28 posts tagged “ama”
The first tournament of the year starts Sunday in Tokyo and 2009 is setting up to be Hakuho's year. Can he dominate Sumo like Asashoryu did in 2005? (That year, he went 84-6 and won all 6 tournaments.) There are probably only 3 wrestlers who can stop him.
Ama has been promoted to Ozeki and changed his name to Harumafuji (which is cool, because it can be an entire line of a Haiku -- like "Harumafuji / Tiny little Sumo man / Kicks big Sumo ass"). In the second half of last year, he was the 2nd best wrestler, and came just a move or 2 away from winning the November tournament.
Asashoryu is still lurking out there, though it's yet to be seen if he can ever be championship-level effective again. Injuries have hurt him recently. He's gone 3 tournaments in a row without fighting the full 15 matches, and he seems to still be hurting heading into this tournament. Despite the awesome eager look he has in the picture to the right, with one defeated enemy at his feet and the next in his sights, in the traditional practice before the Yokozuna selection council, he only went 6-10. He says he wants to keep wrestling, but the Association seems to want him to retire and finally be out of their hair.
The further away from his injuries he gets, the stronger Baruto gets, and by the end of this year, he may be competing with Hakuho and Harumafuji for the championships. He's maintained his rank of Sekiwake this tournament (highest rank after Ozeki) and goes into his 3rd straight tournament in the top sanyaku ranks. Look for him to keep it up and start to dominate the mediocre non-Harumafuji Ozeki team.
The rest of the rankings haven't changed much. There are now 5 Ozeki's. Chiyotaikai and Koto'oshu hang in there, barely. Kaio is in his (record high) 12th tournament in danger of demotion if he doesn't win 8 matches. Surely, this will be his last year in Sumo. Kotomitsuki's days of challenging for the championship seem to be behind him, and now the only question is how long he will linger before retiring.
Young Japanese wrestlers Kisenosato, Toyonoshima, and Kotoshogiku are still up at the top of the rankings, but don't seem to have what it takes to get up to Baruto's rank or above.
Georgian wrestler Kokkai is up to Maegashira #4 and Takamisakari is up to #5 after his awesome tournament in November. Last tournament's rookies Bushuyama (the old one) and Aran (the one with the fastest promotion to the majors) are both up to Maegashira #6. Look for at least Bushuyama, if not both, to falter that high in the rankings.
Promoted to the majors after only 2 tournaments in the Juryo division is Yamamotoyama (see picture, and see giant ugly butt in the picture at the top), the giant who's now the biggest wrestler in the majors. 546 pounds, folks!
Match of the day Sunday: Asashoryu vs. Kisenosato
Would Hakuho win his 3rd tournament in a row, and 4th out of 6 this year?
Would Ama have a strong tournament and earn promotion to Ozeki?
Would Baruto also have a strong tournament at the high rank of Sekiwake, and would Takamisakari save himself from demotion with a good record?
Would 550-pound giant Yamamotoyama do well enough to earn promotion to the big leagues in 2009?
Answers to all questions are YES, with the completion of an actual exciting tournament in Fukuoka.
The boldest YES goes to Ama, who not only proved me wrong by coming back from a 2-2 record with an 11-match win streak and a 13-2 record, he also defeated the Yokozuna to put himself in position for a final-day tiebreaker match for the championship. Ama beat every top-ranked wrestler he faced: Hakuho, all 3 Ozeki's (Kaio had dropped out before they fought), and Baruto on the last day to preserve his tie for the lead. He won the Technique Prize for the tournament. As a result, he will be promoted and become the 5th (and only truly excellent) Ozeki on the banzuke in the January tournament.
Meanwhile, he couldn't get over the big obstacle and win his first championship. Even though Ama beat Hakuho earlier in the tournament, he lost to him in the tiebreaker on Sunday, and Hakuho won his 9th championship. It was one of the best matches of the year, and probably the best match of the tournament, as it should be. They fought for good grips on each other's belts, switching a couple times in the melee. Finally, Hakuho got a good overhand grip and got to try his favorite throw. But despite considerable leaning on the top of Ama's head while he threw, Ama hung in there for 1 or 2 attempts. Finally, Hakuho got the right leverage and threw Ama down. OK, here it is on YouTube. Match starts about 1 minute in, and Hakuho's on the left (the bigger one).
Baruto lost to Ama on day 15, but managed a good 9-6 tournament, including wins over Chiyotaikai and Koto'oshu. It's a start, but it won't have him heading for Ozeki promotion any time soon. For that, he'll have to start beating Kotomitsuki and Ama and Hakuho at least some of the time.
