Basho Talk Natsu 2018 (SPOILERS)

[since_94 650]

6 hours ago, Dapeng said:

It's not a bad thing to have first-timers, isn't it? Some of them may never come again but I believe many of them will become real sumo fans.

I agree.But it doesn’t mean I want to sit next to them for several hours. No offense. It’s the quality of the banter, or lack thereof, not the nationality , btw.

[Gurowake 4,092]

4 hours ago, Chankomafuji said:

 I had no doubts that Endo and Kaisei will crumble at the ranks they had now in Natsu.

 

Endo was doing just fine until he got hurt - a 3-3 start is very good for a Komusubi.  He probably shouldn't have returned given that he failed to win any of them, but that's their way.  

I also wouldn't call Kaisei's 6-9 "crumbling".  That's the average score for someone in the joi.  He did as expected and will almost certainly be back fighting the YokOzeki next basho - I doubt they'll promote Takakeisho or Kagayaki past him so he'll be at worst in the 16th spot.

[Jabbamaru 167]

48 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said:

I believe he'll sit out one more and then give it a go in September.

8 straight kiujo? Takanohana's record? I hope not. Enough is enough.

Edited May 28, 2018 by Jabbamaru
auto correction

[delwin 9]

19 hours ago, Otokonoyama said:

Well that is strange then. Depending on my location each day, I watch the NHK-G broadcast, Abema, and twitch. I always have both streams on, and sometimes if at home the TV too. The twitch stream has occasional buffering whether there are 150 viewers or 450, though there are days when it works fine. Is no one else having these issues? When the Vaughn TV stream was up, I generally experienced the same buffering and freezing other users reported. 

Twitch is pretty good for me, but it will still buffer occasionally. However, I can't think of one video service I've used more than a handful of times which hasn't had its issues. It's just the nature of the beast.

[d_golem 213]

5 hours ago, since_94 said:

I agree.But it doesn’t mean I want to sit next to them for several hours. No offense. It’s the quality of the banter, or lack thereof, not the nationality , btw.

I thought it was hilarious fun. I'm not a sumo veteran fan nor am I a total newbie fan too, but I was one of the many who yelled/typed "MAWASHIII!" just because it was the funnest thing to do at that particular moment, smiling so gleefully as I saw the chatroom exploded. Same feeling like when watching football live at the stadium : lots of not-really-clever verbal outburts and whatnot, but the emotion was palpable and you get swept along with it. And of course the quality of the banter will be totally different over there than in this forum, where we have time to edit and consider our responses. I use both and loving it.

[WAKATAKE 2,669]

This was a good basho. Aside from the henka against the Geek, Kakuryu held his own, especially against his fellow yusho contenders Hakuho and Tochinoshin, showing why he won the yusho this time around. And if there is no heya mate in makuuchi, then usually somebody from the same ichimon will ride in the car. And Shodai deserves it since he helped a lot for Kakuryu. 

Tochinoshin really does not have anything to be ashamed regarding for this basho. Sure he let the yusho slip away, but he already has one, which is one probably more than 97% of professional sumo wrestlers who are lucky to make it to makuuchi. He's going to have plenty of opportunities to get another one, and within the last two basho he's shown that he can beat both yokozuna. I'm also reading that he tied the record for most wins in the ozeki run at 37-8, so I really hope that he will have a long and further storied career as an ozeki.

The GOAT will trudge on, he wasn't 100% this basho but he duked it out with the rest of him, so have to give him credit where it's due. His current next goal is to get 1000 makuuchi wins, which he'll have to compete through to Aki in order to mathematically achieve. After that, we'll have to see how it's going for him.

Both the current ozeki have a lot of work ahead of them for the next basho, hope they're recovered to achieve KK in Nagoya.

For Kisenosato, time is running out and I believe he's got more of a mental game to fight more than whether the injury is fully healed or not. And the predicament just keeps getting larger, he put himself in there since he declared he will retire if he can't finish a full basho. Nagoya or bust I think.

Ichinojo may have cost himself the east sekiwake slot with that one sided loss to Mitakeumi, who will extend his own streak of staying in sanyaku, possibly challenging to get into the top 10 soon.

Tamawashi will return to sanyaku and I personally believe that it will be shukun-sho winner Shohozan joining him, Shodai losing to Tamawashi will cost him the return to sanyaku.

While both joi debutants had MK, Abi came out a lot better than Yutakayama, even getting a kinboshi. So we'll be seeing Abi again, and we'll have to see how he does in Nagoya.

