Day 13 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
With the yusho narrowed down to either Hakuho or Terunofuji by the end of Day 12, I mentioned that the only remaining storyline was whether or not we'd get to see the two clash on Sunday with 14-0 records. I guess there's also the story of Terunofuji's pending promotion to Yokozuna. The Mongolian has won the previous two basho, and so part of the talk coming into this tournament was what it would take in terms of the yusho or a record worthy of a yusho rikishi. If you're a Japanese rikishi, two consecutive yusho is a lock for promotion. If you only yusho once, 12 wins the other basho will likely get it done. If you're Mongolian, however, the standards are raised, and so the benchmark for Terunofuji this basho was to attain at least 13 wins.

He drew Shodai today, so let's start with that bout. From the tachi-ai, Terunofuji reached for and grabbed the left frontal belt grip, which turned out to be an outer pinching Shodai's right arm inwards. Shodai brought the arm to the outside, but as soon as he did, Fuji let go of the grip, and so that enabled Shodai to execute a decent scoop throw with the left that sent the Ozeki near the edge. The crowd gasped a bit in excitement, but Fuji was still in control grabbing the front of Shodai's belt again with the left hand, but he didn't latch on a second time and that enabled Shodai to go for a pull. The pull move didn't impact the Ozeki at all and it actually briefly created a bit of space between the two, so Terunofuji connected on a hari-te and then swooped in for the oshi-dashi kill. As he did so, Shodai skirted to his right in a last gasp effort to pull Terunofuji forward and out, but Terunofuji connected on a left tsuki that sent Shodai across and down before the Ozeki stepped out largely from his own forward momentum.

This bout had little continuity to it, but that will happen when they don't take it chest to chest, and no one is looking to execute an oshi attack either. My opinion is that Terunofuji's intent was to win from the beginning, but he let go of Shodai's belt twice to make it closer than it should have been. I mean, there's no reason Terunofuji couldn't have wrapped Shodai up from the tachi-ai. He had the mae-mitsu with the left that completely pinned Shodai's right arm useless, and Fuji had his right arm wrapped around the outside of Shodai's left. Shodai's only move at that point was to bring his right arm to the outside...a movement that would have given the Ozeki the inside left had he wanted it. Regardless of that, I like to see a little bit more stability in a bout when it's Day 13 and two Ozeki are fighting. We didn't get that here as Terunofuji easily moves to 13-0 while Shodai falls to 7-6.

Terunofuji's posting that 13th win means he'll now finish with a record worthy of the yusho (his last two yusho were with 12 wins), and so promotion to Yokozuna should be a lock at this point. I for one did not think we would ever see a foreign Yokozuna again...not because they weren't capable but due to political reasons. I was wrong on that point as Terunofuji and his camp are making it clear that Terunofuji can reach the rank if he wanna.

With Terunofuji safely through (why do I even say that?). With Terunofuji having chosen to win, it was now up to Yokozuna Hakuho who faced Suckiwake Takayasu in the day's final bout. One thing we can say about Takayasu to this point is that his tachi-ai has been terrible, and he can't establish anything positive from the initial charge. Hakuho exposed that fact today because...well, he was trying to win from the start without making Takayasu look viable in the process. Hakuho actually whiffed on his right hari-te from the tachi-ai, but Takayasu couldn't make him pay lamely keeping both arms forward and down at the the charge, and as quick as Hakuho fired that face slap, he moved left and grabbed Takayasu's extended right arm yanking the Suckiwake down in less than two seconds. You would think that if a dude was fancying a return to the Ozeki rank that he'd at least be able to compete. Takayasu was hapless here in an anticlimactic bout to finish the day. The result is Hakuho's moving to 13-0 while Takayasu falls to 7-6.

The Mongolians swap partners tomorrow, and if both of them decide to win again, it will leave both Shodai and Takayasu at 7-7 heading into senshuraku where those lesser two are likely to face off. In that scenario, you'd have to tout Shodai as the favorite. I suppose that's getting ahead of ourselves a bit since we still have some action to cover from Day 13.

M5 Okinoumi gave a clinic today on how to act mukiryoku against Suckiwake Mitakeumi. From the start, Okinoumi just stood straight up as Mitakeumi moved forwarding establishing the bout as hidari-yotsu, and Okinoumi did zero to try and halt his opponent's forward charge or to counter. Mitakeumi's right arm was not in a great position, and he was far away from an outer grip, but Okinoumi all but walked backwards with Mitakeumi in tow. After the bout, Yoshida Announcer and Kitanofuji were describing Mitakeumi's sumo as "Tsuyoi!" or strong, and my question is how was he strong? What was he fighting against? What was his opponent doing to counter Mitakeumi's attack? The answer is of course that Okinoumi was doing absolutely nothing start to finish, and it showed in his movements, posture, and lack of sumo. Mitakeumi moves to 7-6 with the gift while Okinoumi's make-koshi is official at 5-8.

Komusubi Wakatakakage has petered out this basho, but to his credit he's also deferred to a few guys as well. Today against M4 Kotoeko, Wakatakakage couldn't trust a straight forward attack, and so he shaded to his left firing some timid pulls. Kotoeko doesn't exactly come out of the gate blazing himself, so when the two did square up, they were both firing shoves whose purpose was to set up a pull and not to execute a solid forward-moving attack. Wakatakakage seemed to have the upper hand, and that baited Kotoeko into a lateral movement to his right where he went for a pull, but it wasn't good enough nor had he set WTK up for the move, so the Komusubi easily shoved Eko back and across. Wakatakakage moves to 4-9 with the win while Kotoeko falls to 2-11.

M6 Kiribayama struck Komusubi Meisei at the tachi-ai and then moved awkwardly to his left not really going for a pull, but Meisei didn't capitalize, and so as the two squared back up, Kiribayama kept his arms out wide gifting Meisei moro-zashi. Because Meisei hadn't created any momentum for himself from the tachi-ai, Kiribayama's left outer looked quite solid, but the Mongolian didn't bother using it to attack, and so eventually Meisei nudged Kiribayama upright and forced him back to the edge. Kiribayama used his heels against the tawara to stand pat, but he wasn't looking to counter, and so he finally relented in the end giving Meisei the win by yori-kiri. Meisei moves to 7-6 thanks to a mukiryoku opponent while Kiribayama had/has plenty of room to sell at 8-5 now.

The star outside of the elite ranks this basho has been M5 Hoshoryu, and he was paired against fellow countryman M2 Ichinojo today. Ichinojo grabbed an early left outer from the tachi-ai, but he didn't have anything to the inside with the right, and so Hoshoryu secured his left inside position and then fought Ichinojo's right arm to the outside giving Hoshoryu moro-zashi. Ichinojo is one of the few who can give up moro-zashi and be just fine and it showed here as Hoshoryu tried to gain an advantage nudging Ichinojo upright, but the Mongolith wouldn't budge. Hoshoryu next tried to break off Jo's left outer, but he couldn't do that, and so he ducked his head in a bit going for an inside belt throw, but that had little effect other than causing the M5 to lose his outer. Ichinojo let Hoshoryu back into moro-zashi, but the kid was spent and could do no more. At that point Ichinojo began a slow force-out charge and it allowed Hoshoryu to slip out left and go for a last ditch tsuki-otoshi. That move also had little effect but Ichinojo just walked forward and out just as Hoshoryu touched down with his foot to the venue floor. They signaled towards Ichinojo but ultimately ordered a redo.

Before we get to the redo, you could clearly see here how Ichinojo is the superior rikishi. In fact, this guy could be a Yokozuna if he wanted to and if his stable would let him. He was just toying with Hoshoryu here today with no intention of winning.

In the rematch, Hoshoryu got the right arm inside again with Ichinojo assuming the mammoth left outer...just like the previous bout, and just like the previous contest, Ichinojo was mukiryoku again refusing to take advantage of a right inside position. Hoshoryu forced the Mongolith back near the straw early, but Ichinojo held on and forced the bout back to the center of the ring in the gappuri migi-yotsu position. Hoshoryu was still overmatched, but Ichinojo let him perform a maki-kae and once again in moro-zashi and unable to execute a force-out, Hoshoryu finally went for an inside belt throw and Ichinojo just put his palm to the dirt and bounced to the edge. Ichinojo made the kid work for it, but this bout was yaocho through and through. Hoshoryu moves to 9-4 with the gift while Ichinojo settles for 8-5.

Another Mongolian showing some charity to a fellow youngster was M7 Chiyoshoma against M10 Kotonowaka. Kiribayama redefined the C3P0 arm tachi-ai today completely leaving himself exposed at the tachi-ai, but Kotonowaka couldn't capitalize, and so Kiribayama went a step further by putting his left arm up high around Kotonowaka's neck, and still Baby Waka was hesitant. With Kotonowaka doing nothing, Kiribayama used a very weak kote-nage with the left to try and force the bout to a nage-no-uchi-ai but when Kotonowaka couldn't respond in kind with his right inside position, Kiribayama just putt his right forearm to the dirt as the two crashed down back towards the center of the ring. They should give the Ginosho to Kiribayama for his orchestration of this bout alone. What a thing of beauty! Through it all, you could see how hapless Kotonowaka was at every turn even though his foe was begging him to do something. And Kotonowaka is the dude who comes away 10-3? What an insult to my intelligence. Furthermore, I've been watching sumo a long time, and when a dude has this much dirt on his torso after a bout, he did not win. That was the case here as Chiyoshoma graciously...and I mean graciously...fell to 7-6.

M10 Tamawashi easily kept pace against M8 Takarafuji standing him up from the tachi-ai and forcing him back quickly to the edge using nice tsuppari and a choke hold to boot.  As Takarafuji tried to ditch left at the last minute, Tamawashi caught him square in the torso pushing him back with ease in moving to 10-3.  This win will move The Mawashi all the way back up to the jo'i for September where he has much more room to sell his bouts.  As for Takarafuji, he falls to 8-5 in defeat.

M17 Ichiyamamoto's slide continued today against M10 Terutsuyoshi, and the rookie is actually managing to look worse and worse each day. The problem with buying a big chunk of bouts up front is that it does you no good on the backend when the pressure is on and you still haven't had to face much Makuuchi pressure. You could totally see the Koumuin show his nerves here with a terrible tachi-ai where he was already moving back with two arms extended against T-Tsuyoshi's shoulders. As Ichiyamamoto tried to skirt left, his footwork was all out of sorts, and Terutsuyoshi was able to easily tackle him down to the dirt. Ichiyamamoto falls to 7-6 now, and as I predicted a few days ago, the dude is going to have to buy that last win if he wants kachi-koshi. What a farce this debut has been. As for Terutsuyoshi, he picks up kachi-koshi at 8-5.

Speaking of farcical kachi-koshi, M13 Ura entered the day at 8-4 taking on M11 Kaisei, and Ura didn't necessarily redefine the term speed at the tachi-ai. Slow as molasses he ducked down and grabbed Kaisei's right leg, but he couldn't budge the Brasilian, and it was clear at this point that Kaisei wasn't trying to win the bout. After the ashi-tori failed miserably, Kaisei let Ura get moro-zashi, but he was still hesitant and so Kaisei was easily able to get the right arm to the inside. With Kaisei enjoying a firm outer belt grip with the right and the left inside position, Ura was at his bidding, but Kaisei just stood there intending on throwing the bout. Ura was still in a bind, but with Kaisei just welcoming him to go for anything, Ura went for the sori move (pictured at left) where he turned around as if to push Kaisei over and down with the back of his shoulders. He wasn't strong enough to execute the move, however, and so he quickly turned yanking Kaisei down by the hair with the left hand while pushing him down by the back of the belt on the other side. Kaisei graciously stumbled forward and down, but they caught the hair pull and disqualified Ura.

I don't think it could be anymore obvious how mukiryoku Kaisei was today. I mean, he was just standing there the whole time, and what's worse, he was forced to watch Ura attempt all of these tricked up moves that failed miserably. The ashi-tori was useless and then Ura was straining so hard on that sori attempt I think he half peed himself. Watching Ura today was like watching a band popular in the 80's who now gets lucky to play casinos on Indian reservations. It was washed up and uninteresting. Ura falls to 8-5 with the disqualification, and my question is: does Kaisei have to return the money paid up front for him to be so mukiryoku? Make Ura come and fight him for it. Kaisei moves to 6-7 after the bizarre display.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
With Yokozuna Hakuho and Ozeki Terunofuji on a collision course to meet each other undefeated on senshuraku, NHK produced a graphic to start the Day 12 broadcast listing all of the historical occurrences when two rikishi have met undefeated on senshuraku to determine the yusho. Such a scenario has only happened five times in the past, and it's certainly not a given yet for this basho, but the last time we saw such an occurrence came at the 2012 Nagoya basho when Ozeki Harumafuji and Yokozuna Hakuho faced each other coming into senshuraku 14-0 apiece. Instead of just telling you who won, how about we go to the archives of ST and let Clancy break it down?

Take it away maestro:

"One question that often bubbles unbidden to the top of the stew that is my mind is why do I continue to be interested in sumo? Verily, this is a sport that, even in its country of origin and on a Day 15 that promises an exceedingly rare clash of 14-0 rikishi, draws a crowd whose average age is best described as "infinity plus one."

The answer probably lies in the hold the sport had on me when I was new to Japan, and also in the grandeur that is a hard fought, honest bout between two equally matched foes. In its lead up to the clash between Yokozuna Hakuho and Ozeki Harumafuji, NHK showed a few past bouts wherein a Grand Champion and a Champion went toe to toe on Day 15 14-0. The best of these was some bout back when I was biting ankles, late 60s or so. The bout featured I think Yokozuna Wakanohana (cant recall which just now) taking on another undefeated Ozeki. In the battle, both men were clearly straining as much as they could, locked into a tight yotsu battle, mirroring each others stance and moves. The winner took the yusho by dint of a tiny bit more strength applied here and there. There was no "Oops, duh me!" moment, no move that either man made which caused me to scratch my head. It was o-zumo through and through.

I wish I could say the same about the Hakuho/Harumafuji bout today, but alas I cannot. The very first mistake by the Yokozuna came right after the tachi-ai, when they separated for a split second before coming together again. For some reason, maybe injury, maybe bad timing who knows, Hakuho kept his left arm loose and up, allowing Harumafuji the deep inside right belt grip when it looked to me had Hakuho kept his left arm in tight, HE would have been the one with the inside. But hey, maybe he gave up one thing to get another, as he did manage to get an inside right grip, while HowDo grabbed an outside left.

With both men returned to the same position on the dohyo as when they began, the Yokozuna made his second strange choice. He decided to forego using his larger size and greater strength and take a few seconds to wear down the Ozeki, you know, sort of hunker down and stick his ass back, lean in on him a little (but not too much and get slapped down). Suss him out, if you will (and you will!) No, instead Hakuho decided to rush it. Rush It. If a sumo wrestler who is clearly bigger and stronger wants to give himself the best chance possible of losing, he should Rush It!

So Hakuho, with just an inside right grip (and a too deep grip at that), basically stands upright and walks right into Harumafuji, who with his double belt grip EASILY swings the somnambulant Kublai around and out via yori-kiri. To add insult to injury, Hakuho sort of tripped as HowDo pushed him out, and he crashed ungainly into the fans ringside (breaking one ladies nose and oddly enough, improving her looks!)."

Ah, the good ole days. It's interesting to read those comments from nine years ago. You could tell that everyone knew the bout was fake, but ST wasn't so in your face about it at the time. Furthermore, while we knew that bouts were being compromised, they weren't trying to shove unworthy Japanese rikishi into elite ranks on the banzuke nor were they mandating they take the yusho half the time, and so it was one of those things where you casually comment on it because you feel gypped and then move on.

Getting back to the present discussion, here is the historical list of past occasions where undefeated rikishi have met each other on senshuraku:

2012 Nagoya: Ozeki Harumafuji vs. Yokozuna Hakuho
1983 Aki: Yokozuna Takanosato vs. Yokozuna Chiyonofuji
1964 Haru: Yokozuna Taiho vs. Yokozuna Kashiwado
1963 Aki: Yokozuna Kashiwado vs. Yokozuna Taiho
1960 Haru: Yokozuna Wakanohana vs. Tochinishiki

Now, there are still three days to go before we get to senshuraku and starting tomorrow, the two Yokozuna will be paired against the Japanese "darlings," so anything could happen, but this is the only storyline we have from the current basho.

I'm going to pick and choose bouts today in the interest of time, so let's start off with M12 Tochinoshin vs. M13 Ura. Ura henka'd right at the tachi-ai and Tochinoshin wasn't fooled a bit, and as he looked to square back up, Ura went for a dumb pull, and the pic at right shows how exposed Ura was.  Instead of going for the kill, however, Tochinoshin decided to see how high and how wide I can point my left elbow on this side while I entirely forget about getting my right arm to the inside over there. All that did was give Ura something to latch onto, and with Tochinoshin just creating a link in a chain for him to grab, the two spun around a coupla times in the dohyo as Ura tried to go for a kata-sukashi. He wasn't strong enough to finish it off, however, and so Tochinoshin just graciously dove across the straw and down giving Ura the silly win they ruled as tsuki-otoshi. Tsuki-otoshi is actually a counter move and it implies that Ura's opponent was bearing down on him from the front, but they had to make something up. This is also the first time I've seen a dude win by tsuki-otoshi and then proceed to do a frontwards handstand off of the dohyo and down into the first row. Fixed bouts were obvious in 2012 and they're just as obvious in 2021 as Ura is gifted kachi-koshi at 8-4 while Tochinoshin falls to the opposite mark of 4-8.

