147 posts tagged “sumo”
Just read some awesome Sumo news: Sumo is coming back to Las Vegas! Apparently the Sumo was such a big hit when it played Mandalay Bay a few years ago, they're desperate to do it again. And the Sumo Association has agreed to do it next October (at Mandalay Bay again). Hope I can still get a comped room by then...
Asashoryu has kept the roll going all the way to the last day. With strong wins over the Ozekis in the last few days, he's now 14-0.
Hakuho has not looked as good as Asashoryu the past week. He's had lots of matches where he's gotten very good fights, struggling on the belt for up to a minute, before managing somehow to pull a great move at the end to get the win. But he's won them all and is still very much alive at 13-1.
Tomorrow Asashoryu faces Hakuho in the last match of the day. If Hakuho wins, the two will have a rematch playoff for the championship (which they did as well in January, when Asashoryu won his last tournament). If Asashoryu wants to keep his record for most wins in 1 year (84), he'd better beat Hakuho the first time. If Hakuho wins, he'll have 71 wins and only need a 13-2 record in November to tie Asashoryu's record. (I think they were also saying today that if Hakuho wins, he'll tie the record for most tournaments in a row with only 1 loss or less.)
The Ozeki team seemed to be competing better than usual this tournament, but in the end, they've all ended up with typically bad records. Kotomitsuki has done the best, at 9-5, though his only win since day 9 was a default when Chiyotaikai dropped out. Koto'oshu was 8-1, then lost 5 in a row to drop all the way to 8-6. Harumafuji has shown flashes but is also only 9-5. Kaio looked like a shoo-in to win 8 again, but managed to lose his last 4 and needs a win tomorrow vs. Harumafuji to get a winning record and not face demotion/retirement in January.
Baruto stayed strong (11-3), though he lost a tough one to Kakuryu today. It looked like Baruto was going to pull off his usual move of just picking up the smaller guy and carrying him out, but Kakuryu had a great defense for it:
Baruto will move back to Sekiwake in November and a strong tournament then might even get him a promotion to Ozeki. The other Sekiwake in November could be Kisenosato, who's at that rank now and, at 7-7, has a chance to win on the last day and keep his rank. Kakuryu is 10-4 and has a good chance to move back up to Komusubi in November. He'll probably win one of the prizes tomorrow (I'd guess Technique).
Continual up-and-down wrestler Goeido is heading up. He's gotten 5 straight wins to get to 9-5.
Takamisakari is heading down, but not much. He's lost 3 in a row and dropped to 6-8.
The top scrubs, returning from the minor leagues for this tournament, have been Bushuyama, Wakanosato, and Hokutoriki. All three are 10-4, and all three are in their 30's, so don't expect this to carry over much in November when they move up the rankings.
One wrestler who could carry the momentum is Tochiozan, also 10-4. He has great skill, is still young (22), and seems to be bigger and stronger this time around. He was a Komusubi in May, but had a bad tournament, then a disastrous 0-13 start in July. He must have gotten healthy in the last couple months, and should be good again in November if he stays that way.
Unfortunately, Futeno keeps sinking. He's 5-9 and will be back in the minors in November.
Meanwhile, the foreigners keep coming. In the low, low minors, one division was won by a Georgian and another was won by a Brazilian.
Sadly, my great run in the Sumo pool is coming to a crashing halt. Despite having my best tournament for picks (70% correct), my schedule has given me 4 straight losses to drop Kunitachi to 6-8 and assure me of demotion in November.
Quick update: There was a small shakeup at the top of the standings today - nearly a big shakeup.
Asashoryu won easily to go to 10-0.
Kotomitsuki and Koto'oshu were both 8-1, but both lost today. Koto'oshu lost to Kaio, who continues his renaissance, raising his record to 7-3 and, more importantly, taking 2nd place all alone on the all-time career wins list with 965. Kotomitsuki lost to Harumafuji, who seems to be settling in (7-3) for some spoilerish action this week.
Meanwhile, it could have been a big shakeup because Hakuho nearly lost to Kakuryu. Kakuryu really should have had him, but somehow lost his balance just long enough for Hakuho to get his back and yank him down by the arm. Here's the video (w/ English commentary - ugh). Match starts at 4:00.
Baruto keeps rolling, now 8-2. At the bottom of the rankings, Hokutoriki is up to 8-2. A couple more wins and he might have to face someone at the top of the rankings to put him in his place.
And, in the biggest news today, Chiyotaikai lost again (to Tamanoshima) to drop to 2-8 and assure himself of a losing record. He promptly dropped out of the tournament. (Hmm, I think I remember someone predicting that either Kaio or Chioytaikai wouldn't make it through this whole tournament.) He also caused some questions about whether he would retire from Sumo, to which he didn't have an answer. (I imagine he'll be back in November, but if he can't win 8 then, he'll retire.)
I've alternated losses and wins for several days now in the pool. Kunitachi now stands at 6-4 after a tiebreaker win today.
Standings:
10-0: Asashoryu
9-1: Hakuho
8-2: Koto'oshu, Kotomitsuki, Baruto, Hokutoriki
7-3: Harumafuji, Kaio, Kakuryu
2-8: Chiyotaikai
3 big Matches of the Day tomorrow: Asashoryu vs. Harumafuji; Hakuho vs. Kaio; Koto'oshu vs. Baruto
Well, the biggest news today was that I had my first perfect 10-0 day in the Sumo pool. Need it all, as I won 10-9, which sadly only got Kunitachi to 5-3 after I lost a bad one yesterday.
Meanwhile, in actual Sumo, it's Asashoryu leading the tournament all by himself. He hasn't dominated quite as much as he had been in the last couple days, but he's still winning.
After Hakuho lost his first on day 6, Koto'oshu (in black) lost to Kakuryu (in blue) on day 7:
Koto'oshu followed that up with this match today vs. Toyonoshima:
Then, today, Kotomitsuki was beaten by Kisenosato and that left Asashoryu alone at 8-0.
Kakuryu (now 7-1) and Kisenosato (5-3) both look like the real deal. Kakuryu is a little guy who wins with speed and Kisenosato is a big guy who wins with power, but both are young, with lots of skill, and could be Ozekis some day.
Also looking like the real deal this tournament: Baruto. He's still only lost to the two Yokozunas and looks as healthy as ever. Here's his match from today against fellow 400-pounder Miyabiyama (in purple):
As for Hakuho, he's won both his matches since his loss, but he got all he could handle from the lowly 1-7 Tamanoshima today. Maybe this just isn't his tournament. (Or maybe he'll win every match from now on and beat Asashoryu on the last day to win it all.)
Chiyotaikai lost to Kaio today to drop to 2-6, and he faces Asashoryu tomorrow. He may be dropping out of this tournament very soon.
8-0: Asashoryu
7-1: Hakuho, Koto'oshu, Kotomitsuki, Kakuryu
6-2: Baruto, Hokutoriki, Masatsukasa
5-3: Harumafuji, Kaio, Kisenosato, Tochiozan (one of my fav's, who's looking good this tournament), Kunitachi
4-4: Takamisakari
3-5: Futeno
2-6: Chiyotaikai
Big matches tomorrow: Hakuho vs. Kisenosato; Kotomitsuki vs. Kakuryu
I think the headline gives it away, but here's the setup: On the left, The Grand Champion Hakuho, 5-0 and completely dominating his competition. On the right, Shotenro, 0-5 in only his 4th tournament in the majors, facing a Yokozuna for only the 2nd time ever (after losing to Asashoryu on day 4). (Match starts at 3:20 in the video...)
That's pretty much perfect Sumo by Shotenro. Very shocking and makes this a very interesting tournament. That's only Hakuho's 4th loss this whole year, but that puts his chances of beating Asashoryu's 1-year win record in jeopardy. (Also makes Asashoryu's 34-win streak facing guys for the first time look that much more impressive.)
Speaking of Asashoryu, he is rolling. Although he moved backward for the first time this tournament, he beat his nemesis Aminishiki with a nifty sidestep move at the edge today to go 5-0.
Also 5-0, Koto'oshu and Kotomitsuki have both looked great this tournament. Neither has even looked in danger of losing yet.
The other Ozekis have been shaky. Harumafuji lost to weak competition, Tamanoshima and Tochinoshin, on consecutive days, but came back to beat a strong Kakuryu today to even his record at 3-3. Kaio hasn't looked up to beating the tough competition, losing to Baruto and Kisenosato, en route to a 3-3 record so far. And Chiyotaikai has looked completely hopeless, with no power behind his slap attack, falling to 2-4 so far.
