Nagoya Basho 2021

[hakutorizakura 602]

With those mattas I was expecting Hakuho to dameoshi Ichi like in the olden days. Didn't happen 

[Barutokai 64]

2 hours ago, Seregost said:

Am I the only one seeing a blatant hairpull from Hakuho to Takanosho on day 4? Not at the end, more like in the middle or the beggining of the bout... when he's just pulling and going to the side. For me is quite clear 

Maybe because it's not bout-deciding? He let go then before the kachi(win)

[Gurowake 4,008]

13 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Endo's withdrawal may have thrown a bit of a spanner in the works here though. That puts Hoshoryu just in reach of the schedulers to put him against sanyaku opposition, barring those Endo have already fought. To be fair though, that only exposes him to Shodai and the lower sanyaku, since Endo has already fought Terunofuji and Hakuho. I don't see him necessarily beating Wakatakakage or Takayasu, but Shodai, Mitakeumi and Meisei are fair game.

The only sanyaku still in the tournament that Endo didn't get matched against are the Komusubi, and Meisei is not fair game for Hoshoryu since they're in the same stable.  Hoshoryu will get a larger selection of maegashira joi rikishi now than with Endo in the tournament, but he's not currently on tap for any sanyaku other than Wakatakakage, and by the end of the tournament they might not have similar enough records to get paired, as the last couple Komusubi-maegashira matches tend to be based more on record than rank.  It's possible that they'll skip some underperforming maegashira ahead of him in rank for the Sekiwake and higher if he has a really good record, but I wouldn't necessarily expect it to happen.  Also keep in mind that Takayasu is short two matches this tournament, putting his highest ranked opponent needed only Kotoeko, plus he's in the top 4 remaining rikishi on the banzuke so his last 3 days are spoken for, and it's less likely to be skipping maegashira earlier in the tournament.

Edited July 8, 2021 by Gurowake

[Sue 492]

5 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

I don't think anything got us ready for this- tomorrow, the showdown we've all been waiting for down in Sandanme- 8E Shuuji against 12E Shouji, both 0-2! I'm already sweating in anticipation.

I'm still heartbroken that Ura didn't get a match against Omote during his trip to the lower ranks.

[Yamanashi 3,771]

7 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

tomorrow, the showdown we've all been waiting for down in Sandanme- 8E Shuuji against 12E Shouji,

Just wait until next month: 

Cake Delivery Girl: "Happy Birthday dear Shouji, Happ-y Birth-day To Youuuuu!"

"I'm Shuuji, you want Shouji -- he's at Musashigawabeya ... Edogawa"

[Ichimawashi 573]

One for the database query masters:

Has any rikishi ever fought the first bout of the tournament .... and then not been scheduled again until Day 6?

I think they are trying to make our hero Shonanzakura look (relatively) good by scheduling more of his matches for the final days of the basho, so that for the first week and a half he is 0-1 while others are 0-2, then 0-2 while others are 0-3, forcing a final heroic streak of double-digit-day futility to end up where he usually does.  I'm guessing it will take until Day 10 to get to 0-4, leaving open the possibility of another 0-8 if there is a volunteer from the Banzuke-gai sickbay that the sumo equivalent of Dr. McCoy deems ready to face the walking wounded welcomer.

EDIT: Looks like the next loss will be his 100th consecutive loss since the last accident....

Edited July 9, 2021 by Ichimawashi

[Jakusotsu 5,866]

9 minutes ago, Ichimawashi said:

One for the database query masters:
...

Perfect case of "better read before asking":
http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/topic/34111-trivia-bits/?do=findComment&comment=445758

 

[Ichimawashi 573]

7 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

Perfect case of "better read before asking":
http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/topic/34111-trivia-bits/?do=findComment&comment=445758

 

I'm guessing from those high Jonokuchi numbers on that list that many of those guys might have led off the tournament on day 1.

[Asashosakari 18,954]

2 minutes ago, Ichimawashi said:

I'm guessing from those high Jonokuchi numbers on that list that many of those guys might have led off the tournament on day 1.

An alternative to guessing would be clicking the links to their respective basho records that were helpfully included in the table.

[Tigerboy1966 1,408]

Hakuyozan looks to have picked up a nasty leg injury in his defeat by Yutakayama. Rotten luck as he was well on the way to promotion but it now looks as though he will stuck for another basho in that small group of juryo champions who never made it to maku'uchi.

[I am the Yokozuna 188]

Would Abi be able to clinch a juryo yusho with a 15-0 record? Zensho is very rare in juryo, so I hope Abi does it. The last one who has done it was Tochinoshin, I believe. 

[Ichimawashi 573]

Ross Mihara falls for the verbal henka, spoonerisming the second and fourth words in the comment "he hits and shifts" before quickly correcting himself like nothing happened...

