Tiger Tanaka

Sorry if I missed this, but any news on if Terunofuji suffered any injury? That was a brutal kotenage pull twice and the angle on the second looked rough. Through the tunnel, Terunofuji was holding his right arm up a bit. Really hoping it was just a strong move with no physical impact to his elbow. Wishing Terunofuji some health luck for a rikishi who's body has been through so much already.

It's just not fun to watch that style, while we don't know the real intent, it sure looks like Takagenji is just trying to cause some sort of facial injury, bloody nose, to get him off his game and away from him. Plenty of other ways (more effective as well) to do that without open hand strikes like that, though it worked effectively this time. I do like when Genji goes up against a Shohozan type (1-4 record against) who welcomes that type of thrusting slapfests. Wish he had a chance to face Yoshikaze in his prime as well, who would smile and thank him for the facial punishment while dishing out his own and escort him out of the ring. In other injury reaction, the moment you saw Takakeisho switch to an outside belt grip instead of pushing up off his tachiai, you knew something was wrong. Really unfortunate to see as he was really coming into great form last basho. Rest up and heal well Ozeki.

When is the last time a yusho winner in the sekitori ranks won with an absence? GANBATTE URA!!!!

Subtle difference I've noticed between the Hatsu basho and Haru is the length between matches. After all the COVID impacts in January and the depleted Makuuchi roster, it felt like an eternity between matches. I usually try to do some quick around the house errands between matches and find I don't have the time again and am running between matches to just put a few dishes away!!

Same here... was watching Day 2 action and taking in every moment of his dohyo-iri, wondering how many more I would get to see. Wishing him a recovery to be able to go a full 15 in May.

Been a big fan of Daieisho for a while now and so thrilled to see him get a yusho. Love his combination of style and size. He's had a great run the last two years and would love to see him keep it going through 2021

In his last match, the crowd cheered a little louder than you would expect given the reduced crowd size during juryo matches. While I couldn't see on camera, I was wondering if he did the big back stretch one last time, does anyone know? My fondest memory of him is not from a match, but from when I visited Tokyo and watched the wrestlers walking into the kokugikan. There was a little boy who Kotoshogiku gave a handshake too and his trademark smile, talking to the little boy before entering the arena. Always seemed like a very genuine and friendly guy. Thanks for all the great memories and matches Kotoshogiku, what a great career!

I've always really liked Shodai, so am thrilled to see him get a yusho, and glad he gets the great achievement of reaching Ozeki status. I do worry if it's one basho too early. From 2017-2019, he had 6 kachikoshi vs 12 makekoshi. His sumo has clearly changed and he has been a different rikishi, strengthening his brand here in 2020. That being said, the long tenure of inconsistency does give me some pause as to how successful his Ozeki reign will be, especially if the Yokozuna return for one more run in 2021. It might have been a good mental test to give him a goal of 10 wins in November with the Yokozuna potentially in contention to see how his resolve is with a clear goal on the line to make the rank. Regardless, ganbatte Shodai and may you have a long and successful run!

Day 5 would have been a good day to show someone new to sumo what the sport is all about. That Endo-Okonoumi match, WOW! Wide open race. Nice to see Onosho bounce back, but with his regular balance issues, I can't see him not literally slipping up 3-4 times over the course of the remaining 10 days. I do think we're in store for a 12-3 yusho, with the rare 11-4 yusho a plausibility with all the inter-sanyaku/joi bouts to come. That is... unless Ichinojo runs the table :)

Well that was a really great basho, congratulations to Terunofuji! The return of Sumo definitely provided some therapeutic tranquility over the 15 days of watching, so glad to have this beautiful sport back. Hoping everyone stays safe and we can have some more fun for September's basho.

What a great basho for the return of sumo. So happy for Terunofuji's win today and that strength is just WOW. Great story for a rikishi who has gone through so much health trouble in the past few years.

Real disappointing that Hakuho got injured. Hope he gets well soon, but would be surprised to see him compete at Aki honestly given the conservative approach to his health he has taken the last 2 years. Shame Mitakeumi lost his focus against Takakeisho or he would be one off the pace and likely to fight Terunofuji at somepoint. Taka's tachiai stalling clearly messed with Mitakeumi's timing and gave him no chance from the start, despite nearly pulling off a win at the edge.

Mitakeumi has been my favorite since I started watching sumo in 2017 and the one thing it seems to me holding him back from the elite consistency you need to be a Y/O is the lack of yotsu sumo. The commentators seem to think he's come a long way in this department, but I don't see it. While completey different rikishi, this is what makes Asaonyama's run of consistency possible. When he gets in a belt battle with a lesser rikishi, you feel like it's an inevitable win for him. With Mitakeumi, I feel like it's 50-50 with a lesser rikishi and significantly less when you get to the sanyaku opponents. I also think it's a lazy narrative to blame it on training, as I think body type plays a factor with Mitakeumi being on the shorter side and not as long of limbs as his peers at his level, denying him of natural leverage to be an elite belt worker. With any oshi sumo to be a regular yusho contender, you need perfect constant timing, reaction, and balance to go along with pushing strength, which Mitakeumi is in the upper echelon in these areas. The problem is any minimal loss in focus can lead to a mistake that leads to an upset loss, which the margain for error on an ozeki run in razor thin. These mistakes are easily overcome for yotsu workers, as your balance and leverage is preserved and can be counteracted by the strength of your grip. The one area that Mitakeumi really stepped up in his two yusho wins was not yotsu sumo, but reactive sumo Kakuryu style. Where he had in both yusho a couple wins where he was on the brink but had perfect focus, timing, and reaction for a side step manuever to overcome a battle up against the tawara. Just look at his wins in Aki 2019 over Daieisho, Abi, and Tamawashi... all competitors that are lower ranked, but gave him some trouble that he overcame from reactive sumo. This basho's Day 3 win over Onosho was another example of that. If he can do that on a more consistent basis and turn even just 1 or 2 losses per tournament into a win, you will be looking at an Ozeki. Reactive sumo often gets frowned upon because it is not dominant and powerful looking, but even the best excel at it to overcome moments of weakness. All just my opinion of course :)

Hoping Hanakaze can get his first win in his 50's and may it be the start to a long successful next decade of his career!

So glad to have sumo back right now and hope everyone on the forums are keeping well. Looking forward to the basho ahead and wishing everyone good health. Day 1 was nice action, not too much ring rust all things considered. Asanoyama's throw was so quick and powerful, wow he continues to take his sumo to a next level. I know all culturals and countries are having difficulties following proper health measures, but today's audience discipline was impressive: No shouting at the Yokozuna shiko stomps, no cries outlout for Endo or Enho, everyone remained seated for the bow twirling ceremony and were dismissed in groups, and only 1 fan I saw with mask pulled down under nose!

I've been showing my 1 year old son this every day and he is obsessed. Whenever mom brings him into our room to wake me up he goes "hakkiyoi! hakkiyoi! hakkiyoi!" and now when he watches the video he does shiko stomps while holding the sumo yellow bird mascot that we got him. He's also start saying "hai!" while raising his hand when the rikishi do so. Everytime I come out of my home office, he comes running, yelling "hakkiyoi" hoping that it's the end of my work day which means we get to watch the song on YouTube. During the last verse he stands up and claps before saying hakkiyoi, hoping I will play it again :)

He just won a yusho. He could easily coast a year, taking a few basho off here and there like he's done in the past year with no encouragement to retire. Especially if COVID-19 threatens the May basho and beyond. I think the only way he doesn't perform is if it's cancelled all together. And it looks like postponement discussion is ramping up:

Many guessed that Tomokaze would hold onto the final Makuuchi spot over Tokushoryu. That decision seemed to have a little more impact than the usual result of the last one in. Congratulations Tokushoryu!

Ura has won to go to 6-0 down in Jonidan. Comeback Pt. II continues, ganbatte URA! Dreaming that we one day see Enho vs. Ura in Makuuchi.

Gutted to see Tomokaze go down like that. Hoping for the least severe injury possible and a full recovery. Get well soon. 11 sanyaku rikishi and only 1 has a 2-0 record. Might we be in for another wild basho to close out the decade?

Tremendous thanks @sumojoann! You are a legend and a hero, and I greatly appreciate your taking time out to connect me with your friend :)

Apologies in advanced if this is not the correct thread to post in... I am looking for an authentic (non-reprint) Mitakeumi tegata. I'm running into an issue where the authentic Japanese official sites don't appear to be able to ship to the US. I'd prefer something like this. I remember really liking this style with the handprint and picture of the rikishi, but when I visited the Kokugikan in early 2017, it was before Mita reached his current prominence and so they didn't have this version for him. Can anyone speak to the authenticity of this and whether it is a reasonable price? Any support would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Mitakeumi!! So happy for his second yusho. He and Takekeisho always seemed the class of the basho, with the strongest sumo of the remaining healthly players. Both gave up a couple of winnable matches, but when it came to the clutch time, gave it their all and had some really entertaining matches. Hoping this momentum can lead to a successful Ozeki run. He didn't seem quite ready the first time around. Time will tell if he can put together the consistency needed for sumo's second highest rank. Just great to see Tochinoshin congratulate Mita in the tunnel, the two have developed a great respect for each other and both seem about as nice and classy as it gets.

I love Daieisho's style of sumo. Very under the radar, underappreciated rikishi. While he has likely maxed out at upper maegashira (maybe a short one-off K/S debut), on his best day he can be pesky for even the top rikishi and pull upsets like today. Well done Daieisho!

A win is a win, especially when you've got a one-time shot at 10 to regain Ozeki status. But pre-injury Takekeisho's double arm thrusts seemed much stronger than what we saw today. Keep fighting Tak!!