March basho 2021

[orandashoho 720]

" I'm flabbergasted how much use he's getting out of his no-knees knees now! "

I'm sure no small part of that can be credited to ex-Aminishiki's expertise in how to stay in the top division with bad knees. 

[Dapeng 233]

2 hours ago, Highway said:

While of Takakeisho pulls out two wins tomorrow

He needs to win three times to yusho

[Kaito 276]

1 hour ago, Amamaniac said:

Interestingly, they have both already met on the first day of this tournament, and ... Takagenji was the winner by oshidashi.  I'm not convinced that lightning will strike twice if they do end up in a playoff, which is to say Hakuyozan is looking strong. 

Minor correction - Hakuyozan won their day 1 match.

[Kotomiyama 165]

It's terrible to watch Takayasu crumbling like this. A stark reminder of the sheer mental strength needed to win a tournament. 

[dada78641 884]

It's so great to see Terunofuji doing well. I actually remember mourning his career when he was in his downward spiral, angry over the fact they kept making him fight prematurely. Now he's fighting like a good ozeki, and maybe even a yokozuna. In that match against Asanoyama it was great to see him persevere, keep his balance and not overcommit or allow counterplay.

edit: by the way, anyone notice that cool fisheye lens angle shot?

Edited March 28, 2021 by dada78641

[Katooshu 3,181]

Either a Terunofuji yusho straight away, or a 3-man playoff. Looking forward to it!

Terunofuji is 0-3 in top division playoffs, so they aren't a strong point...

 

Also the possibility of a big juryo playoff 

Edited March 27, 2021 by Katooshu

[Gurowake 4,016]

47 minutes ago, Kotomiyama said:

It's terrible to watch Takayasu crumbling like this. A stark reminder of the sheer mental strength needed to win a tournament. 

Which is why last time I was so relieved to see Daieisho manage to bring it home against his weaker opponents.  What's happening to Takayasu seems to happen a great deal of the time when someone manages to start strong against competition that's supposedly harder, but in Takayasu's case, it's someone who used to be an Ozeki, and at a time when there's no Yokozuna to set the pace, so one would expect even more that his strong start would turn into the yusho compared to the case of, say, Okinoumi in Aki 2016: 7-1 on Day 8 at M1e, 2 kinboshi, 3 ginboshi, proceeded to lose to all the lower sanyaku and another maegashira to finish 9-6, though KK with 2 kinboshi against Yokozuna who managed double digits got him a Shukun-sho.  That was Goeido's zensho yusho basho, who was the week 1 loss, so Okinoumi was never in the lead in week 2, and thus his strong start didn't last long enough to make him an actual yusho contender, but an Ozeki-quality rikishi with that kind of strong start you'd be more likely to expect to finish it off compared to a two-time Sekiwake.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Gurowake

[WAKATAKE 2,644]

32 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

Either a Terunofuji yusho straight away, or a 3-man playoff. Looking forward to it!

Terunofuji is 0-3 in top division playoffs, so they aren't a strong point...

If the tadpole mark II beats Kaiju tomorrow, the latter will officially enter the top 10 list for most playoff participation’s. If Kaiju were to not win the playoff, he would be the only winless entry in the top 10, something definitely not to be proud of

[Tiger Tanaka 222]

When is the last time a yusho winner in the sekitori ranks won with an absence? GANBATTE URA!!!!

[Ripe 70]

14 minutes ago, Tiger Tanaka said:

When is the last time a yusho winner in the sekitori ranks won with an absence? GANBATTE URA!!!!

Kyushu 1973.

Wajima won by score of 12-2-1. But he missed the final two days after securing his Yusho on Day 13...

Edited March 28, 2021 by Ripe

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,261]

Takayasu was back to protecting one side of his body like he did some basho back. I'm wondering if he reinjured something before the tobizaru match.

[Katooshu 3,181]

I am fairly high on Hoshoryu, but let me play devil's advocate for a moment, as I do find there's a tendency to rave about his wins but then ignore his losses as if they never happened, leading to him being slightly overrated at the moment.

-A boring yorikiri win is worth as much as a nifty uchigake; and if you score an amazing win but then take a bland loss you are still only 1-1

-He only has 1 double digit win tournament (10-5) in his 8 basho as a sekitori

-6 of his 8 completed sekitori basho ended with only 7 or 8 wins

-For all the comparisons to Unc', Asa made it to sanyaku faster than Hosh even made it out of juryo, and was already an ozeki 3 years into his career

-The amount of rikishi with comparable results is far far greater than the amount of rikishi who reach the highest ranks in sumo. 

As I said, I do rate him and expect a bright future,  but in my time following sumo I don't recall such an overwhelming amount of praise for someone with comparable results - I think even if he tied his shoes we'd still hear about how technically brilliant he managed to knot the laces. If he had no known relationship to Asashoryu, I wonder if he would have garnered such an outpouring of enthusiasm.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Katooshu

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,261]

7 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

I am fairly high on Hoshoryu, but let me play devil's advocate for a moment.

