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Aki Basho Day 13 Comments
Last night a few hours before the Day 13 bouts would begin, I saw on X (formerly Twitter) that Shohei Otani hit three home runs against Miami to become the first ever player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs in a season and steal 50 bases. At that point, very little that happened atop the dohyo on Day 13 would mean anything to 99% of the Japanese population, and sumo would be completely drowned out on the evening sports shows. Even in sumo's prime, it would be drowned out for a day by Otani's phenomenal accomplishment, but there is such a stark contrast between the greatness of Otani and the sheer mediocrity of Japan's sumo wrestlers.

This basho, Onosato is being passed off on the fans as the next great rikishi, but is he really? What does anyone see in him to tout him as the next great rikishi? If your focus is solely the results on paper, then yes, Onosato is a great rikishi, but when you watch him perform in the ring, what is it about his sumo that makes him great? What is his signature move or style? Is he a yotsu guy? Or is he an oshi guy, and what specific bouts can you point to in order to back up your claim?

I think one of the best measuring sticks of whether or not a rikishi is great is "are his peers afraid to fight him?" How do guys feel when they're matched up against Terunofuji, for example, in a bout they know is straight up? In Onosato's case, nobody is afraid to fight him, and I don't mean to be picking solely on Onosato here, but he's the perfect example of how the Sumo Association and the powerful stables are trying to manufacture these superstars who really when you get down to it have very little describable substance to their sumo.

It's such a contrast to Shohei Otani who has pure, measurable greatness that the trajectory of sumo's popularity can only go in one direction from here, and that's down. We saw rock bottom just over a decade ago when Hakuho was kicking everyone's ass and Japan was mired in an 0-60 yusho streak, and while the Association was able to right the ship around 2014 by selling it's soul to the yaocho devil, it just feels as if the sport has peaked and cannot sustain it's previous momentum...even when Onosato is eventually crowned as the next Yokozuna.

This pic was taken just prior to the Onosato - Kotozakura today, and it's been a while since I've seen Day 13 in Tokyo with this many gaps:



On paper, you'd think that sumo has so much going for it with this dude on the cusp of taking his second yusho this year and being promoted to the Ozeki rank, but I don't see the excitement in the crowd nor do I feel it after the big bouts.

With that, let's get to Day 13 focusing on the leaderboard as follows:

11-1: Onosato
10-2: Kirishima, Takayasu
9-3: Wakatakakage, Nishikigi

First up on the leaderboard was M7 Wakatakakage who was paired against M9 Ohshoma, and Ohshoma kept his hands wide and head ducked noticeably low at the tachi-ai without doing anything else, and so with Ohshoma begging Wakatakakage to do him now, Wakatakakage did with a phantom swipe down and a light tap at the back of the shoulder. Ohshoma was waiting for any sort of contact before putting his palms and right knee to the dirt just like that.

You go from a great, straight-up bout from Wakatakakage yesterday to this pile of crap that was obviously fixed today. Wakatakakage moves to 10-3 with the gift while Ohshoma (8-5) had room to sell having already obtained kachi-koshi, and you don't want a bout like this to make the nightly highlight reel. Thank the gods for Otani.

The good news is after the previous bout, it couldn't get uglier (or could it?), and so we next move to M13 Nishikigi who looked to do battle with Komusubi Hiradoumi. Unfortunately a battle would not ensue as Hiradoumi looked poised to get the right arm inside and left outer grip near the front of Nishikigi's mawashi, but he sorta stood still a second in and allowed Nishikigi to back up a step and go for a mediocre pull. Normally, when a guy goes for a pull like that, the victim will try and square back up and take advantage of his opponent's backwards momentum, but in this bout, Hiradoumi just continued to face straight forward as he flopped to the dohyo looking for a soft landing. What a disappointing display in this arranged bout as Nishikigi does little to move to 10-3 while Hiradoumi sold this one in falling to 6-7.

The very next bout featured M15 Takayasu vs. Komusubi Daieisho, and Takayasu gave it his best shot catching Daieisho from the tachi-ai with two hands to the throat, but you could see that Takayasu didn't have sufficient drive from his lower body, so while Daieisho was looking briefly up at the rafters, he wasn't moved backwards even a centimeter. The Komusubi stayed calm after losing the tachi-ai and easily recovered by waxing upwards into Takayasu's outstretched arms, and that created the opening that Daieisho needed to start firing shoves squarely into Takayasu's chest, and it was Daieisho who had the lower body moving, and so he scored the nice comeback win by shoving Takayasu back once, twice, three times a lady. The loss sent Takayasu to 10-3 and two behind the leader pending the outcome of the Onosato bout. As for Daieisho, this had to have felt good as he picks up kachi-koshi at 8-5.

