Jakusotsu 6,009 Posted January 17 13 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said: Now that was a torinaoshi you don't see very often. Indeed. I guess Asahiyama will be grilled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hankegami 537 Posted January 17 (edited) Well, a good Day 6 to everyone. Also, welcome to the official post-Terunofuji era. It didn't even start that bad, unless you're Kotozakura. The arasoi is like many expected it to be yesterday, barring Tamawashi losing to what used to be a fading Takarafuji. Kingbozan keeps mopping the floor with the lower Makuuchi, soon reached by Chiyoshoma and especially a gigantic Oho. Taiho's grandson is really something else this basho, manhandling Tobizaru the slayer. He's also the first to be tested of the leaders, being paired against Hoshoryu tomorrow. Talking about the Nephew, he looked careful today. No shitatenage to be seen, just some pushes, a firm double grip on the belt, and there he went sending Gonoyama out with ease. It looks that someone got the memo of using both hands instead of playing brilliant. Oho vs. Hoshoryu will probably give us a hint about the most likely Yusho winner. The former is in an unprecedented shape this basho, but the latter has something very, very important to get - or to lose. Their H2H surprisingly favors Oho 5-3, although the Nephew in the Yusho hunt won their last encounter. This is another reason why I think this match will show whether Hoshoryu is serious about winning this Cup or not. The rest of the runner-up groups alongside Hoshoryu includes Tamawashi and Takerufuji. I am somewhat surprised by Tamawashi's loss, but I guess that old friends (Takarafuji) know you best also. The Truck (M11w) is running over the mid-lower Makuuchi much like Kinbozan (M14w). I look forward for the match between the two of them. Unfortunately, Takerufuji is hitting up the M9 right now, while Kinbozan is given the bottom ranks to eat up first. He has yet to face Hakuoho (M15e) before climbing up and hitting the M12 and thereafter - hopefully - the M11. Now, let's talk about the other Ozeki. Kotozakura should go kyujo, that's not just a mental issue here. He used to make short work of Atamifuji, but today was overpowered by him twice, and this despite a second chance he got from a lucky torinaoshi call (never witnessed such a technicality). Onosato apparently rediscovered lateral movements today. I was certain for a second he was going to facepalm as per usual, but this time he followed Shodai and finished his work properly. Sure, Shodai is much of a basic crash test, but it's still a good sign. Finally, a few notes about my faves. The WakaBros didn't play in sync today. Wakatakakage went for a hanka on Abi (sorry but not sorry), while Wakamotoharu still does not look good. Given how many losses is racking up, he should seriously consider to go kyujo and recover from whatever he got. Also, Kirishima went back to his 2023 antics. Never played Daieisho this way after that. I'm glad Kirby is back in shape, but... still a bummer. Edited January 17 by Hankegami 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Koorifuu 1,004 Posted January 17 "I'm going down... but you're coming with me." 1 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
junsan 193 Posted January 17 Kotozakura is definitely hiding an injury. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RabidJohn 1,829 Posted January 17 6 minutes ago, junsan said: Kotozakura is definitely hiding an injury. It could simply be too much celebrating of his hatsu yusho leaving him out of condition. It happens quite frequently. Just look at Onosato's post-yusho results. Hoshoryu's at an advantage in this regard: he's tsunatori without having had to do the rounds that usually follow a yusho. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 (edited) 11 hours ago, Hankegami said: a second chance he got from a lucky torinaoshi call (never witnessed such a technicality). The only other time I saw this (I think with Harumafuji), it had some influence on the bout, the one who lost noticed the hand and stopped to resist. This time it was behind Kotozakura's back, neither of the rikishi would notice it, nor did the gyoji stop the bout - complete bureaucratic nonsense. 12 hours ago, Jakusotsu said: Indeed. I guess Asahiyama will be grilled. ex-Kotonoshiki should be suspended from shimpan duty - for disturbing the NHK schedule (I wonder if the NSK has to pay a penalty per minute for an extension of the program), but maybe he gets away with only a reprimand and there is no pay deduction and demotion to a lower oyakata rank. Edited January 17 by Akinomaki 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamanashi 3,876 Posted January 17 14 hours ago, Gurowake said: One possibility is that people are finally figuring out how to beat him. Yeah, people are apparently listening to his interviews where he describes his weaknesses and discusses how to beat him. I thought rikishi were supposed to be all cryptic and stoic. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingo 1,272 Posted January 17 Takarafuji has probably fought Tamawashi so many times that both know each other's sumo inside out. Maybe that made Takarafuji more likely to give Tamawashi his first loss. Or maybe he just caught Tamawashi when he's starting to lose his so far incredible momentum. Either way good bout by Takarafuji. Roga is wholly ineffective. Henka coming soon... Ichiyamamoto totally did an obvious matta, amazingly Endo reacted quickly enough to jump out of the way and deny Ichiyamamoto the advantage he got from the sleeping gyoji. Noone ringside even batted an eye. The slippery Tobizaru did everything he could to escape Oho's onslaught but Oho never lost him from his sight and followed until Tobizaru had nowhere to go. Another impressive victory by the surging Oho. He's doing so well but I'm really hoping for even more. I don't think Abi can complain today as he's been the one doling out henka from time to time. Justice served in a way? I guess Wakatakakage did what he felt was necessary to bolster his win count and confidence. Wakamotoharu perhaps would've been better off following his brother's example and going for a henka. It's simply not clicking for him this basho. I guess Takanosho could say the same but at least he got the win today. OK, this is not Kotozakura having nerves or pressure or too much sake celebrating his yusho. This looks more like Kotozakura needing to go kyujo and fix whatever is wrong. No way he's not hiding some kind of physical issue. Onosato's sumo doesn't exactly inspire confidence these days either, but at least he won today, though Shodai was in prime position for one of his last gasp tawara throws. But let's not be too harsh on Onosato, he's a new ozeki and needs some adjustment time in that rank. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamanashi 3,876 Posted January 17 How did things work out so that Mitakeumi and Chiyoshoma had never met before day 6 Hatsu 2025? Aonishiki looks surprisingly savvy for a foreign newbie to the sport. I'm guessing Ajigawa is dumping out the whole bag of tricks for his students to learn. Kotonowaka looks like he's just weak, not injured. Diabetes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hakutorizakura 637 Posted January 17 1 hour ago, Yamanashi said: How did things work out so that Mitakeumi and Chiyoshoma had never met before day 6 Hatsu 2025? I'm wondering the same thing. Maybe in the past they wanted to avoid any possible disaster to the ringside folks if Mita gets henkaed... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hankegami 537 Posted January 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, Yamanashi said: How did things work out so that Mitakeumi and Chiyoshoma had never met before day 6 Hatsu 2025? Do you want a serious answer? Long story short, Mitakeumi had been a joy regular from Nagoya 2016 down to Natsu 2023, while Chiyoshoma reached the joy only once in his entire career, in Natsu 2017 (M2w). Also, Chiyoshoma was still in Makushita when Mitakeumi was promoted to Makuuchi after Aki 2015, so they were never in Juryo together. Again, Chiyoshoma was in Juryo (J3w) when Mitakeumi first hit the joy (M1e) in Nagoya 2016, never to leave the top brass before recently. Hence, Natsu 2017 was the only previous occasion in which they could have been paired against each other, since Mitakeumi himself was ranked K1e in that tournament. However, their match was scrapped because Mitakeumi, as a Komusubi, was called to face all the upper san'yaku (10 people). He finished his round of beating only after Day 12 with a 6-6 score, after which he was given people with a similar score in his last days (Mita Natsu 2017). In the meanwhile, Chiyoshoma was taking a serious beating and entered Day 13 (Mita's first free day in a while) already with a MK (Shoma Natsu 2017). He was handed out to K1w Yoshikaze on Day 13, and then left to play with with fellow losers down the banzuke. Also, this is the first time ever Chiyoshoma (M5w) outranks Mitakeumi (M7w). He had always been behind him since the beginning (Mita started at M10TD in Haru 2015, where Chiyoshoma was down to Ms30w). This tell volumes about their stories. Edited January 17 by Hankegami 4 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gurowake 4,092 Posted January 17 (edited) They could easily have met in Aki 2023 - M11 and M15. Most matches between double digit maegashira end up happening due to the effect of the division border, but that particular one didn't. They weren't close enough to be matched in the earlier going, and Chiyoshoma ended up doing terribly so when he might have been matched against Mitakeumi he instead got higher-ranked rikishi doing poorly. In Aki 2021 and Hatsu 2021 when Chiyoshoma was M5 previously, Mitakeumi would have faced him if they went only by rank, but instead faced rikishi who were lower-ranked and doing better. Chiyoshoma was also M5 back near the time he made it to the joi in 2017, but that was when there were 7 Y+O so the sanyaku matches didn't go down nearly as far as they would starting a few years later. Edited January 17 by Gurowake 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubinhaad 11,731 Posted January 17 Great effort from Yamada, but just not quite enough to overcome Kyonosato's defiant resistance. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 6 hours ago, Akinomaki said: The only other time I saw this (I think with Harumafuji), it had some influence on the bout, the one who lost noticed the hand and stopped to resist. Found a mention of it - Hatsu 2013, but not the details. At that time the shimpan still knew that this is not a tori-naoshi and properly called it a yari-naoshi, scrap it and do it all over again. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tigerboy1966 1,452 Posted January 17 14 minutes ago, Akinomaki said: At that time the shimpan still knew that this is not a tori-naoshi and properly called it a yari-naoshi There is always a word for it!. I understood that a "tori-naoshi" was strictly for "too close to call" incidents and what happened today was definitely not that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 36 minutes ago, Akinomaki said: Found a mention of it - Hatsu 2013, but not the details. At that time the shimpan still knew that this is not a tori-naoshi and properly called it a yari-naoshi, scrap it and do it all over again. The news posted some details, I mentioned it Hatsu 2013, but the thing was Kyushu 2012, Harumafuji-Goeido http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOKC17CT50X10C25A1000000/ - no mention of the yarinaoshi decision in the discussion thread then Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jabbamaru 167 Posted January 17 How many wins Hoshoryu needs to be yok? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 7 minutes ago, Jabbamaru said: How many wins Hoshoryu needs to be yok? He needs the yusho or has to win the rest - but a 13-2D with excellent sumo the remaining days might also just be enough now that there is no yokozuna any more . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 (edited) 7 hours ago, Akinomaki said: The only other time I saw this (I think with Harumafuji), it had some influence on the bout, the one who lost noticed the hand and stopped to resist. This time it was behind Kotozakura's back, neither of the rikishi would notice it, nor did the gyoji stop the bout Actually Kotozakura noticed it, Inosuke didn't call "shobu ari", but pointed to Atamifuji's side while Kotozakura was in the process of being forced out o o o o no influence on the result, but one could say that Kotozakura thought he already stepped out and stopped resisting at that point Edited January 17 by Akinomaki 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asashosakari 19,542 Posted January 17 (edited) 1 hour ago, Akinomaki said: The news posted some details, I mentioned it Hatsu 2013, but the thing was Kyushu 2012, Harumafuji-Goeido http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOKC17CT50X10C25A1000000/ - no mention of the yarinaoshi decision in the discussion thread then Not in that exact word, but there's quite some discussion starting here. 54 minutes ago, Akinomaki said: He needs the yusho or has to win the rest - but a 13-2D with excellent sumo the remaining days might also just be enough now that there is no yokozuna any more . A playoff loss to someone that's not an ozeki or yokozuna would be a rather terrible look, wouldn't it? Edited January 17 by Asashosakari 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,673 Posted January 17 23 minutes ago, Asashosakari said: Not in that exact word, but there's quite some discussion starting here. I'm sure I posted the details about calling it a yari-naoshi in that thread - one of the many posts that went into the void - else I wouldn't have just mentioned it that way in the Hatsu 2013 thread Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oskanohana 283 Posted January 17 9 hours ago, Akinomaki said: ex-Kotonoshiki should be suspended from shimpan duty - for disturbing the NHK schedule (I wonder if the NSK has to pay a penalty per minute for an extension of the program), but maybe he gets away with only a reprimand and there is no pay deduction and demotion to a lower oyakata rank. 14 hours ago, Jakusotsu said: Indeed. I guess Asahiyama will be grilled. So KOTO-nishiki botched a call in favour of KOTO-nowakazakura. Hmmm...I wonder.... On happier news, Chiyoshoma absolutely demolished and rolled the most accomplished active rikishi on the current banzuke while Tamashoho awkwardly won against Shonannoumi so the WCP (Wackiness Conservation Principle) holds true. Maybe that's why Yago came back from injury. He's needed as a wacky back-up to keep the universe from collapsing on itself. 12 hours ago, Koorifuu said: "I'm going down... but you're coming with me." Yeah, I saw that too. If the extra shove is a dame-oshi, how do we call that, a dame-tottari? Oh, Hakuyozan, you magnificent bastard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reonito 1,484 Posted January 17 1 hour ago, Asashosakari said: A playoff loss to someone that's not an ozeki or yokozuna would be a rather terrible look, wouldn't it? Given the scores after 6 days, and all the matchups to come, it seems pretty unlikely that if he can get to 13, that won't be enough for an outright yusho. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaninoyama 1,808 Posted January 18 Is a 12-3 yusho enough for a promotion? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reonito 1,484 Posted January 18 14 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said: Is a 12-3 yusho enough for a promotion? Normally, I'd say 13-2 J 12-3 Y seems likely to be denied, but under the current circumstances, I'd bet yes. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