Another mediocre showing for the Ozeki team. Kotomitsuki finished 9-6, while the other 2 barely got winning records at 8-7, and Kaio dropped out with only 1 win.
Toyonoshima (9-6) and Kisenosato (11-4) both had great tournaments that should get them back into the top 'sanyaku' ranks in January. Futeno was not so lucky. Although he did gain strength late in the tournament, finishing 5-3 after an 0-7 start, it won't be enough to keep him from dropping way down the rankings (where, sadly, he probably belongs).
The 2 rookies, Bushuyama and Aran, both salvaged 8-7 records, and will move up pretty high in the rankings for their 2nd tournament in the majors. (And Aran saved his career record of never once getting a losing record.)
At the bottom of the rankings, Takamisakari finished up with a good win over one-time tournament contender Miyabiyama to go 10-5 and earn a good promotion. Miyabiyama finished 10-5, as well.
The other prize winners were Aminishiki (8-7 and moving up to Sekiwake in January), who got the Outstanding Performance Prize for beating Hakuho and 2 Ozeki's; and Yoshikaze (11-4), who won the Fighting Spirit Prize after staying in the championship race until a loss on the very last day.
The Juryo division championship went to the Mongolian rookie Shotenro at 12-3. Look for him to have another good tournament in January and become a Maku'uchi rookie in March. Unfortunately, the same is not true of "Four Cars" Yotsuguruma, who finished 6-9 in his first tournament in the top minors. Meanwhile, Yamamotoyama, the man-mountain, finished 9-6 at Juryo #3, so he should be the biggest rookie ever in January after just 2 tournaments in the top minors.
9-1: Hakuho, Miyabiyama
8-2: Ama, Baruto
7-3: Kotomitsuki, Toyonoshima, Kisenosato, Kokkai, Takamisakari
6-4: Chiyotaikai, Aminishiki, Kotoshogiku
5-5: Bushuyama, Aran
4-6: Koto'oshu
2-8: Futeno
1-9: Goeido
Things have settled in at the Sumo tournament. Hakuho has won another 2 (now up to 9 in a row) and Miyabiyama has kept pace with 2 wins of his own (because he hasn't had to face anyone good).
Meanwhile, the other contenders have fallen away, all except for the two Sekiwakes, Ama and Baruto. Ama is up to 8-2 including a win over Ozeki Koto'oshu, and with 4 wins in his last 5, he'll get promoted to Ozeki himself. Baruto has the 2nd longest win streak now with 8 in a row, including wins over 2 Ozeki's (Koto'oshu and Chiyotaikai today) and he probably has the best chance outside of Hakuho of winning this tournament. All depends on tomorrow's matchup against the Yokozuna.
Takamisakari has kept rolling and is just 1 win away from a winning record and assurance that he'll stay in the major league next tournament.
The 2 rookies, Bushuyama and Aran, are stumbling along with even records and it looks like both of them will be staying in the majors for at least 1 more tournament. Unfortunately, I have to sadly take away Miyabiyama's honor of Worst Chest in Sumo and give it to Bushuyama. Not pretty.
I'm assuming my personal favorite Futeno is injured in some way, because he has been awful this tournament. He is also fighting tougher competition than he's used to, as well, and it's added up to a 2-8 record so far, and a guaranteed demotion for next tournament. Sigh.
Meanwhile in the Juryo division, Shotenro tied a rookie record by winning his first 9 matches, but sadly couldn't beat the record. He lost today to former major-leaguer Iwakiyama and now they are tied at the top of the minor league.
And the HUGE match of the day tomorrow is the last match of the day: Hakuho (9-1) vs. Baruto (8-2). Baruto hasn't ever won in 5 previous match-ups with the Yokozuna, but I have a feeling this might be the first. Baruto's been looking very strong.
Well, suddenly my 2 questions are looking like they'll be answered the way we expected, after all.
After Dejima lost 2 days in a row, and Miyabiyama lost today, none other than Yokozuna Hakuho found himself tied for the tournament lead at 7-1. Hakuho has won 7 in a row after losing on day 1. He had a particularly strong showing today vs. 6-1 Kisenosato. Hakuho quickly got both hands on Kisenosato's belt, under Kisenosato's arms, then simply hooked one leg behind Kisenosato and pushed him over. Easy win over a strong wrestler.
Only Hakuho and Miyabiyama are 7-1, but there are 9 different wrestlers at 6-2. This includes Ozeki Chiyotaikai; Ozeki-wannabe Ama (4 wins in a row now, to look like maybe he'll be getting that promotion after all); Baruto (6 wins in a row, including an easy win today over Ozeki Koto'oshu); Kisenosato; Dejima; Kokkai; and super-popular Takamisakari.