The penultimate bout of the day featured Ozeki Hoshoryu vs. Sekiwake Kirishima, and the two failed to go chest to chest initially as Kirishima shaded to his right which is a move dudes use to grab the cheap outer grip, and Kirishima's right hand was nearly on the belt, but instead of grabbing the wide open belt, he brought that hand up high, which signaled his intentions. As for Hoshoryu, after the slight henka, he pulled his foe in his direction by the left arm before the two finally went chest to chest in hidari-yotsu where Kirishima noticeably stood straight upright so Hoshoryu could grab the easy right outer grip. I mean, from the start, Kirishima was doing nothing to win the bout out right, and he was leaving himself so vulnerable, and once Hoshoryu got that outer grip, he used his right leg to trip Kirishima at the back of his left, and Kirishima played along by kicking his own right leg high up in the air as he fell backwards to the dohyo. He was able to do that because Hoshoryu was breaking his fall by not letting go of his foe with both hands until he was almost to the dirt.

Like Venus and Serena Williams when they'd face each other in the finals of a WTA major, we never get a full-on match between two Mongolians, and that was the case today. I knew the bout would be fixed; I just didn't know in whose favor, and it looks everyone thought it best that Kirishima take himself further away from the yusho, and he did just that by dropping to 10-3. As for Hoshoryu, he came into the day at 6-6, and so propelling him to 7-6 here means he can let up for Onosato tomorrow and still kachi-koshi on Sunday if that's the route he chooses.

The final bout of the day featured the two most hyped rikishi entering the tournament in Kotozakura and Suckiwake Onosato, and as is usually the case, Onosato left himself exposed at the tachi-ai allowing Kotozakura to get the right arm inside and obtain the easy left outer grip. Despite having the advantageous position, Kotozakura didn't bother to force his foe back even a step, so they stood there for a few seconds before Kotozakura attempted a left uwate-dashi-nage that had little mustard behind it. Onosato survived the move rather easily, and as the two squared back up, Kotozakura still had the left outer and right arm inside, but he abandoned that position and put both hands high at the back of Onosato's head as if to pull. Instead of actually executing a pull, however, Kotozakura retreated backwards along the Tawara, and he sorta went for a right scoop throw, but he did it while retreating, and all Onosato had was his left arm up high along the back of Kotozakura's neck, but the Suckiwake had no leverage whatsoever to apply force into his opponent. The end result was Kotozakura's stepping his left foot out of the ring, but at the instant he did that, Onosato's entire body including his feet had broken the plane of the Tawara...he just hadn't touched down yet.

The ref pointed in favor of Kotozakura presumably because he dictated everything here, and by the time Kotozakura stepped out, Onosato was beyond the straw, but they called a mono-ii and went to the tape, and after watching the replays, the decision was going to be purely subjective. Yes, Kotozakura stepped out first but Onosato's body was dead as they say. The ended up ruling a tie, which I thought was the correct call, so we would get to enjoy this mess once more.

Before we get to the rematch, Kotozakura was either trying to throw the bout in Onosato's favor here, or he was completely hapless in his sumo. Regardless of your opinion, Onosato didn't even come close to making Zak pay for his mistakes intentional or not, and I think that was the big takeaway from Round 1: Onosato's inability to do anything.

In the rematch, Kotozakura was either gassed or he made sure to throw the bout this time without making it look close because he just stood upright completely leaving his insides exposed, and so Onosato got the shallow right inside grip and forced Kotozakura back and across with no argument. If you watch the slow motion replays of the tachi-ai, both dudes were coming in upright, and no one made a meaningful impact, but as soon as Onosato had the right inside position, it looked to me that the two moved in tandem because Kotozakura was definitely not applying any counter force, and he just walked backwards and out staying completely upright.

So...take your pic...Kotozakura was either gassed or he made sure to throw the bout properly this time.

What really matters to me is how sound was the sumo. I mean, let's look at the positives for both dudes in both matches. In the case of Kotozakura (7-6), he won the tachi-ai in the first bout but then made a series of mistakes from there. It was positive that he took charge, however, regardless of the result.

As for Onosato, his pose there at right at the end of Round II was correct for a dude who just scored a linear win. The only problem was there was no noticeable sumo in between Point A (the starting to lines) and Point B (the dohyo's edge) that warranted Kotozakura's swift retreat.

In my opinion, it was in the cards that Kotozakura let Onosato win today, and I had to laugh at Asashoryu who tweeted after Round 1: "What were the judges looking at? That was a Kotozakura win!" Good ole Uncle Asa. We still miss him.

The ultimate result of the day's final bout was a positive for the fans as everyone wanted Onosato to win here, so not only does he clinch the Ozeki rank starting next basho, but at 12-1 he's got a stranglehold on the yusho race moving two wins ahead of the next tier as follows:

12-1: Onosato
10-3: Kirishima, Wakatakakage, Nishikigi, Takayasu

As we look ahead to tomorrow, Onosato draws Hoshoryu, and that will be a purely "will he or won't he" decision for Hoshoryu. I know the Association prefers to have the yusho determined on senshuraku, so a straight-up bout here would not surprise me. Hoshoryu would also clinch kachi-koshi with a win, and then there will probably be a month's salary of kensho money on the line. I'm leaning towards Hoshoryu's choosing to win.

If sumo was a purely organic sport, Terunofuji would have taken the yusho last basho at 15-0. The Association had him throw three of his last five bouts just to keep it interesting, so I'm leaning towards the Association's wanting this basho to be undecided until the final curtain comes down.