Coming back to the joi will be some familiar faces, such as the Geek, Ikioi, Yoshikaze and Chiyonokuni who had a stellar basho at 12-3 and the kanto-sho.

Aminishiki and Daiamami are headed down to juryo, but I think we'll be having an over demotion since there's three strong candidates for promotion in the top division.

Terrornofuji is giving no indication that he will retire and instead will continue in the unsalaried ranks. Here's to hoping he'll take some time off and recover to come back stronger, though with the ill fated sumo he's been doing, I have my doubts.

Top 10 updates coming soon!

[Senkoho 552]

14 minutes ago, WAKATAKE said:

Tochinoshin really does not have anything to be ashamed regarding for this basho. Sure he let the yusho slip away, but he already has one, which is one probably more than 97% of professional sumo wrestlers who are lucky to make it to makuuchi.

This sounded interesting, so I ran a quick Database search. The result is surprising: if I'm not horribly wrong, 65 out of 511 rikishi ranked in makuuchi in the six-basho era won at least one championship, which equals to 12,72%. Way more than I expected!

Edited May 28, 2018 by Senkoho

[yorikiried by fate 2,029]

1 hour ago, WAKATAKE said:

For Kisenosato, [...] I believe he's got more of a mental game to fight [...].

 

Well, let's see how that will work out for him...

[Kintamayama 45,412]

After basho blurbs:

Kakuryuu had a cold from day 3. "I can talk about this now, but I had a cold from around day three and it bothered me..I even had a fever at some point but it didn't stop me. I decided it wasn't good to see the number on the thermometer.. I felt much better at the end, but I was struggling midway. At some point I had a bad feeling about this, but I was able to go on without giving up,." he said.  "My next challenge is three straight yushos so I'm looking forward to that. I still haven't gotten a zensho yusho so I'm aiming for that as well. I'll need to concentrate.." he added. Kisenosato? "Who am I to give him advice?? I think he has a lot of resolve, so I think that when he does return he will utilize it. As a fellow yokozuna I would like him to gambarize," said Kakuryuu, who was in a similar position (4 consecutive kyujos) just a year ago with his recurring injuries.

Tochinoshin: "When I got my tenth straight win, I started thinking about the yusho. Too bad it didn't happen, but I got two special prizes, so.. Becoming an Ozeki is daunting. I will really have to gambarize. I mean, I'm happy, but it's daunting.. As for what I will say when they arrive with the good news, I'll discuss this with my oyakata. I'll have to learn it well, as it will be in Japanese.." he said. "His Japanese ain't that great so we'll have to make it simple and straightforward," chimed in his Oyakata. 

 

Kyokutaisei the documentary boy, on his excellent performance in his first basho in Makuuchi: "I can't believe I won this many matches.. My body was moving well this basho.  It's all because I did good keiko before the basho," he said.

 

Chiyonokuni got a special prize for his 12 wins. He has dropped in the past to Sandanme due to recurring injuries. "I thought that if I worked seriously every day, good things will come. I may divide the 2,000,000 yen prize between everyone," he said, making eye-contact with his tsukebito..

 

Ex-Ozeki Terunofuji who has dropped to Makushita is not retiring. "I am not quitting just because I dropped to Makushita. No one is trying to force me to retire either. No one even suggested it.." he said, evidently encouraged by the fans who were encouraging him to continue..

[Kintamayama 45,412]

Hakuhou is already on his way to Mongolia. "The fact that I didn't get a serious injury this basho will be a springboard for next basho," he said. Not a serious injury, but he injured his left knee during the basho. "I'm a bit tired. I'm going to take it easy physically and mentally," he added. He intends to visit his deceased father's home town and reflect, and will return to Japan on June 2nd.

Edited May 28, 2018 by Kintamayama

[Edwardoho 23]

If tochinoshin could have won the tournament OR been promoted to ozeki what do you think the would have chosen? Which is a more considerable feat overall?

 

[Jakusotsu 6,010]

20 hours ago, since_94 said:

I have to maximize the screen to block out the twaddle that is chat if I’m to enjoy mbovo’s stream

Twitch has an excellent Theater Mode (middle button in the lower right corner of the vid) which offers a  scalable window without chaff. I wish youtobe had the same.

[Kintamayama 45,412]

11 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

Twitch has an excellent Theater Mode (middle button in the lower right corner of the vid) which offers a  scalable window without chaff. I wish youtobe had the same.

