Kyushu 2022 discussion (results)

[Koorifuu 506]

One for both the stats fans and the supporters of the "change of the guard" narrative.

Today, there were 10 makuuchi bouts pitting a guy aged 31+ against another one on his 20s.
10-0 for the latter.

^ That is admittedly cherry picking, as Tobizaru and Hokutofuji (both 30) won against younger opponents, which would've made this stat a 2-10 had I made it "30s vs 20s".

Edited November 14, 2022 by Koorifuu

[Seiyashi 3,540]

There would be an interesting symmetry if Mitakeumi and Takakeishō take this to a playoff, with Takakeishō beating Mitakeumi to take his third yūshō. That would leave them both even on yūshō count, Mitakeumi repromoted, and Takakeishō returning the favour from when Mitakeumi denied him the yūshō in his ōzekiwake basho.

[dingo 687]

First for a Tobizaru yusho! 

Btw, noone thought Kotonowaka vs Hoshoryuu should've been a torinaoshi yesterday? 

[Seiyashi 3,540]

1 hour ago, dingo said:

First for a Tobizaru yusho! 

Btw, noone thought Kotonowaka vs Hoshoryuu should've been a torinaoshi yesterday? 

I thought Hōshōryū was awfully lucky to win it, but I don't think it needed a torinaoshi.

[Morty 1,424]

1 hour ago, dingo said:

 

Btw, noone thought Kotonowaka vs Hoshoryuu should've been a torinaoshi yesterday? 

I hoped it might be but once I watched the slo-mo replay I realised it probably shouldn't be. Presuming they both stay healthy I reckon we are going to see a lot of bouts between these two over the next decade, so plenty of chance for a do-over. The Nephew vs. the Grandson just writes itself as a long term rivalry.

[Akinomaki 35,609]

The 3 makuuchi from Saitama pref. all won today on Saitama pref. citizens day - created in 1971 for the 100th anniversary of the formation of the prefecture. Each time it's during the Kyushu basho, Daieisho won for the 7th time in a row now. https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2022/11/14/kiji/20221114s00005000589000c.html

He lost only in his first Kyushu makuuchi basho. Abi won last year, but wasn't active in 2020, Hokutofuji lost then

Abi is 5-0 as sekitori though on that day on the dohyo https://hochi.news/articles/20221114-OHT1T51168.html?page=1

Edited November 14, 2022 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki 35,609]

Kyokutaisei yesterday won after 244 days again, in the 5th bout of the day as jk5, with the shisho (ex-Kyokutenho) watching at the dohyo. The left knee injury that had caused kyujo in a row is "not at all well" - injured last year in Nagoya and going down since then, 4 kyujo mid basho and the last 3 basho full.  He had surgery in April, tendon transplant from the back of the thigh and getting an artificial ligament implanted as well.  He gradually started to train the lower body in June and to do training bouts against jonidan rikishi before this basho. "The pride I had as a sekitori is gone. I had surgery because I wanted to restart at 0."  https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2022/11/13/kiji/20221113s00005000264000c.html

[Bakayokozuna 39]

I wonder where's the limit for Tobizaru? Solid first days as a shin sanyaku.

Meanwhile, Takakeisho is looking good. Finally a yusho for an ozeki ? Last time was Teru for his return as ozeki right ? May 2021. If i'm not forgetting anything that is

[Hankegami 307]

5 hours ago, Koorifuu said:

One for both the stats fans and the supporters of the "change of the guard" narrative.

Today, there were 10 makuuchi bouts pitting a guy aged 31+ against another one on his 20s.
10-0 for the latter.

^ That is admittedly cherry picking, as Tobizaru and Hokutofuji (both 30) won against younger opponents, which would've made this stat a 2-10 had I made it "30s vs 20s".

Good point. However, I believe that the actual cut-out should be 31+ (which would even work better for your narrative). The 1980s boys in particular are on their way to retirement with just a couple exceptions. However, people 30 or younger are all looking good actually. Here my analysis of the present Maakuchi banzuke rikishi by age (the asterisk shows that they are going to turn of age very soon):

Spoiler

 

1. Tamawashi (37*, b. 16 Nov. 1984) Full tank The incumbent tournament champion himself

2. Okinoumi (37, b. 25 July 1985) Fuel light on Possibly retiring soon - owner of the Kimigahama kabu (see here)

3. Aoiyama (36, b. 19 June, 1986) Fuel light on Possibly retiring soon since he obtained Japanese citizenship

4. Myogiryu (36, b. 22 Oct., 1986) Full tank He has delivered good KKs in the last two bashos

5. Takarafuji (35, b. 18 Feb. 1987) Low gas Very unstable performances lately

6. Sadanoumi (35, b. 11 May, 1987) Full tank Possibly the best time of his career

7. Azumaryu (35, b. 12 May, 1987) Low gas Typical Juryo visitor, not exactly on his ropes but never exalting

8. Tochinoshin (35, b. 12 Oct., 1987) Low gas Hanging on for his paycheck, but still capable to keep his ground somehow

9. Chiyotairyu (34, b. 14 Nov., 1988) Fuel light on Possibly on his way to retire (under the name Sanoyama? See discussion started here)

