Nagoya 2023 discussion (results)

[ouflak 5]

24 minutes ago, Jemuzu said:

Wakamotoharu - Mitakeumi should have been a monoii too I think 

No doubt his foot was turned over on the rice bales. But at that same moment, Mitakeumi was in the air falling backwards and completely out of the Doyo. So... I can see that holding up under review.

[RabidJohn 1,663]

Wow, I did not expect Kirishima to be a no-show for his shin-ozeki basho. As a fan I'm disappointed, but I'm also relieved that he's not falling for any of that gambarize nonsense - so far... 
Coming back next Sunday, hoping to get 8 straight wins would be foolish, IMO. 

I agree that the prospect of ozeki promotions (plural) has increased in likelihood.

Daieisho comes across as most determined, but I can't help fancying Wakamotoharu's chances.
I know he's the 'noob' of the trio, but his demeanour is so calm and his yotsu sumo so beautiful that he already looks like a classic great ozeki to me.

The Hoshoryu-Tobizaru bout was weird. I don't believe a mono-ii was warranted, but if I was head shimpan I'd have stuck my hand up immediately and told them to restart, and do it properly this time. 
I know he's the one with the pedigree, but I'm not sure about him. That wasn't ozeki sumo today.

Edited July 9, 2023 by RabidJohn

[The Fat Cyclist 25]

1 hour ago, RabidJohn said:

The Hoshoryu-Tobizaru bout was weird. I don't believe a mono-ii was warranted, but if I was head shimpan I'd have stuck my hand up immediately and told them to restart, and do it properly this time. 

I know he's the one with the pedigree, but I'm not sure about him. That wasn't ozeki sumo today.

Yes. I was expecting a matta from the shimpan maybe even after the bout. That was barely sumo let alone ozeki sumo.

[Morty 1,480]

4 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Hoshoryu might have gotten away with his hand touching down going unoticed. Looked like a little dirt was flying. But alas, not mono-ii, and a Day 1 win for Asashoryu's nephew, 

Yep I reckon he touched down. 

[Yamanashi 3,723]

Looks like the dohyo-makers should have put a little more clay in there with the sand.

[Seiyashi 4,071]

7 minutes ago, Yamanashi said:

Looks like the dohyo-makers should have put a little more clay in there with the sand.

Yep. Arguably some slippiotoshi already going on. Asanoyama fell victim to it, the ending of Hōshōryū-Tobizaru was dumb, and Tamashōhō down in jūryō nearly slipped just before he got the win.

On another note, it's refreshing to see Hakuōhō putting some sincerity behind the end-of-bout motions. Almost all the rikishi are very perfunctory with them; Hakuōhō is still actually taking the time to perform them and bow properly.

[dingo 1,159]

Both Hakuoho and Gounoyama looked very good in their first bouts. Hakuoho seems even more taped than last basho. He's way too young to start turning into a mummy so soon...

Felt like Shodai didn't put all of his spirit into the bout with Daieisho, especially in the second half? Did he just feel nice or is that some preliminary back scratching going on? 

As for Hoshoryuu, not a very auspicious start for his ozeki promotion challenge. Let's see if it was just first bout nerves. 

[ryafuji 807]

1 hour ago, dingo said:

Felt like Shodai didn't put all of his spirit into the bout with Daieisho, especially in the second half? Did he just feel nice or is that some preliminary back scratching going on? 

He's been phoning it in for a long time now, I wouldn't read anything conspiratorial into that! 

[Octofuji 327]

Hokuseiho with a dominant win after ending Natsu with five straight losses.

I wonder if Oho will try another sotogake on him tomorrow?

[Kaninoyama 1,694]

That Konosuke sashichigae...what on earth was he looking at?

[Koorifuu 886]

Oh wow, nice. Not the most unpredictable kinboshi ever, but still interesting to see.

Terunofuji was clearly trying to save his knees there - going for a tumble rather than putting some pressure on them to try and stay grounded. Not a good sign.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Koorifuu

[Leoben 121]

45 minutes ago, Koorifuu said:

Terunofuji was clearly trying to save his knees there - going for a tumble rather than putting some pressure on them to try and stay grounded. Not a good sign.

Agreed. I expect him to drop matches here and there due to his physical problems, but how he lost this one was uncharacteristic of him. With his knees in better shape he just powers through and gets the win easily.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Leoben
wording

[Koorifuu 886]

8 minutes ago, Leoben said:

Agreed. I expect him to drop matches here and there due to his physical problems, but how he lost this one was uncharacteristic of him. With his knees in better shape he just powers through and gets the win easily.

Also I dare say he's so good + his upper body is such a weapon that he really wins a large majority of his bouts without the need to put any strain on them. But I agree in that, based solely on today's evidence, it felt like the amount of weight he can put on them is even smaller than usual.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Koorifuu

[yohcun 393]

Nishikigi doesn't face the upper ranks often, but he's got a knack for upsets. I remember him doing something almost the exact same thing to Goeido the first time he faced him.

It's like he's got more upper body strength than they expect or something.

[Fashiritētā 169]

I know its only day 2, but the Sekiwake trio are looking good for 12 wins.

