Kyushu 2023 discussion (results)

[RabidJohn 1,849]

8 hours ago, Rocks said:

Hoshryu lost to a Sekiwake in the yusho race. Kirishima managed to not lose against a guy who sat out the first 7 days of the basho with an injury retuning in the hope  to minimize his drop down the banzuke. 

Asanoyama is not just "a guy"; he's a proven ozeki calibre rikishi. And he seems to be unhampered by injury; he beat Takakeisho on nakabi and came very close to beating Kirishima today. 

Kirishima showed good defensive sumo apt to the situation; Hoshoryu was ineffectually offensive, shot his bolt and lost.

Edited November 20, 2023 by RabidJohn

[Bunbukuchagama 765]

1 hour ago, Gurowake said:

Where's the Takayasu hype?  6-3 with no sanyaku left but the struggling Komusubi is a good place to be when a 13 win yusho seems like a fairy tale.  Or were we trying to not jinx him?

Have you heard about "second week Takayasu"?

[Oskanohana 293]

1 hour ago, Gurowake said:

Where's the Takayasu hype?  6-3 with no sanyaku left but the struggling Komusubi is a good place to be when a 13 win yusho seems like a fairy tale.  Or were we trying to not jinx him?

Shhhh......shut up!!!. Of course we were holding. Didn't you get the memo? Now it's another jun-yusho...bah!

[Kotomiyama 174]

My soul has been cleansed by the sheer gracility of Kinbozan's utchari. A bout to show to your friends when they say that sumo is about two fat men shoving each other in the sand.

[Reonito 1,504]

8 hours ago, Hakuryuho said:

Man I hope Kitaharima secures the zensho in Makushita for re-promotion to the salaried ranks;
if I'm not mistaken he's at 26 basho as a sekitori and thus needs 4 more to be elder stock eligible I think,
he's 37 so I don't know how many chances he'll get in the future to get back to Juryo/makunouchi.
Really hope he can do it!

He'd also tie the record for most juryo promotions in a career (and then presumably tie the one for going the other way; though the one for doing both consecutively is probably out of reach).

[Reonito 1,504]

5 hours ago, Gurowake said:

Where's the Takayasu hype?  6-3 with no sanyaku left but the struggling Komusubi is a good place to be when a 13 win yusho seems like a fairy tale.  Or were we trying to not jinx him?

He's in prime position for a jun-yusho!

[Fashiritētā 184]

1 hour ago, Reonito said:

He's in prime position for a jun-yusho!

Let’s not jinx him on that as well.

[Ack! 471]

Hoping for Ichiyamamoto vs. Atamifuji on day 11!

[Reonito 1,504]

3 minutes ago, Ack! said:

Hoping for Ichiyamamoto vs. Atamifuji on day 11!

That's what I have on my mock torikumi!

[Sakura 1,495]

6 minutes ago, Reonito said:

That's what I have on my mock torikumi!

Me too!

[just_some_guy 282]

Everyone's saying Takakeisho can forget the tsuna but there's no one in front of him who I trust not to fumble a yusho. It would be unusual indeed for an Ozeki to be denied promotion after consecutive yushos, even if this one is 12-3 or (gods forbid) another 11-4. The odds are against him but I'm not comfortable yet.

[Kishinoyama 596]

4 hours ago, Kotomiyama said:

My soul has been cleansed by the sheer gracility of Kinbozan's utchari. A bout to show to your friends when they say that sumo is about two fat men shoving each other in the sand.

Usually an utchari results in both rikishi crashing to the ground but Kinbozan managed to stay on the dohyo and upright. That doesn’t happen very often and impressed me the most.

[Asashosakari 19,590]

2 hours ago, Kishinoyama said:

Usually an utchari results in both rikishi crashing to the ground but Kinbozan managed to stay on the dohyo and upright. That doesn’t happen very often and impressed me the most.

