Haru 2023 discussion (results)

[Shatsume]

Am I missing an angle, or was the Meisei / Kotoshoho call as utterly terrible as I think it was?!?

[Yamanashi]

1 minute ago, Shatsume said:

Am I missing an angle, or was the Meisei / Kotoshoho call as utterly terrible as I think it was?!?

Sometimes its "How dexterous to keep that toe on the bales!".  Sometimes its "Good decision; he was clearly a 'dead body', so he loses."  Were they running late on the NHK broadcast?

[since_94]

Yes, if not understanding the explanation of the mono-ii deliberations in Japanese, one can only conclude they applied the dead body rule. It’s the only logical alternative to an otherwise badly botched call.

[Kaninoyama]

14 minutes ago, since_94 said:

Yes, if not understanding the explanation of the mono-ii deliberations in Japanese, one can only conclude they applied the dead body rule. It’s the only logical alternative to an otherwise badly botched call.

The dead-body rule was indeed given as the reason for awarding Meisei with the win. 

[Yarimotsu]

48 minutes ago, Kaninoyama said:

The dead-body rule was indeed given as the reason for awarding Meisei with the win. 

And there was a healthy eye-roll from Kotoshoho upon hearing that explanation.

[Kaito]

3 hours ago, Shatsume said:

Am I missing an angle, or was the Meisei / Kotoshoho call as utterly terrible as I think it was?!?

I didn't like it either, and not only because it cost me 30 points in Odd Sumo. 

[Katooshu]

Hmm....not sure about that Kawazoe-Chiyosakae call. Would love to see another angle, because from the replay I saw it looked like Kawazoe touched down before Chiyo went out. Not even a monoii though.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Katooshu

[Tigerboy1966]

Isn't it a bit odd when my most anticipated match of the day is scheduled for around 4.25 pm.

That's Hokuseiho - Kinbozan btw.

[dingo]

I'm still on yesterday's bouts, but that was a very healthy henka from Midorifuji. He even did a quick tachiai contact for courtesy. 

Wakatakakage was out before you could say Wakatakakage. 

And Tobizaru is settling in to the joi very nicely. Very solid win against Mitakeumi. 

[Hankegami]

Day 3 done. I had a few surprises there.

Last - yet first - was Takakeisho's convincing victory against Shodai. I was expecting an upset, and yet - despite Shodai put an actual fight - Takakeisho stood his ground. Good for him, he needs to bounce back badly. Tomorrow he has another uneasy day vs. Abi (3-6). That's actually 1-5 for Abi in their last six matches. 'Keisho dodged a bullet in Hatsu - his only victory in six matches - and he'd better win out again if he wants that damn rope.

Second last was Hoshoryu, who totally has Kotonowaka's number, credit card, SS card, and girlfriend. Although the Nephew is basically Kryptonite for the popular Four Tits, I thought that Kotonowaka had a great chance to break his duck today, considered how poorly Hoshoryu performed the first two days. Nope, the Nephew is still good. Perhaps he will be able to save his Sekiwake rank after all. Who is seriously putting his rank in danger is Wakatakakage, now 0-3 and going to face Shodai himself tomorrow.

Third comes, of all people, Mitakeumi. He was literally 0-3 against Wakamotoharu, and his first dismaying two days signaled he was cooked already on top of that, yet he ran over WakaBro2 royally. There was surely a bit of desperation in his charge, but if he keeps doing those tachi-ai he has a chance to get a KK this time around.

All the rest went more or less just as expected. The 3-0 bunch now includes Daieisho (winning over an unimpressive 0-3 Ryuden), Tobizaru (!), Midorifuji and Nishikifuji for the joy of Isegahama-beya, Takayasu as expected, Daishoho and Tsurugisho as (un)expected, and this unprecedentedly active Hokuseiho. The boy today was against his usual victim Kinbozan (now 4-0 for the tall guy), but in his last two days he went forward like he never did before. I previously thought he was just boasting when he pledged to go 10+ and get a prize, but perhaps he can just to that.

Another 3-0 guy is Ura, which is a particularly good news for him. Although an Osaka native, the Magician never performed particularly well in Haru, and only this is reason for happiness. However, Ura seldom started out with a straight 3-0, and every time he ended up very good. A 3-0 start always came up with a 10-5 in his Makuuchi precedents (Natsu 2017, Kyushu 2021), and even better in Juryo, were once he scored a final 12-3Y (Natsu 2021), and a couple of 11-4 (Hatsu 2017, Kyushu 2016). Not a bad set of personal precedents.

Last line for Juryo. Things are folding up as expected, with Asanoyama and Ichinojo running over people. Tochinoshin is not doing that good instead. Today he was visiting Makuuchi vs. Chiyoshoma, but he couldn't capitalize over this opportunity to fight an old acquaintance. Before the basho I thought he was going to bounce up to Makuuchi immediately, but as things are going on it's increasingly more unlikely day by day.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hankegami

[Hakuryuho]

Nice win by Takakeisho, but I'm slightly worried by his left ankle,
he appeared to have hurt it in his bout as he couldn't properly squat to receive his envelopes and was limping a bit after.

Hope it is nothing serious and he's ready to give it his all again tomorrow.