M11 Kotonowaka looked to pad his inflated record against M11 Kaisei, and this bout was just as bad as the previous one I covered. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu where Kaisei stayed limp enabling Kotonowaka to grab the left outer grip, but Kotonowaka was not going chest to chest here, and so the two danced around the ring a few times with Kaisei constantly getting his hand on Kotonowaka's belt for an outer grip but then letting it go each time. As I watched the slow motion replay, I counted six times where Kaisei positioned his hand on an outer grip and then just let go of it. As for his right arm, Kaisei shoulda used it to lift Kotonowaka upright or pull him in snug, but he left that limb limp as ever, and so the two spun around a few times before Kotonowaka lightly dumped a willing Kaisei over and down. No nage-no-uchi-ai here because Kaisei would have had to have been position for a scoop throw or an inside belt throw. Instead, his limp right arm was just along for the ride. Easy yaocho call here as Kotonowaka is probably the worst 9-3 I've ever seen while Kaisei falls to 5-7.

M10 Tamawashi and M16 Ishiura never did get in sync at the tachi-ai, but on the second go-around they let 'em play. Tamawashi just stood straight up knowing Ishiura couldn't dent him, and it showed when Ishiura went for an early moro-te-zuki and then just bounced off of the Mongolian. When the two hooked back up, Ishiura looked to get his left arm inside, but Tamawashi wrapped around that limb in kote fashion and looked to set up a throw, but he changed his mind and just pushed him across leading with a left palm to the chest. This bout was hardly contested as Tamawashi moves to 9-3 while Ishiura falls to 7-5.

M17 Ichiyamamoto was proactive from the tachi-ai delivering a tsuppari attack against M8 Takarafuji, but the effort had little power behind it, and so Takarafuji easily circled left making the rookie give chase, and Ichiyamamoto never did connect on a significant blow. After playing defense for five or six seconds, Takarafuji looked to get to the inside, and he had an open pathway, and so Ichiyamamoto backed up looking to set up a pull, but he extended himself too far, and so Takarafuji just pulled him down back towards the center of the ring. To describe the two during this contest, Takarafuji was easy-going while Ichiyamamoto was panicked and hesitant. Looks like the dude is going to have to buy that eighth win as he rests now at 7-5. As for Takarafuji, he picks up kachi-koshi at 8-4.

M5 Hoshoryu and M9 Hidenoumi hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but you could see Hoshoryu instinctively reach for and then pull away from a left outer grip that was wide open to him. With Hoshoryu standing there like a wet rag, Hidenoumi was able to force him over to the edge where the bout should have gone to a nage-no-uchi-ai with Hidenoumi's left outer grip and Hoshoryu's right inside position, but Hoshoryu just took his right hand out of position and rested it on the middle of Hidenoumi's left side. From there, Hoshoryu just stood still hunched over and balancing on one leg waiting for Hidenoumi to deliver the final blow, and it eventually came in the form of an uwate-nage. Hoshoryu landed extremely awkward which is what happens when you let up in a bout of sumo, but this one was obviously fixed from the get-go as Hoshoryu falls to 8-4 while Hidenoumi evens things up at 6-6.

Suckiwake Takayasu and M6 Kiribayama struck at the tachi-ai coming away in hidari-yotsu, and once again, the Suckiwake was unable to defend himself and kept his left side completely open. As we've seen often this week, Kiribayama refused to grab the right outer grip, and when I say right outer, I mean right frontal that likely would have been considered a mae-mitsu. With Takayasu completely cuffed and stuffed and Kiribayama refusing to do the obvious, the two stood in the center of the ring for over two minutes shifting spots at times, and then once Kiribayama faked a suso-harai that was wide open as well, but he pulled it back. Finally at about the 2:20 mark, someone yelled, "Hey, social distancing!!" and so the two separated a bit before assuming the grapplin' position and to this entire point of the bout, Takayasu never had a pot to piss in nor could he defend himself from anything.

After a bit more standing around, Takayasu was clearly gassed, and Kiribayama had the opening for a right kote-nage...or a right outer of course...but he still refrained. After more separation, Kiribayama had finally had enough I suppose, so he swooped in grabbing the right belt which was an inner first and then an outer, and he used that to turn Takayasu around dashi-nage style before going for a force-out where he just leaned forward begging Takayasu to slap him down by the shoulder. Takayasu was too gassed, however, and stepped out before he could execute the move so gunbai to Kiribayama.

Takayasu is such a joke it's embarrassing that people are still using the words "Takayasu" and "Ozeki" in the same breath. Now at 7-5 with all seven of those wins purchased, Takayasu will need to go undefeated if he wants to carry on this nonsense about Ozeki heading into September. As for Kiribayama, he picked up kachi-koshi and was so generous here in not flat out kicking Takayasu's ass they should give him a Ginosho for the acting.

Shodai and M5 Okinoumi hooked up in hidari-yotsu, and Okinoumi just stayed limp refraining from going for the right outer grip, and he just stood there and let Shodai execute a scoop throw that sent Okinoumi over to the edge. The M5 wasn't quite out, and so Okinoumi squared up and went for a pull just as Shodai forced him back that last step. If this bout was real, why don't we see Shodai do this all the time to lesser opponents? You could just see Okinoumi keeping himself upright and applying zero pressure to his foe, and this was a puff bout the entire way as Shodai somehow finds his way to 7-5 while Okinoumi graciously bows to 5-7.

Ozeki Terunofuji and Komusubi Meisei struck at the tachi-ai but did not come away in the yotsu position, and so Terunofuji cautiously approached his foe while Meisei attempted a few jabs and pulls just to test the waters. When that didn't work, Meisei evaded laterally, and that's when Terunofuji caught him with the right arm inside and left arm wrapped around up high, and as Meisei tried to wriggle free, Terunofuji pinned him against the straw and forced him down kime-taoshi style. Terunofuji breezes to 12-0 here while Meisei falls to 6-6.

Yokozuna Hakuho drew Suckiwake Mitakeumi in the day's final bout, and the Yokozuna hopped forward leading with his right foot while securing the inside belt position and forcing the bout chest to chest. Mitakeumi had no choice but to comply with a right inside position of his own, so now it was just Hakuho's quest to grab the left outer. Hakuho forced Mitakeumi near the edge, but he was taking his time making sure he had his gal in snug, and after resting for nearly 10 seconds, Hakuho wrenched Mitakeumi to the side, grabbed the left outer grip, and then pulled the curtain down on the day. Hakuho keeps pace with Terunofuji at 12-0 while Mitakeumi falls now to 6-6.

Up tomorrow is Terunofuji vs. Shodai and then Hakuho vs. Takayasu. The two Yokozuna will likely switch partners on Saturday, so we'll just have to see what each chooses to do in terms of giving us an undefeated matchup on Sunday.

As for the leaderboard, it's officially been whittled down to two now. Since Hakuho or Terunofuji has to win on Sunday, the three-loss rikishi are mathematically eliminated. I just hope they don't cheapen the tournament by letting Shodai or Takayasu win over the next few days, but that's why we're gonna watch.

See everyone tomorrow.

Day 11 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
This basho is a good example of the predicament within which the Sumo Association finds itself. It's evident as we head into the Shubansen that there is little to no drama going on right now in terms of the yusho race. At this point, even if Hakuho and Terunofuji do decide to lose strategically, it still doesn't change the yusho race. On one hand, it's nice to see the two Mongolians not have to drop bouts to keep things interesting. On the other hand, if the Mongolians don't drop strategic bouts, there's very little interest in the yusho race. And the problem is not the Mongolians. The problem is the dearth of Japanese rikishi who are legitimately able to compete for the yusho and the upper ranks of the banzuke.

Against this backdrop, NHK tried a different twist today for the Day 11 broadcast by putting two rivals in the booth...Kotoshogiku to provide color analysis and Toyonoshima to provide analysis from the mukou-joumen chair. The two aren't the most dynamic individuals, but it was good to relive their rivalry that existed mainly until the two reached the Makuuchi division. They showed the bout where the two faced off in a yusho ketteisen in the Jonidan division (Toyonoshima won), and then they went through the history of who achieved certain statuses first.

I actually enjoy these little blurbs from the past and bouts from the past, but I sure wish they weren't the only compelling part of the broadcast. We really need the present to be interesting as well, and it's just tough to stomach an entire day of Makuuchi bouts and maintain interest. I mean, what's the marquee matchup today?

It certainly wasn't the M14 Daiamami - J1 Shohozan affair, but let's start there and work our way up. Daiamami struck well looking to use his girth to gain moro-zashi, but Shohozan stood his ground well forcing Daiamami to settle for hidari-yotsu where neither dude had an outer grip. The two were chest to chest at this point thinking up Plan B, and Shohozan struck first with a right kote-nage that nearly wrenched Daiamami out of the ring, but Amami the Hutt fought it off just enough catching Shohozan with the right inside and left outer, and the gassed Shohozan couldn't defend himself from there. This was a good start to the day for sure as Daiamami moves to 3-8.

M12 Tochinoshin and M15 Tokushoryu hooked up in hidari-yotsu as well from the tachi-ai, and these two also went chest to chest in a legitimate bout of o-zumo. I actually had to check the remote to make sure I was on the right channel, but indeed I was. Tokushoryu did a good job of applying pressure to Tochinoshin, but he was too worried about giving up the right outer grip and so that disallowed him from exerting enough force to win. He showed well, however, driving Tochinoshin back to the straw, but he couldn't get him across, and you could just hear both dudes grunting throughout this one. In the end, Tochinoshin went for a left inside belt throw pulling at Tokushoryu's neck with the right, and he was able to twist Tokushoryu down for the nice comeback win. The key in this bout was that Tokushoryu had Tochinoshin more upright than he wanted to be, and that's what created the level playing field. Very good stuff here as Tochinoshin moves to 4-7 while Tokushoryu falls to 3-8. Can you imagine if the rikishi competed like this everyday in every bout? It'd be a different sport.

M11 Kaisei and M15 Tsurugisho looked to hook up in migi-yotsu, but Kaisei purposefully pulled his right arm to the outside gifting Tsurugisho moro-zashi, and from that instant you knew where this bout was going. And Tsurugisho wasted no time taking it there forcing Kaisei back and across in linear fashion without the slightest notion of a counter move from the Brasilian. I guess this one ruined our good start to the day as Tsurugisho moves to 7-4 while Kaisei falls to 5-6 a bit richer.

M16 Ishiura and M10 Terutsuyoshi both came in low at the tachi-ai touching domes and pushing at the tops of each others shoulder, but when Ishiura ducked even lower, Terutsuyoshi took advantage getting his left arm hooked to the outside of Ishiura's right, and that allowed T-Yoshi to execute a nice kote-nage while moving out left. Terutsuyoshi moves to 6-5 after the methodic win while Ishiura falls to 7-4.

M17 Ichiyamamoto stepped into the ring to face M10 Tamawashi, and there was no way that the rookie was going to beat the Mongolian straight up. Ichiyamamoto did come with arms extended as if to thrust, but it was a timid move, and so Tamawashi just brushed the rookie's arms aside and said, "I'll show you a real tsuppari attack." And that he did driving Ichiyamamoto sideways and out with some vigor. This bout was so lopsided and exhibited the true difference between these rikishi. This bout had nothing to do with experience and everything to do with sumo ability, and just like that Ichiyamamoto is erased from the leaderboard at 7-4 while Tamawashi one-ups him at 8-3.

Ichiyamamoto's skid the last few days left M11 Kotonowaka as the only other token member on the leaderboard. Today the kid faced M9 Shimanoumi and someone from the Kotonowaka camp obviously forgot to furi-komi the money Shimanoumi's way. From the tachi-ai, Shimanoumi burrowed in low with the right arm to the inside, but more importantly he had Kotonowaka upright. Gone was the swift and fake yori attack we've seen from Baby Waka so far, and the kid was now in complete defensive mode. Shimanoumi isn't the most brilliant tactician, but he was smart enough to keep Kotonowaka upright as he tried to worm his way to a left outer grip. He'd never really get it, but he had Kotonowaka on defense throughout, and as Baby Waka began to tire, he knew his only hope was a counter move. Said move was an attempted maki-kae with the left, but that was the final momentum shift Shimanoumi needed to force Kotonowaka back and across.

This was actually a very competitive bout of sumo and nicely fought from both parties, and it frustrates me that guys like Kotonowaka aren't given an opportunity to improve because they're involved in so many compromised bouts. The result knocks Kotonowaka off of the leaderboard at 8-3 while Shimanoumi improves to 6-5.

M16 Chiyonokuni won the tachi-ai against M9 Hidenoumi using decent tsuppari to keep Hidenoumi upright, but instead of trusting his attack and moving forward, you could see Kuni looking to win by pull. This allowed Hidenoumi to counter with shoves of his own, but they were defensive, and so Chiyonokuni set the pace throwing the better shoves and eventually working his way up and under Hidenoumi allowing him to score the nice oshi-dashi win. Chiyonokuni moves to 6-5 while Hidenoumi falls to 5-6.

M7 Chiyoshoma went hard at M12 Kagayaki from the tachi-ai but didn't have any luck bullying him around. On the contrary, Kagayaki's presence forced Chiyoshoma to backpedal to his left and as Kagayaki gave chase, Chiyoshoma caught him with a pretty good slap to the left ear, and that threw Kagayaki off of his game enough to where Chiyoshoma moved in with the right arm and felled his opponent with a scoop throw. Content-wise, this was not a good bout, but Chiyoshoma does pick up the win moving to 7-4 while Kagayaki falls to 4-7.

M7 Myogiryu won the tachi-ai against M14 Chiyonooh and immediately began forcing Oh back as the two hooked up in migi-yotsu, but Chiyonooh used his left arm wrapped around Myogiryu's right to stave off the ultimate force-out at the edge, and as Myogiryu reloaded, Chiyonooh let him come forward a half step in order to grab the left outer grip. With Myogiryu's pressing in tight at the edge, Chiyonooh was able to use that outer grip and his right inside position to twist Myogiryu over and down utchari style. The ref pointed towards Myogiryu, but they called a mono-ii and reversed the decision. This has been an incredibly good day of sumo to this point with so many well-contested bouts as Chiyonooh moves to 5-6 while Myogiryu falls to 2-9.

And then to spoil the fun...up steps M13 Ura to face M6 Kiribayama. There is no way on God's green earth that Ura can beat this Mongolian in a straight up fight, but money talks as we all know, and that was the case here. Ura's tachi-ai was unspectacular as the dude lined up a full step behind his line, and so Kiribayama moved forward getting his left arm sorta to the inside with the right hand wrapped up high around Ura's left. At this point, Kiribayama coulda reeled his gal in snug, but he did nothing with the inside position and actually pulled that left arm up high before wrapping it around Ura's right arm. Ura technically had moro-zashi, but he was still at Kiribayama's mercy as the two stood in the center of the ring with Kiribayama pinching in tight enough to where he could have executed a kime-dashi or kime-taoshi. He did neither and instead waited for Ura to finally execute a pull, and when it came, Kiribayama played along moving forward in tow and taking a large step with the right leg stepping out of the dohyo altogether as Ura executed a scoop throw with the right. It was a decent move by Ura at the edge, but it was against a completely mukiryoku opponent. Ura is gifted his 7-4 record while Kiribayama falls to the same mark. There was mild applause after this one, and I get the sense that the fans are bored already with gimmick guys like Ura.

M13 Chiyomaru kept his arms low at the tachi-ai against M6 Onosho forgetting his bread and butter tsuppari attack, and when Maru did finally bring his arms up, it was in an effort to set up a pull that was really an excuse to back himself to the edge. As he did this, Onosho easily followed suit scoring the push-out of his self-compromised opponent in mere seconds. This was a bland bout as both rikishi end the day at 4-7.

M5 Okinoumi and M8 Takarafuji hooked up in hidari-yotsu, and Okinoumi failed to take advantage of his own left arm to the inside to neutralize Takarafuji's attack. As a result, Takarafuji with his crocodile arms and all was able to grab and uncontested right outer grip and then use that as an anchor to force the listless Okinoumi back and across. If you watch the slo-mo replay on the other side, you can see how Okinoumi keeps his left hand shallow and right in the middle of Takarafuji's side...not looking to grab the belt nor looking to lift up into Takarafuji's armpit. Easy yaocho call here as Takarafuji moves to 7-4 while Okinoumi is 5-6.

M3 Hokutofuji moved slightly left at the tachi-ai against M8 Aoiyama, who put both hands forward as if to push, but the Happy Bulgar was not looking to execute a forward attack. Rather, he kept those hands forward and just started backing up as if to pull, but you know when Aoiyama is really trying to pull. This was just his way of setting himself up so Hokutofuji could catch up and push him across in the end. With Aoiyama, the question is does he try and advance across his starting line or does he just back up? He gave this one to Hokutofuji who moves to 6-5 while Aoiyama himself falls to 4-7 a bit wealthier.

