Aki 2025 discussions (results)

[Oskanohana 357]

I hated with all my being the decision on Hokutenkai-Kaigo in mid makushita. Kaigo drags the top of his foot and the start of his leg down the dohyo well before Hokutenkai touches or can be considered out of play. To top it all of, Hokutenkai's hand goes down just for safety and to avoid damage for both (and still it's much later than Kaigo's infringement). You'd better stop the fall with your head, you gutless coward, that's how we do things around here.

On the 2nd to last bout of makushita, I think the announcers made a mistake. They said Shimanoumi was fighting and they guy looked like him, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the impostor wasn't wearing a red mawashi. I didn't see Shimanoumi in juryo though, so maybe he's been awarded a kosho, despite that system being over for 20 years. He deserves it.

On juryo, Daiseizan, despite being big, strong and fairly impressive these last tournaments, has been ruled unfit for promotion to makuuchi by The Great One, who pointed that out by winning for just the second time in his last 20 matches. That's a signal from Him if I ever saw one.

[Benihana 1,965]

When facing Ura, you have to expect the unexpected, even a proper mawashi battle. I love that boy.

Aonishiki continues to impress. All in all a very good day of sumo.

[RabidJohn 2,042]

Onosato's lower body stability is fantastic. That's the division's two best nodowa proponents getting a good hold and giving it their best shot, and he does not move from the hips down.
Almost frightening power in the thrust that sent Abi flying, too. I love it!

Hoshoryu seems to be doing sensible sumo this time, which I like. The old HNH today was a great option.

Aonishiki beating Kotozakura doesn't feel like an upset to me.

[Jyuunomori 238]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it is Abi, flying out of the dohyo!

Onosato may be a little bit strong.

Ura is doing great sumo this tournament. Just stellar work.

Aonishiki is being Aonishiki, consistent and good. There is once again like 2 or 3 people (Hoshoryu, Takayasu and Kirishima) who should completely outclass him by either skill or experience and be able to defeat him (Onosato already did so he doesn't count) so he should hit 10 wins, although he realistically can get like 11 or more because he can beat all three and somehow will lose to Kusano and Kotoshoho. (as he did last basho).

Edited September 16 by Jyuunomori

[Hankegami 595]

Good Day 3, everyone! Sorry for missing the first two days of daily comment, but I fear I'm going to show up only occasionally this basho. Anyway, here's my impressions from the first three days:

Shishi is not performing that bad from M18e. After his awful showing in Natsu and quite fortunate 7-8 (with even a freebie) in Nagoya, I feel he's performing decently now. I'm not saying he's going places, but he looks like he will save his Makuuchi spot for Kyushu if he keeps going around this level.

Mitakeumi finally cashed in a win today. Everyone stressed how his recent personal loss and mourning would likely lead to an awful performance, but I didn't see Mita(*old - we got another Mita as of late) wrestling this bad over the last three days. Just unable to finish his work properly. I have the impression he's not set up for a disaster basho despite everything.

Daieisho is clearly under-performing instead. Everyone was expecting him to make a bloodbath of mid-lower Makuuchi, but the opposite is now a possibility. I guess his injuries have not fully healed yet.

Kusano does not look on his way to another wonder basho. I read around he's likely carrying an injury - possible. However, today's win shows that his strength is still there, and that he can perfectly pull a KK from his current position.

I'm getting good vibes from Atamifuji despite his current 1-2 showing. Today he clearly lost the tachi-ai to Kirishima, but he put up a great fight against Aonishiki yesterday. In general, I feel like he's moving better than in the past. I am expecting a satisfactory basho from him.

Now, Aonishiki. The kid just doesn't slow down. He has a long way ahead before figuring out Onosato - you know, the top dog in the tour right now -, but he's proving day after day that his sumo is san'yaku material at the least. His fight against Atamifuji yesterday was most marvelous, and showed what an insane lower body strength he got. As about today, he wonderfully dispatched an actually remarkable Kotozakura. The sole Ozeki has looked his best since Kyushu 2024 in the first two days, so his loss today might say more about Aonishiki than Kotozakura himself. I am positive that KZK might be set for something (far?) more than an 8-7 this time around.

