was rather intimidated(perhaps) to even use Nodowa at tachiai, rather than Asashoryu blocked Hokuto's Nodowa attempt. Asashoryu had a chance. Now you really have to look close but when shoryu moves Hokutoriki towards the edge of the ring, he did Hipparikomi or Inashi a bit(pull the opponent's body straight towards your body or do a premonition of hatakikomi or Hikiotoshi).

This simply changed the direction of the bout.

I say likely he could have been mentally uptight for whatever reason. If you a Yokozuna, and see a Oshizumo guy winning with Nodowa and Hikiotoshi day in day out, and you are one of the smaller guys in the tournament, last thing you do is to use Hipparikomi or Inashi towards you. Asa has a whole bunch of Kimarite's to use. Bad judgement.

[kotooshu_bulgaria 0]

History aside, what do you think of Hokutoriki s skills? Plus, is not it better when some of the lower-ranked rikishi challenge the champions successfully? Go Hokutoriki, the yusho is near! 8-0 today! :-/ :-P :-) :-)

[Zuikakuyama 1]

Shoryu tried the same thing against Tochiazuma in his last loss (i.e, a neck pull-down), and lost the match.

It is a bad habit of his that if he didn't get the mawashi in the first few seconds, he sometimes to that sort of move.

[Jesinofuji 11]

First I'd like to say thank you Asashoryu for an impressive 35 win streak -something only Futabayama, Taiho, and Chiyonofuji have accomplished in the modern era.

Asashoryu lost a match he was winning because of a bad split second decision to try the pull down. For Asashoryu, this was a learning experience. He is still very much in the Yusho hunt. He will now need a little help to win though.

Hokutoriki has been resorting to nodowa. Its kind of a dirty tactic. Asashoryu used to fight dirty using excessive tsuppari, but gave it up after losing a match to someone he bloodied. He could go back to his old ways next time he sees Hokutoriki just to show him that its not polite to strike at people's throats.

Hoku is doing a great job, and will surely get prizes and a promotion to sanyaku if his finishes the basho without injury. The yusho is his to win, as he's already beaten most of the big guns. I don't see him pulling a zensho though. He will lose to

Wa-Kaaaaa-No-Saaaaaaaa-To :-/ :-) :-) :-P (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...)

Wa-Kaaaaa-No-Saaaaaaaa-To (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...)

[Guest TSoLmoN]

Wa-Kaaaaa-No-Saaaaaaaa-To :-) :-P (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...)

Wa-Kaaaaa-No-Saaaaaaaa-To (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...) (Applauding...)

aaand the unbeatable falls (Applauding...) (Applauding...)

(no offence to hoku fans)

wakonosato rockss :-/ :-)

[kotooshu_bulgaria 0]

Great prediction by Jesinofuji! Wakanosato is going strong, looking forward to his clash with the yokozuna and the ozeki, maybe he can get the yusho and ozeki promotion? The competition is getting interesting with more equality and surprises!

[Kashunowaka 300]

Great prediction by Jesinofuji! Wakanosato is going strong, looking forward to his clash with the yokozuna and the ozeki, maybe he can get the yusho and ozeki promotion? The competition is getting interesting with more equality and surprises!

A Wakanosato yusho would be wonderful. I can only dream ... But even with a yusho, ozeki promotion would be at least one basho away. His record in the previous basho (8-7) is simply too weak. He will probably need at least 13 wins in Natsu to even be considered a serious ozeki candidate for Nagoya. If he can get 11-4 now, I would be very happy for him.

The coming days will be crucial for Wakanosato; he will now face all the ozeki and yokozuna, starting with Musoyama tomorrow.

[Ryunokaze 0]

I don't think there was anything to complicated about Hokutoriki's win(s).

Asashoryu has faced him before and had a good idea what he was in for.So when he got a lot more than he expected he was not ready to respond.Didn't expect all of that power.Put simply, Shoryu was surprised.As were the rest of the joijin he has over-powered thus far.Non of them had any idea that such power was likely.They all expected the old Hokutoriki.The fella that wins 10 from mid pack and looses 10 at the top.Not the all new and improved model.

Wakanosato wasn't caught napping today though.Looked an easy match for Sato.Didn't it?

Tis shaping-up as a good Basho going into the second week.Hope the likes of Hokutoriki,Kinkaiyama,Kokkai, and Wakanosato(I missed somebody?) don't simply fall off.

Hokutoriki must be very hopeful as he has faced his toughest matches already.You think he should be hard to stop...but then, so is Shoryu.

Looking forward to an exciting second week...

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

This is indeed shaping up as a memorable basho, for many reasons. I don't think Asashoryu beat himself: Hoku beat him. It was bound to happen at some point, although most of us probably imagined Kaio or Chiyotaikai doing the honors.