Aki Basho 2021 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers!)

[Benihana 1,901]

Well, bummer. Would have been too nice to be true.

[Thorbjarn 214]

Yeah, Miyogiryu faltered there, too bad, but props to Meisei, as mentioned. Terunofuji relieved from the pressure of a yokozuna-fate akin to that of Wakanohana in his very first Basho is a good thing. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Thorbjarn

[code_number3 694]

Terunofuji be like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Rocks 1,807]

I really wanted Meisei to lose there.

[lackmaker 431]

Good analysis by Murray pre bout.

[code_number3 694]

Is takakeisho still injured. He was easily defeated by mitakeumi

[code_number3 694]

And now, the dead rubber

[Eikokurai 3,433]

What happened there? That was a non-bout. I thought it must have been a matta or something and that's why Takakeisho stopped resisting.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Eikokurai

[Rocks 1,807]

1 minute ago, Eikokurai said:

What happened there? That was a non-bout. I thought it must have been a matta or something and that's why Takakeisho stopped resisting.

Neither gave a crap. Takakeisho just cared less.

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

2 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

What happened there? That was a non-bout. I thought it must have been a matta so Takakeisho stopped resisting.

Takakeisho got what he came for on day 12. He wasn't going to take any chances once he got KK.

[Eikokurai 3,433]

Well, congrats to Terunofuji on managing that rare accomplishment of winning a yusho in your Yokozuna debut, and equalling Kisenosato's performance in his (13-2), but that wasn't a basho for the history books. We had about two days with a bit of tension and uncertainty. Let's hope November brings more life.

[Katooshu 3,132]

I found the last day kinda sucky to be honest. Wish they'd just made Teru-Myogiryu!

Anyway, congrats Teru, glad he won after doing so well but missing out last tournament.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Katooshu

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

As a Meisei fan I was expecting a 7-8 or a 6-9 if Hakuho showed up, so I am well pleased. He isn't quite skilled enough to compensate for his lack of bulk at this level, but he does everything right and has done nothing but improve.

[Thorbjarn 214]

I agree that it never really felt as if it wasn't Terunofuji's Yusho because of the lack of Form of credible contenders, but I was really entertained by a lot of the bouts and the techniques I saw this tournament. I hope Takakeisho can heal up properly and be his old self again, maybe push Terunofuji here and there.

Terunofuji does not seem as unbeatable as Hakuho does/did imo, when there are no real rivals, but he definitely is the strongest Rikishi without Hak around. 

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

Dominant yokozuna; exciting finish. Pick one.

[Katooshu 3,132]

Exciting finish

[Eikokurai 3,433]

1 minute ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Dominant yokozuna; exciting finish. Pick one.

Ignoring that we can actually have both, if forced to choose, I'll take unpredictability any day of the week.

[Rocks 1,807]

5 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Dominant yokozuna; exciting finish. Pick one.

As a sumo game player I will take the former. As as fan, the latter. 

[Akinomaki 39,755]

1 minute ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Dominant yokozuna; exciting finish. Pick one.

A new dominant yokozuna. Not like Kisenosato, I think he'll add a few more before he retires, in maybe four years, as my estimate. He has learned to use his battered body well. With that, even Waka can predict the yusho winner correctly.

No Japanese dominant yokozuna in sight, not even on the banzuke yet, I'd say. If the kyokai keeps sending their best hopes down to makushita, they will have to wait till the next ice age for a new yokozuna. The present crop barely hangs on to ozeki.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

12 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

14 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Dominant yokozuna; exciting finish. Pick one.

Ignoring that we can actually have both, if forced to choose, I'll take unpredictability any day of the week.

Yeah, if the two ozeki despite a bad start had kept the pedal to the metal after their KK, there would still have been excitement coming into senshuraku. You don't necessarily need someone else to contend with the yokozuna, just the hope that they can, and both ozeki quite happily put paid to any of those hopes as soon as they turned up, urgh.

Finally Kiribayama gets his tsuridashi. That's one thing off his sumo bucket list.

[since_94 650]

Well that was sure an exciting tournament. Not.

All those playoffs in the lower divisions. Oh, wait...there were none.

The one contender for the Emperor's Cup, Miyogiryu, falling down on senshuraku, thereby eliminating the playoff possibility. 

I watched every day, all day in many cases (while multitasking, work from home).

I prefer any sumo to no sumo, but still calling this a huge yawn fest with the exception of some scattered bouts, especially by Ura and Hoshoryu.

Overall, anticlimax meter is redlining.

Cue the Green Day, "Wake Me Up when September Ends"

[Tigerboy1966 1,376]

You know, I've been following Terunofuji since 2014 but it took until today to notice that I've been mispronouncing his name. That "F" in the middle isn't the same as an English "F" is it.

[Thorbjarn 214]

I agree that Terunofuji will add more Yusho before intai, but I don't think he will be dominant.

The assessment about the Ozeki is partially unfair. Takakeisho looked in July as if he might have been temporarily paralyzed tbh, he had an awful start where he looked nothing like his usual self and then pulled it back. Today was bad, but other than that I wouldn't say he didn't put effort in his bouts. He had some really good performances when not injured. 

Shodai might have a lower glas ceiling than some thought after that string of good performances that got him to Ozeki. I'm still amazed that he is at the second highest rank tbh. It wasn't that he was a constant quality performer at sanyaku, he was jojo-ying around the joi mostly, than dropped huge, than had said string of good results. 

[Seiyashi 4,071]

3 minutes ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

You know, I've been following Terunofuji since 2014 but it took until today to notice that I've been mispronouncing his name. That "F" in the middle isn't the same as an English "F" is it.

Please don't tell me you were pronouncing it to rhyme with how Susan Calman pronounces bhaji.

[Eikokurai 3,433]

11 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

Yeah, if the two ozeki despite a bad start had kept the pedal to the metal after their KK, there would still have been excitement coming into senshuraku. You don't necessarily need someone else to contend with the yokozuna, just the hope that they can, and both ozeki quite happily put paid to any of those hopes as soon as they turned up, urgh.

Finally Kiribayama gets his tsuridashi. That's one thing off his sumo bucket list.

There'd have been excitement if Myogiryu would have won too. All it really takes is to have two guys in the race until the absolute end. Today's last two bouts were the deadest and most rubbery dead rubbers I've seen in many years.