Trivia bits

[Benihana 1,910]

If i didn't mess up the search, this basho was the first (modern) time that a Sekiwake met an Ozeki on day 15, managed to win, what secured him promotion to Ozeki and at the same time meant demotion to Sekiwake for the kadoban Ozeki.

[Faustonowaka 114]

There are 3 ex-ozeki on the May 2019 banzuke (Tochinoshin, Kotoshogiku, Terunofuji).

New record?

[ryafuji 810]

1 hour ago, Faustonowaka said:

There are 3 ex-ozeki on the May 2019 banzuke (Tochinoshin, Kotoshogiku, Terunofuji).

New record?

No, it's happened before - July 2004 and January 2005 had Tochiazuma, Dejima and Miyabiyama for example.

[Washuyama 638]

4 hours ago, ryafuji said:

No, it's happened before - July 2004 and January 2005 had Tochiazuma, Dejima and Miyabiyama for example.

Also July 1976 (Mienoumi, Kaiketsu & Daiju). 

[Gurowake 4,008]

On 02/04/2019 at 13:30, Benihana said:

If i didn't mess up the search, this basho was the first (modern) time that a Sekiwake met an Ozeki on day 15, managed to win, what secured him promotion to Ozeki and at the same time meant demotion to Sekiwake for the kadoban Ozeki.

You may have missed that it was in fact the first time ever that a 7-7 kadoban Ozeki lost, or even that a kadoban Ozeki finished 7-8 according to what I heard (previous demotions were all 6-9 or worse).  That it happened only when there was just as much to gain for the other rikishi tells you how much having the right motivation matters in beating 7-7 kadoban Ozeki.

[WakaTakaFlame 0]

18 hours ago, Gurowake said:

You may have missed that it was in fact the first time ever that a 7-7 kadoban Ozeki lost, or even that a kadoban Ozeki finished 7-8 according to what I heard (previous demotions were all 6-9 or worse).  That it happened only when there was just as much to gain for the other rikishi tells you how much having the right motivation matters in beating 7-7 kadoban Ozeki.

It also probably happens very rarely because fighting a Kadoban Ozeki with 7 losses late in the tournament is *the* case where it's most likely that their opponent, especially a lower ranked one, will take a dive.

Putting Takakeisho against Tochinoshin was not only dramatic, it also was a way to make sure both were actually trying to win.

[Asashosakari 18,954]

2 hours ago, WakaTakaFlame said:

It also probably happens very rarely because fighting a Kadoban Ozeki with 7 losses late in the tournament is *the* case where it's most likely that their opponent, especially a lower ranked one, will take a dive.

Putting Takakeisho against Tochinoshin was not only dramatic, it also was a way to make sure both were actually trying to win.

"It was a way" implies that it was intentional, but it was really just a wild coincidence that's very hard to replicate, because there normally just aren't many upper-ranked rikishi who are still in the race for something that matters on Day 15. (And in any case the schedulers would have to guess correctly who it will be several days ahead of time if they wanted to have it affect the match-making in the run-up to the final day.)

[yorikiried by fate 2,001]

On 09/05/2019 at 01:16, Asashosakari said:

but it was really just a wild coincidence

So true. It seems Tochinoshin's chronical absence of banzuke luck has metastatized to his torikumi luck.

[Koorifuu 913]

Here.

Chiyoshoma is the 3rd man to keep his makuuchi spot after 3 consecutive MK from M14 or below in the current 42-man format. He follows the footsteps of Kimurayama (2011) and Kitataiki. (2015)

Bad omen for the Mongolian: both of his antecessors followed it up with dire performances to ensure 4th straight MKs.

Unsurprisingly, 8 out of 9 of those MKs were 7-8.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Koorifuu

[Asashosakari 18,954]

Kimurayama only got demoted on his 5th MK though. 

[Koorifuu 913]

7 hours ago, Asashosakari said:

Kimurayama only got demoted on his 5th MK though. 

That's also why the query returns him twice as it counts his 1-4 and 2-5 streaks as separate entities. I remembered that one, but to be fair I had completely forgotten Kitataiki's.

[Nantonoyama 247]

Takakeisho had 2 fusen losses as an ozeki this tournament. From the database, it only happened in the Aki 1956 basho with then-ozeki Wakanohana. This case is quite particuliar as he first withdrew on day 13, being 12-0 and on his way to the tsuna, before coming back for day 15, for which he immediately withdrew, most probably because Kagamisato's day 14 win made it impossible for him to grab the yusho and the rope.