Teru isn’t 100% and Asanoyama doesn’t appear to be as focused as he should be.

Fingers crossed I didn’t jinx them.(salt over shoulder just to be sure)

[RabidJohn 1,663]

Wow, props to Nishikigi! I got the impression that went exactly to plan for him. He looked like he was just waiting for Terunofuji's very predictable kime-dashi attempt. A pay rise well earned.

More beautiful yotsu from Wakamotoharu today. Left hand grip, right hand grip, slight adjustment, and out goes Tobizaru - and all done so calmly it was like watching in slo-mo. 

Daieisho's instant switch from over-powering Mitakeumi to grabbing him to prevent a fall was great.

Hoshoryu looked much better today.

Quite a marathon between Hokuseiho and Oho today, born of inexperience IMO; i.e. neither could think of a way to win.
Don't know what Konosuke was looking at. Maybe it went on so long he got bored and distracted...

I have to say the dohyo looks like an ice rink at times.

[Koorifuu 886]

42 minutes ago, RabidJohn said:

Quite a marathon between Hokuseiho and Oho today, born of inexperience IMO; i.e. neither could think of a way to win.

Both defaulted to their usual pattern of waiting it out and react to the opponent's moves. But there was nothing to react to.

[Akinomaki 39,755]

2 hours ago, yohcun said:

Nishikigi doesn't face the upper ranks often, but he's got a knack for upsets.

It is celebrated in the spirit of the time: after 4 years a kinboshi by Nishikigi again, in his 4th attempt the first win against Terunofuji https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2023/07/10/kiji/20230710s00005000647000c.html

[Gurowake 3,915]

1 hour ago, Akinomaki said:

It is celebrated in the spirit of the time: after 4 years a kinboshi by Nishikigi again, in his 4th attempt the first win against Terunofuji https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2023/07/10/kiji/20230710s00005000647000c.html

Nishikigi beat Terunofuji in Juryo on the latter's way back up in their first ever match.  First win in the 4th attempt in Makuuchi, sure, but it's not like the win in Juryo was on Terunofuji's way down, so it shouldn't be neglected.

[Gurowake 3,915]

It looks like they did the Juryo-Makushita opening exchange bouts correctly this time, not holding back one of the top Makushita rikishi to face a Juryo rikishi on Day 2, and instead putting the top match in action Day 1 so that one of them could come back Day 2 if needed.  Because it wasn't needed, they then can go on without an issue, with no one missing a match, and no one being pulled for their second match early either.  This is in contrast to what happened with Tomokaze the last time (not 100% sure on that, but it was fairly recently) that there was a Day 1 sekitori withdrawal.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Gurowake

[Seiyashi 4,071]

2 hours ago, Koorifuu said:

3 hours ago, RabidJohn said:

Quite a marathon between Hokuseiho and Oho today, born of inexperience IMO; i.e. neither could think of a way to win.

Both defaulted to their usual pattern of waiting it out and react to the opponent's moves. But there was nothing to react to.

Hokuseihō needs to figure out a game plan to assert himself. He was all over the place at the start of the bout, and had he been shorter and lighter he would have lost.

Excellent sumo from Hakuōhō and Wakamotoharu today. Hakuōhō might well pull off an upset, and Wakamotoharu looks like he's hit the critical mass of skill and strength to pull off very classic yotsu. 

Hōshōryū was almost Tamawashi-like with all that nodowa.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Seiyashi

[Koorifuu 886]

2 minutes ago, Gurowake said:

It looks like they did the Juryo-Makushita opening exchange bouts correctly this time, not holding back one of the top Makushita rikishi to face a Juryo rikishi on Day 2, and instead putting the top match in action Day 1 so that one of them could come back Day 2 if needed.  Because it wasn't needed, they then can go on without an issue, with no one missing a match, and no one being pulled for their second match early either.  This is in contrast to what happened with Tomokaze the last time (not 100% sure on that, but it was fairly recently) that there was a Day 1 sekitori withdrawal.

Enho's kyujo at ms1w ironically helped smoothen things out for the first round of bouts, too.

The ms1e goes up to juryo, everyone else does the traditional tandem dance (barring intra-heya cases, of course, which trigger criss-crossing).

[RabidJohn 1,663]

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

Hōshōryū was almost Tamawashi-like with all that nodowa.

He very sensibly exploited Shodai's head-high tachi-ai, but yeah, not something he does as often as the golden oldie or Hokutofuji.

He does have a good variety of moves, I'll give him that.

[Yarimotsu 522]

1 hour ago, Seiyashi said:

Hokuseihō needs to figure out a game plan to assert himself. He was all over the place at the start of the bout, and had he been shorter and lighter he would have lost.

To me, it's kind of the point that he isn't shorter and lighter and so those moments of sloppiness won't cause him a loss. As he becomes even stronger and heavier, these moments should become even less risky for him.

Someone who does need to fix those moments is Shishi. The lad is clearly going to injure himself resisting in the manner he did today - joints at difficult angles under a lot of strain. I can only hope he gets some proper technique training soon.

[hakutorizakura 590]

Whoa misspiggy! Imagine if he was not nearsighted  Go for sanyaku!!

Our ozeki hopefuls are looking good so far!