29th National Middle School Student Championships (2018-08-05)

[mikawa 1,794]

There are 2 national tournaments every year for those in middle school / junior high school - this tournament, and the Middle School Championships coming up later this month. The former is always held at the Kokugikan Stadium, while the latter rotates around the prefectures.

Open Weight Competition

Winner - Nishika Haruto (西加 陽斗), Kagoshima

Runner-Up - Kawazoe Fuma (川副 楓馬), Kumamoto

Semi-Finals - Takeda Shoichiro (竹田 章一郎), Tochigi
Semi-Finals - Tebakari Taiki (手計 太希), Saitama

Quarter-Finals - Ochiai Tetsuya (落合 哲也), Tottori
Quarter-Finals - ??? (??? ???), Kagawa
Quarter-Finals - ??? (??? ???), Ishikawa
Quarter-Finals - Arutangereru Sosorufu (アルタンゲレル ソソルフー), Tottori

 

Lightweight Competition

Winner - Inoue Goshi (井ノ上 豪志), Wakayama

Runner-Up - Yonaha Daichi (與那覇 大地), Okinawa

Semi-Finals - Ito Takumi (伊藤 拓海), Fukuoka
Semi-Finals - Sato Riki (佐藤 理貴), Fukushima

Quarter-Finals - Sakae Haruto (栄 陽翔), Kagoshima
Quarter-Finals - Sakuraba Ryo (櫻庭 燎), Aomori
Quarter-Finals - Muraoka Kosuke (村岡 皓輔), Chiba
Quarter-Finals - Kusano Nanori (草野 音), Kumamoto

 

Team Competition

Winner - Team Tottori

Runner-Up - Team Tokyo

Semi-Finals - Team Hyogo
Semi-Finals - Team Tochigi

Quarter-Finals - Team Kochi
Quarter-Finals - Team Toyama
Quarter-Finals - Team Kagoshima
Quarter-Finals - Team Niigata

 

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold

This year's Team Kagoshima was made up of Hamaguchi Hayato, Sakae Ryusei and Nishika Haruto. All 3 of them are part of the same club, Sumiyo Sumo Club in Amami Oshima, and over the years, all 3 of them have suffered at regional and at national level to the same opponent - Kawazoe Fuma from Kumamoto.

Time and time again they went into tournaments hoping to bring the trophy home, and time and time again their hopes were dashed by Fuma, who is, I think, the best rikishi in their year group. So when Fuma survived a scare in the semi-final to set up a final with Nishika Haruto, I felt certain that Fuma was going to win. Both of them are oshi-zumo specialists, Fuma is just stronger.

From the tachiai, Fuma did indeed push Haruto back and back, but Haruto stepped aside at exactly the right time to unbalance Fuma and snatch an okuridashi from the jaws of defeat. However, Fuma is still the favourite going into the Middle School Championships, he just couldn't win this one.

Another Tebakari?

The stand-out performance today has to go to Tebakari Taiki, younger brother of Tebakari Toshiki (ie. Kototebakari). He is tall and thin, but pretty strong and very good at sumo. The way he handled the huge size of Sakae Ryusei, staying in the bout long enough to find the opportunity to execute a perfect kirikaeshi, was just amazing. He was also able to nullify all of Sosorufu's attacks in the quarter-finals, and we know how tricky the Mongolian phenom could be right?

However, Nishika Haruto proved a step too far today, so Taiki would have to be satisfied with the top 4. Interestingly though, Taiki was representing Saitama today instead of his home prefecture Chiba. That can only mean one thing - Saitama Sakae High School will be getting yet another highly talented recruit pretty soon.

Damn It!

With Ochiai Tetsuya getting a quarter-final result last year against older opponents, he really really wanted to improve on that today, but like so many times before, failed to capitalise on an advantageous situation to lose a bout that he perhaps shouldn't have lost. The way he punched the ground after that loss shows you how much he wanted it. No tournament win, but a Fighting Spirit Prize would be well deserved.

By the way, Tetsuya is the captain of Team Tottori today, and the only member of the team to actually be from Tottori. Sosorufu, as you know, is Mongolian; while Narita Rikido, the final boss from the Kinboshi Sumo Club series, migrated there from the northern prefecture of Aomori.

A Long-Awaited Yusho

Team Tottori were the favourites going into last year's tournament, with middle school rikishi of the year, Mukainakano Shingo, leading the way. However, that didn't materialise as they suffered a shock loss in the semi-finals.

This time around, they were joint favourites with Team Kagoshima (and I would have said Team Shizuoka at the start of the day), and though there were some tense moments along the way, they were able to see it through. It should be mentioned that Tetsuya is the only final year student on their team, with Sosorufu and Rikido both being a year younger. Tetsuya did what he needed to do, and the one time he lost his bout in a match, his team-mates both came through for him. A 3-0 win in the final was the icing on the cake.

Next year's tournament is likely to be a straight shootout between Team Tottori, led by Narita Rikido, and Team Shizuoka, led by Uchida Kyota. Get set for the renewal of their long time rivalry, now all grown up.

Taiyo! Ganbare!

Team Tokyo had an interesting line-up this year, with Katsushika's Takimoto Tetsuji chosen in front of Mitaka's Hanafusa Kai, due to their standings in the qualifying event. Their team captain was Ichikawa Taiyo, of Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo, so I spent the day cheering him and his team on. All 3 members of Team Tokyo truly exceeded expectations today to go all the way to the final, knocking out much fancied Team Kagoshima along the way.

Guess the Kimarite

I spent the day sitting with the other members of Tachikawa Renseikan who were there, and one of the things that we did today was playing a game of "Guess the Kimarite", basically trying to guess which kimarite the announcer was going to say after a bout. It was harder than expected, with what I thought was a sukuinage being called a tsukiotoshi, and what I thought was an utchari being called a yorikiri (probably because the utchari wasn't the finishing move). You can try it too during the next Honbasho.

[mikawa 1,794]

It seems that I can’t even get to the airport without bumping into famous faces in amateur sumo lol

In this case, taking the same Tokyo Monorail this morning, and in the same carriage, are Ochiai Tetsuya, Narita Rikido and Sosorufu, the victorious Team Tottori from yesterday.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]