Made the most of his height advantage there, most utchariers (yes, I said it) need the leaning back part just to get their opponent off his feet and then of course gravity takes over. Definitely the biggest guy I've ever seen staying up; most often it's just rikishi who are tall and skinny, against opponents who aren't all that heavy themselves.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Asashosakari

[Seiyashi 4,107]

I might be wrong but it didn't seem like a very classic utchari to me. Kinbōzan had more of an amiuchi-like motion, and Sadanoumi's momentum worked against him as he was trying to force Kinbōzan out - he was unbalanced from the start and twirled out of the dohyo on one leg.

Not that the end result was any less spectacular for it.

[Kintamayama 45,484]

Aqua throws the rooftop salt again. And loses, again.

[Kintamayama 45,484]

5 hours ago, Ack! said:

Hoping for Ichiyamamoto vs. Atamifuji on day 11!

Hoping for a serious Itchy bump- up if he continues to win. Then, we may have the matchup that ends all matchups.

[Asashosakari 19,590]

3 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

5 hours ago, Ack! said:

Hoping for Ichiyamamoto vs. Atamifuji on day 11!

Hoping for a serious Itchy bump- up if he continues to win. Then, we may have the matchup that ends all matchups.

Hmm, they've bypassed both those options and gone straight up to sekiwake. IYM - Daieisho.

 

[Kaninoyama 1,815]

23 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Hiradoumi quitely putting together a nice basho. Six straight wins, and faces basho leader Ichiyamamoto tomorrow. Should be a pivotal bout. 

And there it is. Hiradoumi prevails. Seven straight wins to 7-3, while Itchy drops to 8-2, inviting even more contenders into the mix. 

[Kaninoyama 1,815]

Midorifuji beating Takayasu today was pre-ordained by all the Takayasu jinxing going on in this thread, but that was an impressive kotenage pulled out of a rabbit hat at the edge of the dohyo by the little one. 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Kaninoyama

[Kaninoyama 1,815]

Kirishima looks solid as a rock. Like Kakuryu reincarnated. 

[Hankegami 537]

Good day 10 to everyone. Five more days and this torture is finally going to end. Ichiyamamoto lost today, and the leaderboard now has four goys leading with a 8-2 result (Kirishima, Kotonowaka, Atamifuji, Ichiyamamoto). Let's focus on them - with a couple exceptions.

Now with Ichiyamamoto losing to a resurgent Hiradoumi, the Yusho line falls officially to 13-2 with five days yet to go. Not like I didn't expect that but, man, it hurts. And because the torikumi is always drafted before the bouts, Itchy is set to face Daieisho tomorrow as the not-so-much-anymore lone arasoi leader. Daieisho showed visible cupping marks on his lower back today, but he's still a Sekiwake with ambitions to get to Ozeki one day (and he even slayed an ever dangerous Asanoyama today). I cannot help but think that it will be the end of Itchy's own Yusho ambitions.

Atamifuji instead looked at his best since a while. He didn't even need to look for a grip but forced out Shonannoumi with sheer force and brute oshi alone. That's really good IMHO, since he cannot always rely on an left inside grip or to save his day by sidestepping on the tawara. Tomorrow he fill be fed with revelation Churanoumi (7-3). Atamin has a solid 4-1 record against him (here), so he's likely to put Churanoumi out of the runner-up group - unless Chura is going to pull an upset.

An interesting bout for Day 11 could be Hiradoumi vs. Midorifuji. Both of them are having a really good basho and are in the 7-3 runner-up group also. As already mentioned, Hiradoumi put Itchy on the dirt today, while Midorifuji almost unexpectedly slayed Takayasu after a hard-fought bout. Also, Hiradoumi is on a 7 wins strike (started 0-3), while Midorin had a Day 2-6 five win strike before going on amidst hiccups. Will the Hirado boy get his eight straight win, or will he fall perchance by katasukashi?

Kotonowaka is going strong, showing a solid and straightforward sumo. Yesterday he ran over Hoshoryu, and today he made small work of Gonoyama. Tomorrow he will face an extremely dangerous Angry Hamster though. Takakeisho had zero troubles with a likely injured Abi today, and in general we can bet our house that he wants to keep his Yusho hopes alive. He will absolutely take Four Tits' boobs (and also his head) if he's given a chance.

