Nagoya 2022

[Seiyashi 4,071]

It's nice to see Shōdai happy.

[Kaninoyama 1,694]

Shodai's morphed from a frightened kitten at the beginning of this basho to a badass come-at-me-at-your-own-peril Lion King.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Kaninoyama

[Eikokurai 3,433]

6 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said:

He's been dominant in his wins and getting stronger as the tourney goes on. Very much part of the yusho race this basho. 

Kind of strange really, that after their slow starts and fans’ early pessimism, both Ozeki who remain have ended up having half-decent basho in the end. Takakeisho is in the yusho mix and Shodai has cleared kadoban with three days to spare. Double digits for both is now perfectly possible. Wouldn’t have predicted that after day 4 when Taka was 2-2 and Shodai 1-3. Fair play for turning it around.

They face each other tomorrow though so something has to give.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Eikokurai

[robnplunder 974]

If anyone can beat Terunofuji, it's Daieisho.   

[Eikokurai 3,433]

3 minutes ago, robnplunder said:

If anyone can beat Terunofuji, it's Daieisho.   

Not this time alas. At least Ichinojo won today to keep the tie going. 

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

NHK predicts that Takakeishō's day 14 opponent will be Wakatakakage.

How bold of them!

[robnplunder 974]

1 minute ago, Eikokurai said:

Not this time alas. At least Ichinojo won today to keep the tie going. 

That was a poor showing by Daieisho, one of my favs.  Terunofuji is the one to beat, a class by himself.

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

No talk about Tsurugisho being robbed?

[Seiyashi 4,071]

1 minute ago, Jakusotsu said:

No talk about Tsurugisho being robbed?

Against Tamawashi? The mono-ii said that Tsurugisho was flying (therefore implicitly dead) by the time Tamawashi touched ground. It's close but I buy it.

[Akinomaki 39,790]

The YDC meeting scheduled for Monday is cancelled due to the surging number of Corona infections. https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2022072100852&g=spo

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Akinomaki

[Hankegami 412]

Day 12 out. My usual thoughts:

For starters, congrats to Chiyosakae back in Juryo for having secured his KK. I am glad I will see him and his ears again in chonmage oichomage and silk mawashi for Aki.

Up to the big boys, I was rather stuck by Tobizaru vs. Ichinojo. The Monkey basically behaved like he did against Hakuho back in July 2021. 'Nojo is Yokozuna-level feared here. He accordingly slapped Tobi out to remain in the lead. Tomorrow he will get Nishikigi (6-1), who got Takakeisho'd today. Chances are he will get double service tomorrow.

Anyway, as senshuraku is approaching more and more rikishi are starting playing the 'ole good "get my KK" game. Today's winners include public employee Shodai, who has just secured his paycheck mostly thanks to Aoiyama not dancing on the rope while Shodai was falling down. Bad, Boobs, bad. Another lucky guy is Myogiryu. Tomorrow we will likely have more winners. On the other hand, more MK are also coming out. A celebrity victim will come out tomorrow from the death-match Tamawashi vs. Ura (4-1), both at a 5-7 dead end. Another interesting match will be 7-5 Hoshoryu vs. 5-7 Wakamotoharu (3-1). Will the Nephew secure his KK, or the middle wakabro will fend off the fist of many attempts to MK him?

Last but not least, finally the big boys get together. Tomorrow Takakeisho vs. Shodai (11-6) will show us whether our favorite professional troll will be content with his KK or try to deny 'Keisho his remaining hopes to stay in the yusho race. Musubi no ichiban on Terunofuji vs. Wakatakakage (9-2). The younger and most successful wakabro will for sure try to save whatever he can, starting off with getting a KK as soon as possible. Basically a mission impossible with his record against Teru, but never say never.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Hankegami
bad japanese. Many thanks to Jakusotsu (see below)

[Seiyashi 4,071]

10 minutes ago, Hankegami said:

Anyway, as senshuraku is approaching more and more rikishi are starting playing the 'ole good "get my KK" game

I think either Gurowake or Jakusotsu corrected me on this last time, but rikishi scores basically form a binomial distribution. It's an inexorable statistical outcome for more than half the division to still be looking for their KK at this point. In fact, it would be abnormal for most of the division to have resolved their KK/MK at this point as that would imply a very bimodal distribution. ( @Reonito after Bruce comes back you can try and pound this point into his head again.)