In other bouts involving the leaders, Kirishima gets Takayasu, and that is also a bout where Kirishima has a 100% chance of winning if he tries. Wakatakakage is the underdog to Daieisho, and Nishikigi is favored against Ohho.

In other bouts of interest on the day, M5 Ura faced M1 Tobizaru, and you could tell from the way Tobizaru stood straight up at the tachi-ai that he wasn't trying to win. Problem was that Ura was not full steam ahead and so this was an awkward bout that went nearly 30 seconds with both dudes largely in the grappling position while Tobizaru would duck his head low and wait for the slap down from time to time. Ura finally got the timing right, and Tobizaru played along giving the crowd something to pretend to be excited about with another Ura win! Dude moves now to 9-4, and I suppose a special prize is a headline that they could try and tout for Ura over the last few days. Would they actually consider giving him a Ginosho?? As for Tobizaru, he falls to 4-9, and he already came into the day with make-koshi, so why not give the fans what they want. Very predictable.

There's still a bit to play for here, but Day 13 was a day where none of the leaders displayed solid, impressive sumo. I'd say the day peaked at Daieisho's comeback performance against Takayasu and then went downhill from there.

As soon as the broadcast was over, the announcement went over the wires at 6 PM on the dot that former Ozeki Takakeisho was officially retiring and would assume the name Minatogawa-oyakata. This move was for the better as Takakeisho had been a liability for the Association the last year. You may remember at last year's Aki Basho they dragged this dude across the yusho line with an 11-4 record, but it was just getting ridiculous and obvious that bouts were being thrown in his favor, and it wasn't worth the money anymore that it took to keep him ranked at Ozeki.

Aki Basho Day 12 Comments
A Ukrainian rikishi, Shishi ranked at J2 this basho, made his debut appearance in Makuuchi today fighting M15 Takarafuji, and I've actually seen blurbs on Shishi over the last few years, especially with the onset of the Ukrainian invasion by Russia two years ago. Standing at 193 cm and weighing in at 171 kg, to say that Shishi has the ideal sumo body is an understatement, and when he stepped into the dohyo today to face Takarafuji, I noticed that the dude doesn't have a ton of fat on him, so my first impression was that he could really hurt Takarafuji if he wanted to.

He of course didn't and the two engaged in one of the softest tachi-ai you could ask for, and then Shishi dutifully put his hands forward in a defensive posture as if to defer to his elder. The problem was that Takarafuji could see no way to effectively attack his opponent, so the two danced around and around the ring in a soft grappling position really not doing anything for like 15 seconds. At one point near the end of the bout, Takarafuji backed up but missed on a bad pull, and Shishi could have sent him halfway up the East hana-michi from which Takarafuji entered the arena, but Shishi never did once mount an offensive attack.

It was obvious that Shishi was mukiryoku and throwing the bout, but he was so big that Takarafuji couldn't find an opening. Finally, Takarafuji realized that he was the one that needed to make a move, and so he meekly got in close sorta in the hidari-yotsu position, and once again, Shishi could have used his left arm inside to scoop Takarafuji off the dohyo or run him out the other side or whatever, but he dutifully ducked low and waited for some contact from Takarafuji that came in the form of a light tap to the side of his belt, and Shishi just stumbled off balance and waited for Takarafuji to force him across. Because Shishi was so mukiryoku and applying zero pressure, Takarafuji plopped forward and down on top of Shishi across the edge because there was zero resistance coming back at him.

Anyway, this was an obvious yaocho with Shishi signaling that he was not going to upset the applecart and show up the veteran, and I couldn't help but notice how well-groomed Shishi has been over the years regarding how the system works. You get these kids from countries where they can make in two months--or one basho--from the Juryo division as much as they'd make all year if they were a really good IT person (I know what we pay our IT contractors in Ukraine).

Then you have the safety and the cleanliness and the chicks in Japan, and there is no reason for these guys to do anything stupid that would get them removed from sumo and booted back to their less-advanced countries. And I don't blame guys like Shishi or Tamawashi or Kirishima a bit; I'd do the same if I was in their situation, but it's worth pointing out that these foreigners are holding back heavily so as to maintain the current "wa" in Japanese sumo where the perception is that Japanese rikishi are strong, and Japanese rikishi take the yusho nearly half the time.

I could spend another five minutes on how Asashoryu was hated because his attitude was "eff the wa," but we've already beaten that dead horse, so let's turn our attention to the Day 12 bouts.

At this stage of any tournament, the talk is of course the yusho race, and this is where we stood at the start of the day:

11-0: Onosato
9-2: Kirishima, Nishikigi, Takayasu

Onosato has proven so far that he cannot carry a basho by himself, and what I mean by that is yes, it looks as if he's having a great tournament on paper, but when you analyze his sumo in the ring, there is barely any meat on the bone. You have to understand that the majority of people who see sumo bouts only watch them on the nightly news programs, and so if you're focusing on one guy who is supposedly dominating, and then you watch his actual sumo night after night, you'd come away thinking, "Sheesh, how bad are the other guys?"

I mean, my expectation each day in watching Onosato's sumo is "What corner of the dohyo is he going to end up in today?" As a result, it's a dangerous leaderboard to have a guy like that two full bouts ahead with only a few remaining days in the tournament because people want to see an interesting yusho race, and they want good sumo. At least I think that's what they want, but what do I know?

