Haru 2022 Discussion Thread (SPOILERS!)

[Morty 1,486]

1 hour ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

While we're on kimarite I didn't see Mitakeumi employing a pull for his hikiotoshi against Onosho. Looked more like what Kintamayama would call "slippiotoshi".

In the slow motion replay you can see he slaps down at Onosho's arms and just grazes one. But if you blinked you would miss it.

[Amamaniac 2,079]

While Okinoumi seems to be losing steam up in the Top Division, Kitanowaka is destined to be Hakkaku Stable's top dog in the near future (1-2 years).

Today was the first time that the recent Juryo inductee faced the twisting Prince from Miyagi Stable, Enho.  Enho has been in the salaried ranks for 21 straight tournaments (vs Kitanowaka's two tournaments).  Sumo fans were eager to see how this future star and current co-leader in Juryo's championship race would fare against the feisty little man.

The false starts at the beginning were very awkward, dare I say Kitanowaka's fault?  (There is always the question of strategic mattas, but I will give Kitanowaka the benefit of the doubt.).  Once the two men locked in battle, Kitanowaka did everything right making Enho pay for grabbing his belt with a arm-bar throw.

If today's bout wasn't must-see Juryo action, tomorrow's matchup between Kitanowaka and Ryuden most definitely is!

Edited March 19, 2022 by Amamaniac

[lackmaker 434]

16 hours ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

So was the Green Knight, Hulk, Swamp Thing, Green Lantern etc.

What? No Green Arrow.

[Seiyashi 4,074]

3 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

4 hours ago, Jakusotsu said:

That didn't look really okuri to me, not even by half.

He was behind him when he picked him up, with arm reaching around.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jsasumo/status/1505101062528995332

Funnily enough it didn't look like otoshi to me either, but a review of the replay does show Daieisho getting airborne and slammed, indeed. It's definitely a lot more subtle than Ama-Goeido, that's for sure.

[Thorbjarn 214]

Mitakeumi looks very solid, Takakeisho will be very happy once he collected his 8th. He looks enough like Takakeisho. 

Win or loss, Shodai looks like he has no swagger to him all basho. I feel for the guy and I would love to see him somehow pull six out of eight W's out of a proverbial hat, but I'd eat an actual one if it was to happen. That's right, we hadn't had a hat bet in a while. That said, not much of a bet. 

Basho is wide open, the young(er) lions chasing Takayasu, who is always prone to totally losing the grasp of everything that's making him perform great somewhere down the line. This will probably be another 13-2 Yusho. 

[Eikokurai 3,437]

53 minutes ago, Thorbjarn said:

This will probably be another 13-2 Yusho. 

I can easily see it being a 12-3 given only one guy remains perfect with 8 days still to go. 

 

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

Funnily enough it didn't look like otoshi to me either, but a review of the replay does show Daieisho getting airborne and slammed, indeed. It's definitely a lot more subtle than Ama-Goeido, that's for sure.

The airborne was clear to me which is why I first thought okuritsuridashi. It was the fact Daieisho landed on his butt and not his feet that made it an -otoshi.

[Tigerboy1966 1,429]

So when do we think Takayasu will start being matched against sanyaku opponents. He's a proven top class performer and with Terunofuji out of the way there will be some gaps in the schedule.

[Yamanashi 3,800]

2 hours ago, Thorbjarn said:

I'd eat an actual one if it was to happen. That's right, we hadn't had a hat bet in a while.

https://www.mykitchenescapades.com/candy-filled-mcgonagall-hats/

 

[Iwayama 25]

10 hours ago, Katooshu said:

7-0 Kitanowaka 

That throw on Enho was so crisp!

[Benevolance 2,484]

A 13-2 yusho would be out of Takayasu's reach, so let's hope the 12-3 can do it. 

[Amamaniac 2,079]

1 hour ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

So when do we think Takayasu will start being matched against sanyaku opponents.

Apparently not tomorrow!  (v. lower-ranked Wakamotoharu, i.e., 9w)

I was thinking about the same question. and the fact that Takayasu is being left to his own devices this long suggests to me that the powers that be are fine with having him lead the pack for the time being.  But soon enough, they will have to give him some serious opponents.  There are two options:

1) start with a higher-ranked Maegashira opponent with a good record, like Endo or Kiribayama.

2) go straight to a non-Ozeki sayaku opponent.  They might start with Takanosho, but that would probably end up being a waste of time.

My guess is that they are saving Mitakeumi for a possible (Day 14 or) Day 15 winner-takes-all showdown if it comes to that.

I'm going with Endo on Day 9, Kiribayama on Day 10, and Hoshoryu on Day 11.  

Answer: Day 11

Edited March 19, 2022 by Amamaniac

[Koorifuu 928]

Classic Nihonyanagi.

[Yubinhaad 11,615]

Hochi noted that Day 6 of the 2000 Kyushu basho saw a clean sweep for the west side in Juryo, 12-0.

Veteran Dairaido still waits for his first win against the Sakamoto family, losing twice to Tokitsuumi and today against his son Kiryuko.