Wakatakakage looks like he wants to stay Sekiwake instead. 1-2 is not exactly a good start for a 10+ total. However, WTK has always been a rather erratic wrestler, and he has already provided several instances of going on winning streaks after a mediocre start (07.2025 [2-3 > 10-5]; 11.2024 [3-2 > 10-5]; 09.2022 [2-3 > 11-4], etc). He's also infamous for setting on a 9-6 much too often, though. Kirishima looks good. I think he's set for his usual good basho of his post-Ozeki Kirby Cycle (8-7, 12-3J, 6-9, 11-4, 8-7, 11-4, 8-7, 3-0 and going).

Finally, the Yokozuna. This basho looks juicy. Hoshoryu is clearly eager to perform well. He honored Hakuoho with a master-class HNH and got his 3-0 opening. Nephew didn't start with three straight wins since his Yok run in 11.2024 / 01.2025. Onosato is brutal. Stupid strong. The main quest for Aki is stopping him from getting a zensho, I think.

Edited September 16 by Hankegami

[warusawa 23]

Aonishiki outthrusted Kotozakura from the center of the ring. A much bigger man. Didn't even have to reach into his bag of tricks. I want to see Aonishiki-Ura this basho!

[Andreas21 219]

How about 14-0 / 14-0 Yokozuna showdown on Senshūraku ?

[Sumo Spiffy 652]

1 hour ago, Andreas21 said:

How about 14-0 / 14-0 Yokozuna showdown on Senshūraku ?

Let's let Hoshoryu get past Abi first.

[dingo 1,471]

A few close calls today, but the shimpan got them right this time. 

Last basho's wonder rikishi seem quite usual this time around, but no wonder since they're all facing tougher opponents. Today Kotoshoho looked fairly good but it's too early to say if he'll perform as well as last basho. I'm still sceptical. 

I think Abi's sideways movement made him a bit lighter and exaggerated Onosato's push a bit. So I don't think he's actually that strong to send everyone flying with what looked like a normal push. But his strength is still incredible. 

Like others, I'm not seeing Kotozakura's loss to Aonishiki as anything unusual, especially considering the ozeki's recent shape. The next few days will show how Kotozakura will take that loss and if he can carry on doing the same sumo as on the first two days. 

[Octofuji 422]

7 hours ago, Hankegami said:

The sole Ozeki has looked his best since Kyushu 2024 in the first two days, so his loss today might say more about Aonishiki than Kotozakura himself.

Kotozakura was trying a very different style of sumo to his usual so I'm not surprised he wasn't very good at it. What it says about Aonishiki to me is that even the best belt guys are scared of taking him on. Now Kotozakura's got that out of the way hopefully he'll go back to how he started the basho.

[RabidJohn 2,042]

18 hours ago, Andreas21 said:

How about 14-0 / 14-0 Yokozuna showdown on Senshūraku ?

Nope! I'd be very surprised if Hoshoryu can remain loss-less, either. That was a well-earned kinboshi for Hakuoho.

[Hankegami 595]

Good Day 4! A few pleasing surprises today.

I'm starting to think the other wrestlers have decided to use Aonishiki's low stance against him. Low stances are usually good in sumo, but for two days in a row Aonishiki was floored first - he got a torinaoshi against Atamifuji, and got a loss against Oho today. Of course, Oho's throw was beautiful - but it was also caused by Aonishiki failing to raise Oho's leg, and the latter taking advantage of his higher position to put his weight on the Ukrainian. No drama yet, but perhaps Aonishiki will not get a hand as easy as in the previous tournaments.

Wakatakakage and Kotozakura both won today, but I will wait some more time to understand how far they can go this tournament.

Hakuoho's win was a thing of wonder - Onosato is no pushover. I am worried about him touching his biceps over and over after the match, though.

Now, the arasoi leaders. Hoshoryu got an easy one - Abi has issues with his arms, most clearly. Anyway, a win is a win, and a pattern is a pattern. The Nephew didn't go 4-0 since his Yok run, so it looks promising. However, he also started 4-0 in 2023.11 & 2024.01 (10-5 final) and 2023.01 (8-7). This was another Hoshoryu, though - perhaps. Kirishima also got an easy one on washed Gonoyama and upped to 4-0. Kirby is another one with mixed precedents, even more than Hoshoryu. Just saying, he went 4-0 also last basho, only to finish 8-7. However, he also started 4-0 in 2024.09 (12-3J) - but his previous post was back in 2021.09 (9-6). Interestingly, neither of Kirishima's two yusho was a byproduct of a 4-0 start (started 3-1 in both instances). 