[Asashosakari 18,954]

1 hour ago, Nantonoyama said:

Takakeisho had 2 fusen losses as an ozeki this tournament. From the database, it only happened in the Aki 1956 basho with then-ozeki Wakanohana. This case is quite particuliar as he first withdrew on day 13, being 12-0 and on his way to the tsuna, before coming back for day 15, for which he immediately withdrew, most probably because Kagamisato's day 14 win made it impossible for him to grab the yusho and the rope.

He was only trailing by one win before senshuraku though. Ja.wiki says he ran a high fever due to tonsil inflammation, which they were hoping would get better quickly, but instead it got even worse and so he had to re-withdraw.

[ryafuji 810]

Hmm, Takakeisho is being reported in the press as "first ozeki to withdraw twice since 15 day tournaments began in 1949". Maybe they are not counting Wakanohana as he didn't actually fight another match after his first withdrawal.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

 

 

[Yubinhaad 11,590]

Asanoyama has won the:

10th Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi from Toyama prefecture, and the first for 103 years, since Tachiyama in 1916 Natsu.

9th Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi with no sanyaku experience, and the first for 58 years, following Sadanoyama in 1961 Natsu.

First Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi who started as a Sandanme Tsukedashi.

 

Yusho winners with no sanyaku experience

Basho		Winner

1909 Natsu	M7e Takamiyama
1914 Natsu	M14e Ryogoku
1922 Haru	M4e Tsurugahama
1926 Natsu	M8w Orochiyama
1931 October	M4e Ayazakura
1945 Natsu	M1e Bishuyama
1960 Natsu	M4w Wakamisugi
1961 Natsu	M13w Sadanoyama
2019 Natsu	M8w Asanoyama

 

[yorikiried by fate 2,001]

And: He had a lower career high than Sadanoyama (M5w vs. M4w) at that point, so there's a new record! (from the era we are usually looking at).

How do you call that? Makuuchi yusho with lowest career high at the time of yusho? Bit of a mouthful...

 

BTW: I'd never really looked at Sadanoyama's page. Impressive how he stormed in. Why did he quit with 30 years? Was there a grave injury involved?

Edited May 25, 2019 by yorikiried by fate

[Bumpkin 438]

2 hours ago, yorikiried by fate said:

BTW: I'd never really looked at Sadanoyama's page. Impressive how he stormed in. Why did he quit with 30 years? Was there a grave injury involved?

24 consecutive promotions to start his career. That's got to be a record.

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Where does Asanoyama stand on the speed records? He won in his 20th basho from debut (albeit at sandanme) and his 11th makuuchi tournament. The latter must be quite high on the list. For comparison, Hakuho won his first in his 13th makuuchi appearance; Asashoryu did it in his 12th.

[ryafuji 810]

18 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

Where does Asanoyama stand on the speed records? He won in his 20th basho from debut (albeit at sandanme) and his 11th makuuchi tournament. The latter must be quite high on the list. For comparison, Hakuho won his first in his 13th makuuchi appearance; Asashoryu did it in his 12th.

The above mentioned Sadanoyama did it in his third makuuchi basho (and only his second actually competing on the dohyo, as he’d been kyujo from the previous basho).

[ryafuji 810]

3 hours ago, yorikiried by fate said:

BTW: I'd never really looked at Sadanoyama's page. Impressive how he stormed in. Why did he quit with 30 years? Was there a grave injury involved?

No injury at all - he simply retired at the first sign of weakness. In his case, that was losing to a - gasp! - foreigner (Takamiyama). He was also in line to take over Dewanoumi beya - I think his shisho was becoming the Kyokai Riji-cho at around that time. 

Edited May 25, 2019 by ryafuji

[Gurowake 4,008]

4 hours ago, ryafuji said:

No injury at all - he simply retired at the first sign of weakness. In his case, that was losing to a - gasp! - foreigner (Takamiyama). He was also in line to take over Dewanoumi beya - I think his shisho was becoming the Kyokai Riji-cho at around that time. 

I guess that's better than being forced out due to scandal, which I was unaware of for Asashoryu when I first went through all the banzuke back when I found out about Ozumo.  If you don't know about it, it looks like he retired *immediately* following a basho that he won (although I probably didn't know at the time how soon he normally would have had to decide to retire to be off the next banzuke).  My eye was not keen enough to notice only 41 rikishi on the next Makuuchi banzuke.  At least in Harumafuji's case, it could realistically look like he retired because of continual injuries and despite having just won the last yusho wasn't willing to put in the effort to recuperate again, much like Akebono who retired one basho after his last win because of injury (I don't know when he suffered that injury - Wikipedia is nonspecific) without even fighting another bout.

