Abi stays heavy on Daiseizan's throat the entire way to the bales but at the last second gets parried by and Daisei finds the back of Abi's belt for the rear force out.
8-2 for both men as Takerufuji like yesterday employs another big spin off the initial impact against Asanoyama, rotating 180 and using a slap down to set up the yorikiri.
Big slap battle between big boys Fujiryoga and Kazuma, who gets backed to the bales and thrust off the dohyo.
Wakamotoharu driven to the straw by Kinbozan but pivots at the last second to toss Kinbo out with an arm lock throw. Just a beautiful counter attack here.
Shishi (M14, 8-2) looking to reclaim a path to victory against Kotoeiho (M7, 9-1). Koto has a bit of a slow tachiai and gets stood up taking a forearm to the chest, and they hand fight for belt control. They lock up outside lefts and scramble for throws near the ropes before Koto puts Shishi's back to the edge, who fights back and they stalemate for awhile in the center until Shishi works Koto back and forth to the edge(s) again where Koto goes for one last throw but Shishi has the position to collapse him down and out. Both men lie outside the ring panting for a few seconds until they can get back up. This is some of the most controlled sumo I think we've seen from Shishi to date.
Tobizaru can't work much of his monkey magic as Oshoma puts a heavy hand on the back of his neck and plants him into the clay.
Nishikifuji has to slap down Daieisho twice to get the first henka of the day.
After a false start Fujinokawa blasts forward and finds double unders against Hiradoumi who can't find an answer and gets worked out handily.
Yoshinofuji puts up a halfway decent defense as Churanoumi advances with a barrage of tsuppari but he gets slapped out.
After a stare down Gonoyama comes hard at Aonishiki who employs the same reaching overhand slap down he did yesterday against the yokozuna. It breaks Gono's position and puts him on the bales for the force out finish.
Ura sets up a bit behind the lines and rushes hard against Kotozakura but the ozeki backs up absorbing the charge before pivoting to knock Ura hard to the clay with a heavy left hand on his face.
Kirishima opens with a right hand slap to Ichiyamamoto's face and makes quick work of him with a couple good shoves.
Another heavy weight battle as Atamifuji faces Onosato. Solid collision in the center but Ono retreats looking for a slap down and Atami continues on to take Ono over the ropes.
Kotoshoho looks like he stymies Hoshoryu's first throw at the edge by almost falling over, which shifts his mass unexpectedly. As Hosho presses his advatage Koto works desperately back and forth and has a solid beltless throw attempt but Hosho has a solid outside left grip and counters with his own throw as they both crash to the deck.
Some great sumo going on today! Four days left with Aonishiki standing on top at 10-1 and a handful one win behind.
Such a joy to watch Takerufuji in good health, tearing through mid and lower Maegashira. He's fighting Takerufuji er I mean Takayasu tomorrow, that's another bout where I don't know who to cheer for.
Shishi (M14, 8-2) looking to reclaim a path to victory against Kotoeiho (M7, 9-1).
Before I watched that match I gave Shishi a long pep talk. People may not realize this, but those kind of cheers travel through time and space and language barriers and directly influence the outcome of a match. Anyway he fought like hell and it was an open question until the very end. It took them a couple seconds to get up afterwards because they were both so exhausted. In previous days I don't think Shishi got a lot applause from the audience, but I bet he gained a lot new fans today. I still dunno how he'll do once he starts fighting the named ranks, but his opponents better take him seriously from now on.
After a stare down Gonoyama comes hard at Aonishiki
Congrats to Aonishiki; besides being the sole front-runner, I believe this 10th victory ensures that he regains his Ozeki title.
Ura sets up a bit behind the lines and rushes hard against Kotozakura
Ura was always gonna have a problem with that match-up. Props to Ura for charging forward like a hero.
Atamifuji faces Onosato.
I can't cheer for Atamifuji after the drama with Kirishima a couple days ago. Feelz bad for Onosato.
Kotoshoho looks like he stymies Hoshoryu’s first throw
That was a good bout, but Kotoshoho always looked like Hoshoryu's sparring partner rather than someone who could credibly defeat him. edit: that's a little harsh, but what I mean is: it looked like for Kotoshoho to win, Hoshoryu had to mess up. ofc Hoshoryu has messed up in the past so it was possible...
I had braced for a Shishi loss, but what a great match! I'm not sure if he's going to win, but I'd like to see him get that fighting spirit award or something.
I had watched this short interview with Shishi and his stable, and he seems like such a loveable guy, and it was very touching seeing everyone say they liked him so much and all he really needed was just to believe in himself more.
I'm with you on Atamifugi also. I was really starting to like him until that bit of poor sportsmanship. 😔
Overall this felt like an exceptionally good day of matches.
I'm glad he was able to get that fixed then! He looks like a completely different guy from before.
It's interesting to see the 2 Ukrainians doing so well. I did a little learning about the restrictions on foreign wrestlers. It still feels wrong in a way, but I also get their reasoning behind it as well. Especially with current talk in America, "preserving culture" talk really starts raising red flags to me, but I can somewhat understand them wanting to keep sumo Japanese to an extent.
Have there been any updates on Wakatakakage? Last time I looked I got spoilers for a match I was looking forward to. 😐
I still remember when Takerufuji tore his right arm muscle. Usually the wrestlers don't show pain but he was clearly in agony. That was halfway through last year - he tried to fight with a torn bicep but eventually dropped out and skipped the next tourney. Was demoted, treaded water in Juryo for a year, and now finally is back, just two wins behind the leader. A lot of inspiring stories in this sport.