As is usually the case late in a basho, let's cover the leaders first and then other bouts of interests on the day after that.

For once, we got all of the leaders fighting in the second hour of the broadcast, and that's another subject to be dealt with another day...getting the top of the banzuke to actually fight like the top of the banzuke.

We'll start with M13 Nishikigi who was paired against Komusubi Daieisho in what would be four straight bouts with yusho implications. Daieisho caught Nishikigi with some very good tsuppari from the tachi-ai standing Nishikigi upright and keeping him away from the belt. Nishikigi is a load to move, however, and so Daieisho moved to his right going for a quick pull, and while that didn't topple the big fella, it let Nishikigi know that it was in Daieisho's arsenal. Nishikigi seemed hesitant from that point, and so Daieisho resumed a very effective tsuppari attack that kept Nishikigi upright and on his heels enough to where the Komusubi was able to pounce in for the kill shot and score the win.

This was the best sumo I've seen from Daieisho in a very long time, and I consider this win an upset, but it was legit. Daieisho performed phenomenally, and let's hope he can ride this momentum into future basho. He moves to 7-5 here and should get kachi-koshi while Nishikigi falls to 9-3 meaning he needs help to stay on the leaderboard.

The next bout featured M15 Takayasu taking on Komusubi Hiradoumi, and Hiradoumi's charge was average, but he wasn't looking to get to the inside. As for Takayasu, his charge was ineffective, and he put a right paw up high as if to pull less than two seconds in. Hiradoumi overreacted to it and stumbled forward causing the two to nearly trade places, and from there it was both dudes firing away these quick, flat-footed tsuppari that were entirely useless. I mean, the way for Hiradoumi to win this bout was to get to the inside. He coulda done it from the tachi-ai, and he coulda done it instead of playing along with this game of patty cake, but win was not his motive. It was clear that Takayasu was unable to drive Hiradoumi back with his weak thrust attack, and so Hiradoumi backed up himself slapping down at who knows what, and it was just an excuse for him to back up to the edge so Takayasu could rush in for the final oshi-dashi. It wasn't obvious to most I'm sure, but this bout was fixed in Takayasu's favor as he moves to 10-2. As for Hiradoumi, he falls to 6-6, and trust me when I say that he could have gotten to the inside today at will.

Up next was M7 Wakatakakage matched up against Suckiwake Onosato, and Onosato knew this bout was not fixed coming in, and so he came out of the gate hot ramming his body into the smaller WTK but he wasn't really thrusting nor was he really looking to get to the inside. I mean, he did put his hands up towards Wakatakakage's neck from the start, but it wasn't in tandem with footwork you'd see in a normal thrust attack, and so Wakatakakage easily let the action flow against him until he could place his heels against the straw, and once he had the tawara for leverage, he assumed moro-zashi and completely halted Onosato's light momentum.

The bout took a complete turn at that point as Wakatakakage began driving Onosato back using moro-zashi, but he had the entire length of the dohyo to cover, and that allowed Onosato to set up and execute a nice counter tsuki-otoshi attempt with the left. I mean, you watch morning Keiko, and you see that counter move all the time, and so it came naturally from Onosato, and while it did cause Wakatakakage to stumble near the edge, Onosato quite couldn't push him down or back because he wasn't using his legs for momentum. That enabled Wakatakakage to assume moro-zashi again, but with Onosato bearing down on him literally up against the straw, Wakatakakage executed what was essentially an utchari move swinging Onosato over and out from there.

This was a great bout of sumo from Wakatakakage and a great effort from Onosato, but you could see here how Onosato lacks a killer instinct. When you constantly have bouts thrown in your favor, you forget how to finish, and Onosato couldn't finish today. The result is Onosato's falling to 11-1, which breathes a bit of new life into the leaderboard. It's no surprise that the Association encouraged a straight up bout here because now the interest level in the tournament has at least doubled. As for Wakatakakage, he was cool as a cucumber throughout, and it was neat to see the smaller rikishi work his craft here and put himself back in contention at 9-3.

The final bout that involved a leader was Sekiwake Kirishima who drew Kotozakura today, and Kirishima left his arms open and exposed from the tachi-ai, but Kotozakura didn't come close to taking advantage, and so Kirishima moved in getting the right arm inside coupled with the left outer grip near the front of the belt that Kotozakura simply couldn't defend. Kirishima quickly went for the yori-kiri win, but Kotozakura countered nicely with a right scoop throw, but the Sekiwake had plenty of real estate with which to keep his footing, and after using the Tawara for a bit of leverage, he forced the action back near the center of the ring, and then he unleashed quite a spectacular outer belt throw with the left.

When a bout is fixed and a dude wins by uwate-nage, he never uses his inside leg for leverage, but this bout was straight up and Kirishima showed exactly how you get that inside leg up and under your opponent to help send him into orbit. I mean, just beautiful sumo here as Kirishima moves to 10-2 while Kotozakura falls completely off the radar at 7-5.

