Persistence Watch

[aderechelsea]

Only 3 rikishi for our "club" have fought 2 bouts already.

2 of them lost both and look in dire situation (Iwanaga and Tateishi) and one of them stands at 1-1 (Higashi).

The fact that Higashi got his first loss against Akatsuki is not a good sign of form.

[Jonosuke]

Word on the street has it that a member of this club has quit sumo. Not confirmed yet so I can't say more.

If you are talking about Sugishita, it's already announced on Naruto beya page as retired.

He left us without winning a single bout on the dohyo!

His record may well become the unbreakable record.

Edited May 15, 2007 by Jonosuke

[aderechelsea]

i hope he found something to do around sumo. He must have loved the sport to stay all this time without any real success ....

i am sincerely sad.

[Asashosakari]

I must admit I actually thought John was referring to Ishii...any news on that front?

[Randomitsuki]

If you are talking about Sugishita, it's already announced on Naruto beya page as retired.

He left us without winning a single bout on the dohyo!

His record may well become the unbreakable record.

Geez, I was hoping for a clash between Sugishita and Ebisumaru. After noticing that Ebisumaru went 0-6 in maezumo I was really expecting that he will be an exceptional member of the Persistence Club, and that he could be a foe that even Sugishita might beat. But this bout will never take place.

To add insult to injury, I noticed just a couple of minutes ago that Ebisumaru actually won today and is currently at 1-1. Now that makes two spoilt dreams in 5 minutes for me...

[aderechelsea]

quick update ...

things don't look good for our "merry band".

- Morikawa (0-2) lost to Iwasa

- Tsunehikari (2-0) won against fellow club member Yamamoto (1-1)

- Wakahizen (1-1) won against Kotoyamaguchi (0-2)

[Asashosakari]

Day 4 summary: It's the incredible shrinking persisters and their travelling show so far; having lost one of the more prominent members in Daishiryu to banzuke-gai status already, we must apparently say goodbye to the retiring Sugishita. Meanwhile Ishii did not turn up for his shonichi bout and is kyujo now, and Higashi has just been announced as kyujo after Day 4, so we're down to just eight active club members at the moment.

Results-wise it's the expected outcome, with wins coming almost exclusively as the expense of fellow persisters. The only one to break the trend so far has been Yamamoto who beat Iwasa on Day 1. (Iwasa promptly took revenge on Morikawa.) The copious internal competition did have the effect that we have an unbeaten rikishi here as Tsunehikari overcame both Morikawa and the aforementioned Yamamoto. Perhaps not unexpectedly so, given that he is the guy with the highest career winning percentage at this point. I'm still putting my two cents' worth of steak on Wakahizen as the next kachi-koshi club member, but Tsunehikari looks to have a good shot this basho, too. We'll see how things go once he meets higher-quality opponents, as it were.

[Asashosakari]

To add insult to injury, I noticed just a couple of minutes ago that Ebisumaru actually won today and is currently at 1-1. Now that makes two spoilt dreams in 5 minutes for me...

It's a veritable round-robin of the winless maezumo guys...Matsuba beat Ebisumaru on Day 2, Ebisumaru beat Hashimoto on Day 3, and tomorrow we get the matchup of Matsuba and Hashimoto.

Oh, and Ebisumaru gets a revenge match against Yoshimura...the latter finished maezumo at 1-5, with his only win coming against...well. (Sigh...)

Edited May 16, 2007 by Asashosakari

[aderechelsea]

Morikawa (3-0), Yamamoto (1-2), Wakahizen (1-2), Iwanaga (0-3) and Tateishi (0-3) all lost today and moved one step closer to yet another MK.

[Zentoryu]

Morikawa (3-0).......

Wishful thinking?

[aderechelsea]

Morikawa (3-0).......

Wishful thinking?

(Whistling...)

wishful thinking? .... no way !!!!

i decided that i want him to get another MK this basho to make the record and then get KK in Nagoya. (Sign of approval...)

[aderechelsea]

quick update !!!!

Iwanaga is our first member to secure his position on the list, as he lost today again (0-4) and is officialy MK for the 13th time in his 13-basho career.

Yamamoto (1-3), Wakahizen (1-3)and Tsunehikari (2-2)all lost today and are one step closer to their MK (or just one step further from their KK? (Applauding...))

[Oimeru]

Morikawa sealed his fate today with an Oshitaoshi loss to fellow club member Tateishi (1-3). He's at 24 make koshi now.

Kotoyamaguchi is also 0-4 already.

Edited May 20, 2007 by Oimeru

[Asashosakari]

Nakabi summary:

With almost all our club members at career high ranks it's been the expected outcome, as early make-koshi abound. Morikawa (for the record-setting 24th time), Iwanaga and Kotoyamaguchi all find themselves at 0-4, and Wakahizen and Tateishi are 1-3 mainly because they got lucky enough to face one of the aforementioned three. Tsunehikari has come back down to earth after his 2-0 start against persisters and is 2-2 now. Kanai is also 2-2, winning his second bout on Day 5 against former dai-persister Daikosei and giving some small hope for a kachi-koshi. In other positive news, Daishiryu has passed through mae-zumo and will be making his return next basho. I for one am glad he's not following Sugishita into retirement.

And on an off-list note, presumed future persister Akatsuki has beaten up on club members for three wins. Of course, at 3-1 he's likely to see a bit better competition now so his first kachi-koshi is not assured yet.

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	24	Jonidan 132 West	Jonidan 132	34-128-3	0.210	3-4	0-4
Ishii	Magaki	Haru 2004	18	Jonidan 135 West	Jonidan 133	24-103-3	0.189	3-4	0-1-3
Daishiryu	Kise	Haru 2004	17	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 1	29-90-7	0.244	0-0-7	---
Iwanaga	Michinoku	Haru 2005	13	Jonokuchi 6 East	Jonokuchi 6	20-68	0.227	1-6	0-4
Yamamoto	Naruto	Haru 2005	10	Jonidan 132 East	Jonidan 132	24-50-7	0.324	3-4	1-3
Kotoyamaguchi	Sadogatake	Haru 2006	7	Jonidan 128 West	Jonidan 128	13-33	0.283	3-4	0-4
Wakahizen	Hanakago	Haru 2006	6	Jonidan 127 West	Jonidan 127	16-30	0.348	3-4	1-3
Tsunehikari	Nishikido	Haru 2006	6	Jonidan 133 East	Jonidan 133	17-25-4	0.405	3-4	2-2
Sugishita	Naruto	Haru 2006	6	Jonokuchi 43 West	Jonokuchi 30	1-41-4	0.024	0-7	0-0-4
Higashi	Shikoroyama	Natsu 2006	5	Jonokuchi 4 East	Jonokuchi 4	9-28-2	0.243	2-5	1-1-2
Kanai	Michinoku	Nagoya 2005	5	Jonokuchi 4 West	Jonokuchi 4	11-28-7	0.282	2-5	2-2
Tateishi	Dewanoumi	Natsu 2006	5	Jonokuchi 5 West	Jonokuchi 5	10-29	0.256	1-6	1-3
Asaamami	Takasago	Haru 2005	3	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 26	7-10-11	0.412	---	---

The list of wins is a short one this basho. Our club members are a combined 8-27 so far, with six internal bouts and thus a disappointing 2-21 (.087) mark against off-list opponents, which is by far the lowest it's been since I started tracking our group. Anyway, here's the list of wins, as usual separated by opponent status:

Day 1:  Jk4e

Edited May 27, 2007 by Asashosakari

[Oimeru]

Today, Yamamoto (2-3) defeated Tateishi (1-4), giving him make koshi. Wakahizen (1-4) shares the same fate after losing today's bout.

Kotoyamaguchi (1-4) defeated Morikawa (0-5) for his first win -- too little, too late.

[Oimeru]

Quick-and-dirty update.

These rikishi renewed their memberships already:

Iwanaga 0-6

Yamamoto 2-4

Tateishi 1-5

Kotoyamaguchi 2-4

Wakahizen 2-4

Morikawa 1-5

The following two are still in the race for kachi koshi:

Tsunehikari 3-3

Kanai 3-3

Edited May 24, 2007 by Oimeru

[Asashosakari]

The following two are still in the race for kachi koshi:

Tsunehikari 3-3

Kanai 3-3

And while Kanai stumbled on the finish line, Tsunehikari comes racing through! (Whistling...) (In love...)

Can't say I expected any kachi-koshi this basho, so this makes me quite happy.

Edit: And Akatsuki went from 3-1 to 3-4 for his second MK, so he'll be having his persistori basho in July.

Edited May 25, 2007 by Asashosakari

[aderechelsea]

Akatsuki went from 3-1 to 3-4 for his second MK, so he'll be having his persistori basho in July.

(In love...)

Good news on Tsunehikari !!!! i hope he'll get more of these elusive KKs in the future.

[Asashosakari]

Senshuraku roundup:

It was the expected less-than-stellar basho for our club, but actually better than I feared it might be.

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho	This Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	24	Jonidan 132 West	Jonidan 132	35-130-3	0.212	3-4	1-6
Ishii	Magaki	Haru 2004	18	Jonidan 135 West	Jonidan 133	24-103-6	0.189	3-4	0-1-6
Daishiryu	Kise	Haru 2004	17	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 1	29-90-7	0.244	0-0-7	(mz)
Iwanaga	Michinoku	Haru 2005	13	Jonokuchi 6 East	Jonokuchi 6	20-71	0.220	1-6	0-7
Yamamoto	Naruto	Haru 2005	11	Jonidan 132 East	Jonidan 132	26-51-7	0.338	3-4	3-4
Wakahizen	Hanakago	Haru 2006	7	Jonidan 127 West	Jonidan 127	17-32	0.347	3-4	2-5
Kotoyamaguchi	Sadogatake	Haru 2006	7	Jonidan 128 West	Jonidan 128	15-34	0.306	3-4	2-5
Tsunehikari	Nishikido	Haru 2006	6	Jonidan 133 East	Jonidan 133	19-26-4	0.422	3-4	4-3
Higashi	Shikoroyama	Natsu 2006	6	Jonokuchi 4 East	Jonokuchi 4	9-28-5	0.243	2-5	1-1-5
Kanai	Michinoku	Nagoya 2005	6	Jonokuchi 4 West	Jonokuchi 4	12-30-7	0.286	2-5	3-4
Tateishi	Dewanoumi	Natsu 2006	6	Jonokuchi 5 West	Jonokuchi 5	10-32	0.238	1-6	1-6
Sugishita	Naruto	Haru 2006	6	Jonokuchi 43 West	Jonokuchi 30	1-41-7	0.024	0-7	0-0-7
Asaamami	Takasago	Haru 2005	3	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 26	7-10-11	0.412	---	---

Tsunehikari's kachi-koshi provided an unexpected bright spot, and after a year of straight MK we send him off to a career hopefully filled with many more kachi-koshi. He's still just 16, so it's not altogether hopeless. His .422 winning percentage through this point certainly doesn't look too horrible compared to many other former club members.

The two 3-4 rikishi both came off banzuke-gai status half a year ago, and have taken different paths to the same result. While Yamamoto has now posted three consecutive 3-4 records, Kanai has improved step by step: His return basho was a 1-6, followed by 2-5 and now 3-4. Perhaps a good omen for next basho?

The other dai-persisters besides Yamamoto did not fare nearly so well. Iwanaga takes an unceremonious drop back to the bottom of Jonokuchi with a winless performance (not getting to face any other club members will do that), while Ishii also goes winless but without making any dohyo appearances, going 0-1-6 with a shonichi fusen. I wonder if he'll be back or may perhaps be headed for retirement. One guy who apparently will be back is Daishiryu who competed in mae-zumo this basho. And finally, Morikawa gets back on track. After breaking his 2-5 streak with 3 wins in March, he has evened things out by going 1-6 this time around. And, of course, he finished up his 4th year of futility persistence.

Tateishi also had a sort-of streak ended this basho. He had alternated 1-6 and 3-4 records through his first five career basho, but now has posted a second 1-6 in a row. That lack of 2-5 records pretty much makes him the anti-Morikawa, I guess. The remaining two club rikishi, Wakahizen and Kotoyamaguchi, both finished 2-5 to extend their MK streak to 7.

Overall, the second week went much better than the first, with a total record of 9-15 including 3 internal bouts, for a 6-12 "real" record (0.333, which may be the best week in the past year at least). Day 11 was especially successful with four wins in six bouts. Here's the list of wins:

Day 9:  Jd132e Yamamoto (2-3)

[Asashosakari]

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of Jonidan): Jonokuchi escapades, the back-to-normal edition.

We're down to just 11 club members now, with one of them (Asaamami) continuing his stay in banzuke-gai, and two others kyujo (Higashi and Ishii), while Daishiryu makes his return to the banzuke. Tsunehikari and Sugishita both left us for hopefully greener pastures, the former by kachi-koshi and the latter by intai.

Shikona	Heya	Debut	MK	Current Rank	Highest Rank	Record	Win%	Last Basho
Morikawa	Otake	Natsu 2003	24	Jonokuchi 17 West	Jonidan 132	35-130-3	0.212	1-6
Ishii	Magaki	Haru 2004	18	Jonokuchi 35 East	Jonidan 133	24-103-6	0.189	0-1-6
Daishiryu	Kise	Haru 2004	17	Jonokuchi 42 West	Jonokuchi 1	29-90-7	0.244	(Mz 0-1-3)
Iwanaga	Michinoku	Haru 2005	13	Jonokuchi 40 West	Jonokuchi 6	20-71	0.220	0-7
Yamamoto	Naruto	Haru 2005	11	Jonokuchi 7 West	Jonidan 132	26-51-7	0.338	3-4
Wakahizen	Hanakago	Haru 2006	7	Jonokuchi 10 West	Jonidan 127	17-32	0.347	2-5
Kotoyamaguchi	Sadogatake	Haru 2006	7	Jonokuchi 11 West	Jonidan 128	15-34	0.306	2-5
Kanai	Michinoku	Nagoya 2005	6	Jonokuchi 9 West	Jonokuchi 4	12-30-7	0.286	3-4
Higashi	Shikoroyama	Natsu 2006	6	Jonokuchi 24 East	Jonokuchi 4	9-28-5	0.243	1-1-5
Tateishi	Dewanoumi	Natsu 2006	6	Jonokuchi 24 West	Jonokuchi 5	10-32	0.238	1-6
Asaamami	Takasago	Haru 2005	3	Banzuke-gai	Jonokuchi 26	7-10-11	0.412	---

BTW, I've changed over the rikishi links from the Kyokai site to Sumo Reference now, which should make them a bit (okay, a lot) more useful.

Good luck to everyone in their quest for kachi-koshi! (Holiday feeling...)

[Oimeru]

Strange, how Tateishi is listed as having lost a whopping 15.5 kg since his debut. Looks like either a database of a measurement error. I'm still rooting for him -- he liked Math in school and listed Kinkaiyama as his role model. An unusual rikishi indeed.

[Asashosakari]

Strange, how Tateishi is listed as having lost a whopping 15.5 kg since his debut. Looks like either a database of a measurement error. I'm still rooting for him -- he liked Math in school and listed Kinkaiyama as his role model. An unusual rikishi indeed.

It's a bit extreme in his case, but AFAIK it's not unusual for a new recruit to lose weight during his first year; I'm sure Kaikitsune could elaborate, but I think it's usually an indication that the weight was mostly from fat tissue and the guy wasn't used to physical exercise.

[Oimeru]

It's a bit extreme in his case, but AFAIK it's not unusual for a new recruit to lose weight during his first year; I'm sure Kaikitsune could elaborate, but I think it's usually an indication that the weight was mostly from fat tissue and the guy wasn't used to physical exercise.

Seems like you are right -- look at Morikawa. (Holiday feeling...)

In fact, this seems to apply to a lot of recruits -- but some pick up weight straight away too.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Oimeru

[Asashosakari]

Hrm, whitewash on the first two days...everybody lost. (Weeping...)

[Itachi]

With a loss tonight to Iwasa, Morikawa (0-4) earns his 25th makekoshi!