M2 Ichinojo executed a nice hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping M2 Takanosho with the left and getting the right arm inside. Unlike Aoiyama in the previous bout, Ichinojo was moving well across his starting line, and Takanosho couldn't stop the momentum, and so he danced to his right while Ichinojo attempted to grab a left outer grip. Ichinojo would never get it, but he didn't need it as Takanosho got as far as the other side of the ring before the Mongolith pushed him out from there. Ichinojo snags himself kachi-koshi at 8-3 while Takanosho falls to 5-6.

M1 Daieisho put two hands towards M4 Chiyotairyu at the tachi-ai, but Tairyu just blew right through them coming hard and knocking Daieisho back on one foot, but Chiyotairyu's charge wasn't fast enough, and so Daieisho was able to skirt left and fire off an inashi into Chiyotairyu's right side, and that threw him off balance to the point where Daieisho could swoop in for the oshi-dashi win. Not exactly how Daieisho drew it up, but he'll take it as both rikishi reside now at 2-9.

M4 Kotoeko offered a right hand towards Komusubi Meisei's face, but if you're going to slap, you've gotta slap. Eko didn't and that allowed Meisei to rush forward hard and just body Kotoeko back leading with a right frontal grip, and as Kotoeko tried to dodge both left and right, Meisei's momentum was too strong, and he forced Kotoeko back with some oomph in under three seconds. Good stuff here from Meisei who moves to 6-5 while Kotoeko joins his M4 counterpart Chiyotairyu at 2-9.

Suckiwake Takayasu was awkward at the tachi-ai against M2 Tobizaru unable to connect on anything against his smaller opponent, and so the two just stood there for about 10 seconds trading ineffective slaps and looking for pulls. Tobizaru's speed was actually foiling Fraudayasu a bit, and there were multiple instances when he could have gotten to the side of the Suckiwake and done some damage, but he dutifully stayed in front of his foe until Takayasu tired out and both rikishi put hands on shoulders in the grapplin' position. From there, Takayasu regained his breath and went for a quick pull that didn't really connect, but Tobizaru just dove to the dirt anyway kicking his leg up wildly. If you're really an Ozeki hopeful, is this the best you can do against Tobizaru?? Takayasu moves to 7-4 with the gift and dude's purchased all seven of his wins this basho. As for Tobizaru, he falls to make-koshi at 3-8.

Ozeki Terunofuji got the early left belt grip (called mae-mitsu) against Sekiwake Mitakeumi, and the Ozeki just lifted his foe up to his tip toes as he bodied him back in about three seconds. The power of that mae-mitsu was that Mitakeumi couldn't evade left or right, and Terunofuji completely dismantled him here. Fuji is a step closer to Yokozuna at 11-0 while Mitakeumi falls to 6-5.

M5 Hoshoryu kept his arms open for Shodai who plowed forward well from the tachi-ai, but he couldn't establish anything to the inside or grab a belt grip. Hoshoryu easily staved off that charge and as soon as he braced a foot against the tawara, Shodai quickly lost confidence and went for a pull. In the process, Hoshoryu rushed forward causing Shodai to defend himself with the left inside position, but that allowed Hoshoryu to grab a right outer grip, and as Shodai looked to evade, Hoshoryu easily wrapped his right leg around Shodai's left and just tripped him down as Shodai looked to run. The optics the last half of this bout did not favor Shodai whatsoever. Hoshoryu was not going 100%, and he still soundly defeated his foe while picking up kachi-koshi in the process at 8-3. As for Shodai, he falls to 6-5 with both Yokozuna left on his card, so unless they let up for him, he can only lose once more.

In the day's final affair, Yokozuna Hakuho and Komusubi Wakatakakage were out of sync at the tachi-ai as Hakuho came with a light kachi-age with the left, but once the two settled in the bout turned to migi-yotsu where Hakuho looked for the left outer grip while Wakatakakage just looked to get the hell outta there. With Wakatakakage trying to mawari-komu right, Hakuho stayed snug and caught him near the edge where he used that initial inside position to yori-taoshi Wakatakakage across and down. Wakatakakage is one of the brighter spots for Japanese sumo right now, but you could see the difference in ability on display here as Hakuho joins Terunofuji at 11-0 with Wakatakakage falling to 3-8.

And that's a Day 11 wrap where the leaderboard now looks like this:

11-0: Hakuho, Terunofuji

Should both Hakuho and Terunofuji manage to lose a bout apiece, here are the three-loss rikishi waiting to hop back on the leaderboard:

8-3: Ichinojo, Hoshoryu, Tamawashi, Kotonowaka

Of those six rikishi, can't seem to quite put my finger on which one is out of place.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
With Hakuho and Terunofuji coasting towards the finish line, the media has started to branch out a bit more into other intriguing storylines, and the one leading the pack right now is the background of our lone Makuuchi rookie, Ichiyamamoto. The dude was always involved in sumo growing up due to his large frame, but after graduating from college, he was hired on as a civil servant working at the Fukushima Town Hall somewhere in Hokkaido. Specifically, Ichiyamamoto was placed in the town's department of education where he worked for just over a year before he decided to quit his job (against the vehement protests from his mother) and give professional sumo wrestling a try.

If you're ever listening the Japanese and they mention the word "Koumuin," that means civil servant, and so they're talking about his brief work history in the Fukushima Town Hall. I actually worked with hundreds of Koumuin back in the day, and if you could sum their image up in one word it'd be nerdy. Now, there were some pretty cool guys who were good at tennis or who liked the NFL, etc. but on average they were pretty nerdy guys. The reason I even mention this is the public in general just can't picture a Koumuin deciding to enter sumo wrestling and making it to the Makuuchi division.

Back when I was technically a Koumuin myself working at the Fukuoka City Hall, there was a dude in sumo named Tomonohana who actually worked as a school teacher before quitting his job and throwing his mawashi in the ring. Like Ichiyamamoto, he was able to make it to the Makuuchi division, and I think he fought there four or five years. I still remember people would yell out "Narimatsu Sensei!!" from the stands as Tomonohana went through his shikiri rituals.

Anyway, I guess the point in all of this is that Ichiyamamoto is being celebrated for everything except the content of his sumo. I've seen one good move from him this basho, but with so many bouts compromised, I still don't have a good reading on the dude.

Since I opened with M17 Ichiyamamoto, we may as well start there as he was paired against M11 Kotonowaka in the fifth bout on the day. These two guys are very similar in that they're both huge physically, but they're both involved in so much yaocho that it's hard to get a good reading on just how good (or bad) they really are. In their contest today with yusho implications on the line, the bout went quickly to migi-yotsu where Kotonowaka grabbed the early left outer grip. Ichiyamamoto is listed as an oshi/tsuki guy, so to have this start out as yotsu-zumo left him at a disadvantage. Still, I don't believe that the rookie was trying to win here. First, he didn't pull his right arm to the outside, but he pulled it back from prime position and didn't bother to use it to halt his opponent's momentum or lift Kotonowaka upright. On the other side, Ichiyamamoto was also indifferent about grabbing a left outer grip of his own, and to make matters worse, he lifted that left arm up high in kubi-nage position, and that left him so exposed that Kotonowaka stormed him back and across from there in mere seconds.

I'm quite sure this bout was fixed because we never see Kotonowaka win in textbook fashion like this. Ichiyamamoto also didn't even try to do anything beneficial to his cause, so I think this was prearranged coming in. Regardless of that, both of these guys continue to be steeped in yaocho as Kotonowaka is gifted kachi-koshi at 8-2 while Ichiyamamoto falls to 7-3. Ichiyamamoto falls off of the leaderboard for now, but he'll likely walk away with a Kantosho. As for Kotonowaka, this run has all been a fraud and isn't keeping anyone interested.

Starting off the day was M14 Chiyonooh who came flat-footed against J1 Yutakayama, and so Yutakayama was able to use a right thrust into Oh's jaw while lifting him upright with the left arm, and Yutakayama naturally just drifted left keeping Oh upright and on the run, and as Chiyonooh looked to duck back into the bout, Yutakayama felled him with a nicely-timed pull. Yutakayama moves to 9-1 with the win and will be right back in Makuuchi come September ready to broker more bouts. As for Chiyonooh, he falls to 4-6 in defeat.

M16 Chiyonokuni's tachi-ai against M13 Ura was horrible as he aligned his feet while hopping forward. Ura wasn't necearrily plowing forward either, so there was social distancing from the start. Ura did advance ducking and swiping cautiously, and even though he didn't necessarily connect, Chiyonokuni just backed himself all the way to edge. From there, Ura plodded forward and was able to shove the self-compromised Chiyonokuni back that final step in a very ugly bout. Ura moves to 6-4 while Chiyonokuni falls to 5-5.

M16 Ishiura henka'd to his left grabbing the early outer grip on M12 Tochinoshin's mawashi, and Ishiura kept spinning left causing both rikishi to do a complete turn. When the dust settled, the two ended up where they started, and with Ishiura still holding that left outer grip, Tochinoshin intentionally failed to counter with a deep right inside. With Shin holding his right arm inwards and out of harm's way, it was easy to see how this bout would finish. Tochinoshin offered a token if not meaningless leg kick that didn't come close to connecting, and then shortly after Ishiura dashi-nage'd Tochinoshin over to the edge and out as Shin was half-assed in his counter pull attempt. The moment Tochinoshin didn't get his right arm to the inside after the initial henka, I knew the result of this one as Ishiura moves to 7-3 while Tochinoshin falls to 3-7.

M12 Kagayaki offered a light moro-te-zuki M11 Kaisei's way, but he wasn't driving with his legs and instead was going through the mukiryoku motions. As for Kaisei, it looked to me as if he could have forced the bout chest to chest in migi-yotsu, but he wasn't moving forward either, and so you had two big guys here applying little pressure to each other. After the moro-te-zuki, Kagayaki's next offensive move was a light slap to Kaisei's right shoulder, but once again, it was a harmless move and so both dudes pushed into each other up high before Kaisei went for his own right swipe downward against Kagayaki's left side, and that was the M12's cue to just hit the dirt in exaggerated fashion. His fall was so dramatic that Kaisei actually tripped over Kagayaki landing right on top of him in a heap before rolling off the dohyo altogether. What a terrible bout of sumo this was between two merchants constantly brokering their bouts. Kaisei moves to 5-5 with the win while Kagayaki falls to 4-6.

M10 Tamawashi caught M15 Tokushoryu with his long tsuppari attack of the law standing Tokushoryu up and driving him back, and when Tokushoryu knew he had no hope going straight up, he began evading to his left, but his movements were so slow that Tamawashi easily stayed square pushing Tokushoryu in the back a few times driving him clear off the corner of the dohyo where they keep the salt bucket. Tokushoryu did not land on the hana-michi gracefully and nearly rolled over one of the mamas in a kimono sitting ringside. That close call was more intriguing than the bout itself as Tamawashi improves to 7-3 while Tokushoryu slides to 3-7.

M10 Terutsuyoshi moved right against M14 Daiamami at the tachi-ai and just stooped down grabbing Daiamami's left leg, and he executed the nice ashi-tori lifting Daiamami off balance and causing him to hop back and across the straw. Terutsuyoshi moves to 5-5 with the nifty win while Daiamami suffers make-koshi already at 2-8.

M8 Takarafuji bumped M15 Tsurugisho upright from the tachi-ai as he looked to latch onto the front of Tsurugi the Hutt's belt, and once secured, Takarafuji just rode the momentum forcing Tsurugisho back and across without argument. The key here was keeping Tsurugisho upright throughout as Takarafuji moves to 6-4 while Tsurugisho falls to the same mark.

M8 Aoiyama started with his hands low against M13 Chiyomaru before bringing them up into a light moro-zashi, but Aoiyama wasn't looking to shove here or to apply any pressure, and so Maru easily stepped to his left offering a light pull Aoiyama's way, and the Happy Bulgar just flopped forward and down giving Chiyomaru the cheap win. No doubt this one was fixed as both rikishi end the day at 4-6.

M7 Myogiryu aligned his feet against M9 Hidenoumi at the tachi-ai really putting himself at Hidenoumi's bidding, but the M9 wasn't exactly blazing out of his crouch grabbing a handful of Myogiryu's sagari and little else. After chucking the useless accessory aside, Hidenoumi moved to his left going for a dangerous pull at the edge, but Myogiryu helped his cause by just diving to the dirt before Hidenoumi stepped across. What a bad bout of sumo here start to finish as Hidenoumi uglies his way to 5-5 while Myogiryu suffers make-koshi at 2-8.

M7 Chiyoshoma looked to get his left arm inside from the tachi-ai, but M9 Shimanoumi went for a quick maki-kae to disallow the move, and so Chiyoshoma moved wide left going for a pull, and as Shimanoumi looked to respond, his feet just gave out from under him and he plopped to the dirt just like that...all in about two seconds. Chiyoshoma moves to 6-4 with the easy win while Shimanoumi falls to 5-5.

M6 Kiribayama tsupparie'd his way onto a left outer grip of M4 Kotoeko's mawashi and then positioned his right arm to the inside forcing the bout to migi-yotsu. Kotoeko complied with the same grips of his own sending the bout to gappuri-yotsu-zumo, and that's a position you never want to find yourself in against a Mongolian...if said Mongolian is trying to win, and Kiribayama was here. When Kotoeko tried a few light gaburi belly shoves, Kiribayama used the momentum shift to pivot out wide and bowl Kotoeko over with a nicely executed uwate-nage. Just how they write it up as Kiribayama moves to 7-3 while Kotoeko falls to make-koshi at 2-8.

M3 Hokutofuji shaded left at the tachi-ai as he is wont to do, but that was mostly due to M6 Onosho's catching him with a right choke hold from the start. Onosho nudged Hokutofuji back to the edge, but there wasn't a ton of force behind the shove attack, and so Hokutofuji countered with his own right hand up and under Onosho's left pit, and that enabled the stronger and better Hokutofuji to turn the tables and shove Onosho back across the dohyo and out. Hokutofuji evens things up at 5-5 while Onosho falls to 3-7.

M5 Hoshoryu stayed hot against M3 Tobizaru forcing their bout to hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but Tobizaru did well to burrow in tight and keep Hoshoryu upright enough to where he was far away from a right outer grip. After standing in a stalemate for about 10 seconds, Hoshoryu tested the maki-kae waters, and when he could tell Tobizaru wouldn't make him pay, he went for the move for reals succeeding in threatening moro-zashi. Tobizaru tried to escape from the move and go for a desperate pull, but Hoshoryu caught him with a nice shove to send him across for good. This was actually well fought by both parties as Hoshoryu moves to 7-3 while Tobizaru falls to 3-7.

M1 Daieisho did well to try and shove M2 Ichinojo away from the belt, but he couldn't quite bully the Mongolith back and out. While Ichinojo was content playing defense, he countered Daieisho's shove with a few defensive pushes of his own, a threatened right arm to the inside, and then finally, a mammoth shove with the right to Daieisho's left side that sent him down hard in the center of the dohyo. Ichinojo's a beast for sure as he moves to 7-3 while Daieisho falls to 1-9. Ee gads!

M2 Takanosho kept both arms in tight as if he wanted moro-zashi from the tachi-ai against Komusubi Meisei, but Meisei moved left befuddling the M2, and as Takanosho looked to square back up and shove Meisei back, the Komusubi next moved right, and as he did, Takanosho had already lost his footing and was on his way down, so the slapdown from Meisei was largely academic. Both rikishi end the day at 5-5.

I'm really glad that I pointed out the Takayasu - Mitakeumi matchup from Day 8 because we saw the exact same circumstance today in the Suckiwake Takayasu - Komusubi Wakatakakage matchup. Wakatakakage easily won the tachi-ai standing Takayasu upright and getting his left arm inside, and then just as we saw with Mitakeumi, the Komusubi refrained from grabbing a right outer grip that was wide open. Also like the Takayasu - Mitakeumi bout from Sunday, Takayasu could do nothing to neutralize his opponent. After WTK refused to grab the outer grip the first five seconds of the bout, he next pulled away feigning a kata-sukashi, and then a tottari, and then another tottari and on and on. Takayasu could never keep pace with the Komusubi, but it was clear that Wakatakakage was not trying to win the bout. In the end with Takayasu completely gassed, Wakatakakage began a mild force-out charge with his face buried into that forest of hair on Takayasu's torso, and as soon as he felt the right counter tsuki-otoshi coming from Takayasu, Wakatakakage just dove to the dirt giving the Suckiwake the ill-gotten win. As for Takayasu, he was so out of control he flew into the suna-kaburi, something you never see from the winner in a straight up bout that ends in tsuki-otoshi. This was not straight up of course, and Takayasu buys yet another ugly win moving to 6-4 in the process. They described Takayasu's sumo today as "nebari-zuyoi," or persevering. At least they didn't say "gaman." As for Wakatakakage, he really took one for the team here in falling to 3-7, and as usual, they can't describe definite moves that Takayasu made, so they use tired adjectives instead.