With this bout in the bag, the new leaderboard heading into Day 13 is as follows:

11-1: Onosato
10-2: Kirishima, Takayasu
9-3: Wakatakakage, Nishikigi

Wakatakakage draws Kotoshoho, and that's a fiddy-fiddy bout straight up.

Nishikigi gets Hiradoumi, and with both dudes preferring to fight at the belt, Nishikigi is the heavy favorite.

Takayasu is paired up against Daieisho, and Daieisho wins if it's straight up.

Kirishima draws Hoshoryu, and that bout likely will be staged. I just don't know whose favor they're going to throw it in.

Finally, Onosato gets Kotozakura in the day's final bout, and that one is fiddy-fiddy and should be fought straight up. I would probably favor Kotozakura by a hair since he's the biggest dude, but it's a very winnable bout for either.

In other bouts of interest, the day concluded with Sekiwake Abi henka'ing to his left against Ozeki Hoshoryu, and it was a really bad henka enabling Hoshoryu to easily put on the brakes, but instead of turning around and looking to square up, the Ozeki just stood there hunched over with his back still pointing to Abi as if to say, "Are you gonna finish me off or what?" Abi took his time wrapping both arms around his gal from behind, and so Hoshoryu finally turned around just fell backwards onto his back spilling the basket of salt in the process. The politics behind this bout are inconsequential as Hoshoryu falls to 6-6 while Abi buys one here at 3-9.

We saw a really good bout between M2 Atamifuji and M2 Ohho. The belt guy, Atamifuji, won the tachi-ai against the push guy, Ohho, and Atamifuji looked to gain control with a left outer grip, but his yori charge wasn't quite fast enough, and Ohho was just able to worm both arms to the inside even though his right arm was largely pinched ineffective, and so at the edge, he moved to his left and used that free arm hooked up and under Atamifuji's right shoulder to kata-sukashi his foe brilliantly across the straw. This was one of the better fought bouts on the day as Ohho picks up kachi-koshi at 8-4 while Atamifuji is on the brink at 5-7.

I like both of these dudes a lot more when they're engaged in straight up sumo like this.

Midway through the broadcast, M5 Ura was matched up against M8 Endoh and after a decent tachi-ai where Endoh got the left arm somewhat inside, he immediately brought that arm up as if to pull and then skirted right dancing along the edge. Of course the pull never came as Endoh was simply setting himself up to be pushed out by Ura, and that's exactly what happened. Onosato's loss today made the yusho race that much more interesting, but that was after this bout, so this was yet another cherry on top to the fans starved for excitement as Ura is gifted kachi-koshi at 8-4 while Endoh lives to fight another day at 7-5.
 

Aki Basho Day 11 Comments
It's kind of killing me not to have access to the NHK full sumo broadcast and NHK news in general. I was able to get such a feel for the storylines the Association wanted the fans to focus on, and I always enjoyed listening to the oyakata analysis during the broadcast, especially when they had to go into heavy spin mode after a fixed bout. There's a certain culture that surrounds sumo created by the Sumo Association's PR department and NHK, and so not having access to that reduces the amount of content for me to analyze. I miss the live shots of the entire arena that I used to get during the NHK broadcast, and I loved the different graphics and charts they'd put together during the broadcast.

I was also able to glean how popular a basho was by how many fans were in the seats and how many cheap-seat tickets were provided to schools across Tokyo to get students to fill the upper decks, but I've lost any insight into that.

I log onto the Sumo Association's website each morning to get results, and there's a big banner there saying that the seats are completely sold out, but I've noticed empty seats in the lower bowl every day of the broadcast. This was the view I got just prior to the Hoshoryu - Ura bout near the end of the day:



It could be that scalpers are snatching up tickets early and then they're not able to resell them, or it could be that people have tickets but aren't bothering to show up. Having a live feed of the whole arena and listening to the crowd reactions is something I miss because it's also an indication of overall excitement towards a particular basho.

There's definitely excitement in the press this basho directed at Onosato, but that excitement hasn't translated to good sumo in the ring, and so you get these dutiful fans who show up wanting to be wowed by the Suckiwake, but then the bout finishes and there's a feel that something isn't quite right. That of course happened again today, so let's get to the bouts that involved the leaders first.

The leaderboard at the start of the day was this:

10-0: Onosato
8-2: Kirishima, Wakatakakage, Nishikigi, Takayasu

First up on that list was M15 Takayasu vs. M8 Endoh, and this was a lopsided bout in favor of the former faux-zeki. Takayasu came with his usual high tsuppari attack, and it looked to me as if Endoh could have easily gotten moro-zashi to the inside, but Endoh kept his hands high and just went with the flow giving Takayasu another cheap, tsuki-dashi win. Trust me, guys with lower bad backs can't win by tsuki-dashi if they're opponent is trying, but Endoh just gave this one to Takayasu for political reasons. Takayasu stays in the hunt...I guess...at 9-2 while Endoh falls to 7-4.

Both M7 Wakatakakage and M13 Nishikigi clashed well at the tachi-ai assuming the migi-yotsu position as they went chest to chest. I'm not sure what Wakatakakage was thinking going to a pure belt contest like this, but there was no way he could win fighting from that position. He knew it too, and so as Nishikigi calmly dug in, Wakatakakage darted right going for a maki-kae with the left hand, and he got it, but he had to jump so far laterally that Nishikigi was able to sneak his own left arm back inside. From there, Wakatakakage ducked low, but he was still in a pickle, and after resting for a few more seconds, Nishikigi felt the slightest momentum shift from his foe and then executed a mammoth kote-nage with the right that twisted Wakatakakage down to the dirt.