Interestingly enough, there is no dark horse challenger at this point of the basho. A lot of people in the lower Makuuchi got 3-1, but no 4-0 on sight. Well, things can change fast this early in the tournament. For example, Atamifuji vs. Hoshoryu could be more problematic than it seems for the Yokozuna. They have a most surprisingly 5-3 precedent, with 4-1 in their last five encounters. Onosato vs. Oho is another interesting match. Precedents are 4-3, but 1-3 in their last four. Finally, another great Day 5 match is Aonishiki vs. Kirishima. They have met only once - last tournament - and also last time was on Day 5 with Kirishima coming from a 4-0 partial. Aonishiki, of course, uchimuso'd Kirishima. Will Aminishiki's golden boy repeat himself?

Edited September 17 by Hankegami

[dingo 1,471]

Solid belt sumo by Shonannoumi, reacting well to Shishi's weak henka attempt. Now why didn't Shonannoumi do the same against Asakoryu two days ago is a mystery.

I like what I've seen from Sadanoumi this far. With the exception of his first day loss, he seems re-energised and stronger than last time. If things click, he still has the ability to cause trouble for at least half of makuuchi. 

Seems Daieisho was a bit early to return to makuuchi action, as his sumo is far away from his usual. Perhaps he calculated it would be better to grab at least a few wins instead of sitting out the basho completely. Fingers crossed that the toll the basho takes on his body is not such that the end result is worse than healing for another basho...

Nice first win for Fujinokawa, not giving up his pushing attacks in the face of a bigger opponent and not resorting to pulls. A well earned win, hopefully that'll be encouraging for him.

Oho had been fairly subdued, even unimpressive for the first three days but compensated today with a beautiful throw against Aonishiki. Oho kept his body moving and thus didn't let Aonishiki settle in to his own rhythm, and the throw came too fast to counter. Impressive, now if only Oho could replicate that for the rest of the basho...

Wakatakakage vs Takayasu is one of those pairings for me where both of them are so likeable that I really would like both to get a win. However sumo is a zero-sum game. This time Takayasu is still winless (never a good sign) so Wakatakakage getting the upper hand in their bout pretty fast was not surprising. I wonder how long Takayasu will remain in the basho if he won't get a few wins soon.

Kirishima dropped Gonoyama so matter-of-factly that you've got to wonder if he had something more important to do today :D Kirishima hasn't skipped a beat this basho and at this point is looking like a very strong yusho contender.

Kotozakura couldn't have hoped for an easier win as Tamawashi basically ran out by himself. Seems like a perfect break for the ozeki after his first loss yesterday. I'm sure Kotozakura is harbouring high ambitions this basho, lets see how he manages to take them forward.

Wow, is Hakuoho turning into Onosato's nemesis? Though this time Onosato managed to get himself back into the bout after an initial scare. But he forgot to follow up his final push with his feet and gave off a too easy victory for Hakuoho. Somehow again a rookie mistake that just shows how short is Onosato's sumo career so far.

Hoshoryu on the other hand did not leave any space for mistakes as Abi basically presented himself after miserably failing to henka the yokozuna. Don't know what Abi was thinking as Hoshoryu is one of the better henka-readers and counterers. As for Hoshoryu, even though he looks very good so far, somehow I don't get the vibe that he'll go undefeated so I'm betting things will get interesting soon.

[Oskanohana 357]

What impressed me most about Hakuoho's first ascension was his ability to stabilize any situation and slowly grind his way to the belt and outmaneuver people without being that big or heavy in the first place, he's average-size at best for a rikishi.

I was so sad to see him fight constantly injured for a couple of years. I cannot be happier seeing him now charging full on against Onosato, probably knowing that the passive approach won't work at all against a force of nature. I think he has the best sumo-brain, by far, of all the rikishi. I just hope he can keep himself healthy.

[Kotogouryuu 143]

Many seem to wonder why Onosato lunged at Hakuoho so recklessly, but I'm going to give him a bit of a break here. His style is very much power, and he needs his feet planted for that. He tried several times during the match, but Hakuoho just wouldn't let him get this bearings. When Onosato got Hakuoho on the edge, I can understand he didn't stop to stabilize himself but just pushed. 

[Andreas21 219]

On 16/09/2025 at 17:27, Andreas21 said:

How about 14-0 / 14-0 Yokozuna showdown on Senshūraku ?

Yeah, that didn't age well. And so did this:

On 12/09/2025 at 12:33, Andreas21 said:

I go for Daieisho-Onosato in a 12-3 playoff for the Yusho.