Ever notice how Shodai and Takayasu win in the same manner? Their bouts have no continuity, and then it's usually this strange finish that can't really be described. Today against Suckiwake Mitakeumi, the flow of the bout was more natural as Mitakeumi had the wide open path to the left inside, but he kept his elbow bent inwards as if to kachi-age, but all he really did was bow his head and lean into Shodai, and the slapdown came maybe three seconds in. It's astonishing how much charity Shodai gets these days as both of these dudes now reside at 6-4.

Ozeki Terunofuji drew M4 Chiyotairyu, and the latter was not in sync at the tachi-ai. Chiyotairyu jumped a half second early and thinking it was a false start, he stood straight up and stopped, but the ref said "Hakkeyoi!" so the bout was on. With Chiyotairyu standing upright, Terunofuji rushed in, secured the left inside and the right outer grip and that's all she wrote. This one should have been called back because Terunofuji did not put both fists to the dirt, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Chiyotairyu wouldn't have won anyway as Terunofuji is perfect at 10-0 while Chiyotairyu falls to 2-8.

In the day's final affair, Yokozuna Hakuho executed a perfect hari-zashi tachi-ai against M5 Okinoumi slapping with the right while getting the left arm inside. As Hakuho bodied Okinoumi upright, he grabbed the right outer grip, and it took a quarter turn to Okinoumi's left before Hakuho had him forced out. Textbook sumo here as Hakuho keeps pace with Fuji at 10-0 while Okinoumi falls to 5-5.

With five days left, your leaderboard is as follows:

10-0: Hakuho, Terunofuji
8-2: Kotonowaka

If there wasn't so much going on in the sporting world (think Shohei Otani), I'd think the NSK would be inclined to encourage a more interesting yusho race, but I think they just want to get through this without any negative headlines. We shall see.

Day 9 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
I suppose I picked three pretty good days to go AWOL. Days 6-8 were really no different from the first five days of the basho, and it seems that everyone is resigned to the fact that this basho should come down to the Hakuho - Terunofuji matchup on senshuraku. Even the media is posting headlines that say, "Who's out there that can stop Hakuho or Terunofuji?" and the answer is nobody except themselves. They aren't exactly phrasing the answer as I just did, but they don't have an alternative answer...because there is nobody to stop them. It doesn't mean that the two won't decide to drop a bout in Week 2, but the overall feeling I got heading into this basho is the Sumo Association just wanted to complete the basho without any more controversy.

I don't believe there is really anything major to hit on from the last three days, but I will bring up a specific bout from Sunday: Takayasu vs. Mitakeumi. From the tachi-ai, Mitakeumi had Takayasu by the short hairs in a hidari-yotsu contest where Mitakeumi had Takayasu's left arm pinned inwards and completely neutralized. Normally when a rikishi has such ideal position, they grab the easy right outer grip at the front of the belt and then dispatch their foe either by uwate-nage, a dashi-nage, or even an easy yori-kiri as they can wrench their opponent upright and turn him 90 degrees. In the case of this bout yesterday, Mitakeumi stood there for about 30 seconds utterly refusing to grab the right outer grip even though it was right in front of him. With Takayasu able to do nothing, Mitakeumi finally went for a useless maki-kae giving Takayasu the momentum shift he needed to finally do something and force the willing Mitakeumi back and across.

Kisenosato happened to be in the booth yesterday providing color, and as they watched the replay, he was blabbering a hundred miles an hour and managing to still say nothing at all. He kept saying that this was a "gaman-taiketsu" or an endurance bout for Takayasu, but never once did he mention Mitakeumi's right arm or the fact that he should have grabbed the outer grip right in front of him. What we can learn from this bout itself and the analysis afterwards is that Kisenosato either purposefully glossed over Mitakeumi's superior position in order to cover up the yaocho, or he didn't recognize it because he's an idiot. Furthermore, the maki-kae is used by an opponent on defense or an opponent in a stalemate who needs the upper hand. Mitakeumi was neither on defense in this one, and he had the upper hand one second into the bout as the following pictures illustrate:



I could have taken 10 pictures from various angles that show how creative Mitakeumi was getting with the right arm doing everything BUT grabbing the easy right outer grip, a move that anybody in Makuuchi let alone all the other divisions would have instinctively executed. There were just so many basic, obvious points from that bout that went completely unsaid by the Japanese media, so the only deduction is that they're either clueless or they're covering something up.

Enough of that nonsense. Let's start our coverage of the bouts by reviewing the leaderboard as displayed by NHK at the start of the Day 9 broadcast:

8-0: Hakuho, Terunofuji
6-2: Tamawashi, Kotonowaka, Ichiyamamoto

They were being extremely gracious in going down to two losses, but I get why they did it. As for Kotonowaka and Ichiyamamoto, they received some mild press over the weekend, but they still can't be focused on too much because of all the bouts they're buying to maintain those records. People are pretty gullible, but at a certain point they will catch on, and that's why I think the Nagoya faithful here are choosing to appreciate the greatness they're seeing from Hakuho and Terunofuji rather than buying into the stupid hype surrounding dudes who are just buying their bouts hand over fist.

Let's start from the bottom up yet again today meaning we start with M15 Tsurugisho against J3 Wakamotoharu. The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Tsurugisho just rushed the Juryo dude back and across in linear fashion. The M15 didn't even need a right outer grip it was that easy, and I haven't seen enough legit sumo from Wakamotoharu (I actually haven't seen ANY sumo from WMH) to know if he was mukiryoku or simply overwhelmed. I think it was the latter as Tsurugisho moves to 6-3 with the nice win.

M13 Chiyomaru stuck both hands out against M17 Ichiyamamoto but didn't really push opting to feign a light pull that never really came. What it did do was allow the rookie to force the bout to the belt, and so the two hooked up in migi-yotsu where Ichiyamamoto had the easy left outer grip. Chiyomaru could have evened things up on the other side, but he never did attempt to grab a left outer of his own. With the two standing chest to chest, the rookie tested the force-out waters a few times, but he couldn't budge Chiyomaru a centimeter back, and he actually lost the outer grip the second time around. Chiyomaru wasn't looking to win the bout, however, and so he was content to stand there and "gaman." The bout lasted a minute and a half, but in the end, Chiyomaru finally let up and allowed Ichiyamamoto to force him back and across although the ending was not decisive. Normally, a rikishi in Maru's position would counter with a kote-nage, a sukui-nage, or a tsuki-otoshi...options that were open to him, but this bout was fixed gifting the rookie another ill-gotten win and so the ending saw both rikishi flailing a bit as they crossed the straw. Ichiyamamoto moves to 7-2 and will likely take away a Kantosho, but any awards and his record are not a true reflection of his sumo content this basho. As for Chiyomaru, he laughs all the way to the bank at 3-6.

M12 Kagayaki came with both arms pointing downwards as M16 Ishiura henka'd to his left, and even though Kagayaki squared up just fine and had Ishiura a half step from an easy pushout, instead of going for the win, Kagayaki dangled his hands up high just gifting Ishiura moro-zashi. With Kagayaki purposefully limp, he allowed Ishiura to force the action back to the center of the ring where he then went for a mediocre kata-sukashi, and that was Kagayaki's cue to just put a left palm and right elbow to the dirt. Obvious mukiryoku sumo here as Ishiura buys his way to 6-3 while Kagayaki falls to 4-5.

M12 Tochinoshin lightly put his left arm towards the front of M14 Chiyonooh's belt at the tachi-ai, but he didn't grab it nor did he go for the inside position with either arm. The result was Chiyonooh flirting with moro-zashi, but with Shin's right arm in tight, he relented and settled for the easy outer grip with the left. Now in the migi-yotsu position, Tochinoshin instinctively reached for a left outer of his own and had his hand right there in position, but he took it away continuing to make all the wrong moves in an effort to give Oh the win. As Chiyonooh attempted the force out charge, Tochinoshin had room to counter with an inside belt throw, but he instead lamely went for a light pull bringing Chiyonooh towards his body just aiding further in the force-out. Tochinoshin is hoarding cash like crazy now at 3-6, and I'm pretty sure he's got his eye on a nice piece of land near his hometown in Georgia. As for Chiyonooh, he picks up the harmless win moving to 4-5.

M16 Chiyonokuni completely aligned his feet at the tachi-ai against M11 Kotonowaka allowing the latter to just plug away at target practice. It took Baby Waka a second or two to clue into it as he wasn't looking to tsuppari from the tachi-ai, but as Kuni waltzed backwards keeping his feet aligned, Kotonowaka managed the sloppy tsuki-dashi win. I say sloppy because in watching the slow motion replay, Kotonowaka wasn't really connecting in all the right places with his tsuppari. They were quite wild, and Kuni could have easily moved laterally had he wanted to, but that wasn't in the cards here as Kotonowaka buys his 7-2 record. Curiously, they didn't show an update of the leaderboard after this win nor after Ichiyamamoto's win, which shows you just how seriously they consider these two as part of the yusho race. As for Chiyonokuni, he falls to 5-4 in defeat.

The guest in the mukou-joumen chair for today's broadcast was recently-retired Ikioi (current Kasugayama-oyakata). They showed a "win" against Hakuho at the 2017 Haru Basho (Ikioi's home basho of course); they showed a few clips of Ikioi singing at the annual Ozumo Fukushi charity event held each February; and then they also showed a picture of Ikioi in 5th grade flanked by Tokushoryu to his right and Goeido to his left. All three of these rikishi are from the Osaka area and apparently knew of each other from very early on in their Shougakkou careers.



As for Ikioi's analysis, it was quite bland and consisted mostly of a bunch of "So desu ne" expressions. I doubt they'll have him back he was that uninteresting in the booth, and what's worse, Pocari Sweat used to be my favorite sports drink in Japan. Looks like I'll have to switch to Aquarius now.

Moving right along, M11 Kaisei got the easy right arm to the inside against M14 Daiamami followed by a left outer grip, and there was nothing Daiamami could do as Kaisei executed the textbook yori-kiri charge dispatching his foe in about three seconds. Kaisei moves to 4-5 with the win while Daiamami is on the brink at 2-7.

Ikioi's pal M15 Tokushoryu was up next doing battle against M10 Terutsuyoshi, and when Terutsuyoshi charged, Tokushoryu's left hand was still well above the dohyo floor. The ref and the judges missed it, however, so the bout was on with Tokushoryu standing there as if to say, "WTF?" Terutsuyoshi took clear advantage getting the right hand on the front of Tokushoryu's belt, and he just lifted him up while forcing him back quickly, and as Tokushoryu looked to stand his ground at the edge, Terutsuyoshi used his right leg nicely to trip at the back of Tokushoryu's left stump toppling him over in kiri-kaeshi fashion. Terutsuyoshi moves to 4-5 with the win while Tokushoryu falls to 3-6.

Speaking of awkward tachi-ai, M8 Takarafuji stood straight up with his feet aligned against M13 Ura, and the veteran just stood there allowing Ura to duck his head in tight before he decided to pull at Takarafuji's listless left arm. Takarafuji just went with it stumbling forward and down as Ura tried not to trip over him there in a heap on the dohyo floor. The response here was tepid because everyone knew the bout was fixed, but whatever as both dudes end the day at 5-4.

M10 Tamawashi always does his best to remove his name from the leaderboard as soon as it appears there, and today against M7 Chiyoshoma, Tamawashi was late in putting his fists down at the tachi-ai as Chiyoshoma henka'd wildly to his right. Tamawashi's tardiness allowed him the chance to see his opponent's move similarly to the way guys taking penalty kicks try and bait the goalie into moving right or left before they strike. Instead of taking advantage of his compromised opponent, Tamawashi just moved forward and went along with the pull-down by Chiyoshoma. It took them a bit to decide on the winning technique, which often happens in fixed bouts, but they finally settled on hataki-komi. Tamawashi falls to 6-3 and performed an amazing crab walk across the dohyo with just his palms and feet touching down while Chiyoshoma is a harmless 5-4.

M7 Myogiryu put both hands forward against M9 Shimanoumi at the tachi-ai before the two hooked up in migi-yotsu where Myogiryu settled for a right inside belt grip. The two dug in a bit with Shimanoumi thinking about a counter tsuki-otoshi or kote-nage with the left, but it never came, and as Myogiryu attempted his force-out charge, Shimanoumi offered no resistance in this lackluster bout where Myogiryu moves to 2-7 while Shimanoumi rests on 5-4.

M9 Hidenoumi and M6 Kiribayama hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Kiribayama grabbed the early left outer grip, and he hunkered down low enough to keep Hidenoumi from grabbing a left outer of his own. As Kiribayama tested the force-out waters, Hidenoumi did well to use his right inside position to counter, but he couldn't overcome the Mongolian's outer in the end, and Kiribayama scored the easy and perfectly-executed force-out win. Kiribayama moves to 6-3 while Hidenoumi is knocked down to 4-5.

M8 Aoiyama was completely flat-footed at the tachi-ai leaning forward towards M6 Onosho instead of stepping towards him and blasting him back with tsuppari, so with Aoiyama leaning forward and applying no force, Onosho just moved left going for the light pull and Aoiyama complied just falling forward and down in about two seconds. Onosho halts his three-bout skid in moving to 3-6 while Aoiyama ends up at 4-5.

M3 Tobizaru came into his bout against M2 Ichinojo leading 1-0 head-to-head after that fake double-digit run he purchased at the Haru basho earlier this year, but the money wasn't in play here as Ichinojo was cautious at the tachi-ai opting to watch his opponent instead of going for the belt straightway. As for Tobizaru, he did well to stay on the move and keep his hands busy in an effort to keep Ichinojo away from the belt so around they went for about 20 seconds or so before Ichinojo finally grabbed a left outer grip, and once obtained, he followed Tobizaru around the ring another spell before pushing Tobizaru out so hard that he couldn't keep his feet on the venue floor crashing hard onto his back into the empty second row. It took Tobizaru a bit to get up, but he's a tough cookie for sure as Ichinojo improves to 6-3 with Tobizaru falling to 3-6.

M1 Daieisho's tachi-ai was half-assed as he offered two hands forward against M2 Takanosho, but he wasn't executing his usual tsuppari attack. With Daieisho keeping his arms up high and uncommitted, Takanosho easily ducked up and under getting half moro-zashi half moro-hazu and he used that position to push his mukiryoku opponent back and across without argument. Daieisho's make-koshi becomes official at 1-8, but trust me, he's not this bad. As for Takanosho, he moves to 5-4 with the uncontested win.

One of the most anticipated bouts of the day was the Komusubi Wakatakakage - M5 Hoshoryu matchup, and Hoshoryu came forward with his hands extended but wasn't necessarily executing a tsuppari attack. That allowed Wakatakakage to force the bout to migi-yotsu where he took advantage with the left outer grip. Hoshoryu was far away from a left outer of his own, but as the two settled into the center of the ring, it was Hoshoryu who gambled on the right inside belt throw. He set the move up beautifully ramming his right hip in between Wakatakakage's legs, and that provided for the perfect fulcrum to allow Hoshoryu to swing his foe around and down wildly. If we didn't have the Mongolians in sumo right now, we would never see moves like this as Hoshoryu moves to 6-3 with the powerful win while Wakatakakage falls to 3-6. Before we move on, Kitanofuji singled out Hoshoryu's move today it was that good.

Suckiwake Mitakeumi drew a cupcake today in M4 Kotoeko, and to make matters easier, Kotoeko offered no opposition aligning his feet at the tachi-ai, standing straight up, and keeping his arms out wide. The result was Mitakeumi's plowing forward from the tachi-ai and driving Kotoeko back and across in a little over a second. I guess the crowd enjoyed it as Mitakeumi moves to 6-3 while Kotoeko falls to 2-7.

M3 Hokutofuji came with his usual tachi-ai against Suckiwake Takayasu where he strikes with the right arm and moves left, and today against a clueless opponent, Hokutofuji actually found himself with the left outer grip...which he promptly released as soon as he got it. To make matters worse, Hokutofuji kept his arms limp and up high allowing Takayasu to eventually work his way into a shove with the right that had Hokutofuji's left elbow pointing at the rafters. Even with Hokutofuji fully exposed, Takayasu couldn't finish him off, and Hokutofuji actually had the path to slip to his left and dashi-nage Takayasu out by the side of the belt, but instead of attacking or countering, he waited for a light brush across his shoulder from Takayasu's left hand, and when it came, Hokutofuji just flopped hard to the dirt. Takayasu barely connected with that left swipe, and you really couldn't call it a pull, but whatever. I was quite sure Takayasu came back early because he knew he could buy a ton of bouts. He's one of the biggest frauds in the division as he moves to 5-4 while Hokutofuji is paid to fall to 4-5.

Both Ozeki Terunofuji and M5 Okinoumi kept their arms in tight at the tachi-ai with both looking to have a sniff at moro-zashi, but in the end they came away in hidari-yotsu, and there was nothing Okinoumi could do having given up such a deep inside position to Terunofuji's left arm, and the Ozeki perfectly moved forward driving with his feet while knocking Okinoumi upright, and the force-out at the edge was academic as Terunofuji moves to 9-0 while Okinoumi falls to 5-4. You'd think that Terunofuji would need 13 wins or so to receive promotion to Yokozuna, and there's nobody to stop him at this point.

The Shodai - Komusubi Meisei bout was a complete mess, which means Meisei had numerous chances to take advantage but gave up on them all. The tachi-ai was similar to the previous bout with both dudes keeping their arms in tight, but with Shodai applying no pressure, Meisei was able to tsuppari him upright, get the right arm deep inside, and then move to Shodai's left side. As Shodai looked to square up, Meisei briefly had moro-zashi, but instead of attacking forward he went limp and overreacted to a weak kote-nage attempt from Shodai with the right arm. Had that kote-nage been set up properly and had it been real, Shodai would have finished his opponent off straightway, but he couldn't do it allowing Meisei to slip to his right where once again, Meisei instinctively set up a good counter move where he had the opening to a kata-sukashi moving to his right, but he choose not to execute it and just backed up pulling Shodai along for the ride into his body. I guess this was oshi-dashi, but Shodai fell forward flat on his gut across the edge because he had no stability, no de-ashi, and no momentum this entire bout. This was maestro Meisei doing all the work including making sure he was pushed out in the end.

After the bout, all the announcers could say of Shodai's sumo was..."Wow, it sure makes you nervous in watching him win." That's it? That's all you can say of an Ozeki's sumo?? Actually, in this case yes. When you have a fraud at an elite rank, it's about everything but sound sumo. Shodai is gifted his 5-4 record while Meisei knows his place at 4-5.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hakuho did that tachi-ai against M4 Chiyotairyu where he turns his hip ever so slightly and just steps forward in position to grab something to the inside. Chiyotairyu did well to connect on a shove into Hakuho's neck, but the Yokozuna kept inching forward waiting for an opening. With Chiyotairyu's shoves having turned defensive, Hakuho fired a few shoves and then a pull attempt before demanding the left outer grip and using that to turn Chiyotairyu sideways, and the force-out from there was ridiculously easy. Hakuho breezes his way to 9-0 while Chiyotairyu falls to 2-7.

With the dust settled, Tamawashi withdrew himself from the leaderboard, and so this is how it looks heading into Day 10:

9-0: Hakuho, Terunofuji
7-2: Kotonowaka, Ichiyamamoto

The two Mongolians at the top of the leaderboard like this is a no-brainer, but what really should stand out to everyone is the inability for Japan's elite to even show with three losses at this point.

We wrap up the chubansen tomorrow.

Day 5 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
For the second night in a row, NHK News 9 did not start with sumo on the sports segment. As I mentioned in my comments on Day 1, there is just so much going on in the sporting world right now that in order to make sumo the number one priority, there has to be a reason to hook the fans. There are currently no Japanese rikishi producing the kind of sumo that can legitimately be hyped. There are a handful of them who managed to skate through the Joubansen with 4-1 records including Mitakeumi, but the sumo content is terrible and revealing, and so for the last two days, they've only shown the bouts by Hakuho and Terunofuji.

They also brought in the guest oyakata who will provide commentary this basho, and it turned out to be Shibatayama-oyakata (former Onokuni). Thankfully they did NOT introduce him with a close-up of his crotch as they've done with other oyakata the past few tournaments.

As for headlines in between days, the biggest was the announcement that Endoh has withdrawn due to a thigh injury. He let up for Takayasu on Day 4 and was subsequently injured in the process. I'm also seeing a lot of Enho headlines as well, which is pretty rare for a Juryo dude who started out the basho 1-3. That's a perfect example of the media picking and choosing topics they think will generate fan interest instead of picking and choosing really good sumo content.

I will be sure to focus primarily on the sumo content, so let's get to it starting from the bottom up.

M17 Ichiyamamoto continues to buy his way through the division so far, and today's seller was M15 Tokushoryu. From the tachi-ai, the rookie failed to make an impact against his opponent, but Tokushoryu was just standing there with his arms forward and unpurposeful (is that even a word?). After a few ineffective swipes from both parties, Ichiyamamoto moved to his left and grabbed an outer grip, and normally if a guy does that, his opponent uses the right arm firmly to the inside to counter. Here, however, Tokushoryu brought his right arm outside putting it in a useless position, and as Ichiyamamoto continued to move left, he brushed at the back of Tokushoryu's head with the right arm, and that was Tokushoryu's cue to just hit the dirt. They ruled it kata-sukashi, but it was far from it. In fact, the rook didn't even touch Tokushoryu's left shoulder, but when you're scripting the outcome, you have to sometimes makeup the winning technique as well. Ichiyamamoto moves to 4-1 with the gift, and half of his "wins" are by kimari-te that they had to make up. For this reason, you haven't seen any media articles on the dude. How do you focus on someone involved in such obvious yaocho? As for Tokushoryu, he willingly falls to 3-2.

M16 Chiyonokuni is another rikishi supposedly out to a hot start, but you can't focus on him either because he's buying all of these wins. That was the case again today against M15 Tsurugisho who offered a light right hari-te at the tachi-ai but little else. Kuni wasn't exactly kicking ass and taking names either, and so like the previous bout, after a few hollow shoves and swipes from both parties, Tsurugisho dipped his left shoulder forward inviting the slap from behind by Chiyonokuni. Tsurugisho was already on his way down, and the dude just put two palms to the dirt with no other part of his body touching. When one of the Hutts can catch himself like this with just two hands, you know it's fake. And fake it was as Chiyonokuni moves to 4-1 while Tsurugisho falls to 3-2.

M16 Ishiura henka'd left against M14 Daiamami offering a light tsuki in to Daiamami's side before continuing to circle left and grab an inside grip. With Daiamami just standing there and failing to counter with a right kote-nage, Ishiura just set his left foot behind Daiamami's right leg and tripped him backwards beautifully in kiri-kaeshi fashion. It was a nice finish for sure, but considering it came as a result of a tachi-ai henka and a mukiryoku opponent, it's nothing to dribble in your drawers about. Ishiura moves to 2-3 while Daiamami falls to 1-4.

M14 Chiyonooh and M12 Kagayaki hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Kagayaki put on a clinic as to how NOT to use your inside position at any cost. He kept that right arm limper than a senior citizen who lost his blue diamond prescription, and Chiyonooh just walked Kagayaki straight back and across with little argument. If you have access to the reverse angle of this bout, you can clearly see Kagayaki leaving that right limb limp. I mean, credit Chiyonooh for executing the straightforward yori-kiri, but Kagayaki didn't even try here. Chiyonooh buys his way to 2-3 while Kagayaki's billfold gets fatter at 3-2.

M13 Ura put his left foot forward and ducked low against M11 Kotonowaka, and when you see a quirky tachi-ai like that from Ura, you know that the bout has not been prearranged. As for Kotonowaka, he used cautious tsuppari directed towards his foe before looking to get the right arm inside and left outer grip, but before he could force the contest to yotsu-zumo, Ura darted right. The problem was that Kotonowaka wisely hadn't committed to strong forward momentum, and so he shifted on a dime and sent the compromised Ura flying off of the mound altogether. I'm not Kotonowaka fan for sure, but I appreciated this bout as it illustrated perfectly just how incapable Ura is in the Makuuchi division. Dude can tear it up all he wants in the lower divisions, but Ura is not a legitimate Makuuchi guy. Kotonowaka picks up a rare legitimate win in moving to 4-1 while Ura is smitten to 2-3.

M11 Kaisei may as well have fought today with his arms tied behind his back because he didn't bother to use them whatsoever against M13 Chiyomaru. For Maru's part, he struck nicely at the tachi-ai, and with Kaisei just standing there, Chiyomaru pushed him over with a left paw to the right side, and then Kaisei sorta bothered to square back up with arms hanging low, and so Chiyomaru delivered a soft blow to send the willing Kaisei back...but not off the dohyo. After the bout, Miwa Announcer said blatantly that Kaisei didn't apply any pressure today and then Kitanofuji followed up half laughing with, "His body language is just asking for Chiyomaru to deliver that ottsuke." And it was true. I mean, there was no other way to break this down other then to refrain from using the forbidden words "mukiryoku" and "yaocho."

I think sumo has become so corrupted that the rikishi don't even care about making it look real, and this was a good example. As part of the hook for today's broadcast, they featured Juryo newcomer, Kohtokuzan, and they showed his lone win of the basho so far that came on Day 2, and his opponent, Oho, took a blatant dive to give the new sekitori his only win so far. Good to see they're baptizing these guys into the sekitori club straightway.

Moving right along, prior to the M12 Tochinoshin matchup against M10 Terutsuyoshi, Kitanofuji commented that he felt Tochinoshin has been lacking kiryoku this basho. I guess that's one way of avoiding the actual word, mu-kiryoku, but he's right. I get the feeling that guys like Tochinoshin and Aoiyama have hoarded enough cash that they're ready to retire and head back to Eastern Europe. Anyway, in their contest today, Tochinoshin got off of the 0-4 shneid by henka'ing lighting to his right, and Terutsuyoshi just plopped forward and down in half a second. Great sumo here as Tochinoshin moves to 1-4 while T-Tsuyoshi falls to the same mark.

M10 Tamawashi curiously kept his hands inactive in his contest against M8 Aoiyama, who didn't come out blazing from the tachi-ai but was at least pushing nonetheless. With Tamawashi doing everything with just his feet, he provided Aoiyama the perfect target for the eventual pushout win. I mean, there's nothing more to say other than Tamawashi did nothing to win this bout of sumo. He falls to 4-1 while Aoiyama improves to 2-3.

M8 Takarafuji and M9 Shimanoumi provided the best bout of sumo to this point striking nicely at the tachi-ai where Shimanoumi stayed low and moved laterally in an effort to keep Takarafuji away from the belt. It worked quite well, but since it was a defensive strategy, Shimanoumi didn't have any way to really win the bout, and so Takarafuji stayed square looking for any opening in the bout that lasted more than a minue, and with Shimanoumi gassed, Takarafuji was finally able to execute a pull and slap at the back of Shimanoumi's shoulder to send him off for good. It wasn't an exciting bout, but I'll take it as Takarafuji moves to 3-2 while Shimanoumi falls to 2-3.

M7 Chiyoshoma struck M9 Hidenoumi at the tachi-ai and then just backed his feet up...while still leaning forward. Hidenoumi didn't have good forward momentum from the initial charge, but he ain't a complete dumbass, and so he rushed in and offered the lightest of slaps at the side of Chiyoshoma's right shoulder, and the Mongolian just put two palms to the dirt. Wow, what a bad bout of sumo here as Hidenoumi buys this one in moving to 3-2 while Chiyoshoma literally falls to 2-3. After the bout, Kitanofuji was lamenting the fact that Enho isn't in the division, so you know the former Yokozuna is bored out of his skull.

M5 Hoshoryu and M7 Myogiryu hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where both guys grabbed left outers about two seconds in, but before the gappuri-yotsu contest could really get underway, Myogiryu played his hand early going for a quick left outer throw. Hoshoryu easily fended it off, however, and took advantage of the momentum shift using his youth and strength advantage to nudge Myogiryu up high and back to the straw, and as Myogiryu tried to move left and set up a counter move, Hoshoryu stuck to him like glue and scored the impressive force-out win in four or five seconds. You can just see Hoshoryu becoming a playuh in the division as he moves to 4-1 while Myogiryu falls to 1-4.

M6 Kiribayama moved to his left against M5 Okinoumi pushing into the M5's side and taking the advantage early in this hidari-yotsu affair. The two grappled a bit before Kiribayama forced his way onto a right outer grip towards the front of Okinoumi's belt, but as he got in snug, it enabled Okinoumi to grab his own right outer, and the gappuri-yotsu contest was on. Okinoumi went for an early right belt throw that might have worked, but Kiribayama's mawashi came loose weakening Okinoumi's outer grip, and so Okinoumi quickly retooled the grip on all folds of the belt and used his size advantage to force Kiribayama back to the edge and down.

Or so we thought. Okinoumi's charge was a bit hasty, and in the process of trying to defeat Kiribayama with his feet against the straw, Okinoumi's right foot touched out before Kiribayama was down. They had to rule it isami-ashi because Kiribayama was not executing a counter move, but this was probably the best bout of sumo the first five days. It's too bad Okinoumi lost, but he's the best Japanese rikishi on the banzuke, and this is why. The three faux-zeki or Takayasu or Mitakeumi cannot do sumo like this. Not against weak rank and filers let alone a good tactician like Kiribayama. Tough break here as Okinoumi falls to 3-2 while Kiribayama moves to 4-1.

M4 Chiyotairyu blasted M6 Onosho back from the tachi-ai a full step, and just when you thought we'd finally see that freight train charge from Tairyu, he put his hands up high and all but tried to hug Onosho over the top. That gave Onosho the clear path to moro-zashi, and he had the willing Chiyotairyu forced back and across in a second and a half. Chiyotairyu was great for one second then intentionally mukiryoku the rest of the way gifting Onosho a 2-3 record while Chiyotairyu is 10 grr closer to that oyakata stock at 1-4.

M2 Takanosho struck M4 Kotoeko well from the tachi-ai, but it wasn't hard enough to keep Eko from quickly moving left, and that move threw Takanosho off of his game. Fortunately for him, Kotoeko ain't got his own game and couldn't finish Takanosho off, and so the two hooked back up in migi-yotsu. Takanosho was closer to the left outer, but Kotoeko used some light gaburi shoves to bounce Takanosho back near the edge, but just as Kotoeko began his force-out attempt, Takanosho darted left timing a perfect pull that sent Kotoeko down and out. It wasn't great sumo, but I'll take it as Takanosho picks up his first win at 1-4 while Kotoeko falls to 2-3.

M1 Daieisho crushed Komusubi Wakatakakage back from the tachi-ai with a nice tsuppari attack, and instead of trying to stand his ground, WTK moved left looking to time a pull. Problem was Daieisho was hellbent in this one, and you could hear the grunts and the slaps and the spit and everything...it was beautiful. With Wakatakakage looking to run, Daieisho gave chase applying the pressure with his tsuppari attack, and at one point, Wakatakakage executed a nice shoulder swipe that caused Daieisho to do a 360, but Sho had all the momentum here and drove Wakatakakage back and out on his third attempt winning by a well-deserved tsuki-dashi!! This is the kind of effort I expect from both parties in every single bout of sumo in Makuuchi every day. Unfortunately, everyone's been dumbed down to the point where they accept dull, boring sumo as the norm. It shouldn't be in the highest division of a professional sport, but this is more theater than it is sport in my opinion. Daieisho picks up his first win at 1-4, and this was the exact same effort he gave against Takakeisho and Shodai the first two days. Or not. As for Wakatakakage, it was nice to see him take some lumps like this from a veteran as he falls to 2-3.

Suckiwake Mitakeumi picked up the freebie after M1 Endoh withdrew, and sadly, this was the best Mitakeumi has looked atop the dohyo to this point. He moves to 4-1 but does not look good. Endoh will finish with a 1-14 record...just enough to keep him in the division come September.

Komusubi Meisei came with a left kachi-age and right ottsuke into Suckiwake Takayasu's left side, and that kept Takayasu at bay and upright so his thoughts of any tsuppari were rendered useless. Takayasu looked like an old, beat up guy here (which is what he is) as he tried to solve Meisei's tsuppari attack and his lateral movements. Simply put, Takayasu looked lost out there, and about eight seconds in, Meisei moved to his right with his right arm hooked up and under Takayasu's left, and then he used the left hand to slap down at the Suckiwake's shoulder. Perfect kata-sukashi as Meisei made Takayasu look silly here in advancing to 2-3. Takayasu falls to the same mark, and we saws the dude's true colors and ability here today.

Ozeki Terunofuji read M3 Hokutofuji's tachi-ai well moving forward as Hokutofuji jabbed and moved to the left, and with the Ozeki on the prowl looking for the early left inside, Hokutofuji simply had nowhere to run. He stayed low and moved laterally, but he couldn't get far before Terunofuji worked his right arm to the inside while trying to lift Hokutofuji more upright by the outer left. As Hokutofuji persisted in staying low and keeping his hips back, Terunofuji just bowled him over in the end with a nice kote-nage throw. Terunofuji coolly moves to 5-0 with the easy win while Hokutofuji falls to 3-2.

