Pro Sports awards 2015

[Akinomaki]

The Hochi 2015 professional sports award in the sumo category goes for the first time to Yoshikaze. The ceremony is on the 22nd. http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/sumo/20151208-OHT1T50121.html

Nikkan gave him one as well, in the Nikkan sumo awards the "Up-up" award was created, for the one with the highest banzuke rise of the year, and he's the first to get that: m14 in Natsu and komusubi in Kyushu. http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1576564.html

Sadanoumi gets the new "Make the gyoji cry" award of the Nikkan sumo awards, for being the one with the biggest number of bouts with a mono-ii in makuuchi, 6 of the 49 (lotto) bouts in all this year, winning all of them, 3 after tori-naoshi. Joint 2nd in that category are Goeido and Aminishiki.
Sadanoumi also is the top among the present makuuchi rikishi in career wins by isami-ashi, inadvertent step-out of the opponent, a typical mono-ii case: 5 so far.
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577033.html

[Akinomaki]

The Nikkan sumo awards this year also have one for the "phrase" of the year, similar to the national one for the whole Japanese society.
The award goes to (ex-)Kyokutenho for "tokoro ga gitchonchon" - the comment to the premature announcement of his retirement by Hakuho in his yusho speech - a popular phrase in the Edo period, but hardly known nowadays: that by a naturalized ex-Mongolian made the astonished fans vote for it as the sumo world phrase of the year: 194 votes

2nd is Hakuho's "Even a child can tell" about the shimpan decision he didn't like, with 101 votes - the comment which led to massive Hahoho bashing early this year.

3rd Yoshikaze about his new power this year: "Thanks to Magniflex" - 88 votes

4th not a phrase, just a bark: 81 votes for Kotoyuki's "Huh!"

5th Terunofuji with just 47 votes: "Aiming for even higher"
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577302.html

Edited December 11, 2015 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki]

Nikkan doesn't stop to produce more particular awards:

The Elevator award goes to Ikioi - of course for the rikishi with the largest sum of absolute banzuke movements in makuuchi this year.
Ikioi has 38
Okinoumi 30
Joint 3rd are Sadanofuji and Takayasu with 24
Joint 5th are Osunaarashi and Tamawashi with 22

http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577866.html

The runner-ups for the Up-Up award, the highest banzuke rise of the year, going to Yoshikaze with 14:
Sadanofuji with 13
Joint 3rd with 12 are Osunaarashi, Tokushoryu and Takayasu
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577614.html


- and the other gyoji tormentors after Sadanoumi with 6 mono-ii
Joint 2nd with 5 are Goeido, Aoiyama, Aminishiki and Takarafuji
Joint 6th with 4 are Myogiryu, Ikioi and Takayasu
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577616.html

[Akinomaki]

The Nikkan award for most different kimarite used this year goes to Aminishiki, after 2 years again: 17
In Haru he had different kimarite for each win, winning 7 in a row from the start and one more before going kyujo after day 10.
2nd Goeido with 16
Hakuho with 15
Joint 4th Yoshikaze and Takayasu with 14
Joint 6th Terunofuji, Tochinoshin and Kyokushuho with 13
Joint 9th Tokushoryu and Takarafuji with 12

http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1578458.html

[Akinomaki]

And now the Biggest (kg) Gainer award at the Nikkan sumo awards.

Among the 30 rikishi staying in makuuchi the whole year, it is Kaisei who gained the most weight: 13kg from 181 to 194kg

Ichinojo managed to be only 2nd with 9kg, 199 to 208kg

Sadanofuji 8kg, 200 to 208kg

Joint 4th with +7kg are Takayasu, 163 to 170kg, and Tochinoshin, 162 to 169kg

Kaisei about why: "During jungyo I don't go outside at all. Since the Autumn jungyo it's cold, I was sleeping all the time. I want to do shiko stamping and the like, but with my back problems I can't do anything. Now it's even worse, maybe I have 200kg ..."

http:///www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1578866.html

Edited December 13, 2015 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki]

Now the "Wasn't worth it, eh?" award from Nikkan, the provider of kensho and bout-length information.