[Akinomaki 41,701]

Onosato is 1-5 on days 4 since ozeki promotion - he doesn't think it's a day of evil 魔の4日目 for him though  o

Hoshoryu was on a 5 basho losing streak to Abi, the last 2 with kinboshi, but "I didn't care about that, I focused and did it."  o

Tamawashi collapsed into the hanamichi after he stumbled from the dohyo and it took a while to get up again. Kotozakura came to check on him, but he stood up as if nothing happened.  o - he wasn't kyujo at the jungyo for nothing though, it doesn't look like he'll be still in makuuchi at age 42 (he turns 41 during the Kyushu basho)

Edited September 17 by Akinomaki

[Kintamayama 47,101]

During the first half of the Makuuchi bout between Churanoumi and Mitakeumi, a "matta" was called. Churanoumi pulled Mitakeumi's mawashi with his left hand, causing it  to loosen, 27 seconds into the bout. Makuuchi gyoji Shikimori Kindayuu simultaneously touched both rikishi's bodies to call the "matta." Kindayuu skillfully re-tightened Mitakeumi's mawashi, and then Churanoumi's. The match resumed quickly, and Churanoumi, who had his head inside, won by yorikiri. Kindayuu was humble, saying, "I knew right away that the  mawashi had loosened. I lose strength with age, so the knot felt tight," but his deft movements ensured no confusion. More importantly, while he was waiting dohyo-side, Asakouryuu fell on him and hit him directly on his left foot, causing him to chuckle and say with a wry smile, "That hurt more..."

Edited September 17 by Kintamayama

[Benihana 1,965]

Takarafuji is 1-3 from J12e. Looks like we might lose him very soon. He needs 1 more basho to complete the 100 (incl. maezumo). He's one of the few who didn't sit out a single day in their career and he's now at 1387 consecutive bouts. I hope he'll find the strenght to cling to juryo for one more basho, but i fear it's over.

[Oskanohana 357]

24 minutes ago, Benihana said:

Takarafuji is 1-3 from J12e. Looks like we might lose him very soon. He needs 1 more basho to complete the 100 (incl. maezumo). He's one of the few who didn't sit out a single day in their career and he's now at 1387 consecutive bouts. I hope he'll find the strenght to cling to juryo for one more basho, but i fear it's over.

Well, he's started his mummyfying process already. I suppose his tsukebitos will be buried with him under the dohyo, which is, might I remember you, atop a truncated pyramid.

 

I'd love for sumo to have courtside reporters. For all 1387 Takarafuji's bouts the interview would go like this:

- Reporter: Hello Mr. Takarafuji, what's your strategy for today's bout?

-Takarafuji: 

[Leoben 168]

Aonishiki keeps impressing me. Great back and forth belt battle with Kirishima, with both jockeying for position, and as soon as Kirishima tried to reposition and transition to an inside grip Aonishiki read the move and pounced, pivoting out and around Kirishima, getting behind him, and forcing him out from an undefendable position. The speed at which he reads and reacts to his opponents and exploits the openings they give him is unreal.

Edited September 18 by Leoben

[RabidJohn 2,042]

I'm assuming Wakatakakage won today's shimpan-slam contest by landing one on Takadagawa.

[dingo 1,471]

Kotoshoho is 2-3. 10 win streak for the second consecutive yusho starting tomorrow?

Takayasu is not well. Notwithstanding the 0-5 score, the way he moved today against Tamawashi was slow and laborious, even when free from body contact. Better go kyujo now than torture himself even more, even if he will get a few handout wins when he'd be matched with other low scoring rikishi on the last days of the basho.

Very nice sumo by Aonishiki! Kirishima is on fire this basho yet Aonishiki manages to counter him, turn him around and get a hold behind Kirishima's back to send him out. Seriously impressive.

Both yokozuna did their job today, but Hoshoryu leaves a stronger impression at this point. Obviously he feels that he has to prove himself at this rank and he's on a mission to do so. 

[RabidJohn 2,042]

30 minutes ago, dingo said:

Takayasu is not well.  

Hiro Morita couldn't have jinxed him any harder.

[The Fat Cyclist 39]

Shishi today launched a couple of the weakest harite attempts I have ever seen. Perhaps someone should let him know that they are supposed to hurt your opponent

Edited September 18 by The Fat Cyclist
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