This was an extremely well fought bout from both parties. Wakatakakage knew his limitations going in, and Nishikigi knew that he could just make his smaller foe come to him. I loved the chess match here, and I loved seeing Wakatakakage run through all of his options, but he simply couldn't overcome the position he gave up at the tachi-ai.

If only all bouts of sumo were fought straight up like this one as Nishikigi stays alive at 9-2 while Wakatakakage is knocked off the leaderboard at 8-3.

Before we move on, I was checking the wires for pictures after the day, and I came across this gem:



That's called leaving one's opponent in your wake, and Nishikigi did that today like a badass. It's too bad that Onosato can't boast the same kind of finishes.

Next up on the leaderboard was Sekiwake Kirishima paired against fellow Sekiwake Abi, and this was a horrible, fixed bout of sumo that saw Kirishima get up and under Abi's outstretched arms at the tachi-ai, but instead of executing the swift force out, Kirishima relented and pulled Abi over to the side of the dohyo. As Kirishima pressed forward, it was Abi's turn to try and time a pull, and so back we went the other way. With the dust settled, Kirishima touched the back of Abi's belt with the left hand and then tapped him on the head, and Abi just flat out hit the deck due to no force that came from his opponent.

Compared to the previous bout covered, Wakatakakage vs. Nishikigi, well, there simply is no comparison. This bout was illustrative of the basho in general where these high profile matches with yusho implications are creating these bizarre results that look nothing like bouts fought at morning Keiko. Kirishima stays on the leaderboard at 9-2 while Abi falls to 2-9.

M4 Kotoshoho knocked Suckiwake Onosato upright and half a step back from the tachi-ai, and with Onosato's left arm up high, Kotoshoho could have secured the right inside and left outer grip. Instead of taking advantage, however, he quickly went into pull mode and easily pulled Onosato forward and down into the corner of the dohyo, but Kotoshoho slyly stepped his right foot back across the straw well before Onosato hit the deck.

As Onosato fell into a heap in the corner of the dohyo, Kotoshoho turned his body and perfectly dismounted landing on two feet just below the dohyo showing everyone who was in full control of the action and who wasn't.  Here's an example of Onosato not leaving his foe in his wake:

I mean, it's just like a broken record. Onosato loses the tachi-ai; he employs no technique whatsoever to cause his opponent's movements; he falls into a heap at the corner of the dohyo; and he did nothing to warrant his opponent's exit from the dohyo The crowd could not cheer after this bout because it looked to them as if Onosato was beaten. And technically he was. It's just that Kotoshoho made sure to step out quickly before the damage was official.

Getting back to the theme of my intro...these Onosato "wins" are becoming this big paradox in the eyes of the fans because they're just not seeing sumo worthy of a guy who starts out 11-0.

Here's a question for you. In Terunofuji's 10-0 start in Nagoya, how many times did he hit the dohyo despite winning? Now compare that to Onosato who gets dirt on his body seemingly every bout, and usually whoever gets dirt on their body in sumo loses the bout. Did Kotoshoho (5-6) have a speck of dirt on him after this one? No. Because when the bout is fixed, you throw all of the normality out the door.

Let's just say that Onosato who is now 11-0 on paper only did not leave his opponent in his wake after this one as he continues to maintain a two bout lead. As for Kotoshoho, he falls to 5-6, but it was clearly manifest in this bout who the better rikishi was. Go figure.

With the dust settled among the leaders, the new board shapes up as follows heading into Day 12:

11-0: Onosato
9-2: Kirishima, Nishikigi, Takayasu

Onosato is paired against Wakatakakage tomorrow, and the latter can easily get inside of Onosato at the tachi-ai. Whether or not he chooses to do so is the drama surrounding this bout tomorrow.

Kirishima is paired against Kotozakura, and it goes without saying who would be favored in a straight up bout.

Nishikigi draws Daieisho, and Nishikigi is the superior rikishi there. Daieisho's tsuppari attack has lost its luster a bit, and that's mostly due to a confidence issue, so Daieisho cannot bully Nishikigi around against NG's will. I don't see the point of Nishikigi throwing this one, so I expect him to win.

Finally, Takayasu is paired against Hiradoumi, and you can basically copy and paste what I said about the Onosato match. Hiradoumi can laugh his way to the inside if he wants it, so we'll see if he chooses to win.

In other bouts of interest, Ozeki Hoshoryu welcomed M5 Ura and quickly drove him back near the straw with two hands at the tops of Ura's shoulders, but then the Ozeki suddenly stopped and retreated a bit pulling his hands high as if to pull, and you could literally see Hoshoryu pause there in the ring and wait for Ura to mount an oshi charge of his own. Said charge wasn't much, and so Hoshoryu shifted gears by turning his right side inward, and then Ura was able to score the cheap okuri-dashi from there. Well, at least the fans knew who won the bout as soon as it was over unlike the Onosato - Kotoshoho bout that preceded it.

