mikawa 1,794 Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) 第69回全国高校相撲高知大会 This is a national high school sumo tournament for First and Second Year pupils, as March is the final month in the Japanese academic year. The individual competition features 3 different weight classes - 80 kg, 100 kg, and Open Weight. Individual Competition (Open Weight) Winner - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎), Wakayama Commercial High School (Wakayama) Runner-Up - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗), Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Semi-Finals - Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一), Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) Semi-Finals - Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル), Asahigaoka High School (Kanagawa) Team Competition Winner - Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Runner-Up - Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) Videos Open Weight Quarter-Final #1 - Ishizaki Ryoma (石崎 涼馬) vs Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) Open Weight Quarter-Final #2 - Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一) vs Tsuzawa Taichi (津澤 太一) Open Weight Quarter-Final #3 - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) vs Sato (佐藤) Open Weight Quarter-Final #4 - Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル) vs Isa (伊佐) Open Weight Semi-Final #1 - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) vs Kamiyama Ryuichi (神山 龍一) Open Weight Semi-Final #2 - Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) vs Daraibaatoru (ダライバートル) Open Weight Final - Hanada Hidetora (花田 秀虎) vs Suzuki Yuto (鈴木 優斗) Team Final - Saitama Sakae High School (Saitama) vs Hiryu High School (Shizuoka) Comments Hanada Hidetora was a runner-up in the Middle School Championships two years ago. He has good skills, and really knows his way around the dohyo. This came in handy in his semi-final, where he outmanoeuvred the former Middle School Yokozuna Kamiyama Ryuichi, and in the final, where he skilfully rounded the oshi-specialist Suzuki Yuto. Suzuki then tried to use an Uchigake (inside leg trip) as Hanada gained the better position at that time, but Hanada cleverly countered with a Shitatenage (underarm throw), throwing Suzuki to the dirt. You can see Suzuki's disappointment at the end, as he felt that he should have finished off the bout with his oshi-attack when he had the chance. Hanada Hidetora is about to enter his second year at High School, and will be a name to watch out for in the High School sumo scene for the next couple of years. Three years ago, Iruma Junior Sumo Club from Saitama became National Club Champions when then defeated Fuji Wanpaku Sumo Club from Shizuoka, at a time when talented rikishi began to emerge from the two prefectures. It comes as no surprise then that the team final last weekend was contested by teams from Saitama and Shizuoka, which even featured Iruma Junior Sumo Club's captain back then, Kamiyama Ryuichi. The strong Saito Daisuke of Saitama Sakae was very impressive in the opening bout of the team final, as his opponent struggled to deal with his pushes. However, Saito was perhaps a bit over-eager to end the bout, as he lost his balance following a dodge from his opponent, 1-0 to Shizuoka. Suzuki Yuto then turned his opponent around at the last minute to make it 2-0 to Shizuoka, before Kamiyama Ryuichi made it 2-1 by throwing out Tsuchiya Kazuya, salvaging some pride for Saitama Sakae, the best high school sumo team in the country. This was an impressive win by Hiryu High School, who now have a strong enough roster to challenge for titles. As a side note, whilst I was checking the year in which Kamiyama Ryuichi became Middle School Yokozuna, this video showed up in the search results. It is from a kids sumo tournament organised by a TV show called PIRAMEKINO, featuring young rikishi from various clubs from around the Kanto region, and held at Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo. Kamiyama won the Yusho. Edited March 20, 2018 by mikawa 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katooshu 3,138 Posted March 21, 2018 (edited) Nice first year at high school for Hanada, with a yusho, a best 8 at the Inter-high, and a best 16 at the Kokutai (losing to eventual champ Naya if I recall correctly). He looks skillful and as you say should be one of the names to keep an eye on. March is the final month of the academic year, but I haven't seen any 3rd year students competing in high school competition since the Kokutai last year. Why is that'? Or maybe I just missed them, but also at the February tournament I didn't see notable 3rd year names like Takahashi, Ishioka, etc. I'm still trying to figure out the timelines for school competition... Am I correct in thinking that the new batch of 1st year collegiate rikishi should be entering next month? I'm curious to see who decided to go that route and who they'll compete for. Edited March 21, 2018 by Katooshu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikawa 1,794 Posted March 21, 2018 10 hours ago, Katooshu said: March is the final month of the academic year, but I haven't seen any 3rd year students competing in high school competition since the Kokutai last year. Why is that'? Or maybe I just missed them, but also at the February tournament I didn't see notable 3rd year names like Takahashi, Ishioka, etc. I'm still trying to figure out the timelines for school competition... The third year students take their final exams in January, are off school in February and have their graduation in March, so this is a good time for high schools to figure out what their best teams would be for the new academic year. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites