Morty

Very pleased to see this kind of caution. Nishonoseki's active career was ruined by fighting through injury, right when he had finally achieved the rank he'd always dreamed of. Glad to see he's applying more caution to his Yokozuna deshi and making sure his career can continue for the long term

Takayasu walked off the dohyo like a man who had just pulled his back out. Moving very gingerly

For me the difference between Onosato and Hoshoryu as Yokozuna, and this is an entirely subjective difference, is that I'm surprised when Onosato loses - I'm not surprised when Hoshoryu loses. I expect Onosato to win and it's been a while since I've had that feeling about any rikishi. What is objective though is statistics and they show a considerable difference - since he became a Yokozuna, Onosato has won 86% of his bouts and his entire makuuchi winning percentage is 77% of bouts. In 12 Makuuchi basho he has won five yusho and jun-yusho'd twice. So he has finished first or second in around 60% of the makuuchi basho he has competed in. By contrast Hoshoryu has won 69% of his Yokozuna bouts (but that doesn't include the ones he didn't appear for because he was kyujo) and his entire makuuchi winning percentage is 62% of bouts (again not including kyujo). In 32 makuuchi basho he has had two yusho and four jun-yusho. So he has finished first or second in 19% of the makuuchi basho he has competed in. I don't know how to work out kinboshi numbers but that will also presumably favour Onosato. So one is demonstrably more dominant than the other, both as a Yokozuna and by entire career numbers. (thanks to the people who maintain the database that allowed me to work this out).

Onosato seems to be in a league all his own. This is what a proper dominant Yokozuna looks like. I'd like Aonishiki to keep coming up and get the rope, so Onosato can have some real competition for the yusho in future bashos (yes I know Hoshoryu has Onosato's number head-to-head, but that counts for nought if one of them comes into senshuraku with 14 wins and the other one 11)

I've said this a couple of times before. I reckon he'd be Ozeki level with that extra height and weight. The commentator yesterday (Hiro Morita?) talked in that particular bout about the lack of weight classes in sumo and how Midorifuji was just beaten because Onokatsu was the larger man.

I feel like this basho has had the best belt sumo matches we've had in years - lots of wonderful throws, and some good long yotsu sumo bouts. So much better than the blast em out oshi, which seemed to be dominating for a while. Thoroughly enjoying it so far

I preface this by saying that I have a long history on this forum of defending Kise and arguing for his greatness. But, I can also say he wasn't just blocked for a long time by Hakuho, he was also blocked by Harumafuji, who had a winning record against Kise (38-24), and also is the only rikishi to have a better head to head record against Hak as Yokozuna than Kise did. He also only left sumo at the end of 2017 because he used a video game controller for something other than what it was designed for. Kise and Harumfuji both ended their careers too early - if they had both had the chance to keep going for another few years they would have continued that competition, which would have been fun to watch. I'll happily accept that Kise was better than Kakuryu, and he was head and shoulders above the various other long term Ozeki that cycled through that rank during the Reign of Terror. But he was at best, only as good as Harumafuji in sumo skill, and Harumafuji had something Kise never had - the mental fortitude and killer instinct to make the most of his talent. But I fundamentally agree that Kise's Yok status definitely wasn't a consolation prize. He was doing Yokozuna sumo for years before he got the rope, the only thing holding him back was lack of yusho. He fundamentally deserved the rope when he finally got it.

This is what you call a comprehensively positive response to a Tsuna run, and pretty clear Yokozuna style dominance. The opposite of most of the Tsuna runs we have seen for the last decade (with the exception of Terunofuji). Makes a nice change.

A recent study showed that Google's Generative AI is substantially wrong 60% of the time. I wouldn't trust AI for anything

I was never bored for it but because he was so good, I always went for his opponent, especially if it was Kisenosato or Kotoshogiku. It was a genuine surprise when Hak lost, even to the Ozeki, and that was the joy of watching him, knowing he would almost always win, and being able to cheer when he lost. To be clear, I didn't dislike him and it was a privilege to watch him do sumo, I just liked rooting for the underdog more.

I think the only one is Kaio who had five yusho and 11 jun-yusho, and had a number of consecutive quality basho performances that these days probably would have seen him promoted. If he did get the rope he probably would have had to retire about 2007 instead of 2011, but I suspect he would have agreed to that trade.

