Kyushu 2023 discussion (results)

[Seiyashi]

Just now, Bunbukuchagama said:

It's a bit of a joke in this situation. 

Not really, he will fully deserve it if he does. It's also not impossible either. 

[Bunbukuchagama]

1 minute ago, Seiyashi said:

Not really, he will fully deserve it if he does. It's also not impossible either. 

"Pray to the kami that the leader stumbles - and also make sure you win twice in one day".

Looks cruel.

[Bunbukuchagama]

And IYM got softballed to 11 wins. 

Let's see how hard he gets smacked down next time.

[Kaninoyama]

58 minutes ago, Tochinofuji said:

Slight correction - shukunsho for Atamifuji if he gets the yusho. 

Thanks, corrected!

[Benihana]

Ura, the giant killer strikes again! I love that guy. As a reward, he will be ranked as Komusubi next basho.

Did Abi just push himself to the ground?

[hakutorizakura]

Kiri just couldn't hide his smile from the ringside 

Congrats!

[Akinomaki]

The shisho commentating on NHK ensured Atamifuji's loss.

Hokuseiho till the end used that visibly cursed kesho-mawashi - makekoshi

[Benihana]

Damnit, a playoff would have been nice. But congrats to Atamifuji for his jun-yusho. Not everyone gets a 2nd jun-yusho in their 3rd makuuchi basho.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Benihana

[Kaninoyama]

Anticlimactic end to what was an intriguing basho most of the way through. 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Kaninoyama

[Eskbibs]

Congrats to Kirishima.

Atamifuji is good and solid - but I don't know if he's shown anything to be really excited about, in terms of skill. Which sounds odd to say considering how he's been thoroughly involved in the yusho race two bashos in a row. Maybe I just haven't been watching closely enough or I'm forgetting something really obvious...and of course, he's young and has time to get better and all that jazz. Just visually speaking, he hasn't looked particularly convincing to my (untrained) eye.

[Akinomaki]

Next basho we'll have a proper yokozuna run - Takayasu, as the one with better result and already kachikoshi at the sansho conference, was robbed of the shukunsho

[Bunbukuchagama]

13 minutes ago, Eskbibs said:

Atamifuji is good and solid - but I don't know if he's shown anything to be really excited about, in terms of skill.

He is 21. Look where current winners were at this age. 

[Bunbukuchagama]

17 minutes ago, Benihana said:

Damnit, a playoff would have been nice. But congrats to Atamifuji for his jun-yusho. Not everyone gets a jun-yusho in their 3rd makuuchi basho.

Second JY in a row, you mean.

[Godango]

Gotta love a 13-2 to finish the year and lead into a tsunatori. 

[Tigerboy1966]

5 minutes ago, Godango said:

Gotta love a 13-2 to finish the year and lead into a tsunatori.  

Our first 13-2 of 2023 was a long time coming. And this is a rope-run I will be cheering for.

[Akinomaki]

It was the 100th yusho for a rikishi from Mongolia, Hokkaido is top as yusho shusshin with 120 o. After 2 years ago Terunofuji, a y/o gets the most wins of the year award again o

NHK reported that Sadogatake (a bit reluctantly) acknowledged the yokozuna run for next basho, and also an ozeki run for his son and even a chance for Daieisho

[Tigerboy1966]

37 minutes ago, Eskbibs said:

Atamifuji is good and solid - but I don't know if he's shown anything to be really excited about, in terms of skill.

Agreed. He is very good at hanging in there until the other guy falls over, and that's a good base to work from. The skills can be learned and he is in the right stable for that, but he is already carrying too many tapes and bandages for my liking. January will be a tough one for him at M1 and we'll see how he responds.

[Yokozuna Hattorizakura]

Congratulations to Kirishima. I remember thinking, half in jest, that he would be the next yokozuna back in his upper Maegashira days. Looks like that may be a reality soon based on how he has been fighting lately. Kotonowaka has also seemed to have improved, shame he couldn't capture the yusho after his strong start. hope to see him at ozeki next year.

On the other hand, the shin makuuchi this basho were very disappointing, I expected a lot better from them. Who'd have thought former Juryo rank and filer Churanoumi would post the best score?

[RabidJohn]

Congratulations to Kirishima on yusho no. 2. I'll be delighted if he can make it stick in January, but I've tempered my expectations. I like him and his style and I would love to see him get the rope, but he's certainly doesn't have the overwhelming dominance Terunofuji had on his return to makuuchi. So yeah, let's see...

