Iwayama

A lot more hugging than I expected.

Sorry, should have been more clear. I meant the sanban-geiko before the more "showbiz" part of jungyo.

Yep. He's the reason why I no longer put stock into what happens during joint heya training sessions or jungyo matches.

For me, it is his constant pandering to the crowd that I dislike. He seems to care more about fan attention/sympathy than winning his bouts. At least he's not throwing himself off the dohyo as much anymore.

And two wins over Ozeki this basho.

I saw that too, but to me it looked more like the side of his foot skidding off the tawara as he stepped back. My understanding is that rikishi are allowed to jam their foot against the tawara when being forced back, and that the toku-dawara is specifically used for this purpose. That for me makes it a gray area. But in watching it apian I can see the koto-toe drag perspective and in that case a re-match is warranted.

After seeing the replay the decision made sense to me. The top of Hoshoryu's foot dragged across the clay before Kotonowaka touched out.

Kagayaki Yusho.

I'm curious to know at what point Kinbozan injured his arm, he seemed to be fine after his match with Asanoyama. Perhaps during training?

I'm very late to the party, but did anyone else notice the moment on senshuraku that it sinks in for Yutakayama that he's scored his first kashi koshi in 5 basho? You can really see the sense of relief on his face.

I really wish he'd start incorporating more grappling into his repertoire, he's got the build for it. Balance is his biggest issue, sometimes it's like he has banana-peel shoes on, but he seems to fare better when he can get a hold of his opponent. I've always seen him as the darkhorse when compared to other similar rikishi like Hoshoryu or WTK. He's rough around the edges, but with a bit of polishing, I could see him going on his own Yusho run one day.

That throw on Enho was so crisp!

Hell of a battle between Oshoryu and Tochikamiyama. It was something to see Tochi fight his way out of such a disadvantageous position to score a close win.

I feel like developing some form of yotsu-zumo could be the factor that gets Abi to Ozeki.

Still early days but I'm really liking Kiribayama's sumo so far. Yutakayama also looks very dialed in. I wonder what it's been like for him watching his Shodai deal with long covid. Perhaps the Ozeki's struggles have inspired him to fight harder, or he feels the pressure of representing Tokitsukaze-beya.