Kotomitsuki still has minor hopes at 5-3, while Koto'oshu has a very mediocre 3-5 record after losing today.
Rookie phenom Aran is not proving so phenomenal in the bigs, only 3-5 after suffering a disappointing loss today. Meanwhile, his fellow rookie Bushuyama evened his record at 4-4.
In the minors, rookie Shotenro is still undefeated at 8-0, leading the tournament by himself, followed by former big-leaguers Iwakiyama and Tamawashi. Man-mountain Yamamotoyama is 6-2 in his 2nd tournament in the Juryo division and looks like he'll be promoted to the bigs in January.
Through 6 days of the tournament, there are only two undefeated wrestlers left, and both are former Ozeki's from the same Sumo stable. Miyabiyama is a nearly 400-pound Maegashira #7, who was an Ozeki back in 2000 but hasn't sniffed a return to that lofty rank recently. And have I mentioned he has the worst chest in Sumo? Dejima is at Maegashira #6 and was as high as Komusubi back in January, but way back in 1999 was an Ozeki and even won a tournament in the majors.
But enough about them. They'll be fading out of contention soon enough. On to the contenders...
Hakuho has won every match since day 1, so he's only 1 back at 5-1.
Ama has won 2 in a row to keep the Ozeki dream alive at 4-2.
Baruto has won 4 in a row, beating a good wrestler in Toyonoshima today to go to 4-2, so who knows? He's at the same rank as Ama, so maybe he'll be the next Ozeki. Depends on how he does against the Ozeki's and Hakuho later in this tournament.
Aminishiki and Kisenosato have both gotten to 5-1 starts against tough competition, so either one could compete for the championship with a little luck.
Georgian Kokkai is putting together one of us his good tournaments. He's 5-1. He'll probably finish with double digit wins, move up the ranks, then do lousy next tournament.
Takamisakari is still doing it. He's up to 5-1, too.
And in the minors, rookie Shotenro is still tied for the lead at 6-0.
Oh yeah, and the current Ozeki's are now 4-2 (Chiyotaikai), 3-3 (Kotomitsuki) and 3-3 (Koto'oshu). Weak.
Match of the day tomorrow: Dejima (6-0) vs. Toyonoshima (4-2)
Looks like 1 of the 2 questions of this tournament has been answered, while the other is only slightly up in the air.
Wannabe Ozeki candidate Ama looked good for 2 days, then shockingly dropped 2 matches in a row to Kisenosato and Goeido, leaving him at 2-2 and all but out of contention for that Ozeki promotion. He can definitely still get it if he goes 10-1 or 11-0 the rest of the way, but with matches against Hakuho and all the Ozeki's still left, it doesn't seem too likely. His only hope is to hang on for enough wins to give him a chance to win promotion after January's tournament.
Meanwhile, prohibitive tournament favorite Hakuho threw everything up in the air (literally -- see picture) by losing on day 1 to Aminishiki. He's righted the ship with 3 straight wins now, but today's win against Wakanosato was a contested victory in which both wrestlers went flying out of the ring at the same time. The ref called it for Hakuho, the judges convened to discuss it, and decided not to change the ref's call. Seemed like the right call, but obviously not a dominant win for Hakuho, so maybe he won't win it easily after all.
The current leaders at 4-0 are all low-ranked wrestlers, who've been demoted below their personal highs: Dejima, Miyabiyama, and Tokitenku. Miyabiyama, who outweighs almost everyone and has the worst chest in Sumo, could compete til the last few days, but the others won't.
The best performances have been by Aminishiki, who beat Hakuho and followed that with 2 wins over Ozeki's, and Toyonoshima and Wakanosato, who both beat 3 Ozeki's but lost to Hakuho.
Clearly, the Ozeki's are not having a good tournament. Kaio went 1-2, then dropped out of the tournament after pulling his triceps or something. He was already hobbled by a bad leg, so it just saved him a lot of humiliation. He still doesn't seem to realize he's too old to Sumo wrestler and muscles will continue to pop at random times on him -- he says he'll rest for 4 weeks, then start training for January's tournament. Chiyotaikai is 2-2 and Koto'oshu is 1-3, and only Kotomitsuki is showing anything, with a 3-1 record.
Baruto dropped his first 2 matches at Sekiwake, but has won 2 in a row now to even his record. He still has all his Ozeki and Yozokuna matches to come.
Futeno is choking big time at his high ranking, with an 0-4 record vs. the Sumo world's best.