Actually, talking about dominance upon returning to makuuchi, Atamifuji almost fits the bill. I don't believe M1 will be a wall for him; he may not get a 3rd JY on the trot, but he can KK there.

Isegahama-san jinxing his deshi from the booth again today made me smile.

[Asashosakari]

41 minutes ago, Yokozuna Hattorizakura said:

On the other hand, the shin makuuchi this basho were very disappointing, I expected a lot better from them. Who'd have thought former Juryo rank and filer Churanoumi would post the best score?

I honestly expected all six promotees to go makekoshi. Way wrong in thinking Ichiyamamoto's juryo performance was a fluke, but the rest wasn't so far off in the end. If pressed to name which of the four shin-nyumaku I'd have considered most likely to not actually go MK, Churanoumi definitely wouldn't have been my top choice, but having seen the basho it kind of makes sense: Of the four, he's the one with the most solid fundamentals by far, and thinking back through his lengthy juryo tenure, there were always glimpses of "wow, this guy can really be good" for me...it's just that he basically never kept it together for more than a week, and seemed to pick up small injuries all the time.

I'm not too hopeful that he'll manage to avoid going right back to those on-again-off-again performances, but I've enjoyed seeing a more consistent demonstration of what he's capable of during the last two tournaments.

On another note: There are plenty of fans around the net who appear to outright despise Tohakuryu's sumo, but I actually and completely unironically enjoy what he's doing out there. Wasn't nearly enough to survive in makuuchi, of course.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Asashosakari

[Morty]

13 minutes ago, Asashosakari said:

I honestly expected all six promotees to go makekoshi. Way wrong in thinking Ichiyamamoto's juryo performance was a fluke, but the rest wasn't so far off in the end. If pressed to name which of the four shin-nyumaku I'd have considered most likely to not actually go MK, Churanoumi definitely wouldn't have been my top choice, but having seen the basho it kind of makes sense: Of the four, he's the one with the most solid fundamentals by far, and thinking back through his lengthy juryo tenure, there were always glimpses of "wow, this guy can really be good" for me...it's just that he basically never kept it together for more than a week, and seemed to pick up small injuries all the time.

I'm not too hopeful that he'll manage to avoid going right back to those on-again-off-again performances, but I've enjoyed seeing a more consistent demonstration of what he's capable of during the last two tournaments.

Both Roga and Toyakuryu looked way out of their depth even at the bottom of Makuuchi. Kitanowaka looked better but needed to be perfect at M17 and wasn't. 

[Gospodin]

4 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

NHK reported that Sadogatake (a bit reluctantly) acknowledged the yokozuna run for next basho, and also an ozeki run for his son and even a chance for Daieisho

Those many head collisions at the tachiai seem beginning to show. 

[Tochinofuji]

I have to say, I feel like Kagayaki got a bit of a raw deal not getting the nod in his first go with Nishikifuji. I thought they might have said Nishikifuji was shinitai given that he was going backwards, both feet off the ground, and wasn't attempting any reversal technique when they hit the ground (to my eye, Nishikifuji hitting a frame earlier, but who knows). The dead body rule always seems a bit like a. Reverse Spanish Inquisition to me - it never shows up when you expect it. 

[Koorifuu]

On Churanoumi.

He looked like a surefire bet for makuuchi for a while, which ground to a halt after a serious-looking concussion in Hatsu '21 just one win away from promotion. He spent a couple of years just threading enough water to stay in juryo until he finally started looking like his old self and got where he is right now.

Not too dissimilar to Shonannoumi, who's become a legit makuuchi force a few short years after we got treated to that sorry sight, albeit here you could possibly argue that he wasn't going anywhere pre-concussion either...

It's often so subtle it's invisible, but sometimes people take a long time to get back to their best reaction-wise, and it does make a difference at that level.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Koorifuu

[Yamanashi]

13 hours ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

By contrast, look at IYM - he is clearly getting handled with velvet gloves. A single sanyaku opponent for someone with a possible 11-4 record?! 

[NOTE: this is unverified speculation]

After Ichiyamamoto's loss on day 10 (to go 8-2), he met S Daieisho, who beat him (so now 8-3); maybe they thought he'd been tamped down enough to keep him away from the Yusho.