M3 Tobizaru was defensive at the tachi-ai against Shodai, but when Shodai didn't bring any goods, the M3 realized that he had a shot, and so he began moving right while looking for an opening to Shodai's left side. He didn't exactly connect early, but he forced Shodai to stand nearly straight up, and after working Shodai little by little, he wore the faux-zeki out to where Shodai went for a desperate pull near the edge. Problem was...there was no mustard behind the move, and so Tobizaru just ducked under his foe and shoved Shodai clear off the dohyo and into the second row. Tobizaru gave Shodai a deep scowl as if to say "Man's game bitch!" and it was funny to see Tobizaru act like this. The dude does remember that he's actually Tobizaru, doesn't he? I can see him getting excited though at kicking a guy's ass ranked at Ozeki. As for Shodai, the dude's like a lame horse who needs to be put down. I'm sure some people scoffed when I mentioned that Tokitsukaze-oyakata's excommunication from sumo earlier this year was going to affect the Shodai camp's ability to negotiate bouts, but the dude has been a complete mess since then. He falls to 2-3, and there's no doubt those first two wins were gifted to him. As for Tobizaru, this was his one chance to be a badass, so enjoy it while you can at 2-3.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hakuho lunged into a low stance against M2 Ichinojo getting the right arm established inside straightway, but Ichinojo proved to be an obstacle as he reached for and grabbed a left outer grip. Hakuho had nothing on the left side, and so he allowed Ichinojo to advance forward a step before he wrenched his hips and pushed Ichinojo off of his outer grip. In the process, Hakuho also maki-kae'd with the left arm giving him moro-zashi, and from there it was easy peasy Japanesey as Hakuho scored the textbook yori-kiri win. The stuff Hakuho is showing atop the dohyo these days is fast becoming a lost art, and I think the fans in Nagoya are seeing it for what it is and showing great appreciation. I actually think the true sumo fans are all rooting for a Hakuho yusho because you just watch his sumo, and it's a thing'a beauty. On most days that is. Hakuho moves to 5-0 with the nice win while Itchy and Scratchy falls to 3-2.

My comments the next three days are going to be a bit sketch (as my kids like to say). I'll be doing some white water rafting with who knows what kind of innernet connection, so if I can find the bouts online and I have the means to comment, I'll try, but don't hold your breath.

We'll see what kind of mess I come home to Sunday or Monday.

Day 4 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As I scanned the morning headlines prior to the Day 4 bouts, Kitanofuji's column printed in the Chunichi Sports newspaper really jumped out. The headline borrowed a few phrases from the column, the most notable of which read "The rikishi these days are too weak." This photo of Takakeisho being carted off in a wheelchair accompanied the article, and you could see Kitanofuji's frustration really show through with the sorry state of rikishi right now.

In speaking of the Takakeisho - Ichinojo bout, Kitanofuji said that he thought at first Takakeisho had suffered a concussion, but he said the tachi-ai wasn't that strong, and so he was surprised that Takakeisho went kyujo from an average hit like that. To quote the former Yokozuna, "It may sound heartless to speak like this of an injured rikishi, but I'm shocked that a tachi-ai like that could break a rikishi down so easily. And it's not only Takakeisho. Recently, all of the rikishi seem like they're too weak."

Kitanofuji goes on to talk about how Hakuho and Terunofuji don't look weak. He said that they probably have nagging injuries like everyone else, but they seem to get stronger with each day. He also singled out Shodai saying that he has neither the strength or the will to challenge the two Mongolian for the yusho.

On a brighter note, he did mention Hoshoryu and Wakatakakage as two guys who are up and coming, and I think we've seen that the last few basho from those guys.

Kitanofuji closed the article by admitting he was not feeling well due to constipation. Only in Japan would they go into that detail, but he said he's been eating too much eel in Nagoya for an old guy like him, and now he's all bloated and doesn't feel well.

It's rare for anyone in the Japanese media to single guys out like this, but you can tell that Kitanofuji is at his wits end with these Japanese rikishi. Takakeisho's gone; Asanoyama's gone; and Shodai is a complete joke. I didn't mention this yesterday, but during the Day 3 broadcast, they showed the top three bouts streamed from the previous day and #2 was the Enho - Takagenji matchup...from Juryo. The crazy thing is that the bout wasn't even contested as Enho had to sit the day out with a concussion. The fact that people are even thinking about Enho shows you that there is no one in the Makuuchi division to get excited about. It's just crazy, but sumo has brought this on itself with the obsession of having Japanese rikishi take the yusho and occupy elite ranks on the banzuke when they aren't worthy of such feats.

One rikishi I'm definitely not excited about so far is M17 Ichiyamamoto. Dude has bought all of his wins this tournament, and his camp shelled out more dough today against M15 Tsurugisho. After a completely ineffective tsuppari attempt from the tachi-ai by Ichiyamamoto, the two hooked up in migi-yotsu where Tsurugisho stood completely upright gifting the rookie the left outer grip. On the other side, you could see Tsurugisho completely relax that left arm not even thinking about an outer grip let alone something to counter with. From this point Ichiyamamoto attempted a force-out charge but couldn't come close as Tsurugisho rebuffed him with one arm and the threat of a tsuki-otoshi with the left, so back to the center of the ring they went. At this point, the rookie executed a very nice defensive move in cutting off Tsurugisho's right inside belt grip, and from there, the M15 made no effort to defend himself giving Ichiyamamoto moro-zashi and allowing a straight back force-out. Tsurugisho was mukiryoku here, but at least we did see that one bright spot from the rookie where he cut off the right inside grip. Course, against a defenseless opponent you can do anything you want. Ichiyamamoto moves to 3-1 while Tsurugisho falls to the same record.

M16 Chiyonokuni came with a wild, ineffective tachi-ai today against M14 Daiamami who just stood there in defensive mode. As Kuni slapped his way around, Daiamami dipped his left shoulder inward allowing Kuni to connect on an ottsuke that turned Daiamami sideways 90 degrees and allowed Chiyonokuni to easily push him to the edge and off of the dohyo with a two-armed shove. Like the first bout, this was a lopsided affair where the defeated rikishi didn't make a single attempt to win. Chiyonokuni buys his way to 3-1 while Daiamami falls to 1-3.

M15 Tokushoryu and M14 Chiyonooh hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but both rikishi looked rather limp as if they were going through the motions. Chiyonooh actually obtained a right outer grip about a second in, but he just let it go and stood there limp allowing Tokushoryu to force him back and across in maybe three seconds of uneventful sumo. As they showed the replay, Mainoumi commented, "I think Chiyonooh was trying get moro-zashi today, and that was his mistake." And just as he's saying that, you can see Chiyonooh release his advantageous outer grip for no reason. This was a puff piece of sumo if I've ever seen one as Tokushoryu buys his way to 3-1 while Oh willingly falls to 1-3.

M13 Chiyomaru lightly put his arms forward against M16 Ishiura, but he wasn't looking to attack from the tachi-ai. For Ishiura's part, he mildly henka'd left, and with Maru just standing there, Ishiura worked his way to the side grabbing Chiyomaru's belt and using it to dashi-nage him across the dohyo. This whole time Chiyomaru did nothing to defend himself, and you could see him flinch on a counter kote position with the right arm, but he withdrew it just as fast allowing Ishiura to easily push him out of the ring from there. Yet another compromised bout of sumo here as both rikishi end the day at 1-3.

M13 Ura executed a horrible tachi-ai aligning his feet and ducking his head towards M12 Kagayaki, but before Kagayaki could swoop in and grab a hold of his foe, Ura began retreating to his right in a bout that was trying to go to migi-yotsu. With Ura on the move and an arm up high around Kagayaki's neck, the bout had little continuity until Ura ran out of room and Kagayaki trapped him near the edge. Kagayaki was ironically able to keep Ura in place with a grip around the outside of Ura's right arm, and once he established his own right to the inside, he was able to force Ura over to the side and dump him into the lap of the chief judge. When Ura doesn't arrange his bouts, you see him play this frantic defense against his opponents, and that ploy will work maybe once every eight bouts or so. Didn't work today as Kagayaki moved to 3-1 while Ura falls to 2-2.

M12 Tochinoshin reached for and grabbed the early left frontal belt grip against M11 Kaisei, and he also had the right outer grip to boot near the front of Kaisei's belt. Kaisei really didn't have a pot to piss in here, but Shin curiously never looked to win the bout. Kaisei eventually brought his left arm outside and grabbed the back of Tochinoshin's belt giving the Private moro-zashi, but he just hunkered low in the center of the ring for no reason. From here the bout went to a straight up migi-yotsu affair where both dudes had left outers, but Kaisei was too high for his own good. Tochinoshin showed why easily breaking off Kaisei's outer grip, but he still failed to attack and just stood there, so when Kaisei finally offered a right scoop throw, Tochinoshin just plopped over and down. In a real bout of sumo, Tochinoshin would have used that left outer grip to counter thus creating a nage-no-uchi-ai, but from the beginning, Tochinoshin never looked to win this one despite being in firm control the entire way. I have no idea of the politics here; I just know the bout was fixed as Kaisei moves to 2-2 while Tochinoshin falls to 0-4.

M10 Tamawashi was passive at the tachi-ai extending his arms forward against M11 Kotonowaka, but he didn't advance beyond the starting lines. With Tamawashi lethargic and Kotonowaka moving forward, the youngster was able to nudge Tamawashi back near the straw, but there wasn't a lot of oomph behind the attack, and so Tamawashi moved right and swiped at Kotonowaka's neck, and that knocked the kid out of sorts and sent him stumbling over the edge. Before he could turn around and square back up, Tamawashi methodically pushed him out the last step earning the okuri-dashi win. This was a good example of a Mongolian leaving himself vulnerable and the Japanese rikishi being unable to capitalize. Tamawashi is 4-0 and has done little work to get there while Kotonowaka falls to 3-1.

M9 Hidenoumi and M10 Terutsuyoshi hooked up in migi-yotsu where Terutsuyoshi had a firm frontal grip with the left that was an outer, but he just pulled that arm back for no reason other than to intentionally give the advantage to his opponent. Once Terutsuyoshi made that move, he brought his right hip over into an easy peasy outer grip for Hidenoumi, and you could see what was going on here as Terutsuyoshi just allowed himself to be forced back and across with no argument. Terutsuyoshi demonstrated here how you go from a huge advantage to a sound defeat in mere seconds as Hidenoumi buys his way to 2-2 while Terutsuyoshi will pocket the cash in falling to 1-3.

M8 Aoiyama put two hands forward as if to thrust against M9 Shimanoumi, but when Aoiyama doesn't move across his own starting line as part of his attack, you know it's all for show. Aoiyama added this silly little marching in place nonsense to his mukiryoku attitude, but with Shimanoumi still unable to get anything going, Aoiyama went for a harmless pull that was really an excuse to just back up and out of the ring with Shimanoumi in tow. Afterwards the announcers suggested it was the "angle" of Shimanoumi's attack that enabled him to win. I guess I stand corrected as Shimanoumi moves to 2-2 while Aoiyama is a harmless yet richer 1-3.

M8 Takarafuji and M7 Myogiryu looked to go to hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but Myogiryu spent a great deal of effort trying to keep Takarafuji's left from the inside. I guess I can see why he wouldn't want to go chest to chest with Takarafuji, but it left him in an awkward position with nowhere to go. Myogiryu thought about it for a few seconds and then finally went for a pull, but Takarafuji was right there in his craw pushing the compromised Myogiryu back and across for good. It wasn't the best bout of sumo I've ever seen, but it was one of the few real bouts to this point as Takarafuji moves to 2-2 while Myogiryu falls to 1-3.

M7 Chiyoshoma and M6 Kiribayama hooked up in a pretty decent hidari-yotsu pose, and early on Chiyoshoma thought about a maki-kae but then quickly parlayed that into a successful outside grip of Kiribayama's belt. Chiyoshoma tested the force-out waters straightway, but Kiribayama was able to wrench him back in place as the two traded positions in the dohyo. After both rikishi gathered their wits, Kiribayama thought about a maki-kae himself but quickly changed that to a right outer grip, and from there he pulled Chiyoshoma upright and in tight breaking off his left inside grip. After a few more seconds of rest, Kiribayama went for a light dashi-nage, and Chiyoshoma just put his can to the dirt nearly doing the splits. It was a great contest up until that ending, and who knows what was going on there? Kiribayama moves to 3-1 with the win while Chiyoshoma falls to 2-2.

M6 Onosho put both hands into M5 Okinoumi's chest in the moro-hazu position, but it was a completely defensive posture instead of an attacking mode, and so Okinoumi was able to lean forward with the left arm inside, and once Onosho realized he wasn't making headway, he did the only thing he could, which was to go for a pull. Okinoumi was waiting or it and quickly dispatched his foe from there with the easy push out win. Okinoumi moves to 3-1 while Onosho falls to 1-3.

M5 Hoshoryu and M4 Chiyotairyu struck well at the tachi-ai with each rikishi coming out with tsuppari, but Chiyotairyu couldn't wait to go into pull mode, and once he did, Hoshoryu was right there in stride pushing his self-compromised opponent back and across in a flash. Hoshoryu looks good in moving to 3-1 while Chiyotairyu is obviously mulling retirement at 1-3.

M3 Hokutofuji put his right hand forward as he is wont to do against M4 Kotoeko, and instead of shading left, he demanded the left inside position that was so good Kotoeko decided to move laterally to his own left. The move was too slow, however, and Hokutofuji had nice forward momentum from the tachi-ai and so he shifted on a dime and forced Kotoeko back and across with zero argument. I'm getting a little bit worried as this marked the third consecutive bout that was real as Hokutofuji moves to 3-1 while Kotoeko settles for 2-2.

Would M2 Ichinojo make it four in a row against Komusubi Meisei? Indeed he would as Meisei kept both arms in tight denying anything to the inside, but Ichinojo reacted well wrapping Meisei up with the left arm around the outside of Meisei's right, and then the Mongolith reached for and secured the right outer grip on the shoumen side of things. Meisei was had at that point and tried to wriggle away, but he allowed Ichinojo to get the left arm inside in the process, and that was the final nail in the coffin as Ichinojo kept Meisei in tight as he scored the easy yori-kiri win moving to 3-1. Darn that Takayasu must really be good to be the only one to stop this Ichinojo attack!! As for Meisei, he takes another lump in falling to 1-3.

Speaking of Frauduyasu, the Suckiwake was paired against M1 Endoh today, and Takayasu's tachi-ai was so weak he left himself completely vulnerable to the inside. Endoh, who loves to go for the front of the belt, got it straightway with the right hand, but then he let it go for no reason. From there with Takayasu still clueless, Endoh tsuppari'ed his foe upright and could have gone right back to the inside, but he just kept his hands up high refraining completely from a forward attack. With Endoh keeping himself exposed, Takayasu touched the side of his belt as if to grab a right outer, and without any shove or swipe from Takayasu, Endoh threw himself near the edge as if he'd been dashi-nage'd. When Takayasu rushed forward, his first instinct was to pull, and when it came, Endoh lamely just put his hand down and touched the dirt. It wasn't a clear-cut touch and so a second later he put both palms down making it definitive. Start to finish Endoh dominated this one and yet came away the loser. Course, he's a lot richer at the Takayasu camp's expense, so whatever. Takayasu buys his first two wins back and stands at 2-2 while Endoh hasn't got a care in the world at 1-3.

M3 Tobizaru knocked Suckiwake Mitakeumi back a half step from the tachi-ai with a nice oshi attack, but the M3 halted the offensive just like that. Wow, you lose the tachi-ai to Tobizaru and you need him to let up for you? With Mitakeumi still unable to recover after losing the tachi-ai, Tobizaru went for a wild kick right between Mitakeumi's legs with no intention of doing any damage other than to compromise himself and allow Mitakeumi to finally push him back. Still, Mitakeumi created none of his momentum, so at the edge, Tobizaru turned 90 degrees and stuck his leg out one more time as if to kick in desperation, and Mitakeumi finally scored the winning push from there. Like the previous bout, the loser won the tachi-ai and did everything here including setting himself up for the final winning technique from his opponent. What an ugly 3-1 Mitakeumi is while Tobizaru falls to 1-3, but the dude can still smile with that poor tachi-ai because he just earned back more than half his monthly pay in one bout.

Hooboy, Shodai is bad and everyone knows it. Today, Komusubi Wakatakakage bested him at the tachi-ai getting the right arm inside while flirting with the left outer grip. WTK never settled for the outer grip, but he did have Shodai upright, and so he shifted gears and pushed the faux-zeki back and across with very little argument. I don't know what's worse...that Shodai got his ass kicked like this or that Shodai doesn't have the ability to kick anyone else's ass like this. It's embarrassing, and I'm glad Kitanofuji called him out for it. Shodai's lucky to be 2-2 but there are guys out there willing to be bought off. As for Wakatakakage, he improves to the same 2-2 mark.

When the NHK News 9 sports segment didn't even start off with sumo today, I knew there were no upsets the final two bouts. They did try and drum up interest with the cute headline "Hara-hara suru sumo" meaning sumo that was dangerously close. Up first was Ozeki Terunofuji who took a nice left nodowa from M1 Daieisho in stride. Credit Daieisho for the early thrust, but it didn't drive Terunofuji back. Instead, the Ozeki focused on capturing his gal and bringing her in snug. Daieisho knew this and quickly moved right making Terunofuji give chase, and around the ring they went with Terunofuji attempting an early pull. When it didn't work, the Ozeki found himself at the edge with his opponent right there, but Daieisho hadn't created any momentum to this point, and so he didn't have the mustard to finish Terunofuji off. As Fuji squared back up, this time Daieisho darted to the other side, but he was already gassed, so when Terunofuji caught up to him, it was an easy force-out from there. Daieisho (0-4) is a good rikishi, and so it was no surprise to see him make Terunofuji work, but the Ozeki never was on the brink in improving to 4-0.

