The *Unofficial* Amateur Sumo Awards 2016

[mikawa 1,794]

Since the best of rikishi awards have been going on recently, thought I'd do one for amateur sumo as well. It is meant as a brief summary of what's happened this year, and of course, all comments and opinions are welcome. Here goes......

College Rikishi of the Year

As someone who won last year's All Japan Championships and following that up with this year's All Japan Student Championships, I think this should go to Nishikido's new recruit - Turbold. Not only has he always been there or there abouts in the various tournaments this year (showing remarkable consistency), his sumo has also looked very impressive. Good luck to him in Ozumo.

College Club of the Year

Whilst traditional powerhouses such as Nihon University and Nippon Sport Science University have continued to do very well in tournaments this year, I'm giving this to Toyo University, who have in recent years become a force to be reckoned with. They already had incredibly good rikishi in their midst (such as Murata Ryo 村田 亮, Nishino Tomonori 西野 倫理 and Shiroishi Masahito 白石 雅仁), adding the 2-time High School Yokozuna Shiroyama Seira (城山 聖羅) to their ranks have made them even stronger. Then there was the 135 kg or over competition in this tournament, where Toyo clean-sweeped the top 4.

High School Rikishi of the Year

Goes to Ehime's Yamaguchi Reo (山口 怜央), for winning this year's Inter-High. Yamaguchi was always a top 5 rikishi in his year group, and has gotten better and better as he progressed through middle school and high school.

High School Club of the Year

Whilst the strength and depth of Saitama Sakae High School is probably unmatched across the country, a strong team this year coupled with home field advantage helped Tottori Johoku High School to win Inter-High (4-1 in the final against Saitama). A great achievement by Ishiura and Ichinojo's former club.

Middle School Rikishi of the Year

Although Begin Japanology's Tanaka Toranosuke (田中 虎之介) came from nowhere to win this year's Middle School Student Championships, I feel that this award should go to the Middle School Yokozuna, Kusano Naoya (草野 直哉). Like Yamaguchi, he has also improved greatly since entering middle school, and nearly won the other tournament as well (where he finished runner-up). As he's from Kumamoto, I guess we can't fault him for finishing second in the team event, it's been somewhat of a curse in recent years.

Grade 6 Rikishi of the Year

As primary school competitions don't have mixed year groups, I'm going to have separate awards for Grade 6, Grade 5, Grade 4, and Grade 3 or lower. For this particular award, there are 2 candidates who are both deserving of the honour, and it would be unfair to prefer one over the other. As such, this award goes to both Narita Rikido (成田 力道) AND Uchida Kyota (内田 京汰). The big and powerful (and always in the spotlight) Narita Rikido reached the final of this year's Hakuho Cup and Wanpaku Tournament, and although he lost in both finals, he would go on to claim the National Club Championships as well as the Primary School Championships (in addition to the Chinju-no-mori Tournament earlier this year). Uchida Kyota on the other hand is this year's Wanpaku Yokozuna (winning an incredibly exciting and tension-filled final against Narita), and came close to winning the National Club Championships, narrowly losing to Narita's club in the semi-finals. Their rivalry has been a pleasure to watch in recent years.

Grade 5 Rikishi of the Year

Who else but Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), winner of the "Triple Crown" of primary school sumo? In a single year, he was able to win the Hakuho Cup, the Wanpaku Tournament, as well as the National Primary School Championships. Yamashita's truly been unstoppable in 2016.

Grade 4 Rikishi of the Year

Belongs with Nishide Daiki (西出 大毅), this year's Primary School Yokozuna. He's been the most impressive rikishi in his year group during the past 12 months, for reasons outlined here.

Grade 3 or lower Rikishi of the Year

In other words, the young rikishi to most look forward to in the upcoming years, is Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛). Last year he qualified for the Grade 4 or lower competition at the National Primary School Championships, as a Grade 2, and repeated the feat this year, as a Grade 3. Apart from this, he also won this year's Hakuho Cup, not to mention winning the Chinju-no-mori Tournament as well. He has heart, he has skill, and he has the body to back it up.

Sumo Club / Dojo of the Year

Nope, this one isn't going to the winner of this year's National Club Championships (Nakadomari Dojo), as I think the spotlight has belonged to another club this year - Kinboshi Sumo Club. They may not have won any major tournaments this year (in fact, far from it), but because of Guru Nai's TV series, a lot of sumo fans have gotten to know their 6 members quite well - Kimura Kiri (木村 喜人) , Yasuda Hikaru （安田 光）, Kanazawa Riku （金澤 立空）, Kanazawa Sorato （金澤 空大）, Kanazawa Towa （金澤 永和） and Munakata Seiren (棟方 聖連). Plus, Kanazawa Sorato qualifying for this year's Wanpaku Tournament was a major achievement, so I feel that they deserve this honour.

Edited December 23, 2016 by mikawa