Nagoya 2022

[WAKATAKE 2,648]

7 hours ago, Eikokurai said:

If he beat Terunofuji we could say he blew it open, but beating the challenger Ichinojo probably just hands the yusho to the Yokozuna.

I stand corrected, SHODAI blew this thing open

[RabidJohn 1,734]

4 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

It feels like Takakeishō should stick to sukuinage, though. He has a hell of a left arm and no reason why slaps or smackdowns can't be converted to sideswipes even if that arm is stuck in his aite's armpit, whereas he just seems to lack the leverage or grip for finer parts of his aite's body. I'm still surprised he managed to beat Hōshōryū of all people (probably the best yotsu in the sanyaku next to Terunofuji) with kotenage.

I believe you've pointed out the flaw in your 1st statement. He beat Hoshoryu with it, and he came close with Wakatakakage today. That's not a dreadful success rate at all. 

I suspect a lot of it is having to work around injuries, but Takakeisho's sumo has evolved noticeably since his promotion. He no longer looks immediately helpless in yotsu, and indeed pulls out the occasional win from yotsu with a limited, but slowly growing repertoire of kimarite. 

That's good, isn't it?

Edited July 23, 2022 by RabidJohn

[Benevolance 2,484]

Shodai! 

Okay, I gotta know now. When Hakuho had his 'talk' with Shodai, what size of empty bottle did he use? This could open up a whole new field of sports psychology in sumo. 

[dada78641 884]

"Please, god, just give me this one..."

Spoiler

(He didn't.)

 

[Gospodin 187]

19 minutes ago, Benevolance said:

Shodai! 

Okay, I gotta know now. When Hakuho had his 'talk' with Shodai, what size of empty bottle did he use? This could open up a whole new field of sports psychology in sumo. 

Probably he only told him his money is on him 

[Yamanashi 3,793]

33 minutes ago, Benevolance said:

Shodai! 

Okay, I gotta know now. When Hakuho had his 'talk' with Shodai, what size of empty bottle did he use? This could open up a whole new field of sports psychology in sumo. 

Actually, he used the "convincer of choice", a karaoke remote.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Yamanashi
What, too soon?

[Jakusotsu 5,892]

4 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

Actually, he used the "convincer of choice", a karaoke remote.

So Shodai will be intai next basho?

Edit: Oops, I failed to remember that the victim of the remote lasted a whole year longer than the user.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Jakusotsu

[Yamanashi 3,793]

Just now, Jakusotsu said:

So Shodai will be intai next basho?

No. Takanoiwa had stitches and stuff.  This time it just bounced off that thick Tokyo University of Agriculture skull.

[Yubinhaad 11,609]

This was the last basho for 43-year-old Aichi native Gorikiyama, who is retiring at his home basho after over 28 years in ozumo.  He had to sit out last year's Nagoya basho due to a neck injury, the resulting drop to Jonidan ended a run of 57 consecutive basho in the Sandanme ranks.

Perhaps retirement mode kicked in a few weeks ago, as he lost all of his bouts this basho - against opponents who were all born after his ozumo career started.

Before leaving for Nagoya, he had a commemorative picture taken with the rest of Takadagawa-beya.

[Yamanashi 3,793]

Out of reactions, but thanks @Yubinhaad for that post on Gorikiyama.  The db tells quite a story: he reached his career high Ms17 in his 99th basho (Aki 2010), but went 0-7 and then kyujo 2 basho later.  He never reached those heights again, but spent 132 basho (22 years!) in Sandanme or Makushita.

[Amamaniac 2,079]

OK, I know few people are really all that interested in the rikishi that seem perennially trapped down in sumo hell.  But I decided I'd draw a little attention to Asabenkei here.  

Since the torikumi schedule was so far behind today, I was treated to Sandanme bouts when I woke up at my regular time for watching the start of Juryo.  And then I witnessed the Makushita bout between Tochinobori and Asabenkei.  Asabenkei has been around forever (i.e., March 2007), and despite his size and determination, he has struggled to get a strong foothold in the sekitori ranks.  Knee injuries are his Achilles heel.  

Today he was fighting for his kachikoshi with a 3-3 record.  His bout involved a torinaoshi, which proved costly for him:  (1) he ended up losing the bout, (2) he was handed a makekoshi demotion, and (3) he was left incapacitated with a left knee injury, which could well set him back yet again.

You'd think that a wrestler with his history would make a habit of wearing knee supporters, but no.  I guess he likes to live dangerously.  And when you live dangerously, you often end up paying the price.  Sigh.

I've been a passive follower of Asabenkei, so it hurt me to see him hurt yet again.  But the main reason I decided to post this report is that after the broadcast was over, I went to the Baur Foundation to view their special exhibit on Japanese Prints 1860-1890.  Included were a couple of prints featuring Musashibo Benkei (Benkei to his friends ) and I was reminded about the history behind Asabenkei's shikona.