Awarded to the one who had the most work per 1 kensho received this year.
It goes to Sadanofuji, who needed 31.61sec on average. He had a total of 1738.3s in the 90 bouts this year and got 55 kensho. Ichinojo and Terunofuji spent more seconds fighting on the dohyo, but got of course much more kensho.
2 Kaisei with 18.13s
3 Homarefuji 16.71s
4 Takayasu 15.93s
5 Takekaze 14.8s

Shortest is of course Hakuho with 0.78s per kensho.

http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1579412.html

I could add this also to both the kensho and the bout-length post. The other data can be checked next week with the Nikkan (money) banzuke for Hatsu, containing the total kensho this year - for each rikishi who is still in makuuchi then. I haven't yet written a new script for getting the data from the new Nikkan format, therefore I stopped posting that.

The list of all categories and winners of the 4th Nikkan Sports Ozumo Grand Award(s) gets updated with the new ones: http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/1577625.html

Edited December 15, 2015 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki]

Some more information from Nikkan, no awards (this year) for it though.
The one (in makuuchi the whole year) with the smallest set of kimarite used was Kotoyuki, with just 6 (and without yorikiri!): oshi-dashi, oshi-taoshi, tsuki-dashi, tsuki-taoshi, tsuki-otoshi, hatakikomi

But he is one of only 6 rikishi who managed to get 5 kachi-koshi this year (plus 2 with 6), and the only one not from the higher makuuchi ranks - he made the most effective use of his set of techniques.

The only 2 who had kachi-koshi in all 6 basho were Kisenosato and Terunofuji, all yokozuna had at least one kyujo.
The other 5 with 5 are Hakuho, Kotoshogiku and Goeido from the top ranks, plus Tochiozan and Yoshikaze from the lower sanyaku.
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/column/sumo/news/1580441.html

The Nikkan award for most different kimarite used this year goes to Aminishiki, after 2 years again: 17
In Haru he had different kimarite for each win, winning 7 in a row from the start and one more before going kyujo after day 10.
2nd Goeido with 16
Hakuho with 15

Terunofuji spent most seconds fighting on the dohyo this year: 2314.5sec, nearly 40 minutes, 2 times mizu-iri with Ichinojo included. Last years the top were only about 23min, Takayasu was the one.

The one with the biggest difference between the average time on the doyho with a win and that with a loss was Osunaarashi: he needed 12.39s on average for a win and he fought against a loss for 22.32s.

the one who had the most work per 1 kensho received this year.
It goes to Sadanofuji, who needed 31.61sec on average. He had a total of 1738.3s in the 90 bouts this year and got 55 kensho. Ichinojo and Terunofuji spent more seconds fighting on the dohyo, but got of course much more kensho.

[hamcornheinz]

damn Kotoyuki really doesn't like the belt....

[rhyen]

Well, he mummified his fingers, so there is no way he is going to get his fingers in between the folds of the mawashi.

[Akinomaki]

The Hochi 2015 professional sports award in the sumo category goes for the first time to Yoshikaze. The ceremony is on the 22nd. http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/sumo/20151208-OHT1T50121.html

At the award ceremony for the 40th Hochi professional sports award: "Usually it's Hakuho standing here. Winning against him I got recognized as worthy." http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/sumo/20151222-OHT1T50031.html

with the award winner of the other categories

[Akinomaki]

Hakuho for the 9th time in a row is (58th) Hochi best rikishi of the year. The one with the most wins gets it, though theoretically another one can get it: in the award committee some opted for Terunofuji, who had just one win less. The ceremony is on the 10th. http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/sumo/20151225-OHT1T50180.html


But Terunofuji was the only one from sumo at the Japan pro sports awards, he got a merit award.
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/1584042.html

[shimodahito]

bravo for Akinomaki and this post...