I respectfully disagree. They won't be that tough on him. Hoshoryu's last year went 11-4J, 10-5, 9-4-2, 8-7, 13-2J, 12-3Y and they gave him the rope on that relatively weak run. In contrast Onosato's last year goes 12-3Y, 9-6, 13-2Y, 9-6, 10-5, 12-3Y. He's got three yushos in a12 month span which flattens Hoshoryu's recent record, who, don't forget, also just went Kyujo on his first Yok basho, so might have been the wrong guy to promote. They can't be harder on Onosato than on Hoshoryu, so I reckon a 13-2J will get him over the line. Hell even a 12-3J may be enough based on his last year's performance. Now let's see if he can do it.

Given the possibility of infinite universes and timelines, there's at least one alternative reality where Takayasu is a Dai-Yokozuna and is considered the GOAT. In that timeline he has already won this yusho and is going for a zensho.

Since day five I think when it looked like he got briefly knocked out by Hakuoho. It's been happening since then.

This is what I thought too. He got smashed in the face and briefly knocked out early in the basho and has been like this ever since. Hate to see it, this is how you get CTE

I used to love it. Let you know who was up for the fight. Even though it is less common now, my fave of recentish times was when Kise and Hak had a pretty serious stare down, then an epic match-up that Kise actually won. It was probably ten years ago now, but I'll never forget the drama of that moment.

That was more like Yokozuna sumo today. I suspect it won't be long until Onosato, and possibly also Takerafuji also join that club.

Exactly this. Achieving the status of Yokozuna is one of, if not the most, difficult thing to achieve in world sport. There's a reason why there have only been 73 of them in just under 400 years. The one time they relaxed the standards they ended up with a Yokozuna with an imaginary asterisk next to his name, in that he never won a yusho. The banzuke has to have an Ozeki on it, not a Yokozuna, and there is no reason they need to quickly overpromote someone. That status should be reserved for only the absolute champions, the ones who prove they deserve it, by being so dominant they almost never lose, and when they do it is such a surprise that the cushions fly. Eventually someone will come along who fits that criteria, and will deservedly get the rope. I suspect it will happen sooner rather than later, but I hope they have to achieve it, rather than being given a soft ride to it.

If I had to put money on it at this stage I'd say Takerafuji is in the yusho box-seat. He doesn't seem to suffer from nerves, he's done it once before, he is clearly better than all the other rikishi around him on the banzuke, and he looks capable of mixing it with the guys at the top. We'll know more after tomorrow, but bigger picture, if he stays fit I reckon he'll be Ozeki well before the end of the year.

That result today is exactly why I think the KK is backing the wrong horse with giving Hoshoryu a tsuna run. There is nothing in his past performance that suggests he is consistent enough to be Yokozuna. Over the past seven or eight years we have had a number of rikishi have a single strong streak, get to Ozeki, then have mediocre performances and eventually crash and burn, for numerous reasons. Terunofuji (and arguably Takakeisho) are the only one who have shown the consistency of performance over a long period of time to rightly be promoted to Yokozuna level. I'm not suggesting Hosh is in the "crash and burn" phase of his career, and hopefully never will be, just that he isn't Yokozuna level yet (and may never get there). Also it would be pretty awesome if the other Grandson kept going and took this yusho

Hoshoryu being on a Tsuna run seems like the softest run of all time. His only yusho was a year and a half ago, and since then he has only got more than ten wins twice, both for jun-yushos. The basho before last he went 8-7. I thought it was supposed to be two yusho or yusho equivalents in a row, not J-Y. What am I missing here, how is a tsuna run justified at this time?

Onosato will get three Kotozakura will get two Takerafuji will get one

He's going to go on until he dies. Three 8-7s, and three 7-8s

This is all pure guess as I know nothing about him - mid table maegashira, and he'll win a juryo yusho

E: Wakatakakage S1 W: Atamifuji E: Gonyama K1 W: Hakuoho E: Kirishima K2 E: Oho M1 W: Abi I'm picking Hakuoho as a smoky to regain form and fitness, and move up the banzuke