The rookies, both the veteran Bushuyama and the Russian phenom Aran, are suffering in the big leagues at 1-3.
Takamisakari, fighting at the very bottom of the major leagues, is looking good at 3-1, and should get enough wins to stay in the majors.
In the minors, 26-year old Mongolian rookie Shotenro is among the leaders at 4-0. And rookie Yotsuguruma (4 Cars), at 3-1, was asked about his name in an interview, but the answer was very boring. He got it from some ancient Sumo wrestler, and it has nothing to do with how many vehicles are in his garage.
Match of the day tomorrow: Kotomitsuki (3-1) vs. Toyonoshima (3-1), who has already beaten all 3 of the other Ozeki's.
That's right. Time to quickly switch from presidential election mode, to Sumo tournament mode. The year-end Kyushu tournament starts tomorrow.
There aren't a whole lot of interesting storylines to this tournament. Asashoryu is skipping the tournament with an injury, that they're saying now may even keep him out of January's tournament, so I expect Hakuho will win his 3rd straight. He's already wrapped up the most match wins for the year, so there's no excitement there.
Really, the only excitement of the tournament should be Ama's run at an Ozeki promotion. 10 wins or more this tournament should be enough for him to get promoted, and I expect him to be able to do that pretty easily. He's already approaching Kotomitsuki's records for longest time at Sekiwake and in the top 3 ranks without being promoted, so it's his time, I think. He's gone 12-3 and 10-5 in the last 2 tournaments.
All the Ozeki's should be back, and (shockingly) for the 2nd straight tournament, none of them is facing demotion due to a bad tournament last time out. Kaio hurt himself in practice before the tournament, but seems well enough to compete.
Baruto got promoted to Sekiwake (Ama's rank, 3rd highest in Sumo) -- his highest ever. He just barely eked out an 8-7 last tournament. Should be interesting to see if he can put together something a little stronger and maybe get double digit wins this time.
Goeido got promoted to Komusubi, the rank just below Sekiwake, (his highest ever), which gives him the official title of Great Japanese Hope. Another Japanese wrestler of interest is Futeno, who was promoted to Maegashira #1 (just below Goeido) after an 11-4 tournament in September.
There are 2 rookies this tournament from opposite sides of the age scale. First is Bushuyama, who, at 32 years 5 months, is the 4th oldest rookie Sumo wrestler ever. Nice story, but I don't give him much chance to move up the ranks.
On the other end is Aran, a 24-year old Russian wrestler, who has made one of the fastest rises up the ranks in Sumo history. He tied Koto'oshu for fewest tournaments to reach the top level, 1 tournament faster than Asashoryu, Baruto, and Konishiki, among others. He spent only 2 tournaments in the Juryo minor leagues, and he hasn't had a single losing record in his career. If he stays away from marijuana, he may have a bright future in Sumo.
Yawn. Another tournament ends with another Hakuho celebration. Hakuho actually won the tournament on day 14, when Ama and Kotomitsuki both lost and he beat Koto'oshu in a tough match. He then beat Kotomitsuki on the last day to finish 14-1. Hakuho won his 8th championship. He also locked up the most wins of the year already, with 65 wins in his first 75 matches this year. (Ama is 2nd with 47 wins, so even if he goes 15-0 in November, he can't catch Hakuho.) It seems like we've gone from Sumo being completely dominated by Asashoryu to now being completely dominated by Hakuho.
Ama finished this tournament as the runner-up at 12-3 and won the Outstanding Performance Award for beating all 4 Ozeki's and Yokozuna Asashoryu. Looks like it wasn't enough to get promoted to Ozeki this time, but he probably only needs 10 wins in November to get a promotion. Very impressive, considering at 284 pounds, he's one of the smallest wrestlers in the pro's.
The 4 Ozeki's miraculously all finished with winning records for a 2nd straight tournament. Kotomitsuki did the best at 11-4, while Kaio and Chiyotaikai had decent (for them) records of 9-6. Koto'oshu barely escaped with a winning 8-7 record after beating Chiyotaikai on the last day.
Baruto, just as I expected, did a lot better after he had finished with the tough part of his schedule. He stumbled to a 2-7 opening, but then reeled off 6 straight wins to eke out a winning record at 8-7. With Toyonoshima giving a weak 6-9 performance in his first tournament as Sekiwake, look for Baruto to replace him and join Ama at Sekiwake in November.
Goeido won the Fighting Spirit prize after being in the race for the tournament for a long time, then ending up with a 10-5 record. Look for him to move up to Baruto's Komusubi rank, which would be Goeido's first tournament in the top ranks.
