Aki 2023 discussion (results)

[Bunbukuchagama 688]

Kirishima's shin-ozeki hangover is a bit too long.

[MrGrumpyGills 119]

It looks like Kirishima injured his left hand :/

[Akinomaki 39,770]

8 minutes ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

Kirishima's shin-ozeki hangover is a bit too long.

He shouldn't rely on coffee to regenerate youtube?v=cj_Yi-KvxZo

So Hoshoryu can well avoid kadoban and Kirishima may drop

[sumojoann 1,256]

Atamifuji looked awfully nervous leading up to his bout with Daieisho.  I had a feeling he would lose.  Daieisho looked very confident.

It looked like Kirishima may have injured his left hand ring finger and pinkie the way he continued to rub them for quite a while after the bout ended.

Tamawashi surprised me and maybe himself.  What an incredible bout!  It touched me how loud the spectators cheered for him after his win.

[dingo 1,160]

Looks like we're gonna have some excitement after all! Daieisho proved to be the sanyaku brake on Atamifuji that Tobizaru couldn't. With Takakeisho winning today, he's smelling the yusho opportunity and for sure will be extra motivated tomorrow against Atamifuji. I thought Kirishima could also have an outside chance but after today's loss surely not. 

Hokuseiho has improved in the second half of the basho. No more weird elbows-on-shoulders techniques, just getting his hands on the mawashi, digging in and using his height and weight advantages as much as he can. Almost like he woke up from hibernation before the basho and it took him a while to remember how this darn sumo thing is done.

Midorifuji is day by day working his way towards kachikoshi back from a precarious position. Gotta admire his perseverance and skill.

Great bout between Ura and Tsurugishou. Tsurugishou almost got Ura in the end as well but Ura had more experience with how to stay on top with this kind of dohyo-edge throws. Also very nice of Ura to hold Tsurugishou's sagari until the end.

Tamawashi! The ironman hasn't rusted completely this basho. Hopefully he can put it behind him and come back strong in November. Sumo needs guys like him.

Is Abi henkaing his way to sanyaku? Would be a shame if Nishikigi or Tobizaru would lose their spots for this kind of sumo.

The gyoji totally messed up Hokutofuji vs Onosho. Imo this is much worse than a bad shimpan call. In the latter case at least the rikishi had a chance to have a fair fight. I think the shimpan don't have the power to challenge a wrong matta call?

Man, there was just no good outcome on Takayasu vs Nishikigi. I wanted Takayasu to stay in the yusho running, but Nishikigi to avoid being on the edge of makekoshi and in danger of losing his hard earned komusubi rank. Similar feelings with Asanoyama vs Tobizaru as well. Being a sumo fan is tough sometimes. 

[MrGrumpyGills 119]

Hokuseihō has officially taken over the role of the Leaning Tower of Sumo from Ichinojō. I'm probably alone with this, but excessive leaning is one of the most annoying things in sumo to me, it just seems so lazy wearing down your opponent like that

[Yokozuna Hattorizakura 151]

Man is it sad to see Mitakeumi in the curtain jerking role today. Just a year ago was regularly wrestling the final match.

[Tochinofuji 372]

Great about between Ura and Tsurugisho. I must admit I was cheering for the latter, but great match regardless. I was surprised the kimarite wasn't called as a mitokorozeme given that Ura clearly went for the knee pick with his right hand as well while hooking with his leg and throwing at the belt. Would have been fun, as that's a rare one! 

[RabidJohn 1,663]

5 hours ago, dingo said:

The gyoji totally messed up Hokutofuji vs Onosho.

No, Hokutofuji totally messed up. You don't stop unless you're told to.

He's in good company; I'm sure I'm not the only one here who remembers Hakuho trying in vain to call a matta on his own bout.

[dingo 1,160]

49 minutes ago, RabidJohn said:

No, Hokutofuji totally messed up. You don't stop unless you're told to.

He's in good company; I'm sure I'm not the only one here who remembers Hakuho trying in vain to call a matta on his own bout.

I agree that Hokutofuji messed up as well, but it is the gyoji's job to stop a bout when the rikishi start out of sync. To me it seemed like Onosho started noticeably before Hokutofuji so the gyoji failed in his job too. 

[hakutorizakura 590]

7 hours ago, sumojoann said:

Tamawashi surprised me and maybe himself.  What an incredible bout!  It touched me how loud the spectators cheered for him after his win.

Could also be people are very happy he got his first win. I remember one basho Yoshikaze got a huge cheer after a win following 0-13 or something, he looked like he's going to cry  

I'm also very happy for Tamawashi, though that's a bit mean for them to match him up against Chiyosoma. I'm really sad that he finally has to give up his yokozuna bid 

[hakutorizakura 590]

1 hour ago, RabidJohn said:

No, Hokutofuji totally messed up. You don't stop unless you're told to.

He's in good company; I'm sure I'm not the only one here who remembers Hakuho trying in vain to call a matta on his own bout.

Also the image of Harumafuji helplessly tapping Kotoshogiku's back (while being bulldozed out) comes to mind.

[Sumo Spiffy 535]

The bizarre thing with Hokutofuji and Onosho is that the gyoji looked like the only person who thought it was a good start. Even Onosho hit pause before realizing the fight was on.