[Kuhne 57]

That was a very shodai thing to do

[Benevolance 2,484]

Oh, no! I just had a terrible thought! What if that zabuton bonk undoes the Hakuho bonk and resets Shodai B back into Shodai A? It would mean the announcers were right all along!?!?

[nagora 88]

No love for Tochinoshin's psychic battle with Hoshoryu? Pity he couldn't follow through with a win at the sumo, but the face-off was excellent.

[Kaninoyama 1,719]

6 hours ago, Hakuryuho said:

No matter if he wins or loses, Hoshoryu's Sumo is just a delight to watch.

All this talk about Wakatakakage's Ozeki run, but Hoshoryu might lowkey be starting one with another win tomorrow.
He's got progressively better with each basho and this is his third basho in a row where he has KK'd as a member of the san'yaku.
In fact, he's only ever KK'd in the san'yaku ranks, which is quite promising. 

I don't think it's too far fetched to call him a possible future Ozeki, the way he fights and behaves in general makes me think he's poised for greater things than just junior san'yaku.
I probably jinxed him for life now though 

I think many of us on this board fully expect to see Ozeki Hoshoryu in the not too distant future. He just checks too many boxes to be pessimistic in that regard. 

[Koorifuu 924]

Now that the steam's a bit off the musubi no ichiban...

Did any of you watch Atamifuji vs Kitanowaka? That was awkward. It feels like there's something seriously wrong between those two guys.

Atamifuji was extremely tense throughout, delaying the tachiai procedures and causing a matta by standing up, and then just seemed to have lost all control of his right arm during the bout... It seemed like he was stressing his muscles but for no real purpose. His post-match bow was really deep, too.

Kitanowaka on the other hand didn't bother trying to hide that he was in an abysmal mood. Aggressive throughout the bout, contracted dame-oshi, angry facial expressions, and the most improper victory acceptance demeanour I've ever seen with that wild shake of his right arm in lieu of the slashing motion.

I wonder what the hell happened.

[Tigerboy1966 1,423]

23 minutes ago, Koorifuu said:

Did any of you watch Atamifuji vs Kitanowaka? That was awkward. It feels like there's something seriously wrong between those two guys.

It certainly looked like there was something personal going on. They have no in-ring history so there were no professional  scores to settle.  Don't forget, however, that these lads are 19 and 21 respectively so it might be something daft and girl-related. "Do you like Atamifuji?" "Who?" "You know" "No I don't" "So if you don't know him, why has he been messaging you?" "You've been checking my phone, why would you do that?" etc.

[Katooshu 3,182]

I have watched Kitanowaka since middle school and I'd never seen him be disrespectful to an opponent - in fact he's usually one of the more stoic competitors. I believe he did face and beat Atamifuji once as an amateur, but they weren't rivals on the amasumo scene, as Kita was a couple years ahead and generally performing at a much higher level when they were in high school at the same time.

I initially thought Kita was just pumped from getting his KK, hence the extra shove, but the look he threw Atami's way leaving the dohyo did indeed seem like he was angry with him.....maybe he took it personally that Atamji bumped him off the 'younger than everyone ranked above them' list 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Katooshu

[Kurowashi 43]

1 hour ago, Amamaniac said:

Included were a couple of prints featuring Musashibo Benkei (Benkei to his friends ) and I was reminded about the history behind Asabenkei's shikona.

Is that the Benkei, who kept fighting even though he got hit by loads of arrows, until he died standing ?

[sumojoann 1,263]

Benkei -- The Warrior Monk 

 

[Reonito 1,387]

13 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

It seems to always come up but it's not out of the question to put him and Kiribayama as a pair of K2 in the event of his yūshō and Kiribayama getting a KK.

If Kiribayama KK's and they decide to put him at K2 (we don't know if 8-7 would do it under the current regime), they'd pretty much be obliged to do the same for Ichi even at 11-4, much like they did with Asanoyama (10-5 at M2w) and Hokutofuji (9-6 at M1e), since he'll have a much better claim by the numbers.

[Benevolance 2,484]

Just to clarify, since Asanoyama went 7-0 in Sandanme, he gets automatic promotion to makushita. If he wins the Makushita yusho next time, the auto-promote would bring him to...upper makushita? I forget how it's usually handled. 

[Katooshu 3,182]

Next banzuke he should be close to Ms15, from which he could be promoted to juryo for November if he goes 7-0. He could also be ranked slightly below Ms15 and need 2 basho in makushita even with 7-0s though, it's a tight call....

Edited July 24, 2022 by Katooshu

[Reonito 1,387]

2 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

Next banzuke he should be close to Ms15, from which he could be promoted to juryo for November if he goes 7-0. He could also be ranked slightly below Ms15 though, it's a tight call....

Yeah exactly, Ms15w vs. Ms16e is probably the place where a single spot on the banzuke makes the biggest difference, except "the invisible line" between Ms5w and Ms6e.

[Eikokurai 3,437]

7 hours ago, WAKATAKE said:

I stand corrected, SHODAI blew this thing open

It’s always the ones you least expect.