Regarding the upper sanyaku bouts heading into senshūraku, see: 

Unfortunately KK-hunting Wakatakakage has the worst sumo to the eye next to all three senior sanyaku, so there's a very good chance he's going to come up short at 7-8.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Seiyashi

[Hankegami 412]

Just now, Seiyashi said:

I think either Gurowake or Jakusotsu corrected me on this last time, but rikishi scores basically form a binomial distribution. It's an inexorable statistical outcome for more than half the division to still be looking for their KK at this point. In fact, it would be abnormal for most of the division to have resolved their KK/MK at this point as that would imply a very bimodal distribution.

Unfortunately KK-hunting Wakatakakage has the worst sumo to the eye next to all three senior sanyaku, so there's a very good chance he's going to come up short at 7-8.

I know that much, of course. I was just pointing out we are already at that point of the game.

About WTK, I know that much as well. That's why I was so crossed for his loss against Aoiyama yesterday. I will take his last three days as a test to see whether he's serious in ranking up to Ozeki eventually. He must win against them first if he wants to join their exclusive club. It's time to take a first test.

[Jakusotsu 5,815]

17 minutes ago, Hankegami said:

For starters, congrats to Chiyosakae back in Juryo for having secured his KK. I am glad I will see him and his ears again in chonmage oichomage and silk mawashi for Aki.

fixed

[Leo C 52]

I attended the basho in Nagoya today, I liked the feel of the Aichi Gym for sumo. It is smaller than the Kokugikan, so even the cheapest seats kinda feel closer than anything on the 2nd floor at Ryogoku. A more intimate setting, so to speak. Very nice.

Terutsuyoshi actually went for the ashitori again, haha that was great. I always enjoy it when guys try for something fancy or entertaining instead of what actually makes sense (i.e. Akua).

Happy that Ichinojo got past Tobizaru, the basho coming down to him and Terunofuji in the end again would be fun, at least for me. The crowd didn't seem that happy with Ichi's win though.

Not from today, but Teru vs Hoshoryu yesterday was great, I wish I'd seen that one live haha. Much like Kiribayama, I like the story of Hosh inching closer and closer to beating the Yokozuna on the belt. It'd be great to have a torch passing moment in the future with these two. Let's hope.

Abi trying to henka Wakamotoharu of all people to start I didn't enjoy, but his sidestep to win I thought was alright. The crowd was a bit reluctant to start clapping probably because of the henka attempt. 

Wakatakakage's ozeki run may be over, but hopefully he gets his kachi koshi. Even if he can't get it done this time, it's fine, he's young and injury-free so far, so he can still make it in a year or two. He's been going up the banzuke at a steady pace and improving. Being a sekiwake getting consistent kachi koshi, much like Mitakeumi was for so long, is a good spot. I think he can manage to eke out one win from his remaining matches; he's beaten Takakeisho before and Shodai is still Shodai regardless of how scared of Magaki he is.

Speaking of Shodai, I was angry when he beat Ichinojo when he had the lead because I was certain he was gonna turn around and lose to the likes of Shimanoumi and whoever else is having a bad basho in classic Shodai fashion, but since he actually had a good consistent run throughout I'm happy for him. Well done.

I haven't seen the replay of Teru and Daieisho yet but, yeah, if Daieisho (or other thrusters) don't get Terunofuji straight from the tachiai it is difficult to beat the Yokozuna.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

38 minutes ago, Hankegami said:

I know that much, of course. I was just pointing out we are already at that point of the game.

About WTK, I know that much as well. That's why I was so crossed for his loss against Aoiyama yesterday. I will take his last three days as a test to see whether he's serious in ranking up to Ozeki eventually. He must win against them first if he wants to join their exclusive club. It's time to take a first test.

For most of the hiramaku rikishi hunting KK at this point, getting one doesn't actually matter that much, though. Unless they are particularly close to a divisional borderline (e.g. Ōnoshō, Ōhō), a marginal MK isn't going to screw them over that much and nothing really changes in terms of their status. I'm thinking of e.g. Nishikigi, Tochinoshi, or Kagayaki, all of which have had relatively long losing streaks yet managed to stay in makuuchi for something like a year straight.