[Seiyashi]

It feels like Kotonowaka did something to piss off sanyaku before he showed up. Takakeishō and now Hōshōryū have got it in for him.

Ironic that the steady sekiwake pair of Hōshōryū and Wakatakakage are having the worst sanyaku starts to the basho. Then again, they've pulled Houdini KKs before, so I don't think they're in serious danger, but ōzeki is not getting any closer at this rate.

A few other rikishi seem to have stepped it up a notch, Kiribayama, Abi, and Tobizaru amongst them. 

Hokuseihō is having a great debut basho, and Ochiai would be too if not for that overeager charge against Tamashōhō. 

Lastly, I fear for Tochinoshin and his career. His face in the hanamichi after his loss today was ghastly and not the usual sombre expression after a loss. I'm not as in tune to rikishi "tells" as other denizens of the forum are, but I wouldn't be surprised if he retires at the end of this basho.

[since_94]

Some enjoyable bouts on Day 3 but work interfered with my enjoyment of the lower divisions, alas. These are the sacrifices one makes.

Anyway, Shimazuumi v Atamifuji was an entertaining and spirited back-and-forth.

Bushozan and Oho was a well-matched and intense head-to-head battle, quite literally from the looks of it.

Mitakeumi in bulldozer mode. Is he waking up?

Tobizaru with the crafty henka gets a W over Nishikigi. I was well nigh perfectly executed and he can't be accused of over reliance on the technique, so fair play to him. He looked a bit self-conscious/sheepish collecting the envelopes, though.

Ura out-muscled and out-balanced Hiradoumi. He's really something to watch when he's on his game. The same things can be said about Midorifuji in his win over Meisei.

Hoshoryu managed a reversal of fortune against a surging Kotonowaka, who appears markedly stronger this tourney.

Endo, Onosho and Daiesho likewise looked very strong on Day 3.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by since_94

[Akinomaki]

9 hours ago, Hankegami said:

Asanoyama and Ichinojo running over people.

The 2 didn't exactly run over their opponents today, Ichinojo was in no danger and took care, but Asanoyama had real difficulties, he prevailed in the end, but the first loss is not far away, likely for both.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Akinomaki

[dingo]

22 minutes ago, Akinomaki said:

The 2 didn't exactly run over their opponents today, Ichinojo was in no danger and took care, but Asanoyama had real difficulties, he prevailed in the end, but the first loss is not far away, likely for both.

Perhaps Asanoyama feels that he can make a few mistakes since makuuchi promotion is more or less certain at his level. So it's easy to get complacent and think that one or two losses wouldn't really change much. I also wonder how much a second juryo yusho in a row motivates him. 

[Reonito]

13 hours ago, Katooshu said:

Hmm....not sure about that Kawazoe-Chiyosakae call. Would love to see another angle, because from the replay I saw it looked like Kawazoe touched down before Chiyo went out. Not even a monoii though.

Right in front of the shimpan, too.

[Reonito]

11 hours ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

Isn't it a bit odd when my most anticipated match of the day is scheduled for around 4.25 pm.

That's Hokuseiho - Kinbozan btw.

Even earlier tomorrow: Asanoyama-Ichinojo!

[Octofuji]

3 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

The 2 didn't exactly run over their opponents today, Ichinojo was in no danger and took care, but Asanoyama had real difficulties, he prevailed in the end, but the first loss is not far away, likely for both.

Well one of them is definitely going to lose tomorrow! Really looking forward to the match.

[lackmaker]

Glass half full says one of them is definitely going to win

[Akinomaki]

Many Japanese fans on the net expressed their opinion that the reversal of the gyoji decision in the day 2 Tsurugisho-Tohakuryu bout was a misjudgement - a torinaoshi would have been the correct decision. After a 40sec. conference Sadogatake explained: "The gyoji gave it to Tohakuryu, but his foot was out earlier, gyoji sashi chigae and a win for Tsurugisho." The replay showed that the foot was out earlier than the elbow of Tsurugisho touched down, but then his foot was already with the wrong side on the clay, his toes turned over at about the same instant as Tohakuryu went out. http://npn.co.jp/article/detail/200028050

The shimpan ruled that the foot had not turned over yet - it definitely had though - the main reason for the decision was most likely that Tsurugisho was the attacker going forward. Anyway, Sadogatake is maybe the worst head shimpan we have at the moment

[Kintamayama]

Fun fact- Hokuseihou is currently living in the single room that Akebono (same height- 2.04 meters) lived in back then. The current Miyagino beya is located at the old Azumazeki premises.

[Katooshu]

Shonannoumi takes 5+ years to get past makushita, now he's 16-3 in juryo. It's not how long it takes you to get there, but what you do when you're there 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Katooshu

[Tigerboy1966]

31 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

It's not how long it takes you to get there, but what you do when you're there

Or, to paraphrase Eddie Cantor, it has taken Snonannoumi 8 years to become an overnight success.

[Kishinoyama]

Are we now calling Ichinojo the next ozeki? 

[Akinomaki]

5 minutes ago, Kishinoyama said:

Are we now calling Ichinojo the next ozeki? 

That's reserved for Abi for quite a while now