Dwale

Aoiyama ain't the prettiest guy, but despite appearances he's quite athletic and dangerous to other maegashira when healthy.

I expected Takakeisho to beat Kaisei, but not to launch him into the sun like that, wow. Hokutofuji got some good air, too. Sometimes I feel like it takes almost as much courage to sit at the edge of the dohyo as it does to step onto it!

Nice to see shades of the healthy version of Tochinoshin today, I just hope he doesn't aggravate his injuries. Meanwhile, Mitakeumi and Takakeisho both lost. Wtf. >.< Everyone expects Hakuho to be on the leader board after day five, but Goeido, Ichinojo and Kotoshogiku? It's a little strange. However, I would love to see Goeido take the cup in his home prefecture. With Hakuho looking shaky, he has a chance!

Tamawashi might had better switch back to his old mawashi color or something, 'cause... Yeah, Tochinoshin still isn't right, but how strong are Nishikigi's calves to defend on the bales for that long? That was incredibly tense, waiting to see if Tochinoshin could get him out or not. Healthy Tochinoshin would have heaved him out like a sack of trash. I wonder if Goeido can maintain this good form for the rest of the basho?

Things like that are notable precisely because Hakuho is so skilled. Nothing strange about that.

Endo looked like he had Hakuho for a second there, so that was fun. Tochinoshin clearly not back to full strength, poor guy. And as much as I would like to believe Ichinojo has the old fire in his belly, it never lasts with him. Anyway, still too early to make much of what I'm seeing here. Back for more tomorrow.

Still really worried about Mitakeumi's knee, but he looks ok so far. Takakeisho, if he's still hurt, isn't showing any signs of it. Pretty much a standard day one, which is why I don't usually comment on it. But fun nonetheless. Great to see Toyonoshima back in makuuchi after all this time.

Well, well, well! How interesting. Takakeisho really coming into his own, and at such a young age, too. That's exciting. And Mitakeumi I hope will take the rest of the basho off. Not that these guys are great about taking care of their injuries...

The thing about Takakeisho needing to learn to grapple is that, no matter how good he is at thrusting, sometimes the opponent is going to manage to grab him or his mawashi. Diversity in technique is only going to become more important as the sport develops. Rikishi who hope to be successful at the highest levels need options for when things don't go to plan. Takakeisho doesn't need to become a yotsu master, but he does need a bag of tricks for the times when his thrusting attack isn't enough.

Oh, yes. I'm going to have to get a zabuton for days like this, so I can join in the throwing. Some excellent matches today, but overshadowed by Hakuho having lost. I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't wait to see it.

There have been times when Ichinojo fought hard and still lost. But I agree with the basic sentiment here: there's a truly great rikishi buried in there but we only see that in flashes.

Wow, Mitakeumi! While that was the outcome I hoped for in the match, I didn't expect it. Shoot, I'll drink to that one. Kanpai! EDIT: Had this strange dream last night that I was Terunofuji searching for something in the woods. No idea why, I hadn't been thinking about him lately or anything.

This is just getting painful...

That would be diabetes-level sweet. Not going to hold my breath, but no reason I can't hope.

I am curious if this would work at all or not, but there is a certain random element to sumo that causes me to suspect that any such formula is going to be pretty fluky.

Now that Hakuho has settled into his sumo, and with the upper ranks being as depleted as they are, I don't see how anyone can stop him from taking the cup. I mean, anything can happen (he might suffer an injury, for instance) but the odds are not high.

Ikioi's mention of fighting with one eye made me wonder: has there every been a one-eyed rikishi? Would they even allow that nowadays?

[long string of curse words goes here] Just when I thought Mitakeumi finally got his **** together, he goes and busts up his leg. This basho is completely bananas.

Kakuryu's out of the running. That is to say, he's kyujo, we already knew he was out of the running.

Well, that woke me the hell up. Endo and Chiyonokuni both had exciting matches. Chiyoshoma had a cool win, and it was impressive to see Kaisei shove Abi out like a dang shot put. Tochinoshin made the right move by withdrawing. He came into this basho looking soft, which suggests to me he wasn't able to train as hard as he usually does. If he's not going to win anyway, might as well take the opportunity to heal up. Hakuho won, but obviously not firing on all cylinders. He's going to eat some losses at some point. Nishikigi has nothing to be ashamed of and has been solid thus far. Congratulations to Ichinojo on his kinboshi. It's great to see him fighting like he means it, but if past experience is any guide...but, hey, you never know. As for Kakuryu, ordinarily I would say it might be a good time to withdraw, but with the ozeki how they are, he might have an easier second week. ^.^; We'll see how he does against Hokutofuji tomorrow.

Did he ever. It's actually a little scary how blue they got, once I saw it with a clear picture.

Long in coming only because Kisenosato wanted to keep fighting. He gave his life to sumo and gave us many years of quality performances. Far from being forgotten, he will serve as an inspiration to younger wrestlers as they seek to follow him to the top. I will always remain a Kisenosato fan.

Well, well. Hokutofuij v Hakuho really ought to have been a do-over but what can ya do. Absolutely amazing he was able to resist on one leg like that, holy crap... It seemed to me that Goeido was using more energy to offend than Ichinojo was using to defend. That being so, there was only one way this match was going to end; Goeido doesn't have the skill-set to pull off what Hakuho did yesterday. Did Chiyoshoma not get the message that all you have to do to beat Kotoyuki is get him leaning in and then step to the side? Seriously, Kotoyuki is like one of those video game bosses that can be a lot of trouble, but there's some super-cheesy way to beat them with minimal effort. Nice footwork by Abi, kudos to him. And Kaisei looking very solid, great to see him bringing his A game. As for Mitakeumi and Takakeisho, well, these fellas are going to be seeing a lot of each other in years to come. I do agree with Kinta that Takakeisho needs to work on that belt game. As good as he is, that's something opponents will be looking to exploit.

And Hakuho reminds us once again just how good he is. Hell of a match, though. Kaisei v. Endo was also quite good, my favorite of the basho thus far. A good day of sumo despite the poor showing from the ozeki. And I don't know what they started putting in Nishikigi's wheaties, but I want some.