10. Takayasu (32, b. 28 Feb, 1990) Full tank Still on the hunt for his maiden yusho

11. Nishikigi (32, b. 25 Aug, 1990) Half tank Hanging on without issues but rarely impressing

12. Endo (32, b. 19 Oct. 1990) Low gas Four MK in five tournaments. Owner of a kabu, but probably won't retire before falling to Juryo, which is still a long way

13. Ryuden (32, b. 10 Nov, 1990) Full tank Back in town

14. Chiyoshoma (31, b. 20 July 1991) Half tank Going hot and cold

15. Shodai (31, b. 5 Nov. 1991) Fake engine That's Shodai, y'all

16. Kotoeko (30*, b. 20 Nov. 1991) Low gas Not much better than Endo

17. Terunofuji (30*, b. 29 Nov. 1991) Full tank but low on knees Tik-tok, said the crocodile

18. Tobizaru (30, b. 24 Apr. 1992) Full tank This monkey flies

19. Ura (30, b. 22 June 1992) Full tank Ura is never constant, but he's clearly not short of breath yet

20. Hokutofuji (30, b. 15 July 1992) Half tank He's difficult to asses, but he surely has several bahos ahead of him

21. Mitakeumi (29*, b. 25 Dec, 1992) Fuel light broken I'd say Mitakeumi is actually full tank, but we'd know better after this tournament

22. Ichinojo (29, b. 7 Apr. 1993) Half tank Snorlax is Snorlax

23. Ichiyamamoto (29, b. 1 Oct. 1993) Full tank Abi Lite is still a good purchase at FakeStore

24. Wakamotoharu (29, b. 5 Oct. 1993) Full tank Literally at his career peak

25. Daieisho (29, b. 10 Nov. 1993) Half tank Going hot and cold, san'yaku version

26. Abi (28, b. 4 May 1994) Full tank Still your most trustworthy strangler

27. Kagayaki (28, b. 1 June 1994) Half tank Unimpressive but that's pretty much just him

28. Takanosho (27*, b. 19 Nov. 1994) Full tank Looks good

29. Wakatakakage (27*, b. 6 Dec. 1994) Full tank Literally the fourth highest-ranked guy in the banzuke

30. Terutsuyoshi (27, b. 17 Jan 1995) Low gas He's desperately fighting to remain in Maakuchi right now

31. Meisei (27, b. 14 July 1995) Full tank He's apparently bouncing back

32. Kiribayama (26, b. 24 April 1996) Full tank Slowly going up the san'yaku

33. Onosho (26, b. 4 July 1996) Full tank Here's another guy bouncing back appreciably this basho

34. Nishikifuji (26, b. 22 July 1996) Full tank Looks good

35. Takakeisho (26, b. 5 Aug. 1996) Full tank Still chasing his rope

36. Midorifuji (26, b. 30 Aug. 1996) Full tank Yet another guy looking good

37. Kotonowaka (24*, b. 19 Nov. 1997) Full tank Still more promising than delivering but slowly going up

38. Hoshoryu (23, b. 22 May 1999) Full tank Kotonowaka II before Kotonowaka II

39. Kotoshoho (23, b. 26 Aug. 1999) Full tank Again, looks good

40. Oho (22, b. 14 Feb. 2000) Greenhorn Kotonowaka and Hoshoryu's mini-me

41. Hiradoumi (22, b. 20 Apr. 2000) Greenhorn Still learning how to survive in Maakuchi

42. Atamifuji (20, b. 3 Sep. 2002) Greenhorn On his way to book a visit to his dentist

 

 

[Gurowake 3,526]

8 hours ago, Jakusotsu said:

It looks like the NSK changed the bout order of the first two Komusubi matches, their original plan being obviously wrong (see here).

I wouldn't say it was *obviously* wrong.  Just make them maegashira instead of Komusubi, and it's right.

[Yarimotsu 242]

Kotoeko's win just now was incredible. I'm not sure what style of dance to call that, I think hip-hop is something different... but the name resembles that action!

[Seiyashi 3,540]

Oh dear, Takanoshō seems to have injured himself. 

[Kaninoyama 1,338]

5 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

Oh dear, Takanoshō seems to have injured himself. 