Baruto has looked great with losses only to the two Yokozunas. And yesterday, he put up a great fight vs. Hakuho and almost got him:
Kakuryu lost his first today to Harumafuji, but he's looked great against the lower competition at Maegashira #3. Takamisakari is doing well again, 4-2 and in danger of moving up too high for his skills in November.
Masatsukasa is living up to his awesome name, at 5-1 in his first tournament back in the majors since January.
And I am doing great in the Sumo pool. Kunitachi is now 4-2 (the two losses were a tiebreaker loss & a 9-8 loss), picking at a 75% rate this time, and heading for double digit wins again.
As requested, here's a video of a match from today's Sumo. This is Yokozuna Asashoryu (note: he's the guy on the right, for those of you who don't know what he looks like) against the newbie Shotenro. Not only did Asashoryu win his 34th straight match when facing a guy for the first time, I just loved the casual way he tosses his opponent at the end. Asashoryu has looked the best he's looked in a couple years so far this tournament (4-0).
After three days, no big surprises in the Sumo tournament.
Hakuho is as dominant as ever, 3-0.
Asashoryu sure doesn't look like he's got a knee injury. On the first day, despite my bold prediction, he not only beat giant Baruto, he did it by grabbing him and lifting him up completely and shoving him a mile. Do you think facing Asashoryu is intimidating? By beating Tochinoshin on Day 2, Asashoryu ran his winning streak when facing someone for the first time to 33! He should extend it to 34 tomorrow when Shotenro gets his first match with the Yokozuna.
Slightly surprising is the fact that Koto'oshu is wrestling just as well as he did last tournament. He's 3-0 and he's looked strong and confident. Also slightly surprising is Kotomitsuki's 3-0 start, as well as Kaio's relatively strong (for him) 2-1 start.
Not surprising: Chiyotaikai is 1-2. However, one of those losses was to Baruto, and he looks like he's all the way back in form. He didn't put up much fight to Asashoryu on Day 1, but came up strong with wins over Ozekis Harumafuji (2-1) and Chiyotaikai the next two days. He'll look to keep up the streak vs. Ozekis tomorrow against Kaio.
Sekiwakes Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku are both 2-1.
Tochinoshin, as expected, isn't handling the tough competition at the top of the rankings very well. He's 0-3, though he's had a tough schedule vs. both Yokozunas and Kotomitsuki.
Kakuryu's precipitous drop in the standings after a tough July has set him up for a good tournament at a lower rank, and he's started out looking very solid at 3-0. Also starting 3-0: Iwakiyama, Kakizoe, and Masatsukasa. (Don't expect any 2nd-week competition from those three.)
Takamisakari is 2-1, but Futeno seems to be hurt and has dropped his first 3 matches at the bottom of the rankings. He looks to be headed back down to the minors in November.
Kunitachi has started well, 2-1 after losing a tough one on a tiebreaker on Day 2. I picked 9 of 10 right on Day 1 and 8 of 10 on Day 3, and need to keep it up and try to get 11 or more wins this time to step up the promotion.
The 5th tournament of the year starts tomorrow in Tokyo with little fanfare and few interesting storylines.
This might turn out to be one of the least suspenseful tournaments in a while. I don't expect a lot of competition. Hakuho might wrap this one up by Day 13.
At Yokozuna, both Hakuho and Asashoryu are back again. Hakuho dominated in July, going 14-1 and winning his 11th championship. He should continue his dominance and his march toward the all-time record for most wins in one year. Meanwhile, Asashoryu is fighting a knee injury that's held him back a little in practice. He's good enough to stay near the top, but I doubt he'll compete for the tournament.
Koto'oshu had a huge tournament in July, hanging in the race for the Cup until Day 14, and received the highest civilian honor from his home country Bulgaria, but I think it's safe to expect a letdown tournament this time around. There is a chance Kotomitsuki could do something this time (he went 12-3 in July), but the most competition for Hakuho from the Ozeki team will probably come from Harumafuji. Harumafuji had a pretty bad tournament in July, starting an average 9-3 but then tiring out and losing his last 3 matches to finish at a mediocre 9-6. Kaio and Chiyotaikai both squeaked out 8-7 records last time, so there's no pressure on them this tournament. Both will surely continue their awful wrestling and I expect at least one of them won't make it to the end of the tournament. Kaio ties the all-time record this tournament for most tournaments ever at the top level of Sumo. He'll be tied with the American legend Takamiyama with 97 tournaments competed. (Maybe he's just playing out the year to break the record, then he'll retire.)