I mean, I said it yesterday, but with the lack of any other story lines than this obviously gifted 11-0 start to Onosato, the Association is starved for highlights, so having the next popular guy in the division behind Onosato beat an Ozeki is a great, manufactured highlight. Hoshoryu willingly bows to 6-5 in defeat while Ura improves to 7-4, and this is not just an effort to get Ura kachi-koshi. They need him to continue winning to add excitement to an otherwise awful tournament.

Finally, Kotozakura gave Komusubi Daieisho his best shot with a lame tsuppari attack, and the Komusubi was able to fend it off easily and turn the tables with thrusts of his own that knocked Kotozakura onto his heels and finally across the straw. Daieisho moves to a cool 6-5 while Kotozakura is officially knocked out of yusho contention.

There's still four long days to go, and Onosato only needs one more win over that span to be promoted to Ozeki, and look at how the Ozeki rank has been cheapened over the years. I'm quite sure the former real Ozeki are watching this are just rolling their eyes. Ranks in sumo and yusho haven't meant much in quite a while now, and it's sad.

Aki Basho Day 10 Comments
I think it's worth reviewing today how easy it is to create a star in sumo if you have the money. If you've ever wondered why some rikishi are built up as stars (think Onosato, Takerufuji, and don't forget about Hakuohho) even though other dudes seem to have more solid sumo skills, the answer is simply money. There are some rich stables out there, and they're the ones who create the stars. The same money that propelled Kisenosato to the Ozeki rank and then the Yokozuna rank, for example, is the same money behind Onosato. When a stable has an entire Ichimon named after it, you know it has clout, and you know it has money, and that's the case with the Nishonoseki-beya.

The next most popular guy in sumo right now behind Onosato is Takerufuji, and where does he come from? The Isegahama-beya, a stable that also is the head of the Ichimon, and a stable run by the former Yokozuna Asahifuji, who was also gifted the sport's top rank. It is not a coincidence that these two dudes, Onosato and Takerufuji, happen to come from some of the most powerful and rich stables in the sport.

Asanoyama? The most popular guy by far before the emergence of Onosato and Takerufuji? He comes from another stable from which the Ichimon takes it's name (Takasago).

A contrast to all of the aforementioned rikishi would be the story of Hakuho and his rise from the Miyagino-beya. The Miyagino-beya was really a nothing stable, and I know firsthand because I frequently visited the stable long before Hakuho came around and got to know the stable master (former Chikubayama) quite well. The stable literally had nothing, but Hakuho had legit skills, and so he was able to create his record-breaking legacy without any money backing him.

Hakuho made so much money during his career that he was actually able to build up a small empire as he took over the Miyagino-beya, but then he was caught up in that scandal where Hokuseiho was abusing and torturing younger rikishi, and it led to the Miyagino-beya being closed for a spell with the rikishi being absorbed into the Isegahama-beya...you know, the stable with the Ichimon named after it that has tons of money and power?

Anyway, you will never see a guy from a nothing stable rise to the Ozeki rank or above unless he has legit skills. Likewise, you will never see a guy manufactured from one of the power stables display legit skills from the Ozeki rank or above. It sucks that it has to be that way, but that's the way it just is.

In the interest of time, let's do a leaderboard report today and keep it short and simple. Speaking of the leaderboard, here is how it looked at the start of Day 9:

9-0: Onosato
8-1: Kirishima
7-2: Wakatakakage, Endoh, Nishikigi, Takayasu

The first leader up on the day was M15 Takayasu, who coincidentally was also fighting M17 Nishikifuji in the first bout of the day. Takayasu's tachi-ai was extremely awkward, and Nishikifuji easily exploited it using a tsuppari attack to work Takayasu back two steps or so. Takayasu tried to defend himself with thrusts of his own, but they were ineffective, and so Nishikifuji was in control early. After about five seconds, Nishikifuji stopped his thrust attack and looked to get inside, but he ended up grabbing Takayasu's left arm before just running sideways out of the dohyo. I mean, Takayasu could barely keep up, and he ended up running clear off the dohyo in an effort to keep up with Nishikifuji's backwards momentum.

Once again, you can tell so much by the ending of a bout where the winner is not in control of his environment. Takayasu was lucky to keep his feet as he went down to the venue floor, and this was anything but an oshi-dashi win (go watch the slow motion replays). Takayasu picks up kachi-koshi at 8-2 while Nishikifuji falls to 4-6.

Up next was M13 Nishikigi taking on M11 Kagayaki, and the two failed to stick at the tachi-ai and go chest to chest because Kagayaki struck and then immediately backed up and moved left around the edge of the ring. He wasn't even trying to set up a pull, and his MO here was to set himself up to be easily pushed out, and that he did as Nishikigi stayed square and effortlessly forced Kagayaki back and across with a right forearm up high. When you only have four bouts with yusho implications on the day, it's best not to throw crap like this out there, but oh well. Kagayaki didn't even try as he falls now to 1-9 while Nishikigi picks up a free kachi-koshi at 8-2.