Not just injured himself, but did so after balancing on the edge of the dohyo after the bout where it seems he could have either remained or taken a more measured leap off it and avoided that injury. Hopefully it's not series. 

[Seiyashi 3,540]

Well, I think it's safe to say at least Tamawashi is out of the running for the yūshō.

On that note, Tobizaru yūshō, anyone? Jokes aside, he's the first shin-komusubi in almost 30 years to go 3-0. http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query_bout.aspx?show_form=0&day=3&rank1=k&wins1=3&debutr1=on

Edited November 15, 2022 by Seiyashi

[Seiyashi 3,540]

Also, better buy lottery tickets. A rare sighting - a forward moving Shōdai.

[Hankegami 307]

1 minute ago, Seiyashi said:

Also, better buy lottery tickets. A rare sighting - a forward moving Shōdai.

That's even more. Shodai was 0-5 against Kotonowaka. I am not sure if it's Shoddy here getting serious, or Kotonowaka being possibly injured - he's 0-3 now. It's the first time in his whole career he's lost his first three matches, although he went 1-3 a few times (see here). 

Anyway, Shodai looked angry in his final push. never seen him with a smug like that.

[Yarimotsu 242]

18 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Not just injured himself, but did so after balancing on the edge of the dohyo after the bout where it seems he could have either remained or taken a more measured leap off it and avoided that injury. Hopefully it's not series. 

It looked a lot more to me like he tweaked his knee while on the rope, then tried to balance on it and it gave way / was painful so he lept from the dohyo.

 

Edit: From Chris' angle, you were definitely correct. Looked really bad actually.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Yarimotsu

[Leoben 31]

 

3 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Not just injured himself, but did so after balancing on the edge of the dohyo after the bout where it seems he could have either remained or taken a more measured leap off it and avoided that injury. Hopefully it's not series. 

I believe there was some news in 2021 saying that he had torn his ACL or MCL and decided not to have surgery and just fight through it. I hope this isn't the same injury again, it could jeopardize his career if it is.

[dingo 687]

3 hours ago, Hankegami said:

That's even more. Shodai was 0-5 against Kotonowaka. I am not sure if it's Shoddy here getting serious, or Kotonowaka being possibly injured - he's 0-3 now. It's the first time in his whole career he's lost his first three matches, although he went 1-3 a few times (see here). 

Anyway, Shodai looked angry in his final push. never seen him with a smug like that.

Well Kotonowaka's first loss to Hoshoryuu was so close it could've gone either way. Yesterday he lost to Takakeisho who is in pretty good shape. To me it seems Kotonowaka has a lot of potential still in him but hasn't been able to take the next step yet to unlock it. The more experience he gains in the joi, the more he'll hopefully put it to use. 

[Yamanashi 3,052]

It's still "early days" as you Brits say, so I don't know how the sekitori will fare this basho, but I can predict at least a gino-sho for the dohyo.  Marvelous use of slippiotoshi.

[Benevolance 2,302]

Early days, but Shodai obviously cruising to victory and a big promotion...to Ozeki Prime! 

[Eternallyround 12]

9 hours ago, dingo said:

Well Kotonowaka's first loss to Hoshoryuu was so close it could've gone either way. Yesterday he lost to Takakeisho who is in pretty good shape. To me it seems Kotonowaka has a lot of potential still in him but hasn't been able to take the next step yet to unlock it. The more experience he gains in the joi, the more he'll hopefully put it to use. 

I was hoping to see Kotonowaka perform better he’s done so far. He’s been in the joi-jin since May and had good results. Hopefully he’ll shake off this 0-3 start

[Shatsume 113]

2 hours ago, Benevolance said:

Early days, but Shodai obviously cruising to victory and a big promotion...to Ozeki Prime! 

Late night, so not going to look this one up myself, but has there ever been an Ozeki that never placed at O1e during their Ozeki-ship? 

[Randomitsuki 2,548]

20 minutes ago, Shatsume said:

Late night, so not going to look this one up myself, but has there ever been an Ozeki that never placed at O1e during their Ozeki-ship? 

Shodai has been top Ozeki three times already. The last one never to make it to O1e was Tochinoshin.

[Kaninoyama 1,338]

1 hour ago, Eternallyround said:

I was hoping to see Kotonowaka perform better he’s done so far. He’s been in the joi-jin since May and had good results. Hopefully he’ll shake off this 0-3 start

So far he's faced Hoshoryu, a nemesis who's always given him trouble, Takakeisho, an Ozeki who for some reason always tries to rip his head off, and Shodai, who is kadoban and therefore invincible. 

Three tough matchups at the start for him, but hopefully he can find his groove and get back on track.