Kisenosato is back at the 3rd highest rank, Sekiwake. He's joined by Kotoshogiku. Neither will be looking at Ozeki promotion any time soon.
Baruto came back strongly from an injury-affected May debacle with an 11-4 record last time. He got promoted back into the top ranks, at Komusubi, and he'll be up against all the top wrestlers again. If he's physically OK, he'll win a bunch and move back up to Sekiwake.
Among the rank-and-filers down the rankings, there's not a lot to talk about. Tochinoshin is way up to his highest rank ever, at Maegashira #1 after consecutive 9-6 tournaments. This puts him in the path of all the top wrestlers, which should be a giant challenge for the young Georgian. In just his 3rd tournament in the majors, Mongolian Shotenro went 11-4 at #10 and moved all the way up to #2. Kakuryu and Goeido both faltered badly at Sekiwake in July and dropped all the way to #3 and #5, respectively, for this tournament. Takamisakari is competing at a realistic rank of Maegashira #7 this time, and apparently going with the always-disconcerting reverse-Swastika symbol (a perfectly acceptable and ancient symbol, but disconcerting nonetheless) on his Kessho-mawashi (see picture).
There are no rookies this tournament, but there are a bunch of wrestlers who made it back to the majors after good tournaments in the Juryo division. The most interesting of those is Tama'asuka, who finally made it back to the top division after 22 tournaments (over 3 years) in the minors. He had dropped all the way down to #31 in the Makushita, 2nd-minors, and fought his way back. He's still youngish at 26, so maybe he can make it stick and move up some now. I'll be rooting for him, especially since he's got the anti-Swastika -- a cartoon bunny wearing a baseball cap and a Sumo belt -- on his kessho-mawashi. Nice. I also like returnee Masatsukasa at the very bottom of the majors, because his name is so fun to say.
Finally, my man Futeno was spared by the Sumo gods, dropping him to #15 after a 6-9 July, but not out of the majors. Let's hope he can get his 8 wins and stay in the Maegashira.
My alter-ego, Kunitachi, got a decent bump after a 9-6 tournament in the Sumo pool. I'm up to Makushita #38 (from #47 in July). Looks like my hopes of making Juryo division by March are in trouble, but maybe by May...
Match of the Day tomorrow: Things start big with Asashoryu vs. Baruto on Day 1. I boldly predict Baruto finally breaks through and gets his first win against the Yokozuna.
I am saddened that my t-shirt with a cartoon version of my old Japanese baseball hero, Ikeyama (shortstop, Japan Champion Yakult Swallows, 1993) doesn't fit too well and is about 2 washes from retirement.
But I can always count on Japan to bring me new cartoons, and today they announced a great new one: Sumo Birds!
Apparently, the Japan Sumo Association is finally trying to develop some younger fans (about time, since they were complaining about lack of younger fans back in '93 when I was there) and in order to do that, they've developed some Sumo cartoon characters.
In typical brilliant Japanese pun style, they are Sumo wrestling birds. Why? The Japanese word for Sumo wrestler is "sekitori" and the Japanese word for bird is "tori", so they call these characters "Seki-tori-kun" ("Kun" is like "San", but used as a diminutive for kids). Gotta love that. Unfortunately, I can't read the small print on this poster, but I think they've given names to the different bird-wrestlers, and bios and stuff. And the plan is to have giveaways of stickers and pictures and things of the seki-tori-kun at the tournament (which starts in 2 weeks, by the way).
Now, I just need to figure out how to get an adult size t-shirt with that top middle bird on it (I think his name is Hiyonoyama). Might have to just bootleg one myself...
It all came down to the last match between Hakuho and Asashoryu and the fans got a good one:
With that win, Hakuho nailed down the championship, the 11th of his career. That puts him in a tie for 9th all-time with Akebono (but still more than 10 titles behind Asashoryu, who's in 4th). Hakuho finished 14-1 with only a day 11 loss to Kotomitsuki. It's his 2nd tournament win this year and ran his record for the year to an amazing 57-3 (with a very real chance of breaking Asashoryu's record of 84 wins in a year.)
Tournament Winners:
Koto'oshu - 13-2 -- An impressive tournament for Koto'oshu just missed a playoff by 1 win. He beat everyone he had to (including Asashoryu on day 14 and Harumafuji, very easily, on day 15) except he couldn't beat Hakuho. Still, it's nice to see he can compete every so often.