The day's final affair featured Yokozuna Hakuho vs. M2 Takanosho, and the Yokozuna came with another right hari-te, but he purposefully left out the zashi part on the other side. With a bit of separation between the two, Hakuho went for these baby pulls at the top of Takanosho's head with no intention of doing any harm, and at one point, I think he actually pulled Takanosho's hair, so it was lucky he wasn't trying to pull the dude down. In the midst of the slippery sumo, Hakuho let Takanosho get behind him near the edge, but just like the previous bout, Takanosho hadn't created his own momentum, and so he didn't have enough gas to finish the Yokozuna off. As a result, Hakuho darted out of harm's way to the other side of the dohyo, and as Takanosho gave chase, the Yokozuna was able to pull him down before the M2 could shove Hakuho across. Yes, this was a hara-hara bout indeed but only because the Yokozuna dictated as much. I guess it gives the fans a bit of excitement and hope, but the bottom line is that Hakuho now stands at 4-0 and cannot be defeated by anyone unless he lets them. I mean, three of the four bouts so far he's given all of his opponents decent openings, but nobody has the ability to capitalize on it. As for Takanosho, he just missed a kin-boshi here in falling to 0-4.

As is usually the case, the basho doesn't really begin until the Story Teller loses, and in this case, we have two of 'em to deal with.

Same time same place tomorrow.

Day 3 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
It's been so long since we've had Hakuho participate like this in a hon-basho, and then when you couple that with Terunofuji's recent resurgence, you have these two beasts who fight the last 20 minutes of each day laying down this crazy good baseline of sumo that is unmatched. On the other end of the spectrum are the Japanese Ozeki who can be summed up in one word: fragile. I get it that Asanoyama is a thing of the past for the next couple of years, but I can still remember how easily he was worked by rank and filers Hoshoryu and Kiribayama last basho. Then you had Takakeisho yesterday just sitting on the dohyo step unable to move, and there couldn't be a bigger contrast right now between the Mongolian rikishi and supposedly elite Japanese rikishi.

It's not a good visual for the Sumo Association whatsoever, but what can be done about it? It's one thing to have Hakuho go kyujo for an entire year or see Terunofuji fall off of the face of the earth for a spell, but the reality still exists that the Japanese rikishi among the elite ranks are entirely hapless and it shows in the content of the sumo.

Until Hakuho and Terunofuji decide to drop a bout here and there or suffer another fake injury, this will be the backdrop of the Nagoya basho and the coming tournaments the rest of the year.

Starting the day was M17 Ichiyamamoto who was paired against J1 Yutakayama, and the two engaged in a busy tsuppari affair where neither guy was really making significant contact. For Yutakayama's part, he was completely flat footed and just waiting for the rookie to make a move, and when Ichiyamamoto's mediocre pull attempt came as he moved left, Yutakayama just ran himself about five rows deep into the crowd. This one was fake start to finish as the rookie buys his second win of the tournament.

The silliness would continue as M16 Ishiura was completely listless at the tachi-ai against M16 Chiyonokuni who pretended his way through a tsuppari attack, but he was really looking for the pull. A few seconds in, he went for a poor pull allowing Ishiura the inside with Chiyonokuni's back to the straw, but Ishiura didn't pursue it for the force-out win, and it was obvious at this point that Ishiura was going to take a dive. After a few more seconds of bad sumo, Chiyonokuni went for a light pull and Ishiura just somersaulted himself over and down. Gimme a break. There was no force or pressure applied in the bout from the start, so to see Ishiura in that wild fall was comical. Chiyonokuni buys one here in moving to 2-1 while Ishiura is hoarding cash at 0-3.

I've been warming a bit lately to M15 Tsurugisho who was paired against M15 Tokushoryu, but the content of today's bout was terrible sumo. From the tachi-ai, Tokushoryu shaded left without really doing anything, and Tsurugisho's response was to move to his own left going for an inashi pull that largely missed, so with both rikishi properly socially distanced, Tsurugisho came back forward getting the left arm inside. Tokushoryu's answer was to just keep his own left arm up into his chest in a useless manner allowing Tsurugisho to force his gal back and across with little argument. This was yet another bout with very little pressure or force exerted from either rikishi, and it's a sign that the contest was arranged going in. Tsurugisho moves to 3-0 here while Tokushoryu falls to 2-1.

M14 Daiamami and M14 Chiyonooh hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Daiamami maintained the left outer grip. From there, Chiyonooh seemed as if he wanted to maki-kae while also thinking about a counter sukui-nage with the right on the other side, but it just looked like he was going through the motions all the while moving backwards as Daiamami scored the easy force-out win. How about a few grunts or face slaps fellas? Maybe a tug or two on the mawashi? Yet another unspectacular one-side affair that left both rikishi at 1-2.

The tell when M13 Chiyomaru is not looking to win is that he'll come with tsuppari at the tachi-ai, but he moves backwards in the process as if he's going to pull. He did that again today against M13 Ura, and it was clear at this point who would win the bout. Because Ura had nothing to do with Maru's retreat, he wasn't in a position to really take advantage and push his foe across the straw, so the two stood there with hands on each other's shoulders and elbows. Now, if you're Chiyomaru and you're trying to win the bout, you pull Ura in close or move forward with a tsuppari attack, but Maru just stood there waiting for Ura to get inside, and once he did, Chiyomaru stayed up high as if to pull again, and that just invited the easy force-out in favor of Ura. Ura buys win number two today as Chiyomaru accepts the cash and the 1-2 record that goes along with it.

M12 Tochinoshin came with a half-assed kachi-age with the right arm against fellow M12, Kagayaki, but then Shin just put his left arm up high around Kagayaki's melon as if to pull, but such a move never came. Instead you had Tochinoshin just retreating to the side for no reason other than to allow his foe to easily push him out in an uneventful few seconds. Tochinoshin is intentionally lethargic as he falls to 0-3 while Kagayaki breezes his way to 2-1.

M11 Kotonowaka is quietly buying wins this basho, and today against M10 Terutsuyoshi was no different. As if following a script (cough, sputter), Kotonowaka lightly moved right at the tachi-ai putting his hands forward as if to pull, but he really didn't need to do anything as Terutsuyoshi just put both palms to the dirt before standing right back up. None of this took even two seconds, and I guess if you're going to compromise a bout, you may as well not waste more time than is needed. They didn't here as Kotonowaka picked up the cheap win in moving to 3-0 while Terutsuyoshi is richer now at 1-2. What a terrible display this was that wasted everybody's time.

M11 Kaisei looked to get the right arm inside and left outer at the tachi-ai against M9 Shimanoumi, but when Shimanoumi pivoted to his left, Kaisei easily squared back up and pushed Shimanoumi out of the clinch before the M9 could execute a pull. With Shimanoumi off balance at the edge, Kaisei moved forward in one fell swoop offering the final tsuki into Shimanoumi's chest that sent him back with ease. Not the typical tsuki-dashi bout I like to see, but whatever. It's really hard to find a good, competitive bout of sumo these days as Kaisei moves to 1-2 while Shimanoumi falls to the same mark.

M10 Tamawashi offered a few tsuppari M9 Hidenoumi's way, but Tamawashi's footwork suggested he was ready to backpedal. It made for an awkward start to the bout, but with Hidenoumi not moving forward whatsoever, Tamawashi pushed him back near the edge. Still, instead of finishing his foe off, Tamawashi put both hands high around Hidenoumi's head as if to pull, but the pull never came. The Mongolian was gifting Hidenoumi moro-zashi if he wanted it, but he was too hapless to take advantage. With Hidenoumi technically in moro-zashi, Tamawashi anticipated a swift yori charge, and so his gut reaction was to go through the motions with a right kote-nage counter throw, but with Hidenoumi completely clueless, that counter throw sent him across the dohyo and out in a strange affair that lacked any real competition. Tamawashi moves to 3-0 with the win, but he definitely gave his foe some opportunities today. Hidenoumi was too hapless to take advantage in falling to 1-2.

Is it me, or have we yet to witness a truly contested, good bout of sumo on the day?

M8 Aoiyama greeted M8 Takarafuji with his usual tsuppari from the tachi-ai, but the Happy Bulgar wasn't charging forward. As for Takarafuji, he was looking to stick and jab shading to his left as Aoiyama stayed square firing shoves his way but not using the lower body to just pound Takarafuji back and out. After five or six seconds of this cat and mouse affair, Aoiyama had Takarafuji shoved near the edge, but he all of a sudden halted his tsuppari attack and gifted Takarafuji the left inside position. Takarafuji had zero momentum to this point of the bout, and he didn't demand that left inside, so when he went for a light sukui-nage with said left, Aoiyama just played along tumbling over and down across the edge. This was one of those bouts where the loser did all the work including taking the dive at the edge as both rikishi end the day at 1-2.

M7 Myogiryu executed a horrible tachi-ai keeping his feet aligned as he shaded left, and he was there for the taking had M7 Chiyoshoma wanted him. He didn't sadly as he fired a few obligatory shoves with no de-ashi behind it before putting both hands high and executing a slow pull that completely allowed Myogiryu to finally square up and execute the easy force-out of his compromised opponent. It took a bit for Myogiryu to pick himself up off of the dohyo floor after taking an awkward spill forward and down, but it reaffirms the adage that someone is going to get hurt during mukiryoku sumo. The flow and the ending of the bouts are just unnatural as we saw here with Myogiryu buying his first win at 1-2 while Chiyoshoma voluntarily suffers his first loss at 2-1.

M6 Onosho and M6 Kiribayama traded barbs at the tachi-ai with Kiribayama looking to pull. A definitive pull never did come, but the Mongolian did back up a bit inviting Onosho forward to take advantage. Onosho never could, however, and so when the two finally hooked up, it was in hidari-yotsu where Kiribayama enjoyed a firm, right outer grip, and from there, Kiribayama executed the textbook yori-kiri after a very strange start. He moves to 2-1 with the nice finish while Onosho falls to 1-2.

M5 Hoshoryu put both arms into M5 Okinoumi's chest at the tachi-ai, but he really wasn't executing an oshi attack, and so the two quickly assumed the hidari-yotsu position where Hoshoryu had a nice right outer grip. The Mongolian quickly set up a belt throw with the outer right that had Okinoumi wildly balancing on his right foot, but Hoshoryu intentionally failed to finish the move letting Okinoumi back into the bout. Still, Okinoumi had no right outer of his own, and his hips were way too high for his own good, and it showed as Hoshoryu flirted with another outer belt throw and a dashi-nage...both of which he never followed through on. It was clear at this point that Hoshoryu was not going to defeat his opponent even though he had the obvious advantage, and so with both dudes wrapped up in yotsu-zumo in the center of the ring, Hoshoryu looked as if he might use his right leg to go for an uchi-gake leg trip, but instead of executing the trip, he acted as if his foot got caught in the dirt and instead just tumbled sideways and down giving Okinoumi the silly win. Hoshoryu stretched his knee this way and that as he got up playing along, but the victor in this bout was decided before it even started as both dudes end the day at 2-1.

Before we move on, when Hoshoryu first entered the division, he was a shaky rikishi, but he has really matured over the last year, and in my opinion, he's better now than any other Japanese rikishi on the banzuke.

M4 Chiyotairyu plowed forward hard from the tachi-ai, but he forgot to use his hands and shove against M4 Kotoeko, and so the latter easily stepped out wide to his left and watched Chiyotairyu just walk himself to the edge before turning around while standing straight up in complete mukiryoku fashion. With Tairyu standing there like a bump on a log, Kotoeko rushed forward and "shoved" his defenseless opponent back that last step. This bout was obviously thrown in favor of Kotoeko who moves to 2-1 while Chiyotairyu picks up more cash on his way to 1-2.

We've finally reached the sanyaku, and we still haven't been treated to a really good bout of sumo where both parties executed sound technique creating a nice bout start to finish.

Komusubi Wakatakakage and M3 Tobizaru sorta engaged in an oshi affair from the tachi-ai, but neither rikishi was properly using their legs. Wakatakakage managed to bump Tobizaru back a step, and then with his hands up high pushing into Tobizaru's neck, he quickly reversed his action going for a pull, and Tobizaru played right along putting both palms to the dirt quickly while no other part of his body came close touching down. You could just see from the start that something was off here as both rikishi end the day at 1-2.

M3 Hokutofuji seemed to befuddle Suckiwake Mitakeumi with his usual tachi-ai of pushing with the right while shading left. With Mitakeumi lost from the get-go, Hokutofuji worked his foe back to the edge all while failing to really fire a single shove. The M3 relented, however, with Mitakeumi on the brink, and he finally relaxed his stance giving Mitakeumi moro-zashi, but since the Suckiwake didn't earn the pose, he wasn't in a position to really attack and take advantage. As a result, Hokutofuji wandered all the way backwards to the other side of the dohyo, but Mitakeumi still couldn't take advantage, so back the other way they went to the other side with Hokutofuji maintaining a left outer grip. Instead of pivoting out left and using that outer to dashi-nage Mitakeumi out or execute a throw that was there for the taking, Hokutofuji darted right going for a "counter" tsuki-otoshi, but in the process he made sure to drag his left foot across the straw and into the sand on the other side before Mitakeumi crashed down. This actually looked like a Hokutofuji victory in real speed, and why not? He dictated the entire bout with Mitakeumi doing absolute nothing start to finish, but watching the replay you could see Hokutofuji's sloppy footwork that gifted the hometown kid the win. What a load of shullbit this was as both rikishi end the day at 2-1.

I realize I made in mistake in declaring that Suckiwake Takayasu would come back on Day 6 of the tournament. I misread the highlight that said he'd make his comeback on July 6th, not Day 6 and so there he was today taking on M2 Ichinojo. Now, Ichinojo has entirely destroyed his first two opponents, and Takayasu was coming in with a very gimpy lower back, but this bout just goes to show that anything can and will happen in sumo when they're desperate to create headlines favorable for Japanese rikishi.

Unlike the first two days where Ichinojo easily wrapped his opponents up and forced them into chest to chest yotsu-zumo, he kept his hands high and to the outside...the last place you want them. As for Takayasu, he did nothing at the tachi-ai that would warrant such moves from Ichinojo, and Takayasu was more passive than anything. Regardless of that, Ichinojo applied no pressure whatsoever, keeping his hands up high and going through these short, baby pull motions, but he barely damaged a hair on Takayasu's back...I mean his head in the process. Once or twice, Ichinojo would feign setting up a kote-nage with the right arm, but just like his pull attempts, he never followed through on anything and left himself completely vulnerable. After a few dance steps around the ring, Takayasu actually grabbed a left outer grip, and the normal move for Ichinojo would be to use his right arm to counter that grip and lift upwards, but instead he predictably brought that arm to the outside and set it in the kote position, and at that point Takayasu got the left arm inside and was finally able to "force" a willing Ichinojo back and across. Everything here was improbable as Takayasu clearly buys his first win of the basho leaving him at 1-2 now. As for Ichinojo, he's shown that he can be bought in suffering his first loss at 2-1 after making every conceivable wrong move possible.

Komusubi Meisei picked up the freebie after Takakeisho's withdrawal moving the Komusubi to 1-2 for the tournament. As for Takakeisho, they estimate about a month to recover from his injury, but he will be kadoban in September.

Ozeki Terunofuji looked to get the right arm inside against M2 Takanosho and wrap the M2 up on the other side with the left to the outside, but Takanosho refused the chest to chest contest (wisely) and moved laterally around the ring. Terunofuji never did latch onto his squirrely foe, and the two ended up in the center of the ring hunkered low in the grapplin' position. And there they'd stay for about 20 seconds before Terunofuji grabbed Takanosho by the left wrist and twisted him down kaina-hineri style. Terunofuji was cautious here and never in danger, and credit Takanosho for at least showing some effort. The end result, however, was Terunofuji's moving to 3-0 while Takanosho remains winless.

Shodai largely kept his feet aligned at the tachi-ai and his arms in tight in an attempt to deny M1 Endoh the front of the belt, but with the faux-zeki not attacking and playing defense from the start, Endoh simply moved to his right and pulled Shodai forward and down just like that. Seems to me that if you were a legit Ozeki you'd look to lay the wood to an M1 rikishi and not go into a defensive shell, but we all know that we're not dealing with a true Ozeki here. Shodai suffers his first loss at 2-1 while Endoh picks up his first win at 1-2.

The final bout of the day featured Yokozuna Hakuho vs. M1 Daieisho, and Hakuho displayed his patented hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping quickly with the right while getting the left arm to the inside, and before Daieisho knew what hit him, Hakuho pivoted left, planted his right foot, and executed a powerful scoop throw that had Daieisho thrown down and out in about two seconds.

We only need to go back to Day 1 where Takakeisho supposedly also defeated Daieisho with a scoop throw. You'll remember how I pointed out the anomaly that Takakeisho didn't need to use his lower body whatsoever to "score" on the throw. This is just a perfect example of how you can detect bout fixing in sumo. Hakuho shows us the proper way to execute a scoop throw while Takakeisho offers a girly swipe, and I might add that the way a person is defeated by a proper scoop throw is different from Daieisho's reaction on Day 1. Regardless of that, Hakuho is establishing a proper baseline of sumo here that is never matched...nor ever will be by the likes of Shodai or Asanoyama or Takakeisho or Takayasu. The Yokozuna stands at 3-0 and is in supreme command of the tournament for as long as he wants to be. Daieisho remains winless at 0-3 after losing today and then throwing his first two bouts against Takakeisho and Shodai the first two days.

