Natsu basho 2021

[Ichimawashi 573]

Please, tomikumi committee, do NOT schedule Oho against Chiyonoo on Day 15.  At least check to see if he can walk first.

[Kintamayama 44,350]

Just now, Tigerboy1966 said:

He looked to be moving a little better as he walked away, so lets hope it's just a minor knock. Shohozan proving he isn't ready for the Japanese equivalent of the pipe and slippers just yet.

It didn't look good on the replay..The ankle was twisted for sure. How badly is another question..

[bessantj 4]

7 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

Everyone rushed to him as per the new guidelines whereupon you don't leave the injured guy there to deal with it on his own.

That's good to hear.

[Kintamayama 44,350]

A good friend (a doctor) who some of you may know says it is surely a torn ACL for Ouhou. Ouhou said he heard a snapping sound from his knee . Friend says this is bad and a very serious injury. We'll have to wait till tomorrow I guess and hope he's somehow fine.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Kintamayama

[Thorbjarn 214]

That's heartbreaking. Hopefully he will take the right measures (aka time, mending, maybe surgery). 

I'm really happy Ura will be back in Makuuchi in July. He really deserves this. 

[bessantj 4]

1 minute ago, Thorbjarn said:

I'm really happy Ura will be back in Makuuchi in July. He really deserves this. 

Yes, I missed his first visit to the division so I'm excited to see him back there. 

Good win for Enho.

[Ichimawashi 573]

Mono-ii.  Chiyonoo.  Something about these doubled vowels induces randomness...

[bessantj 4]

Day 15 excitement in Juryo coming up!

[Kintamayama 44,350]

Ouhou, seems to be looking at his ankle:

 

Did not use the chair:

Edited May 22, 2021 by Kintamayama

[Katooshu 3,135]

Ichiyamamoto has gotten at least 9 wins in all the juryo tournaments he's completed, and seems like he may have the stuff for makuuchi. Hopefully his body stays intact  during this second sekitori run.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Katooshu

[Seiyashi 4,071]

2 hours ago, Thorbjarn said:

4 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

I don’t know why people still see beating Hakuho as the benchmark. Mindsets seem stuck in the past where he’s concerned. He may be the GOAT but he’s not the obstacle to success he used to be. Frankly, he’s just another pretty decent rikishi now. Arguably, he should be more concerned about defeating Terunofuji than the other way around based on current form.

I get your point, but this is not about what I think makes him worthy of the rope, this is what I think the people who decide about the matter might think about the situation. And I think this is how others making that point think aswell. (My head hurts after so much thinking.)

Assuming Terunofuji goes 14-1Y here, then to be crystal clear, beating Hakuho isn't required for the rope. The Akebono precedent makes it absolutely clear that beating a yokozuna isn't necessary to become a yokozuna, and we've arguably been in that similar yokozuna interregnum for a year now. Also, as Swami points out, it may well be impossible if Hakuho has really reached the end of the road and goes kyujo/intai within the first week. One senior SF member once said before (can't remember who) that you can only beat who you put in front of you; it cannot be reasonable to expect a yokozuna potentiate to beat a yokozuna who isn't even there to be fought.

That being said, beating Hakuho (or not), should the bout actually take place, is a factor that may or may not count in the promotion. Remember that the NSK has set a precedent with Takakeisho of holding off on a promotion because the sumo was bad against Goeido, even though he met the numbers by the book. And even though Asanoyama's ozeki promotion was under the numbers, his bout with Kakuryu which was closely fought and ended basically on Kakuryu's greater willingness to faceplant helped to show that he was capable of matching yokozuna and hence would be a good ozeki.

It ultimately highlights that promotions to ozeki and yokozuna are discretionary and have inbuilt wiggle room, and that the numbers help capture that desired level of performance but aren't themselves the whole story. If Terunofuji has a borderline-ish yusho like 12-3 decided by the last regulation bout, then whether or not, and maybe even how he beat/lost to Hakuho, is the fastest and most easily available indicia of whether he stacks up against the current holder of the rank and therefore whether or not he deserves the rope.

That said, as a matter of trivia, of all the yokozuna since #41 Chiyonoyama (so 32 yokozuna so far), all of them defeated at least one other yokozuna during their last ozeki basho pre-promotion, other than:

• Taiho 12-3Y (Kashiwado, promoted at the same time, fought Wakanohana, but Taiho didn't fight any yokozuna opponents in their last ozeki basho of Aki 1961)
• Kitanofuji 13-2Y (Taiho, the only yokozuna, was kyujo during that basho)
• Tamanoshima 13-2D (promoted together with Kitanofuji and hence did not fight Taiho as well)
• Kitanoumi 13-2D (lost to Wajima in both regulation and playoff to end with a 13-2D, but was still promoted)
• Asashoryu 14-1Y (promoted in Takanohana's intai basho and where Musashimaru was kyujo, so similar to Kitanofuji's promotion situation)

Of these 5, only Kitanoumi failed to defeat yokozuna in his promotion basho when he fought one; the other 4 all had no yokozuna to fight. I don't think it's a coincidence that all of these promotees include 3 ichidai-class yokozuna, 1 dai-yokozuna, and one probable dai-yokozuna had he not died early. Of course Terunofuji won't in all likelihood be in that same exalted category, but his sumo is arguably as far ahead of his peers as the sumo of these five was; if your sumo is good enough, you'll get the rope.