[Yamanashi 3,724]

7 hours ago, Yokozuna Hattorizakura said:

Man is it sad to see Mitakeumi in the curtain jerking role today. Just a year ago was regularly wrestling the final match.

OTOH, last Aki basho he was giving ground and getting thrown around (4-11).

After some glimpses of the old bulldozer in May, he looks more like the old Mitakeumi this basho.  Hope it continues.

[Kaninoyama 1,694]

How will the end of basho tragically unfold for Takayasu this time?

(Trying to set a reverse jinx into motion...)

Edited September 22, 2023 by Kaninoyama

[Asashosakari 18,786]

13 hours ago, dingo said:

The gyoji totally messed up Hokutofuji vs Onosho. Imo this is much worse than a bad shimpan call. In the latter case at least the rikishi had a chance to have a fair fight. I think the shimpan don't have the power to challenge a wrong matta call?

A head shimpan will occasionally raise his hand to call a matta that he thinks the gyoji missed. But that would be taking place immediately at the tachiai, not in the form of a mono-ii challenge. The other four shimpan don't have that power, if perhaps only for practical reasons (they're not sitting in the gyoji's line of sight like the main guy does).

[Morty 1,480]

On 20/09/2023 at 20:53, dingo said:

Dunno about intai, he can still survive in Juryo at least for a bit unless he gets injured. Whether he would want to is a different question. 

I guess it depends how much he loves sumo and wants to keep doing it. Once you hit that downward slide with a really banged up body it must be very tempting to say "that's enough" and to walk away and take a rest. I'm assuming he isn't set up to stay in sumo after he retires though? So it would be a major lifestyle change.

And with this post I noticed we both have exactly 1047 posts on the forum . I was one behind but this brings us level.

 

[Asashosakari 18,786]

20 minutes ago, Morty said:

I guess it depends how much he loves sumo and wants to keep doing it. Once you hit that downward slide with a really banged up body it must be very tempting to say "that's enough" and to walk away and take a rest. I'm assuming he isn't set up to stay in sumo after he retires though? So it would be a major lifestyle change.

I think the default assumption at this point is that he's aiming to become oyakata.

Personally, I don't really see Aoiyama hang up his mawashi just because juryo beckons. The salary's still better down there than that of an entry-level oyakata, and I don't get the "ready to move on" vibe from him at this stage yet. His style of sumo doesn't strike me as the type that's likely to fall of the cliff anyway like, say, that of pure pushers who after losing strength sometimes just get plain incapable of driving any opponent backwards, becoming sitting ducks. For a guy as tall as Aoiyama, his hybrid push-pull sumo ought to be effective for a while longer, barring something like a severe deterioration of his legs.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 18,786]

Today's jonokuchi schedule is...something.

Jk20e   Yoshinofuji (0-0-6)                     Jk19w   Higohikari (0-6)
Jk17e   Kyokushori (0-0-6)                      Jk19e   Sadanojo (0-0-6)
Jk18w   Oyamazakura (5-1)                       Jk13w   Suio (5-1)
Jk10e   Fujihara (0-0-6)                        Jk16e   Wakaikki (0-0-6)

[Reonito 1,335]

3 minutes ago, Asashosakari said:

Today's jonokuchi schedule is...something.

Jk20e   Yoshinofuji (0-0-6)                     Jk19w   Higohikari (0-6)
Jk17e   Kyokushori (0-0-6)                      Jk19e   Sadanojo (0-0-6)
Jk18w   Oyamazakura (5-1)                       Jk13w   Suio (5-1)
Jk10e   Fujihara (0-0-6)                        Jk16e   Wakaikki (0-0-6)

Where's Shonanzakura when you need him?

[Seiyashi 4,071]

35 minutes ago, Reonito said:

40 minutes ago, Asashosakari said:

Today's jonokuchi schedule is...something.

Jk20e   Yoshinofuji (0-0-6)                     Jk19w   Higohikari (0-6)
Jk17e   Kyokushori (0-0-6)                      Jk19e   Sadanojo (0-0-6)
Jk18w   Oyamazakura (5-1)                       Jk13w   Suio (5-1)
Jk10e   Fujihara (0-0-6)                        Jk16e   Wakaikki (0-0-6)

Where's Shonanzakura when you need him?

Even if he were still around, you're not getting 6 of him in 3 days. Should have asked them to come back a bit earlier, eh? Then you add one more bout and Shonanzakura can have the distinction of a 0-15 without ever touching sekitorihood.

[Bunbukuchagama 688]

Makushita play-offs incoming! 

[Jakusotsu 5,806]

Asahakuryu did it. Fun times ahead on Senshuraku.

[Bunbukuchagama 688]

Takeruhenka.

[Asashosakari 18,786]

39 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

Asahakuryu did it. Fun times ahead on Senshuraku.

With added suspense of who actually shows up... Onojo, who won the first 5-1 pairing, didn't escape his match unscathed. At first I thought he might have hurt his left arm as his body came down hard on it, but he eventually managed to stand up without favouring it. Instead his left eye looked very bad, apparently his face crashed into the angled side of the dohyo. I hope it's just a bad bruise and not an orbital socket fracture, concussion or anything severe like that. At any rate, they brought out the wheelchair and he took it back down the hanamichi after he managed to walk the handful of steps towards it under his own power.