[Jakusotsu 5,866]

19 minutes ago, I am the Yokozuna said:

Would Abi be able to clinch a juryo yusho with a 15-0 record? Zensho is very rare in juryo, so I hope Abi does it

I hope so, too. Just to deny him yet another yusho in Aki.

[since_94 650]

That shitatenage by Tobizaru to throw Okinoumi at the bales was absolutely magical. Skilled  move right there.

[Kaninoyama 1,711]

Usually not one to grumble about the quality of bashos, but this one is shaping up to be a snoozer. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Kaninoyama

[Jakusotsu 5,866]

1 minute ago, Kaninoyama said:

Usually not one to grouse about the quality of bashos, but this one is shaping up to be a snoozer. 

Whatever that's supposed to mean...

[Seiyashi 4,072]

1 minute ago, Kaninoyama said:

Usually not one to grouse about the quality of bashos, but this one is shaping up to be a snoozer. 

If that's your reaction to the changing of the guard, I can't imagine what it looked like during the nadir of the ozeki corps when Hakuho was strolling to every yusho 

[Kaninoyama 1,711]

4 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

If that's your reaction to the changing of the guard, I can't imagine what it looked like during the nadir of the ozeki corps when Hakuho was strolling to every yusho 

I'm fine with the changing of the guard, but most of who were supposed to be part of the new guard (Asanoyama, Takakeisho) are absent, Terunofuji's ascent to Yokozuna appears inevitable (good for him), the basho has quickly become a two-horse race, and there is a general lack of drama or sub-plots. 

Of course it's early and all this could change. 

[Amamaniac 2,078]

1 hour ago, I am the Yokozuna said:

Would Abi be able to clinch a juryo yusho with a 15-0 record? Zensho is very rare in juryo, so I hope Abi does it. The last one who has done it was Tochinoshin, I believe. 

Abi is the only Juryo wrestler with a perfect record at this point.  So a 15-0 finish would definitely allow him to clinch the championship.

[bookkeeper 4]

hey guys what's the current understanding for how hair pulls are called, and have there been any changes to the rule recently (past 2 years or so)? i've been seeing a lot of comments about hair pulls this basho (maybe because of what happened with teru last basho) and wanted to know what the real score was. thanks :)

Edited July 9, 2021 by bookkeeper
wanted to clarify what i meant by "what happened to teru"

[Amamaniac 2,078]

Finally able to watch a live stream (i.e., Abema TV) and was treated to Gagamaru as the guest commentator.  He was a breathless breath of fresh air!  He is known for being talkative, not to mention fluent in Japanese.  I just found his voice to be very calming and there was never a moment of dead air time with him.

It was nice to see that he has managed to drop a significant amount of weight.  And he showed up super casual: (1) jeans, (2) short-sleeved shirt, (3) non-flashy watch, and (4) hair in a bun rather than a mage.  

Overall, he gave me a California surfer vibe!  He is such a happy and positive person.  Despite the fact that he was wearing a mask, I couldn't help but feel that the pandemic was over and that things were back to normal.  I thank him for that.

[since_94 650]

Also enjoyed Gagamaru’s commentary, but must confess I didn’t recognize him. Wasn’t paying attention when he was introduced and thought he was too slim to be Gaga. Was trying to narrow down who among ex-rikishi could speak such bangin’ Japanese, and thought it might have been Amuru.

Concur with the poster who called this one a snoozer. Watching every day, but there aren’t many bouts to get fired up about, it seems, especially with 2 Ozeki out. 
 

Match of the day was Tobizaru / Okinoumi.

 

[Kaninoyama 1,711]

14 minutes ago, Amamaniac said:

Overall, he gave me a California surfer vibe!  He is such a happy and positive person.  Despite the fact that he was wearing a mask, I couldn't help but feel that the pandemic was over and that things were back to normal.  I thank him for that.

Would have been nice to hear from Gagamaru, but unfortunately here in Japan the pandemic is still far from over. 

[Amamaniac 2,078]

4 minutes ago, since_94 said:

Also enjoyed Gagamaru’s commentary, but must confess I didn’t recognize him. Wasn’t paying attention when he was introduced and thought he was too slim to be Gaga. Was trying to narrow down who among ex-rikishi could speak such bangin’ Japanese,

My Japanese is rudimentary at best, but if I'm not mistaken, Gagamaru admitted to coming from the same hometown in Georgia as Tochinoshin, and they fought one another in a judo championship bout when they were 10 years old.  What are the odds that two youngsters who grew up together in Georgia would end up being successes in oozumo in Japan?

[since_94 650]

15 minutes ago, Amamaniac said:

My Japanese is rudimentary at best, but if I'm not mistaken, Gagamaru admitted to coming from the same hometown in Georgia as Tochinoshin, and they fought one another in a judo championship bout when they were 10 years old.  What are the odds that two youngsters who grew up together in Georgia would end up being successes in oozumo in Japan?

Peer pressure?