So even if Hakuho doesn't show up, it won't hurt Terunofuji's chances. Even if Terunofuji loses to Hakuho in both regulation and a playoff, he might still be promoted if that's otherwise his only losses and/or he's leading ahead of Hakuho all the way by 1. But Terunofuji has to lead the title chase from start to finish to make an ironclad case for himself. In fairness to him, his awareness of the potential awkwardness of Isegahama's involvement as shimpancho in his ozeki promotion means he'll also be well aware of making the ironclad case.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Katooshu 3,135]

If he wins this basho and the next, I can't see him being denied promotion, even if July is a 12-3Y with shaky performances and no Hakuho win. That would be 3 straight yusho, and of course back-to-back as an ozeki - I think that's just too much to reject.

Takakeisho only had 1 yusho, and his 13-2/12-3 were preceded by 8-4-3 and 7-8.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Katooshu

[Seiyashi 4,071]

3 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

If he wins this basho and the next, I can't see him being denied promotion, even if July is a 12-3Y with shaky performances and no Hakuho win. That would be 3 straight yusho, and of course back-to-back as an ozeki - I think that's just too much to deny.

A 12-3Y with a loss to Hakuho is going to be weird though, because it implies Hakuho did as badly which is uncharacteristic.

If it were a 12-3Y without Hakuho in the basho, then it's a bit more borderline.

[Eikokurai 3,433]

Frankly, I already consider we are in a de facto no-Yokozuna era. Hakuho has missed most or all of five basho in a row and isn’t fully present when he does enter. I obviously have no way of knowing if people in the YDC think similarly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve downgraded the significance of facing him accordingly.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

Akua's face after that tsukihiza was hilarious. "What, really?"

Meisei sends Tamawashi crashing straight into Okinoumi, in a repeat of that infamous pic a year or two ago when Tamawashi was sent flying into a shimpan in a rather suggestive position. Okinoumi's gradually escalating reaction in slow motion is hilarious.

With that gunbai sashichigae Meisei lays a viable claim to komusubi for the first time, having a KK at M2. If he wins again tomorrow we should have a pair of shin-komusubi next basho.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Seiyashi 4,071]

17 hours ago, Amamaniac said:

Tobizaru isn't called the "Flying Monkey" for nothing!  He runs off the ring whether he wins or he loses.  The rarer photo would be of him on the ring immediately after one of his bouts! 

He did that today!

[Godango 956]

Ross on NHK keeps talking about Wakatakakage being Sekiwake next tournament, is he just forgetting about Mitakeumi at K1e at kachikoshi or what?

[Godango 956]

8 minutes ago, Godango said:

Ross on NHK keeps talking about Wakatakakage being Sekiwake next tournament, is he just forgetting about Mitakeumi at K1e at kachikoshi or what?

And he has now corrected himself. 

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

30 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

With that gunbai sashichigae Meisei lays a viable claim to komusubi for the first time, having a KK at M2. If he wins again tomorrow we should have a pair of shin-komusubi next basho.

I think Meisei has it sewn up already. Takanosho can't do better than 6-9 at S1w and that's never been good enough to stay in sanyaku.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

3 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

35 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

With that gunbai sashichigae Meisei lays a viable claim to komusubi for the first time, having a KK at M2. If he wins again tomorrow we should have a pair of shin-komusubi next basho.

I think Meisei has it sewn up already. Takanosho can't do better than 6-9 at S1w and that's never been good enough to stay in sanyaku.

The trouble is a potential 12-3 from Endo at M8, which on the face of it shouldn't beat a 8-7/9-6 at M2 but the banzuke committee have made crazier moves before. That said, the more I look at it, the more I think Meisei's a lock for K1w.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Seiyashi 4,071]

5 minutes ago, Godango said:

14 minutes ago, Godango said:

Ross on NHK keeps talking about Wakatakakage being Sekiwake next tournament, is he just forgetting about Mitakeumi at K1e at kachikoshi or what?

And he has now corrected himself. 

Hypothetically, if Mitakeumi had stalled at 8-7 K1e and WTK had gone 10-5 at M1e, you could argue that there's a case for WTK to leapfrog Mitakeumi for sekiwake. But obviously that's no longer the case and Mitakeumi should take back his sekiwake slot. If WTK continues to do well and Takayasu manages to pull 11 this basho and 12 next basho to repromote, then WTK might even be looking at a sekiwake slot one basho later.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Seiyashi

[Benihana 1,901]

4 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

6-9 at S1w and that's never been good enough to stay in sanyaku.

Objection.

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&form1_rank=s&form1_wins=6&form1_losses=9&form2_rank=k

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

2 minutes ago, Benihana said:

7 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

6-9 at S1w and that's never been good enough to stay in sanyaku.

Objection.

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&form1_rank=s&form1_wins=6&form1_losses=9&form2_rank=k

Objection overruled. I said S1W.

[Benihana 1,901]

1 minute ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Objection overruled. I said S1W.

Bah. Nitpicking. 

[Seiyashi 4,071]

Pity about Hoshoryu's MK, but Takayasu looking solid on the way back to ozeki in the second of a hopefully three-basho series. Araiso (guest commentator on NHK) sounds surprisingly relieved at his win.