9 replies
Abi stays heavy on Daiseizan's throat the entire way to the bales but at the last second gets parried by and Daisei finds the back of Abi's belt for the rear force out.
8-2 for both men as Takerufuji like yesterday employs another big spin off the initial impact against Asanoyama, rotating 180 and using a slap down to set up the yorikiri.
Big slap battle between big boys Fujiryoga and Kazuma, who gets backed to the bales and thrust off the dohyo.
Wakamotoharu driven to the straw by Kinbozan but pivots at the last second to toss Kinbo out with an arm lock throw. Just a beautiful counter attack here.
Shishi (M14, 8-2) looking to reclaim a path to victory against Kotoeiho (M7, 9-1). Koto has a bit of a slow tachiai and gets stood up taking a forearm to the chest, and they hand fight for belt control. They lock up outside lefts and scramble for throws near the ropes before Koto puts Shishi's back to the edge, who fights back and they stalemate for awhile in the center until Shishi works Koto back and forth to the edge(s) again where Koto goes for one last throw but Shishi has the position to collapse him down and out. Both men lie outside the ring panting for a few seconds until they can get back up. This is some of the most controlled sumo I think we've seen from Shishi to date.
Tobizaru can't work much of his monkey magic as Oshoma puts a heavy hand on the back of his neck and plants him into the clay.
Nishikifuji has to slap down Daieisho twice to get the first henka of the day.
After a false start Fujinokawa blasts forward and finds double unders against Hiradoumi who can't find an answer and gets worked out handily.
Yoshinofuji puts up a halfway decent defense as Churanoumi advances with a barrage of tsuppari but he gets slapped out.
After a stare down Gonoyama comes hard at Aonishiki who employs the same reaching overhand slap down he did yesterday against the yokozuna. It breaks Gono's position and puts him on the bales for the force out finish.
Ura sets up a bit behind the lines and rushes hard against Kotozakura but the ozeki backs up absorbing the charge before pivoting to knock Ura hard to the clay with a heavy left hand on his face.
Kirishima opens with a right hand slap to Ichiyamamoto's face and makes quick work of him with a couple good shoves.
Another heavy weight battle as Atamifuji faces Onosato. Solid collision in the center but Ono retreats looking for a slap down and Atami continues on to take Ono over the ropes.
Kotoshoho looks like he stymies Hoshoryu's first throw at the edge by almost falling over, which shifts his mass unexpectedly. As Hosho presses his advatage Koto works desperately back and forth and has a solid beltless throw attempt but Hosho has a solid outside left grip and counters with his own throw as they both crash to the deck.
Some great sumo going on today! Four days left with Aonishiki standing on top at 10-1 and a handful one win behind.
Such a joy to watch Takerufuji in good health, tearing through mid and lower Maegashira. He's fighting
Takerufujier I mean Takayasu tomorrow, that's another bout where I don't know who to cheer for.Before I watched that match I gave Shishi a long pep talk. People may not realize this, but those kind of cheers travel through time and space and language barriers and directly influence the outcome of a match. Anyway he fought like hell and it was an open question until the very end. It took them a couple seconds to get up afterwards because they were both so exhausted. In previous days I don't think Shishi got a lot applause from the audience, but I bet he gained a lot new fans today. I still dunno how he'll do once he starts fighting the named ranks, but his opponents better take him seriously from now on.
Congrats to Aonishiki; besides being the sole front-runner, I believe this 10th victory ensures that he regains his Ozeki title.
Ura was always gonna have a problem with that match-up. Props to Ura for charging forward like a hero.
I can't cheer for Atamifuji after the drama with Kirishima a couple days ago. Feelz bad for Onosato.
That was a good bout, but Kotoshoho always looked like Hoshoryu's sparring partner rather than someone who could credibly defeat him. edit: that's a little harsh, but what I mean is: it looked like for Kotoshoho to win, Hoshoryu had to mess up. ofc Hoshoryu has messed up in the past so it was possible...
I had braced for a Shishi loss, but what a great match! I'm not sure if he's going to win, but I'd like to see him get that fighting spirit award or something.
I had watched this short interview with Shishi and his stable, and he seems like such a loveable guy, and it was very touching seeing everyone say they liked him so much and all he really needed was just to believe in himself more.
I'm with you on Atamifugi also. I was really starting to like him until that bit of poor sportsmanship. 😔
Overall this felt like an exceptionally good day of matches.
Apparently Shishi had been dealing with shoulder pain, but after the last tourney he had surgery to fix it: https://sumostats.com/news/37f18ae3-7494-4a2d-82b6-ee889d0db8f5
I'm glad he was able to get that fixed then! He looks like a completely different guy from before.
It's interesting to see the 2 Ukrainians doing so well. I did a little learning about the restrictions on foreign wrestlers. It still feels wrong in a way, but I also get their reasoning behind it as well. Especially with current talk in America, "preserving culture" talk really starts raising red flags to me, but I can somewhat understand them wanting to keep sumo Japanese to an extent.
Have there been any updates on Wakatakakage? Last time I looked I got spoilers for a match I was looking forward to. 😐
None that I've seen.
Thanks!
Seeing him go from winning to being really hurt has been a really shocking intro to the physical toll of this sport.
I still remember when Takerufuji tore his right arm muscle. Usually the wrestlers don't show pain but he was clearly in agony. That was halfway through last year - he tried to fight with a torn bicep but eventually dropped out and skipped the next tourney. Was demoted, treaded water in Juryo for a year, and now finally is back, just two wins behind the leader. A lot of inspiring stories in this sport.