Futeno finished 11-4 and got a little bit screwed by not being given an award for his tournament. He was considered for the Technique Prize, but fell short in voting, and the decided not to give a Technique Prize out this tournament. Even worse, there was a special news report at the moment Futeno won his 8th match of the tournament, and so I didn't get to hear the Kevin McHale of Sumo interviewed for getting his winning record. Maybe next tournament, when he moves much higher up the rankings, he'll beat an Ozeki or a Yokozuna and get interviewed for that.
The ever-popular Takamisakari finished 6-9 ranked at Maegashira #11, only 5 ranks higher than the minor leagues, so he will be on the edge of demotion to the minors for next tournament. Could depend on how many of the minor leaguers they decide to promote to the majors.
In the minor leagues, Yamamotoyama, the 550-pounder, faded at the end (probably not used to moving all that weight for so many days -- below his division, the wrestlers only fight 7 matches per tournament) to finish 9-6. Meanwhile, 24-year old Russian wrestler Aran won the tournament at 12-3 in just his 2nd tournament in the top minor league division. If he can stay away from the wacky weed (a real temptation for those Russians, as we know), he should be able to take his place as the hairiest wrestler in the majors in November.
And in the double-A division, Makushita, the tournament winner at 7-0 was a guy named Yotsuguruma, whose name, if I'm reading it correctly, means "4 Cars". I hope he likes his name more than Arthur "2 Sheds" Jackson did. Incidentally, a search reveals multiple bands called 2 Sheds Jackson. How great is that?
And for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here is the clip...
11-1: Hakuho
10-2: Kotomitsuki, Ama
9-3: Goeido
8-4: Kaio, Wakanosato, Futeno
7-5: Chiyotaikai
6-6: Koto'oshu, Aminishiki
5-5-3: Asashoryu
5-7: Baruto, Takamisakari
Hakuho beat Goeido yesterday to take the sole lead with one loss. He followed that up today with a win over Chiyotaikai to maintain his 1-match lead over Kotomitsuki and Ama.
Goeido fell out of the race when he lost today to Kaio to drop to 9-3 and 2 back with only 3 days to go. Still, he should move up to the top of the rankings next time and compete against all the top wrestlers.
Ama is proving he deserves that promotion to Ozeki. Today he beat Koto'oshu, completing a complete sweep of the Ozekis in the tournament. He has beaten Kaio, Kotomitsuki, Chiyotaikai and now Koto'oshu, in addition to his win over Asashoryu. He stands at 10-2, his second straight double-figure win total, and I imagine if he finishes 13-2, he will get promoted (especially if he ties for the tournament lead).
Kotomitsuki won again today to stay 1 back and still has a day 15 date with Hakuho, that gives Ama and him both hope for winning the tournament.
In the minors, the big guy, Yamamotoyama, has started to falter, dropping down to 8-4 and out of the tournament lead by 1.
Match of the day tomorrow: Hakuho (11-1) vs. Kaio (8-4)
9-1: Hakuho, Goeido
8-2: Kotomitsuki, Ama
7-3: Kaio, Toyohibiki, Hokutoriki, Futeno, Kokkai
6-4: Chiyotaikai, Tochinoshin
5-5: Asashoryu, Koto'oshu
4-6: Toyonoshima, Takamisakari, Kitataiki, Tamawashi
3-7: Baruto
It was an exciting day 10. First, Asashoryu dropped out of the tournament with his elbow injury. After losing 3 out of 4 matches, I guess he decided it was a good time to rest the elbow. In fact, his people are saying he may not even compete in the year-ending tournament in November.
Asashoryu's dropping out was a bit of luck for leader Goeido, because he was supposed to fight Asashoryu today. Instead he got a default victory and went to 9-1 and stayed tied for first.
In the big match to end the day, Hakuho fought Ama for a share of the lead. It was a good battle. Ama got a good hit on Hakuho at the faceoff, then quickly got a grip on Hakuho's belt. Unfortunately, a quick move from Hakuho got under Ama's grip and separated him from the belt, and Hakuho quickly ushered Ama out of the ring.
Looks like it's Hakuho's tournament to win now, and he can do it tomorrow when he goes up against Goeido in the last match of the day.
Kotomitsuki beat fellow Ozeki Chiyotaikai to hang on 1 match behind the leaders and still has a chance to win the tournament, with an upcoming match against Hakuho on the last day of the tournament.
In the minor leagues, the giant Yamamotoyama lost his lead today with an awesome backwards throw from Kaiho and he's now tied with 2 other wrestlers at 8-2.