-A boring yorikiri win is worth as much as a nifty uchigake

-He only has 1 double digit win tournament (10-5) in his 8 basho as a sekitori

-5 of his 7 completed sekitori basho ended with only 7 or 8 wins; it will be 6 out of 8 if he loses to Hidenoumoi

-For all the comparisons to Unc', Asa made it from maezumo to sanyaku faster than Hosh even made it to juryo

The amount of rikishi with comparable results to him is far far greater than the amount of rikishi who reach the highest ranks in sumo. 

And yet he moves (up the banzuke)

[Katooshu 3,181]

Of course, as many have before him without getting a fraction of the lavish praise. He is moving up the ranks, that isn't being denied.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Katooshu

[Asashosakari 18,968]

34 minutes ago, Ripe said:

43 minutes ago, Tiger Tanaka said:

When is the last time a yusho winner in the sekitori ranks won with an absence? GANBATTE URA!!!!

Kyushu 1973.

Wajima won by score of 12-2-1. But he missed the final two days after securing his Yusho on Day 13...

Chiyonofuji actually in Haru 1989.

[jsolo 106]

https://jbssumo.blogspot.com/2021/03/grand-sumo-results-with-relevant-links.html

Blog post updated through Day 14. Links to results, match articles, photos and 276 FULL MATCH VIDEOS (latest NHK match videos should be up in a by midnight US Central Daylight time. Link to Chis Sumo video that deconstructs the 3 big matches, among others. Kimarite statistics, match time statistics (total cumulative fighting time went over 50 minutes today. Don't know if that's long, but it's the longest I have seen in short time I have been following. Kach-koshi/Make-koshe lists, lists of Darwin Matches and other K-k matches on Day 15. Top Rank performance and Yusho race snapshot from beginning to end, Juryo Substitute performance.

Fun fact that I found out in preparing today's synopsis. In the last two years 4 Ms have won Yusho. In the 16 1/6 years before that  4 Ms won Yusho. 

Enjoy

https://jbssumo.blogspot.com/2021/03/grand-sumo-results-with-relevant-links.html

[Kaito 276]

2 hours ago, Katooshu said:

-For all the comparisons to Unc', Asa made it to sanyaku faster than Hosh even made it out of juryo,

I thought this was interesting and went to fact-check it. It's not quite true. It's almost true if you go by age, rather than number of tournaments (Hoshoryu was ~4 months older upon entry).

If comparing number of basho, Asashoryu didn't even get out of Juryo before Hoshoryu got in. If Hoshoryu had had the banzuke luck to reach Juryo with a 4-3 from Ms4w, he would have beaten his uncle in.

[Katooshu 3,181]

15 minutes ago, Kaito said:

I thought this was interesting and went to fact-check it. It's not quite true. It's almost true if you go by age, rather than number of tournaments (Hoshoryu was ~4 months older upon entry).

If comparing number of basho, Asashoryu didn't even get out of Juryo before Hoshoryu got in. If Hoshoryu had had the banzuke luck to reach Juryo with a 4-3 from Ms4w, he would have beaten his uncle in.

What's not quite true? Hoshoryu's 14th tournament was in juryo, Asa's was as a komusubi (and Asa KK'd).

Therefore, Asa reached sanyaku faster than Hosh made it out of juryo.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Katooshu

[Kaito 276]

3 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

What's not quite true? Hoshoryu's 14th tournament was in juryo, Asa's was as a komusubi.

Ah, I apologize. I think I read your statement as saying Asa had reached sanyaku faster than Hoshoryu reached Juryo.

[Kaninoyama 1,712]

2 hours ago, Katooshu said:

Of course, as many have before him without getting a fraction of the lavish praise. He is moving up the ranks, that isn't being denied.

Beyond his bloodline, I think the source of the praise is a combination of his age (he's still very young), his size (he's not yet close to filling out), his competitiveness (he has that WIM (Want it More) quality), and perhaps most of all, his clear technical prowess (already perhaps the most technically proficient grappler in the ranks other than Hakuho). 

All these factors suggest that he's not yet come close to scratching his potential.

Of course, only time will whether he becomes the next Asashoryu or the next Endo. 

Edited March 28, 2021 by Kaninoyama

[Jabbamaru 166]

I dreamed last night with two giant tits smashing godzilla in tokio. Aoiyama yusho.

 

[WAKATAKE 2,644]

Sansho is announced

Shukun sho - Terunofuji

Kanto-Sho - Takayasu, Meisei, Aoiyama (all conditional)

Gino sho - Wakatakakage

[Katooshu 3,181]

Dang it! Hakuyozan beats Chiyomaru to take the yusho and prevent a 4-5 man juryo playoff.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Katooshu

[Kaninoyama 1,712]

You cannot stop the Iwasaki brothers (Hidenoumi/Tobizaru). 

You can only try to contain them. 

[Asojima 2,873]

18 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said:

You cannot stop the Iwasaki brothers (Hidenoumi/Tobizaru). 

You can only try to contain them. 

Hidenoumi has been contained in Juryo for the last 6+ years.