46th National Middle School Championships (2016-8-21)

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The 46th National Middle School Championships (第46全国中学校相撲選手権大会) took place last weekend in Ishikawa Prefecture, with individual and team matches being contested on both Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st. The winner of this tournament's individual competition is crowned this year's Middle School Yokozuna, so there's a lot at stake.

The tournament is made up of 47 middle schools who won their respective prefectural qualifiers, plus the hosting middle school, making a grand total of 48 teams. A middle school rikishi cannot qualify for this tournament on their own, they have to be part of one of these 48 teams (with each team consisting of 3 rikishi).

Edited August 23, 2016 by mikawa

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Individual Competition

Winner: Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉, 3rd year, Kumamoto)

Runner-up: Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎, 3rd year, Wakayama)

Semi-finals: Shido Shunsuke (志戸 俊輔, 3rd year, Kumamoto)
Semi-finals: Kishimoto Shori (岸本 涉利, 3rd year, Hyogo)

Last 32:

Quarter-finals:

Semi-finals: Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉) vs Shido Shunsuke (志戸 俊輔), Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) vs Kishimoto Shori (岸本 涉利)

Final: Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉) vs Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎)

 

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Team Competition

Winner: Kametsu Middle School (亀津中学校, Kagoshima)

Runner-up: Tsubataminami Middle School (津幡南中学校, Ishikawa)

Semi-finals: Udo Kakujo Middle School (宇土鶴城中学校, Kumamoto)
Semi-finals: Saisei Middle School (犀生中学校, Ishikawa)

Last 32:

 

Quarter-finals:

Semi-finals:  Udo Kakujo Middle School (宇土鶴城中学校) vs Kametsu Middle School (亀津中学校), Tsubataminami Middle School (津幡南中学校) vs Saisei Middle School (犀生中学校)

Final: Kametsu Middle School (亀津中学校) vs Tsubataminami Middle School (津幡南中学校)

 

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Comments

And so, Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉), a key member of Udo Junior Sumo Club and runner-up at the Middle School Student Championships earlier this month, is the 2016 Middle School Yokozuna. Congratulations to him!

Ever since the wanpaku days, Kusano Naoya has been one of the top names in his year group, always reaching the quarter-finals at least in national competitions. Even though he does not have quite the same level of fighting spirit as his club-mate and kohai Kawazoe Fuma (川副 楓馬), Naoya is one of the biggest rikishi amongst his peers (not to mention one of the strongest), and prefers a yorikiri-style of sumo. He has very good manoeuvring abilities during bouts, and has become even better during middle school, culminating in a runner-up performance in the Middle School Student Championships (losing to a henka in the final), and now this. Definitely a deserved winner.

With hindsight, the (nearly) all-conquering team that Udo Junior Sumo Club put out during the 10^th National Club Championships in 2013 is, hard to believe though it may be, even stronger than was first thought, and certainly should have won the tournament. The 5 members of that team included:

Honda Gotaro (本田 豪太郎) - multiple quarter-finalist and semi-finalist at wanpaku and in other national competitions

Kawazoe Fuma (川副 楓馬) - runner-up at wanpaku, winner of the Hakuho Cup and also the Primary School Yokozuna

Hanaoka Masaki (花岡 真生) - a 2-time wanpaku yokozuna

Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉) - multiple quarter-finalist and semi-finalist at wanpaku and in other national competitions, Middle School Yokozuna

Kawakami Ryuko (川上 竜虎) - multiple quarter-finalist and semi-finalist at wanpaku and in other national competitions, Middle School Yokozuna

Looking forward to seeing how Naoya does in High School from next year onwards, where he will be one of the names to watch out for.

 

Other notable results

The other big name from Kumamoto, Shido Shunsuke (志戸 俊輔), managed to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to the eventual winner Naoya. Meanwhile, the biggest rikishi in their year group, Kawabuchi Kazuki (川渕 一意), reached the quarter-finals, where he lost to the runner-up, Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎). Also a quarter-finalist was Okita Reiji (沖田 麗司), part of Tokyo Katsushika Shiratori Sumo Club's so-called "Golden Generation" and a key member of their national club championship-winning team.

The winner of this year's National Middle School Student Championships, Tanaka Toranosuke (田中 虎之介), was able to reach the last 16 (losing by Hatakikomi to Kawabuchi Kazuki). This was the round where Kusano Naoya reached last year, when he was still in his second year of middle school. And speaking of sumo kids who have been featured in a television program, Sasaki Chikara (佐々木 主税), aka the sumo wrestler's son, reached the last 32 this year, which was a surprising result as he has not done anything of note since Grade 5 of primary school.

Amongst the other rikishi who were able to qualify for the last 32 are two members of Komatsuryu Dojo from Tokyo, Kiyomiya Itto (清宮 一翔) and Asano Futa (浅野 風汰). There were also some rikishi who were still in their second year of middle school, the most notable being Ehime's Kubo Kaishin (久保 海心), Chiba's Murayama Go (村山 豪) and Aomori (and Tsugaru Sumo Club)'s Narumi Shoma (鳴海 匠馬). All three are big names in their year group, and will have another shot at the title of Middle School Yokozuna next year.

Edited September 9, 2016 by mikawa

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Semifinals and finals:

 

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Here are the full results (from the last 32 onwards) of the tournament: