Pre-Natsu 2007 thoughts

[Kaikitsune Makoto]

Asashoryu. Has interesting first time meetings ahead against

Homasho and Tochiozan. Immunosuppression, anger have been his in repertoire in pre-basho

preparations as usual.

Hakuho is clearly the best ozeki now and is in the heat of yokozuna talk. Marriage, dad's

phone calls, apnea, super physique and genkiness prevails. His spider sumo is the best in

the business while his body is the softest in a good way. Magnificent yotsu-master whose

development curve is good. Especially that spider spread in yotsu is uniquely powerful.

Tachi-ai problems are brought up at regular intervals but I think the tachi-ai looks

sluggish mostly because of his softness and absorbing style. That is how he gets into his

form and I doubt an overly aggressive tachi-ai would help him much. It won't be easy with

so many strong youngsters and oldsters in shape. Big bouts against Aminishiki, Homasho,

Kisenosato, Tochiozan at least.

Tochiazuma retired due to findings in head MRI/CT indicating old stroke scar. Old stroke

scars are not that bad. I am sure he has good ideas as oyakata. What happened to

ex-Akinoshima and his deshi? Dairaido is a shadow.

Kotooshu has been mediocre ever since his style was figured out by strong foes and he had

his honey moon broken by injury. His strength is his pulling yotsu which is pretty

difficult to counter due to his leverage, grip power and general yotsu-power. Doesn't

really matter that much whether he gets into hidari-yotsu or migi-yotsu as from both

grips he can generate that pulling yotsu drive which is squeezing and uncomfortable. Sure

migi-yotsu is his pride but even with both hands outside and in hidari-yotsu he shows

similar prowess and has the advantage of the reach. Kotomitsuki has been having back

pains disabling him from doing good sekitori keiko so Kotooshu has probably done most of

his keiko against Kotoshogiku. Tokitenku has become Osh' nightmare and has been slammed

all over by the mentally non-thick, physically thicker than you think- Mongolian. Very

interesting to see how he handles Tochiozan's inside attack. Kotooshu is exactly the kind

of rikishi who gives O3 perfect opportunity to overwhelm him from the inside stance from

the start and never give any room for readjustment. We shall see. Osh is 10-5,9-6 and 8-7

in last basho so better stop the trend now.

KaioU is flying on petrol fumes. Quite a lot of keiko against sanyaku foes now though.

Shoulder is said to give some burden now in addition to the usual nuisances. He got a

rare assignment when he was told to wipe the dohyo with Tenho after Tenho drove a vehicle

and caused a whiplash injury to a sumofan human. Two 8-7 now and not much threat in yusho

race although it must be said that he does also good sumo still and shows great horse

power at times.

Chiyotaikai went 7-8 in Haru and is kadoban now. Last time he won a bout was on day 10 in

Haru basho. His records of late have been about the same as Kotooshu's though so he does

his thing still. Kadoban is always interesting to anyone.

Kotomitsuki has been suffering from lower back pain and has not been able to do as good

keiko as he would have wanted. Who knows though, maybe it will do him good for a change

to be less active prior to basho. He might even have tuned up peripherial nerves and

relaxed attitude due to low self-expectations. For a relative choker like him, that might

work in his favour unless the back is bad enough to take the edge away from his yotsu and

his boom-tachi-ai. Kotomitsuki has broken free from consecutive 8-7s and has 9-6,8-7 and

10-5 in last three basho so he could well be a nice black horse.

Ama has gained weight a lot and is clearly over 120kg now. He has also established his

status as quite solid high maegashira/low sanyaku. His keiko is as crazy as always. Keiko

partners have been of high class too. Sekiwake debut must stimulate him well and whenever

Ama has any kind of debut, all debus and less debus get excited and flood the screen

areas to witness the show and flood the keyboards with saliva.

Toyonoshima was injured in keiko and possibly misses the whole basho. It is a shame as

his Haru basho was truly phenomenal. Against most odds he gained kachi koshi and in the

process gave Shoryu, Hakuho hard time and beat Osh, Taikai in style. He was also in good

shape before his injury so it is one of the most unfortunate injuries when it comes to

basho excitement prospects. Komusubi debut would have been cool.

Kotoshogiku also makes his komusubi debut in a way as he was promoted straight to

sekiwake from maegashira after Hatsu basho. In Haru he didn't deliver and went on a bad

1-8 mode before creeping back with 6 solid wins in a row to finish with respectable 7-8.

He gave an impression of having gained even more power in last 2-3 basho before Haru but

disappointed in Haru. Whether he can now look more like the Shogun of Kyushu and Hatsu is

the key. Hidari-yotsu is very strong but even more so, he could hone his inside attack to

perfection. It was close to work against Shoryu already and getting into morozashi stance

against Shoryu is quite a robust measure for any rikishi's inside attacking skills.

Homasho makes his real meat grinder debut at M1. Fascinating rikishi with superb balance,

more and more intimidating physique and the driving force behind him in form of Terao.

Homasho is a classic honbasho rikishi. HoHo. His sumo is based on controlled muscle

contraction and moulding iron form. At keiko he puts the effort in making himself

stronger but doesn't have the intensity of honbasho bouts. Hence he gets manhandled at

keiko quite often when go for degeiko. Losing badly to Shoryu in consecutive bouts in

training has no prediction value at all. He also lost a lot against Tokitenku in

training. He is a true honbasho type who hasn't shown any evident weaknesses so far no

matter how his foe attacks. 11-4 in Haru basho and he was beaten 100-0 only by Tochiozan.

Homasho has been involved in various keiko sessions before Natsu and should be in great

shape.

Tokitenku has become thick and totally learned a new way of sumo at a ripe age. Such

transformation speaks volumes of his capacity as a rikishi. He is nowadays an all-around

rikishi with strong physique and yet he retains his amazing leg technique reportoire and

throwing skill. Tenku had his komusubi debut in Haru and was denied kachi koshi by

Homasho on senshuraku.

Kokkai and Tamanoshima at M2 comprise a lot of power sumo. Tamanoshima needs to be

healthy to do well and Tamanoshima is officially the giant killer despite being quite a

giant himself. He and his biceps can squeeze the puss out of infected foes' orifices but

somehow he is the rikishi who just does not generate his power nearly often enough.

Whenever Tamanoshima comes back to this high rank there is hope that he would be able to

harness his undoubtedly incredible physical power so he would bring joy joy moments in

his bouts against sanyaku and other high rankers. Kokkai is Kokkai and is often dominated

by Tamanoshima who can generate his power well against Kokkai for some peculiar reason.

Kokkai went 10-5 at low rank in Haru, has his beard in war mode and has been involved in

high quality keiko sessions.

Kakizoe may not have that much to offer at M3 but he has been here many times. Kisenosato

disintegrated in Haru basho losing all technical composure all of a sudden and ending up

with miserable 6-9. In Hatsu he had his first make-koshi (7-8) in a long while and indeed

followed it with 6-9 in Haru. His main problem is mental although comparisons to

Wakanosato are not valid as Wakanosato was never nearly as vicious and aggressive as

Kisenosato. There is no lack of fighting spirit in Kisenosato but immature disintegration

of his sumo happens in odd ways. Still his overall pushing sumo and hidari-yotsu are

solid sanyaku level and these setbacks are just part of his original way of getting

towards the top. Not the first time Kise shows an ostensible plateau or even degeneration

but the truth is out there under the surface and by analyzing his sumo into detail one

can see there is no degeneration at all and in many ways he does evolve even during

slump. This enigmatic progress of his makes him extremely intriguing analysis-wise (sumo

content). If he only experienced similar edge polishing as Goeido did, he would crush the

current bad stage. He has showed up at some keiko sessions indicating he isn't injured

and otherwise he probably does his keiko mostly at Naruto now.

M4 completes the genuine meat grinder bunch. Aminishiki and Tochiozan. Aminishiki is

always a godly asset at this level and is so capable it makes one's sumo ki tingle prior

to his bouts against sanyaku. Ama as sekiwake is hopefully an extra impetus for him to

embrace us with stellar Aminishiki-sumo cocktail. Tochiozan is the new phenomenon who

gained weight a lot too and now weighs 149kg. In pre-basho training he has also started

to lead the way at Kasugano dominating Nada and Hana there and keeping Futeno in control

too. Tochiozan and Homasho have similar honbasho type-stigma but it seems that Tochiozan

has either added more win-oriented aspect to his keiko or he has simply gained so much

strength that he can now beat the likes of Nada and Futeno even without being nearly as

effective as in honbasho. Tochiozan's keiko diligence gets nothing but praising words

from oyakata but like Homasho, he has his way of going all out without going for win as

such. It is a nice skill too especially if the intensity remains and it must do that as

he is now physically stronger than in Haru and in Haru he was surprisingly strong already

dominating vily veterans and annihilating Homasho is a spectacular fashion. His 13 kachi

koshi in a row since his ozumo debut gets tested fully now. If he gets kachi koshi even

now, then he is surely going somewhere fast.

So it looks once again quite exciting at the top. Hakuho's yokozuna hunt, Taikai's

kadoban, Osh, Shoryu. Then genki Ama as sekiwake, black horse Kotomitsuki the nerve

tuner, Shogun. Then very strong M1 with Homasho and Tenku, potentially powerful M2,

Kisenosato at M3 and magnificent M4 with special attention to O3. Be well!

M5-M6 looks less provoking but interesting to see Tsuumi at M6 again and Kasugao couldn't

really deliver his goods totally in Haru at high rank but managed 5-10 with 3 kotenage.

His obstacle is the his inability to adapt to pushing attacks. Takekaze and Kakuryu at M5

are sort of "filling" when it comes to prospects. Kakuryu is a mystery and Takekaze is

cannonball.

Takamisakari and Wakanosato at M7. Wakanosato is on his come-back trail and scored a

decent 11-4 at low maegashira and looked strong at times but was also soundly beaten in

power sumo at least 3 times. Takamisakari had another close make-koshi 7-8 at 6 in Haru

basho but he looks good and does plenty of powerful pivots again. He is not fading

anywhere.

Tenho got punished and will be absent while Roho didn't get any punishment this time and

competes at M9 after 7-8 in Haru basho. Roho had a bad make-koshi in Hatsu at komusubi

and didn't look too hot in Haru. Quite low rank for him though and certainly spices

things up here. Sekiryu at M8 isn't detrimental for sumo either. Sekiryu was overwhelmed

by Hakuho at keiko prior to basho. Miyabiama reported his injury is fine and he has done

good keiko, eye witness accounts say he didn't look very sharp yet and was also quite

tired at soken but apparently he has been able to do keiko well and M9 is no rank for

Miya. Lot of interesting bouts in this M7-M9 bunch.

Dejima, Shimotori, Otsukasa, Tochinonada, Tamakasuga at M10-M12 is just business as usual

and they are the bulk of these ranks now. At M12 we have Satoyama though. Satoyama took

juryo yusho with such high quality sumo that it was moving. Satoyama had been often at

high juryo but couldn't quite get into the final groove but in Haru he was always

balanced, always steady and attacked straight-forwardly adding tricks only when

necessary. His pre-basho interview suggests he feels very genki as he made an unusually

strong comment of "I am aiming for 10 wins". Another cool basho for Onoe-beya. Satoyama

as makuuchi debutant, Baruto's return in juryo, Sakaizawa at high makushita and the other

upcoming college rikishi.

Futeno at M13 is bizarre. Nobody knows why Futeno collapsed so totally in Haru basho.

According to his blog he didn't have any debilitating injuries but just collapsed. Since

Haru basho he has been playing rugby once, got his sumo stripped by O3 and so on.

Interesting to see how he performs at this low rank. Hochiyama's return to makuuchi is

interesting too and Ryuo at M14 makes his debut. He is Hakuho's stablemate as many know

and has done keiko with the ozeki of course. Iwakiyama at M15 is also oddly low and he

hasn't been good at keiko against Goeido anymore

Ushiomaru at m15 will have post-marriage announcement basho.

In juryo the spotlight is naturally on Baruto who returns from bad knee injury although

the injury is still there of course. J11 is a low rank for him but there are enough

difficult foes in juryo too. Goeido must be considered the best challenger as Goeido

showed in Haru that threshold has been crossed and makuuchi debut is most likely in

Nagoya basho. Tosanoumi in juryo is of interest as is Hakurozan. Toyohibiki is now at J6.

Wakanoho was absent from soken and nobody reported why. Hopefully just a flu and not an

injury. Chiyohakuho was active during soken and looked good. He makes his return to juryo

at J14.

[Bishonohana]

Great job on your summary! (Holiday feeling...) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!! (I am not worthy...)

[Kintamayama]

At M12 we have Satoyama though. Satoyama took

juryo yusho with such high quality sumo that it was moving. Satoyama had been often at

high juryo but couldn't quite get into the final groove but in Haru he was always

balanced, always steady and attacked straight-forwardly adding tricks only when

necessary. His pre-basho interview suggests he feels very genki as he made an unusually

strong comment of "I am aiming for 10 wins".

Excellent analysis and evenhandedness protrudes.

As for Satoyama, 4-11 and back to Juryo of course..

Edited May 9, 2007 by Kintamayama

[Kaikitsune Makoto]

Makushita is always a pot. Wonderful pot. Sakaizawa, Hoshihikari and Ichihara at Ms1-Ms2 are all newcomers to juryo promotion zone (in a way) and everyone of them is special in their own way. Sakaizawa's outstanding record since debut got a little stain in Haru basho where he lost badly in juryo and messed up another bout too but 5-2 was enough to take him to Ms1. Hoshihikari is far from being strong rikishi and often gets outpowered but he has quite handy come-back skills and luck on his side. Ichihara was strong college rikishi with Ms10 start and great showing so far. Takamifuji at Ms2 looked strong at soken and is very toned up. Definitely a good Ms1-Ms2 bunch again.

Wakatenro at Ms4 is splendid to say the least. He does keiko with Wakanoho and they eat from same chanko pot. It has been a while since Wakatenro had his horns on the edge. Nishinoshima has not reported about Wakanoho's latest movements or Wakatenro's. Wakanoho may be leaving sumo?

Another high rank surprise is Tamanoi-beya's heyagashira Yoshiazuma who is tall and big! He has been in makushita for ages. Now at Ms5 he is close to juryo. He turns 30 during Natsu basho so about time to get his tall frame in juryo promotion race. Maybe Azuma will concentrate on coaching him intensely during Natsu basho?

Tokitairyu at Ms12 and Tochinoshin at Ms28 is an interesting pair. They have ascended the banzuke side by side basically and have had very intense bouts against each other. In Haru basho they had a long yotsu-bout which ended in spectacular fashion. Both are at career high rank of course.

Futeno's fatique is piling up due to ferocious keiko at Kasugano-camp. He seems ready soon and without injuries.