Three days in, and it's a given that Hakuho and Terunofuji are the story tellers, but what's disappointing is the lack of effort from the rank and filers. There is just no excitement the first 100 minutes of the broadcast, and this basho is shaping up to produce maybe one sansho in the end if we're lucky, and even that will be canned.

Back at it tomorrow.

Day 2 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
My comments will be brief again today due to the three-day holiday here in the U.S., so I'll go old school and comment as if I was sending an email to Kenji regarding Day 2. With no glaring headlines appearing in between the first two days, this biggest news from Day 2 was the M2 Ichinojo - Takakeisho matchup. At the tachi-ai, Takakeisho came forward and literally ran into a brick wall so much so that the dude herniated a disk in his back. With Takakeisho unable to fire any tsuppari, Ichinojo wrapped him up with the inside right and outer left, and you could tell that the Mongolian knew his opponent was hurt. Ichinojo walked him back slowly and out holding him up atop the dohyo as Takakeisho slumped to one knee on the step he used to climb onto the dohyo to begin with.

I think the first takeaway from this bout is that Ichinojo could have possibly ended Takakeisho's career if he had thrown him off of the dohyo. It was stand up for him to keep the dude from falling hard at all, so props to the Mongolith he moves to a cool 2-0.

The second takeaway is that Takakeisho clearly does not belong in the ring with Ichinojo or Terunofuji or Hakuho or a lot of these guys. It's inconceivable to have a true Ozeki get obliterated like this by an M2. During Ichinojo's interview afterwards, the announcer pointed out that this was his first time fighting among the jo'i in two years. Ichinojo's highest rank the past two years has been M6 prior to this basho whereas Takakeisho has of course been ranked at Ozeki. And yet, the contrast between these two rikishi couldn't be any more stark.

After the bout, Takakeisho was stuck on that dohyo step for 50 seconds (yes, the media kept track) before an oyakata came forward to help him eventually get into the Pawn Stars wheel chair. Takakeisho was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with the herniated disk, and he has of course withdrawn from the festivities. I'm just glad that I don't have to pretend that Takakeisho is a real Ozeki in my analysis. I mean, Ichinojo decides to stand his ground for once, and Takakeisho injures himself trying to budge the dude. Enough said here.

With Asanoyama and Takakeisho now gone, that leaves us with one remaining faux-zeki in Shodai. He faced M1 Daieisho today in a bout that lasted two seconds. The first second consisted of Daieisho kicking Shodai's ass and choking him completely upright while winning the tachi-ai with ease. The next second consisted of Daieisho just holding that move without moving forward waiting for Shodai to counter. Shodai finally weakly swiped with the right arm, which was Daieisho's cue to just hit the dirt, and that he did in short order. Even Shibatayama-oyakata (former Onokuni) who was in the booth today commented that Daieisho just kept his arm extended there too long. The word he left out was "intentionally," but this was a silly bout of sumo where Daieisho dominated the tachi-ai and then promptly waited for contact from Shodai before dutifully putting both palms to the dirt easy as you please. This was a farce of a bout as Shodai is gifted 2-0 while Daieisho is paid to fall to 0-2.

Speaking of Shibatayama in the booth, it's a good thing they had that plexiglass divider keeping him separated from Satoh Announcer. Around 5 PM during a break in the action, Onokuni kept eyeing his broadcast partner as if he was a mid-day snack. That dude is UGE!!

Let's next move to Suckiwake Mitakeumi. I commented yesterday after he was easily dismantled by Ichinojo that the ranks of those two rikishi were completely off. That was validated again today as Ichinojo fought Takakeisho, but prior to the Mitakeumi bout, they showed this graphic of Mitakeumi's rank going back the last five Nagoya basho...and remember, this is Mitakeumi's "home" basho.



Does anybody think that 1) it's a coincidence he somehow finds himself ranked at Suckiwake for his home basho, and 2) he has shown extremely well in Nagoya going back the last five years including a yusho? This is a perfect example of how hometown rikishi are hyped heading into their basho in order to generate more excitement and sell more tickets. That fact is born out in the dohyo. Mitakeumi has never fought like an actual Sekiwake, and it showed yesterday.

Against M2 Takanosho today, the M2 got the right arm to the inside easily from the tachi-ai, but he didn't use it to wrench Mitakeumi upright instead keeping a shallow grip as he waited for the Suckiwake to set something up. Problem was that Mitakeumi was really struggling with his right side completely exposed to a left outer grip...had Takanosho wanted it. He didn't of course, so after a boring stalemate in the center of the ring where Mitakeumi was stuffed and cuffed, Takanosho retreated as if to set up a pull that would never come, and that momentum shift finally allowed Mitakeumi to score the yori-kiri win that contained very little force. Obvious mukiryoku sumo from Takanosho today as Mitakeumi is gifted his first win while Takanosho falls to 0-2.

Yokozuna Hakuho kept his hands high at the tachi-ai leaving himself vulnerable against M1 Endoh, but Endoh couldn't take advantage. I mean, the Yokozuna was not moving forward, and he was up high with his hands extended practically begging Endoh to assume moro-zashi, but the M1 was too clueless. Hakuho does this all the time where he'll give his guy an opening, but when they can't seize it, he'll just smite them from there in short order, and that was the case today. When Endoh finally came forward looking for a grip on the front of the Yokozuna's belt, Hakuho slipped to his left and easily scored the hataki-komi win from there moving to 2-0 in the process.

I really enjoyed Onokuni's color analysis today, and he correctly pointed out that the Yokozuna did not use his hands properly from the tachi-ai, and he was right...leaving out of course the important word again: "intentionally." After the bout, it was nice to hear the big applause for Hakuho, and several fans moved close to him for a high five as he headed towards the hana-michi. The Nagoya fans obviously recognize greatness, and I think everyone senses that Hakuho's career could end at any moment and not because he's injured or worn out. As for Endoh, you could say he's been put through the ringer the first two days in falling to 0-2.

Komusubi Wakatakakage henka'd Ozeki Terunofuji today moving left and getting his hand to the front of the Ozeki's belt. As Fuji the Terrible looked to square back up, WTK kept moving laterally touching both hands to the front of Fuji's belt, but the Ozeki was able to latch onto the outside of Wakatakakage's right arm as he fished for something inside with the right arm. WTK kept moving ultimately working his way into moro-zashi, but Terunofuji welcomes that move any day of the week, and so he grabbed a left outer grip and used it to keep his foe pinned in tight before executing the textbook yori-kiri win. Good stuff from Terunofuji who was never in danger as he moves to 2-0 while Wakatakakage falls to 0-2. I think it's evident that I like Wakatakakage, but the dude has gone to the henka well a bit too much of late for my liking.

While I won't break down their bouts, I think it's worth noting that the magic (or money) that gave M13 Ura and M17 Ichiyamamoto wins on Day 1 was suddenly missing on Day 2. Ichiyamamoto was clueless against M16 Chiyonokuni while Ura put up a decent fight against M14 Chiyonooh, but Ura was defensive throughout. The only way this guy can win is to buy his bouts, and like Enho, the contrast between his wins and losses will be quite noticeable. All four guys mentioned in this paragraph finished the day at 1-1.

Starting tomorrow, I'll break down all of the rikishi and the action from the first three days. I also saw a headline that said Takayasu plans to start fighting this basho from Day 6. Can't wait for that. Dude knows better than anyone that money can and will buy him his wins.

Day 1 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Welcome to the basho that nobody is paying attention to. With the Tokyo Olympics upon us, that event is dominating the sports news in Japan along with professional baseball and Shohei Otani's current run in Major League Baseball. Overseas, you also have Wimbledon going on, and we're in the semis of the Euro 2020 tournament, and there frankly is very little room for sumo to take the spotlight. The early start here in July is the Association's attempt to squeeze the basho in before the start of the Olympics, but there is nothing appealing here to anyone beyond the niche sumo fans.

The big news heading into the basho was of course the punishment handed down to Ozeki Asanoyama a few weeks ago. The dude has to sit out six consecutive basho, and they didn't include the recent Natsu basho as time served, so when the currently-ranked Ozeki makes his return next July, he'll be fighting from the Sandanme division.

The Association waited and waited to announce the punishment, and they even ran a bit of interference by first announcing that Ryuden would be forced to sit out the next three tournaments after it was learned that he was sneaking out at night (despite the state of emergency declaration in place at the time) to meet his mistress. Allegations report that he only did this about 20 times over the course of the last few months, so what's the big deal??

When the Association gave Abi the three basho punishment, you knew they had to come down harder on Asanoyama due to his rank and due to the fact that he lied to the Association when they first asked him about the allegations he was frequenting the tittie bars despite the state of emergency declaration. Nobody is going to miss these guys, and these stories frankly tell us that we are not dealing with a group of Boy Scouts despite the image the Association hopes to portray.

As for headlines involving rikishi who haven't been punished, Ozeki hopeful (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) Takayasu was forced to withdraw from the tournament after throwing out his lower back a few days before Day 1. To make matters worse, it was reported that he injured the lower back after doing keiko with Kisenosato. The media was making this huge deal prior to the injury that Kisenosato--an oyakata in Takayasu's stable--was prepping the Sekiwake by doing sanban-geiko with him each morning, and then this sudden injury. Forcing Takayasu to practice with Kisenosato is almost classified as a rikishi currently being punished, but regardless of that, there's one less rikishi on our hands now to pretend that he's making a run for Ozeki.

With Asanoyama and Takayasu out, that leaves Takakeisho and Shodai to counterbalance the duo of Hakuho and Terunofuji, and has there ever been a bigger contrast between two sets of rikishi? Hakuho is making his return this tournament after the Association told him to get back in the ring or retire. About a week ago, Isegahama-oyakata was quoted in the media as saying he'd like to see Hakuho fight again at full strength. Uh, no you don't.

Hakuho's return almost received as much run as Ura's return to the division. Almost. All of the hype surrounding Ura's return to Makuuchi is a perfect example of how the Sumo Association is trying to hype anything that could help sell more tickets rather than push rikishi with actual game.

I suppose the final major storyline heading into the basho is talk of Terunofuji achieving the Yokozuna rank pending his results here in Nagoya. Regarding both Hakuho and Terunofuji, it's exclusively up to those two rikishi and their camps to decide how hard they will go in Nagoya. If everything was fought straight up, these two dudes would be 14-0 before fighting each other on senshuraku with the next closest rikishi coming into the final day around four losses.

The yusho race could very well come down to these two Mongolians or either of them could withdraw suddenly due to a fake injury. We'll just have to see how things play out. My gut feeling as we head into the basho is that Sumo wants no negative headlines to come out of this thing, and so I expect Hakuho to breeze his way to the yusho with Takakeisho or Shodai coming in a token second place.

If we must, let's get to highlights from Day 1 surrounding rikishi of interest. First up was our Makuuchi newcomer, M17 Ichiyamamoto, who was paired against M16 Ishiura. Ichiyamamoto was clueless at the tachi-ai allowing Ishiura to just duck under the rookie's outstretched arms and get deep to the inside where he promptly just stopped and waited for his opponent to do something. The rookie was as quick as molasses in grabbing the back of Ishiura's belt with the left hand before moving to his right while Ishiura just bellyflopped himself to the dirt.

It took a minute or two for them to rule the kimari-te here because it was such unorthodox sumo that was poorly thrown on the part of Ishiura. Kitanofuji said, "Just go with hiki-otoshi," while Mainoumi suggested they make up a new kimari-te called "uwate-sukashi." Regardless of that banter, they were put in a tough position thanks to an obviously thrown bout of sumo. They finally announced the winning technique as harima-nage, and if that was harima-nage, then Takakeisho and Shodai are legit Ozeki.

A few bouts later, M13 Ura stepped into the dohyo to nice applause prior to his bout with M14 Daiamami. To describe Daiamami's sumo today would be akin to breaking down the process of paint drying. Daiamami just stood straight up at the tachi-ai waiting to make a move, but Ura wasn't exactly charging forward himself. In a bout that produced little continuity, Daiamami had the clear path to a right inside with Ura actually going for an early pull and backing his way to the straw, but Daiamami had no interest in making him pay, and so as he allowed the bout to flow back to the center of the ring, this time Daiamami had the inside left with the right still close to the inside had he wanted moro-zashi. He didn't of course and with Ura fumbling this way and that while Daiamami kept himself up high, Ura finally wiggled to his left going for a haphazard "hiki" against Daiamami's right arm and right side, but there was no power behind the pull, but Daiamami just flopped forward and down dutifully while Ura spun off the dohyo in the opposite direction and rolled into the second row of spectators.

This is exactly how you like to see a bout of sumo end...with the victor defiantly moving forward that last step with the perfectly-placed shove or powerful force-out using the body. Or this mess. The best performance here came from a dude in his seventies wearing a pink shirt who hopped up out of seat before Ura could roll over him.

What a farce of a bout this was as 1) Daiamami was clearly mukiryoku, and 2) Ura employed zero sound technique in order to achieve this result. Ura's tachi-ai was bad; his only noticeable move was that early, dangerous pull; and he was at Daiamami's mercy throughout this one. Even at the end, Ura couldn't apply sufficient pressure to send the mukiryoku Daiamami across the straw, and so the result was Daiamami's flopping forward and Ura's flying wildly in the other direction into the stands. Just great as Ura obviously buys this first win.

In the interest of time (or lack of it on my part), let's fast forward our way to the sanyaku where Sekiwake Mitakeumi was paired against M2 Ichinojo. With Asanoyama and Takayasu out, it puts a little bit more of the spotlight on Mitakeumi, but someone forgot to tell Ichinojo. The Mongolian forced the bout to migi-yotsu after a kachi-age tachi-ai, and Mitakeumi could do nothing to prevent the M2's securing of a left outer grip, and from there, Ichinojo wrenched the Suckiwake around and out easy as you please. You watch this bout and see how lopsided it was, and then go back and look at the ranks of these two dudes the last year. Ichinojo hasn't been higher than M6 while Mitakeumi hasn't fallen out of the sanyaku. And yet you can see the stark difference in ability. It's a clear sign of the false banzuke we've been fed the last few years now.

Faux-zeki Shodai drew Suckiwake Takanosho, and from the tachi-ai, Shodai sorta got the right arm inside, but it wasn't in deep whatsoever. Didn't matter as Takanosho just backed up and out of the ring with Shodai in tow. You couldn't call this a yotsu win for Shodai nor was it an oshi win because the dude instigated very little contact against his opponent. It was simply a matter of Takanosho throwing the bout and backing his way out of the ring without employing a single waza.

M1 Daieisho was neutral at the tachi-ai allowing Takakeisho to come forward with his light oshi attack, but it couldn't budge the M1, and so Takakeisho panicked a bit and retreated all the way to the straw. Daieisho had his gal at this point if he had wanted it, but he didn't and so he faked his way through a few light shoves before violently hitting the dirt in response to a weak left swipe from Takakeisho into Daieisho's left side. They ruled it sukui-nage, but this wasn't a throw. If you're fighting a dude who ways 150 kilos and you want to throw him to the ground, you have to plant your feet for momentum and use your legs. Takakeisho's feet didn't move here, and this was just a light swinging of the arm with Daieisho anticipating it and hitting the dirt.

With the two faux-zeki safely through, the only drama in the Ozeki Terunofuji - M1 Endoh bout was whether or not it'd be fixed. It wasn't thankfully as Endoh got an early right arm to the inside from the tachi-ai before realizing he didn't want to go chest to chest with Fuji the Terrible, and so he moved to his right trying to throw a wrench Fuji's way. It wouldn't work as Terunofuji grabbed Endoh around said right arm and used it to bring him upright and into position where he just turned Endoh to the side and bodied him across the straw from there.

In the day's final affair, Yokozuna Hakuho welcomed upstart Komusubi Meisei in what turned out to be a pretty good bout to the masses. Hakuho was half-assed at the tachi-ai but he still came away with the left arm inside and easy right outer grip, but he wasn't applying that much pressure and so he allowed Meisei to get a right outer of his own leaving the two in the gappuri-hidari-yotsu position. With Hakuho still applying little pressure, he allowed Meisei to force the action towards Hakuho's side of the ring causing the crowd to ooh and ah for a bit, but the Yokozuna finally planted his feet at that point turning the tables and sending the action over to Meisei's half of the ring. At the edge, Hakuho executed a throw with the left inside position using his left leg to the inside of Meisei's right to make the official throw kake-nage, and Hakuho was never in any danger here. As the two fell over as part of their nage-no-uchi-ai, Hakuho could have easily tapped his right elbow down first if he wanna, and we may see that later on in the basho if/when he chooses to throw a bout, but it was an easy peasy start for the Yokozuna.

I was glad to see the crowd give Hakuho the biggest applause of the day, and they should considering his true rank and all that he's done for sumo. The second biggest applause on the day was from Ura, and that just goes to show how easily the fans are manipulated by hype in the media.

Today was quite the vanilla start for sumo with the rookie and Ura and the rikishi ranked high on the banzuke all winning, so we'll just have to wait and see what shake-ups are on the horizon.