[Amamaniac 2,079]

6 hours ago, Morty said:

In the slow motion replay you can see he slaps down at Onosho's arms and just grazes one. But if you blinked you would miss it.

The neat thing about it was it seemed to take Onosho 2 full seconds to register that that graze had knocked him off balance!  Talk about fine margins!

[Kintamayama 44,886]

Let’s not get excited about my man Shoudai the next Yokozuna’s win today. Both of his wins so far came against rikishi with bad records against him . Meisei was 2-8 against him before their bout. Ounoshou was 5-7 before their bout. The only one who beat him and that had a bad record against him (4-8) was Takanoshou. All the others he lost to had beaten him more times than they lost to him. So today he looked great against Meisei, but he owns him so no big deal. Tomorrow he has Kiribayama (6-1 against him) so he should win easily. If not, you can disregard my theory altogether and return to what you were doing.

[Seiyashi 4,074]

2 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

Let’s not get excited about my man Shoudai the next Yokozuna’s win today. Both of his wins so far came against rikishi with bad records against him . Meisei was 2-8 against him before their bout. Ounoshou was 5-7 before their bout. The only one who beat him and that had a bad record against him (4-8) was Takanoshou. All the others he lost to had beaten him more times than they lost to him. So today he looked great against Meisei, but he owns him so no big deal. Tomorrow he has Kiribayama (6-1 against him) so he should win easily. If not, you can disregard my theory altogether and return to what you were doing.

The above makes me wonder who is the worst rikishi in makuuchi in terms of H2H against everyone else. Mathematically it should always be an elevator rikishi, but I'm not surprised if the answer surprises me (depending on whether you average percentages or absolutes as well, because of things like the Kotoshogiku-Hakuho H2H).

[jsolo 106]

2022 MARCH (HARU) SUMO BASHO LINKS AND STATISTICS BLOG--DAY 7, MARCH 19, COMPLETE

Links to NHK videos of Yokozuna and all Ozeki matches (with a bit more of the pre-match stuff than before), photos from nikkansports, results, match articles from Kyodo News, Tachiai.org, and nikkan sports, Kimarite and time statistics, Top rank performance, maegashira v san-yaku, and more.

I have added a link to daily Mainichi Shimbun Photo Essays to my photos section. Have also added JSA Twitter Link for photos. Haven't been able to find an all photo source in some of the sources that are used in the beautiful photo source on this board, wish the sources were as organized as the poster. But I will keep looking. Also have provided a link to the last Makuuchi Kimarite that Wakatakage used yesterday (Harumafuji v Goido in 2007). I know you can find it easily enough by yourself, but juxtaposing the two together will hopefully increase the fun !

Enjoy

[Katooshu 3,182]

Juryo race with several strong competitors. Ryuden leads the way at 8-0, Oho, Kitanowaka, and Midorifuji all at 7-1. Will be tough to pass Ryuden though....

Edited March 20, 2022 by Katooshu

[Eikokurai 3,437]

13 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

The above makes me wonder who is the worst rikishi in makuuchi in terms of H2H against everyone else. Mathematically it should always be an elevator rikishi, but I'm not surprised if the answer surprises me (depending on whether you average percentages or absolutes as well, because of things like the Kotoshogiku-Hakuho H2H).

Do you mean one rikishi's record against everyone? i.e. the rikishi with the most losing records against other rikishi?

You mentioning Giku and Hakuho reminds me of Aoiyama's record against the GOAT: 0 actual wins, 23 losses, one fusen win

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query_bout.aspx?show_form=0&shikona1=Aoiyama&shikona2=Hakuho

Repeating that matchup was almost match-fixing by the schedulers. Total waste of time. Aoiyama just turned up to lose and I don't ever remember him getting close to an upset. He knew his role.

[Kaninoyama 1,731]

Takayasu looking like his former Ozeki self, both in bodyweight and in form. 8-0!

His heya's forced COVID kyujo last basho seems to have healed and rejuvenated him. 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Kaninoyama

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Takayasu stays perfect after what I feel was his longest bout this basho. That's one thing to note actually - he's been winning relatively quickly this tournament, whereas he usually has marathons. This should fare him well next week.

Edit: Day 4 against Kotonowaka went on 53 seconds, but otherwise all others have been under 20 seconds, which is quick for Takayasu.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Eikokurai

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Nice little tussle between Tobizaru and Hokutofuji. Torinaoshi?

Yes, a redo. Only fair.

Rematch wasn't bad either. Hokutofuji gets the win. 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Eikokurai

[Tigerboy1966 1,429]

Oh, I don't know... by my count WMH got his favoured inside left grip on five separate occasions and then released it. Takayasu has been somewhat fortunate in that most of his opponents have not produced their best sumo.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Tigerboy1966
phrasing

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Kotonowaka marches on with ease. Strange to remember he's actually fighting from a higher rank than Takayasu as I think him winning the yusho would be the bigger upset.

Wakatakakage stays in the chasing pack with a win over Ura, who has the mirror record of 1-7.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Eikokurai

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Shodai seems to be waking up from his early slumber, but too late to save himself? He was expected to beat Kiribayama, but I sensed a bit more fire in him today.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Eikokurai