It's those who've already secured their KK that are trying to stay relevant in the yūshō race, or those who already have their MK to try and limit the fallout (cough cough Shimanoumi).

Re Wakatakakage, the good news is that he's secured sanyaku, and even if he went 6-9 he wouldn't fall that far out of the joi. The writing was arguably on the wall at least from the start of this basho if not the last one, where he only managed 9-6 against very average opposition. Despite all the screwups of this basho, the top ranks have really pulled it together at the end, so in retrospect Wakatakakage's ōzeki run was doomed from the start and he would have to redo it anyway. That being said, with Wakamotoharu coming up the ranks steadily with excellent sumo, we might be close to the point where you see a pair of stablemates make a huge jump in performance via intense keiko, so I'd say we might get ōzeki Wakatakakage and sekiwake Wakamotoharu within a year.

[RabidJohn 1,665]

1 hour ago, Kaninoyama said:

Terutsuyoshi should just say screw it and go for the ashitori every time.

I believe he did that before the basho started. 

Top marks to Sadanoumi for the object lesson in dealing with a very predictable aite.

---

Sunday will see Terunofuji complete his 1st year as a yokozuna. He's won 3 of the 4 basho he's completed and he's in the mix for this one.
He's the man to beat for the likes of Hoshoryu and Wakatakakage if they want to advance any further; a roadblock they have to smash through. 

He's doing a really good job of it so far.

[Bakayokozuna 52]

Well we are down to 3 (Terunofuji, Takakeisho and Ichinojo) Ichinojo has the "easy" schedule but Teru is so hard to stop when hunting a yusho... we could have a play off

Well done Shodai !! I just hope that will not be followed by 7-8 aki basho...

Also Daiseizan vs Asanoyama confirmed for tomorrow, give your best shot kid

[Koorifuu 886]

Wow, those medical workshops have made an absolute difference. I couldn't have been that fast reaching out to Arauma.

[lackmaker 432]

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

think either Gurowake or Jakusotsu corrected me on this last time, but rikishi scores basically form a binomial distribution. It's an inexorable statistical outcome for more than half the division to still be looking for their KK at this point. In fact, it would be abnormal for most of the division to have resolved their KK/MK at this point as that would imply a very bimodal distribution. ( @Reonito after Bruce comes back you can try and pound this point into his head again.)

That's quite a surprise. More than half the division will have 5-7 wins at this point and still be looking for a KK. Glad someone is on top of these things.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

20 minutes ago, Koorifuu said:

Wow, those medical workshops have made an absolute difference. I couldn't have been that fast reaching out to Arauma.

Good on the NSK. What happened? 

[Koorifuu 886]

13 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

Good on the NSK. What happened? 

I'm afraid I was being as sarcastic as it gets.

Arauma got pummeled on the head multiple times and was clearly KO. Fell slowly to the dohyo, rolled down to the ground floor unprotected, stumbled up the dohyo again while tripping all over the place. Nodded to his opponent. Left the dohyo. Nobody even batted an eyelid.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Koorifuu

[Seiyashi 4,071]

1 minute ago, Koorifuu said:

I'm afraid I was being as sarcastic as it gets.

Arauma got pummeled on the head multiple times and was clearly KO. Fell slowly to the dohyo, rolled down to the ground floor unprotected, stumbled up the dohyo again while tripping all over the place. Nodded to his opponent. Left the dohyo. Nobody even batted an eye.

Oh.

Guess a few more trainings are in order, then. Sounds like they only recognise a concussion when the poor chap is just knocked out cold.

[Yokozuna Hattorizakura 151]

So it looks like they're just leaving the Kaigo v Kototaiki non bout as blank. I thought they did a double fusen in situations like this.

(This is definitely going to lead a problem in the db at some point, i just know it)

 

[Rocks 1,807]

Congrats to Shodai on his KK, It will be interesting to see if he keeps going or relaxes a bit.  Takakeisho doesn't have an off button.

Kind of surprised Daieisho didn't put up more of a fight. 

Looks like a yusho deciding bout in Juryo Day 13 with Ryuden and Hokuseiho. Should be a good one.