My non-informed opinion on the matter of Sadanoyama would have been that he simply retired when most of them did then - once they got past their prime they didn't tend to stay on through as many injuries as the more recent Yokozuna have; 30 was a perfectly reasonable age to end one's career on the dohyo (I suppose that opinion is mostly right, though I didn't know the details you provided).  That it had been a long time since Yokozuna retired because of age/injury, and the same for there even being a Japanese Yokozuna, it makes people new to the sport less aware of just how long a leash Kisenosato appeared to have compared to rikishi of comparable careers.  Sure, Takanohana sat out a whole year, but he actually sat out and didn't repeatedly fail to perform, plus was told unambiguously to compete or retire eventually; Kisenosato seemed to be practically begged to not retire by everyone in Japan.  He would have been gone a lot sooner if it wasn't for such a drought, especially given his rather mediocre career for a Yokozuna (which would have been next to Kaio, Konishiki and Takanohana (1?) as one of the best Ozeki careers without having been promoted).

Edited May 25, 2019 by Gurowake

[Nantonoyama 247]

10 hours ago, Yubinhaad said:

Asanoyama has won the:

10th Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi from Toyama prefecture, and the first for 103 years, since Tachiyama in 1916 Natsu.

9th Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi with no sanyaku experience, and the first for 58 years, following Sadanoyama in 1961 Natsu.

First Makuuchi yusho by a rikishi who started as a Sandanme Tsukedashi.

 

Yusho winners with no sanyaku experience

Basho		Winner

1909 Natsu	M7e Takamiyama
1914 Natsu	M14e Ryogoku
1922 Haru	M4e Tsurugahama
1926 Natsu	M8w Orochiyama
1931 October	M4e Ayazakura
1945 Natsu	M1e Bishuyama
1960 Natsu	M4w Wakamisugi
1961 Natsu	M13w Sadanoyama
2019 Natsu	M8w Asanoyama

 

Out of the yusho without sanyaku experience, Asanoyama is the first to secure the tournament before the final day!

[ryafuji 810]

18 hours ago, Gurowake said:

I guess that's better than being forced out due to scandal, which I was unaware of for Asashoryu when I first went through all the banzuke back when I found out about Ozumo.  If you don't know about it, it looks like he retired *immediately* following a basho that he won (although I probably didn't know at the time how soon he normally would have had to decide to retire to be off the next banzuke).  My eye was not keen enough to notice only 41 rikishi on the next Makuuchi banzuke.  At least in Harumafuji's case, it could realistically look like he retired because of continual injuries and despite having just won the last yusho wasn't willing to put in the effort to recuperate again, much like Akebono who retired one basho after his last win because of injury (I don't know when he suffered that injury - Wikipedia is nonspecific) without even fighting another bout.

My non-informed opinion on the matter of Sadanoyama would have been that he simply retired when most of them did then - once they got past their prime they didn't tend to stay on through as many injuries as the more recent Yokozuna have; 30 was a perfectly reasonable age to end one's career on the dohyo (I suppose that opinion is mostly right, though I didn't know the details you provided).  That it had been a long time since Yokozuna retired because of age/injury, and the same for there even being a Japanese Yokozuna, it makes people new to the sport less aware of just how long a leash Kisenosato appeared to have compared to rikishi of comparable careers.  Sure, Takanohana sat out a whole year, but he actually sat out and didn't repeatedly fail to perform, plus was told unambiguously to compete or retire eventually; Kisenosato seemed to be practically begged to not retire by everyone in Japan.  He would have been gone a lot sooner if it wasn't for such a drought, especially given his rather mediocre career for a Yokozuna (which would have been next to Kaio, Konishiki and Takanohana (1?) as one of the best Ozeki careers without having been promoted).

Akebono retired due to chronic knee and back problems, I’m not sure if there was a specific injury that caused him to pull out in January 2001.

You’re right that 30 was not particularly young for a yokozuna to retire in those days but still, he had just won the previous two tournaments. It was definitely a shock decision. 

[Kishinoyama 582]

1 minute ago, ryafuji said:

Akebono retired due to chronic knee and back problems, I’m not sure if there was a specific injury that caused him to pull out in January 2001.

If I remember correctly it was the knee problems that were cited for not participating in January of 2001.