And there is also a "hide chat" button in the settings, which I immediately use when I enter the premises.

[Ryoshishokunin 309]

11 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

Twitch has an excellent Theater Mode (middle button in the lower right corner of the vid) which offers a  scalable window without chaff. I wish youtobe had the same.

You can also just hide the chat with the little arrow in the top bar to the left of the chat window (pointing to the right).  Furthermore, you can 'pop out' chat (in the settings, bottom of the chat window), and then put it somewhere you don't want to look at it.  

[Eikokurai 3,437]

26 minutes ago, Uk.sumo.fan said:

If tochinoshin could have won the tournament OR been promoted to ozeki what do you think the would have chosen? Which is a more considerable feat overall?

 

Ozeki. Without a doubt. He’s already won one tournament and reaching Ozeki is a much rarer accomplishment than winning a yusho. They’ve been won by guys down the bottom of the division before. 

[mbovo 244]

34 minutes ago, Uk.sumo.fan said:

If tochinoshin could have won the tournament OR been promoted to ozeki what do you think the would have chosen? Which is a more considerable feat overall?

 

Easy answer: Yusho as it would have autamatically meant Ozeki promotion :)

[Eikokurai 3,437]

35 minutes ago, mbovo said:

Easy answer: Yusho as it would have autamatically meant Ozeki promotion :)

Ha. That’s cheating! I assumed we were talking a situation where it’s one or the other. Of course, you’re correct in saying that in this particular context he’d have gotten Ozeki promotion along with the yusho.

[mbovo 244]

Hard to imagine he wins the tournament but doesn't get promoted. Anyway, I think if he had the chance he would have swapped a win or two from March for his defeats in May, and that way he would still be promoted, having won two Yushos in 3 tournaments which is something very very few can achieve from Sekiwake or lower (if indeed it has ever happened).

Edited May 28, 2018 by mbovo

[Eikokurai 3,437]

16 minutes ago, mbovo said:

Hard to imagine he wins the tournament but doesn't get promoted. Anyway, I think if he had the chance he would have swapped a win or two from March for his defeats in May, and that way he would still be promoted, having won two Yushos in 3 tournaments which is something very very few can achieve from Sekiwake or lower (if indeed it has ever happened).

It’s never been done in the six-basho-a-year, 15-torikumi-a-basho era.

[mbovo 244]

Just now, Eikokurai said:

It’s never been done in the six-basho-a-year, 15-torikumi-a-basho era.

Exactly what I suspected so I'd go with a Yusho even if (for some impossible reason) it had meant no promotion for him.

[Jakusotsu 6,010]

2 hours ago, Uk.sumo.fan said:

If tochinoshin could have won the tournament OR been promoted to ozeki what do you think the would have chosen? Which is a more considerable feat overall?

Becoming Ozeki trumps winning a yusho any time. There have been several odd yusho winners before, but even Kotonishiki who did it twice will always be remembered as former Sekiwake. Do you really think Takayasu would trade away his rank for a yusho?

[Eikokurai 3,437]

17 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

Becoming Ozeki trumps winning a yusho any time. There have been several odd yusho winners before, but even Kotonishiki who did it twice will always be remembered as former Sekiwake. Do you really think Takayasu would trade away his rank for a yusho?

Though at least Kotonishiki is in the history books as the only man to win two hiramaku yusho. I’d take that over making Ozeki and never winning a championship ... probably.

[mbovo 244]

A bit of a pointless argument, if someone manages to win two Yusho in 3 tries it means he's more than capable of making it to at least Ozeki, if he stays relatively injury-free.

Edited May 28, 2018 by mbovo

[Bumble 0]

My favorite basho in ages (that's why I came to write). I'm always stunned to see Hakuho on the receiving end of a uwatenage, as I always thought this was his trademark move. He was really out-powered by Ichinojo.

By the way, if I entered my query correctly, he just took the lead in career uwatenage wins : 172 and counting, leaving Chiyonofuji at 171.
(Chiyonofuji still beats him in percentage of uwatenage wins, 18% to 15%)

[Gurowake 4,092]

1 hour ago, Bumble said:

By the way, if I entered my query correctly, he just took the lead in career uwatenage wins : 172 and counting, leaving Chiyonofuji at 171.
(Chiyonofuji still beats him in percentage of uwatenage wins, 18% to 15%)

 Kizenryu probably has the % uwatenage record.  It's generally hovering around 50% - slightly lower right now, but not by much. http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi_kim.aspx?r=9077