Kotomitsuki - 12-3 -- Kotomitsuki beat all the other Ozekis (he doesn't face Koto'oshu because they're on the same team) and he was the only one to beat Hakuho, but he lost to Asashoryu and he lost one he should have won to Aminishiki, which took him out of contention. Hopefully, he can keep up the momentum, though. 3 competitive Ozekis would be great.
Kisenosato - 9-6 -- He faded at the end, losing 4 of his last 6, but he beat 3 Ozekis and he beat Asashoryu and finished with a good 9-6 record at the highest rank below Ozeki. He won't be pushing for Ozeki promotion in September, but maybe by early next year.
Baruto - 11-4 -- Baruto had been getting stronger and stronger and hanging in at Sekiwake up until last tournament, when he got hurt and stumbled to a 4-11 record, dropping him to Maegashira #3 for this tournament. All he did was take advantage of the weaker competition and march to an 11-4 record (though he did lose to all three Ozekis he faced). He should move back up to the top ranks, probably Komusubi, though possibly even back to his old rank in September.
Aminishiki - 11-4 -- Aminishiki had a great tournament in the middle of the Maegashira ranks, going 11-4 and winning the Technique Prize (for the 4th time). He'll move up to the top of the Maegashira in September and have to face all the Ozekis and Yokozunas.
Shotenro - 11-4 -- Shotenro is a young Mongolian wrestler who was fighting in the 3rd division a year ago, but quickly moved his way up and through the minors. This was his 3rd tournament in the bigs, and he got his form back, winning 11 and earning the Fighting Spirit Prize. He's got good skill and good size (339 pounds) and should be able to hang with the tougher competition as he moves up next tournament.
Tosayutaka - 8-7 -- Tosayutaka was the only rookie who got a winning record. Mokonami went 6-9, but he was way up the rankings, so he should stay in the majors, but Wakakoyu will drop back to the minors.
Homasho - 10-5 -- Once again, Homasho drops to the bottom of the rankings and comes up big to move back up (where he will probably fail again and head back down).
Wakanosato - 14-1 -- Wakanosato dropped down to the minors after last tournament, but not for very long, going 14-1 and winning the Juryo division championship. He'll be back to the majors in September.
Kunitachi - 9-6 -- I just missed my 10th win today, losing 8-to-7. I had a pretty mediocre tournament, only averaging 6.4 right each day in an easy tournament, but still got 9 wins and should move up decently in September. My goal of reaching Juryo by next March may be in danger, though.
Tournament Losers
Asashoryu - 10-5 -- Five losses is not very good for Asashoryu (especially after starting 7-0) and losing to both Kaio and Chiyotaikai is inexcusable. He put up a good fight against Hakuho on the last day, but it doesn't look like he'll be competing with him for tournaments very often in the future. Still, he only needs 1 more to tie for 3rd most all time, and he should be able to get one in the next 4 or 5 tournaments.
Kaio and Chiyotaikai - 8-7 -- Sigh. Another mediocre tournament for both of them again, but just enough to get a winning record and keep their Ozeki ranks for a while longer.
Kakuryu - 5-10 -- Kakuryu was promoted to his highest rank yet, Sekiwake, and couldn't quite stand up to the competition there. He'll drop way down next tournament, and, if he's healthy, should do fine and make his way back.
Aran - 4-11 -- Not a good tournament for the young Russian, still in his first year in the majors. He was way up at Maegashira #1 and failed miserably against the top wrestlers. Chalk it up to a learning experience. He'll be back in a few tournaments.
Takamisakari - 6-9 -- Everyone's favorite looked like he had a chance to creep up to the higher ranks and the big competition, but instead he dropped 5 out of 6 to end the tournament and will go back down to the middle of the Maegashira, where he belongs.
Yamamotoyama - 4-7-4 -- The man-mountain was in the middle of a poor tournament when he had to drop out due to a knee injury. (Not surprising, considering he weighs 560 pounds and has to constantly squat.) He may hang on to the bottom of the majors, but if he isn't healthy in September, he'll be dropped to the minors.
Futeno - 6-9 -- My personal favorite won his first 3, then lost it completely. He was near the bottom of the rankings, so there's a good chance he'll be back in the minors in September (the good news being, maybe he'll win it all down there and I'll get to hear another interview).
That's all for now. The next tournament starts September 13 in Tokyo.