Hoshoryu kept his 7-3 runner-up placement by surviving Wakamotoharu's ever-dangerous utchari. Thanks Uncle WMH put a leverage on his right heel and touched the clay first this way. Escaped this danger, tomorrow will be another ungrateful workday for the Nephew, since he will get 1-2-7 Asanoyama desperately looking for as many wins as he can to keep a spot on the joy and get another chance to join the san'yaku after January.

Finally, Lucky Kirby. Kirishima likes to take his opponent from the back this basho. After Hokutofuji, today also Nishikigi got served with a comical okuridashi. Tomorrow he will face an under-performing Wakamotoharu for the Day 11 musubi no ichiban. Their F2F record is 7-4 with a 5-1 in favor of Kirby in their last six bouts (here). WMH pulled an upset last time, but given that Sexy Lips Kirby got two okuridashi and a second-split win on the tawara against Asanoyama in the last few days, we must also take into account his current "damn luck" factor.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Hankegami

[sumojoann 1,267]

Nice to see Kaisei as guest announcer today.

Oho almost lost his mawashi.  I didn't know at one point if I should look away.  I didn't, of course!  I noticed the gyoji checking him out front and back, front and back.  Thank goodness Oho won the bout when he did.

What an awful landing by Tamawashi!  I am very concerned that our Ironman might be kyujo tomorrow for the first time in his sumo career.  His upper spine was bent backwards.  On his way back to the dressing area, he held onto his tsukebito's shoulders with both hands and I could feel the pain in his eyes.

OMG again!  This time it was Tsurugisho picking up Hokuseiho and depositing him outside the dohyo.  Are these rikishi making bets now to see who else can do this??  Or did Tsurugisho just say to himself, "Well, dang!  If Nishikigi can do it, why not me??"

Takanosho's win looked good but when he exited the dohyo, his right leg was bothering him.  Hopefully it won't hold him back.

Takayasu vs Midorifuji ----- WTF????  WOW!  Definitely the Makuuchi Bout of the Day!  Just excellent sumo from my favorite Little Guy.

It's too bad that both Endo and Onosho are MK this early in the basho.

I wish Shodai would fight like this every day.  Even though he ultimately lost, he fought hard and his loss was nothing to be ashamed of.

I had really looked forward to Kotonowaka vs Gonoyama.  I thought it would be a hard-fought battle between an on-his-way-to-becoming-Ozeki and a very promising up-and-comer, but it was anti-climactic as Kotonowaka made dispatching Gonoyama look easy.

Daieisho continued his winning record (12-7) against Asanoyama.  Daieisho had cupping on his back which I had never seen on him before.  Their bout was over in 2 blinks of an eye.

Wakamotoharu hasn't looked confident this basho.  I was glad to see Hoshoryu not playing any silly mind games today.  Hoshoryu won as I expected but that sure was a hard fall, one of several hard falls today.  I was pleased to see Hoshoryu showing concern for the possibly injured Wakamotoharu afterwards.

There was only one matta today (in Makuuchi) and it was the Nishikigi vs Kirishima bout.  Kirishima waltzed Nishikigi out quickly and easily.  Kirishima is looking good this basho.

I really didn't know what to expect between Takakeisho and Abi but I was hoping for a little more excitement. 

The highlights for me today were the Tsurugisho vs Hokuseiho and Takayasu vs Midorifuji bouts.  I love the element of surprise and I always love watching Midorifuji.

So now we've got a 4-way tie for first place with 6 others nipping at their heels.  Exciting but of course way too early to call.

Edited November 21, 2023 by sumojoann

[RabidJohn 1,849]

I don't know how someone Midorifuji's size can even resist someone Takayasu's size focusing on their neck like that. The kotenage the little guy came out with was fabulous.

The fact that 13-2 is now the best possible score doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm thoroughly enjoying the basho.

[Koorifuu 1,016]

5 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

Hoping for a serious Itchy bump- up if he continues to win. Then, we may have the matchup that ends all matchups.

If I got the other interested party correctly, then it looks like we might have that in Hatsu, as both are bound to meet somewhere in the middle.

[Hakuryuho 335]

2 hours ago, Hankegami said:

Kirishima likes to take his opponent from the back