Long Kachikoshi Streaks - Hatsu 2025

[Asashosakari 20,195]

Day 13

And if you thought the preceding post involved a whole lot of words for something that might be decided very quickly, you were completely right: The first LKS-relevant bout of the day saw 21-year-old Ienoshima drop to makekoshi, which eliminated all contenders bar ryafuji and Sakura. Dewataikai also found himself MK about 20 minutes later.

Off-ballot, the day saw sandanme tsukedashi Okaryu clinch his fifth KK, while ozeki Kotozakura fell to makekoshi for the first time in three years. That put the tie-breaker score out of Sakura's reach, so the LKS yusho was now down solely to Hoshoryu's final result. On this day he kept his (and ryafuji's) chances alive by defeating fellow ozeki Onosato for his 10th win.
 

Day 13: 13/14 Decisions, TB 12-14
Pos	Player	Pts	TB
1	Sakura	11	15
2	ryafuji	10	14
3	Oskanohana	9	12
4	chishafuwaku	8	13
5	Holleshoryu	8	12
6	Bunbukuchagama	8	16
7	Asashosakari	7	13
7	WAKATAKE	7	13
9	Profomisakari	7	14
10	Athenayama	7	17
10	Jejima	7	16
10	Ryoshishokunin	7	15
13	Hakuryuho	5	14
14	Fashiritētā	4	14

 

[Asashosakari 20,195]

Day 14

No decision yet, as Hoshoryu marched on to 11-3 keeping his 12-win target record in range. The last off-ballot decision ended with another makekoshi, so 33-year-old veteran Ryuseiyama missed out on what would have been his first 5-KK streak ever, and he won't be joining us for Haru.

Day 15

And finally, the musubi no ichiban saw ozeki Hoshoryu defeat Kotozakura, ultimately leading to a stunning come-from-behind championship via playoff and yokozuna promotion three days later.

The LKS yusho came down to a playoff as well after both contenders had missed with their TB predictions, and ryafuji prevailed on the first bracket thanks to the trust he had placed in Hoshoryu. Congrats! Sakura finishes yusho-doten, all other players ended up at least two points behind the leading duo.

Last not least, senshuraku also saw komusubi Wakatakakage drop to MK, so we're losing two sanyaku-ranked rikishi from the game at once.

The final standings:

Day 15: 14/14 Decisions, TB 12
Pos	Player	Pts	TB
1	ryafuji	11	14
2	Sakura	11	15
3	Oskanohana	9	12
4	Holleshoryu	8	12
5	Bunbukuchagama	8	16
5	chishafuwaku	8	13
5	Profomisakari	8	14
5	WAKATAKE	8	13
9	Asashosakari	7	13
9	Athenayama	7	17
9	Jejima	7	16
9	Ryoshishokunin	7	15
13	Hakuryuho	6	14
14	Fashiritētā	5	14

Holleshoryu and Oskanohana pick up the TB bonus point.

The new ballot for Haru 2025:

 1. Hoshoryu       19
    Kotozakura     17
 2. Onosato        11*
    Wakatakakage    7
 3. Aonishiki       8*
    Gyokuozan       6
    Kaiseijo        5
 4. Tochimaru       6
    Matsui          5*
 5. Inami           6*
    Dewataikai      5
    Ienoshima       5
 6. Daieisho        5
    Hatsuyama       4
 7. Kusano          5*
 8. Takakento       5
 9. Okaryu          5*
10. Noda            5*
11. Mishima         5
12. Yurikisho       5
---
13. Hakuoho         4

A slightly shorter ballot, but plenty of topics of interest with a shin-yokozuna, Aonishiki's first major test (maybe?) and Kusano's sekitori debut. Plus Hakuoho's first proper appearance in LKS - he was previously set to be part of the Aki 2023 ballot after his fourth kachikoshi, but this turned out to be the start of his injury setbacks and he missed that basho entirely.

The three rikishi who are joining with 5 KKs without being rookies are, not so coincidentally, all working their way back from multiple tournaments missed with injury as well.

Edited March 2 by Asashosakari

[Asashosakari 20,195]

Scores for banzuke purposes:

ryafuji 12 (11+Top)
Sakura 12 (11+Top)
Oskanohana 10 (9+TB)
Holleshoryu 9 (8+TB)
Bunbukuchagama 8
chishafuwaku 8
Profomisakari 8
WAKATAKE 8
Asashosakari 7
Athenayama 7
Jejima 7
Ryoshishokunin 7
Hakuryuho 6
Fashiritētā 5

Total: 114 / 14 = 8.14 ---> no adjustment

A bit lucky for the 8-point crowd, but it would be silly to do a score reduction here.

The banzuke for Haru 2025:

chishafuwaku (Ye 8-7)    Y   ---
Oskanohana (O2w 10-5)    O1  Holleshoryu (O1w 9-6)
Yarimotsu (O1e kosho)    O2  Sakura (K2e 12-3 D)
ryafuji (Sw 12-3 Y)      S   Bunbukuchagama (K1w 8-7)
Profomisakari (M1e 8-7)  K   Asashosakari (Se 7-8)
WAKATAKE (M2w 8-7)       M1  Ryoshishokunin (K1e 7-8)
Athenayama (M1w 7-8)     M2  Jejima (M3w 7-8)
Hakuryuho (M2e 6-9)      M3  Fashiritētā (M3e 5-10)

Speaking of silly, yes, I know that looks weird with Sakura at ozeki and ryafuji at sekiwake, but Sakura's previous results were yusho in Aki + kosho in Kyushu, so that's effectively back-to-back top scores which is always good enough for promotion to ozeki, and ryafuji is now on a more standard run for Haru with a third-place result from Kyushu plus the Hatsu yusho (Aki was a makekoshi, so no help there).

This is Sakura's second stint as LKS ozeki, her first one came back in 2018 and sadly lasted just four basho.

Kachikoshi for yokozuna chishafuwaku, a welcome improvement over last basho's MK. Oskanohana was kadoban entering this tournament and cleared his name with ease, while Yarimotsu, the Kyushu champion, will have his tsunatori carried over to Haru basho. Ryoshishokunin was up for promotion to ozeki as the Kyushu doten runner-up, but unfortunately went makekoshi.

Edited March 2 by Asashosakari