Up next on the leaderboard were two two-loss dudes fighting in M7 Wakatakakage and M8 Endoh, and this bout was completely scripted as Wakatakakage lightly henka'd to his right and touched his right arm around Endoh's left arm, and Endoh's reaction was to summersault forward exactly as they practice in morning Keiko at the end of the butsukari-geiko exercises. You go visit enough morning Keiko sessions, you've seen that roll a thousand times...literally.

Once again, my comment here is the same as the Nishikigi bout. You only have a few select bouts that are going to make the nightly news show, and this is the sumo content that's on display?? It's a very bad look as Wakatakakage softly moves to 8-2 while Endoh falls to the 7-3 rung.

Hooboy.

I didn't see how these bouts with yusho bound rikishi could get worse, but it got worse. The most anticipated bout of the tournament saw Sekiwake Kirishima taking on Suckiwake Onosato, and from the tachi-ai, Kirishima henka'd to his left easily getting to the side of Onosato. And then he did nothing. Once Onosato put on the brakes and squared back up, Kirishima got the right inside grip and left outer grip on Onosato's belt and then promptly pulled both parties back and outta the dohyo. Kirishima of course stepped out first giving Onosato the cheap win, and once again...focus on the ending. Does a guy who wins a legit bout by yori-kiri end up with one leg straddling the dohyo and the other leg touching the venue floor?

There is nothing to really fault Onosato over regarding this bout other than the fact that he did not determine any thing or any of the flow. Once Kirishima waited for him to square back up after that henka, it was Kirishima who was still in control. Onosato meant well at the tachi-ai, and he kept his balance well once henka'd which is really easy to do when your opponent doesn't try and pull you over. From that point, though, it was all Kirishima doing the work, and that showed by Onosato's awkward fall at the end. He was certainly along for the ride, not the other way around. Judging by the content of Onosato's sumo (if you can find any), you'd be hard pressed to find enough in there to warrant a 10-0 start.

Anyway, Kirishima's decision to throw this bout in favor of Onosato sends Onosato to 10-0 while Kirishima falls down to the 8-2 plane. I'm not sure how desirable it is to already have the leader two bouts ahead with five days to go even if it is Onosato, and this is the leaderboard we ended up with at the end of the day:

10-0: Onosato
8-2: Kirishima, Wakatakakage, Nishikigi, Takayasu

That is not going to attract too many fair-weather fans, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I mean, five dudes left like that is okay at the end of Day 13, but it doesn't look good at all at the end of Day 10.

In other bouts of interest, Ozeki Hoshoryu concluded the day against M4 Kotoshoho, and the Ozeki was cautious at the tachi-ai in an attempt to solve Kotoshoho's early tsuppari. A few seconds in, Hoshoryu pushed up nicely into KSH's right arm, but then the latter responded well with a counter pull to reset the action. Round two was similar in that Hoshoryu patiently waited for an opening, and when it came, he rushed in and scored the oshi-taoshi win. And why not? With that huge brick of kensho available, Hoshoryu (6-4) would be crazy to give it up by losing to a scrub like Kotoshoho (5-5).

Kotozakura was given the run-around at the hands of M6 Gonoyama. After a bland tachi-ai where Gonoyama gave up on the path to the right inside and left outer grip that was wide open, he skirted to the side of Kotozakura and traded places on the dohyo with the faux-zeki, and at this point, Zak's arms were wide open and susceptible to moro-zashi. With Kotozakura vulnerable, Gonoyama pushed his foe upwards and back near the edge, but you could see Gonoyama let up not wanting to slay his opponent outright. Still, Kotozakura was completely lost at this point, and so Gonoyama finally put us out of our misery by retreating back and to his left, and he just walked back across the straw with Kotozakura in tow. What a fake bout this was as Kotozakura is gifted 7-3, and the dude did nothing of consequence in this contest. As for Gonoyama, he knows his place in the sport's hierarchy as he falls to 3-7.

In other bouts of interest from the day, Sekiwake Abi fired tsuppari M5 Ura's way that were slower than an 85 year-old dude out there attempting thrusts. The ploy was obvious in an effort to throw the bout in Ura's favor, and after a few seconds of those weak, downwards thrusts, Ura grabbed Abi's right arm and pulled him down tottari style. It is obvious that with the lack of a leaderboard and any true highlights, they need Ura to do well here as a distraction, and so Abi (2-8) generously threw the bout today in Ura's favor as the smaller M5 moves to 6-4.

There really isn't any other bout worth commenting on. An Onosato loss in the next day or two could put the current three-loss rikishi back into play, but they only consist of Kotozakura, Endoh, and Ohshoma.

There is just not a lot of clout to build on these last five days, and once again, the biggest matchup of the basho was today, Day 10, in the Kirishima-Onosato un-thriller.

Aki Basho Day 9 Comments
Something I hadn't really considered this morning until it occurred to me during a 10K run was the viability of NHK over the next few decades. If you've ever lived in Japan, you learn quickly to always pretend you're not home when the NHK person comes around to collect money. NHK is essentially a tax-payer funded broadcast company where anyone with a television cable running into their domicile connected to a TV is obligated to pay something like 3K yen a month for NHK's services. No one in Japan questions this and everyone dutifully pays, but more and more people are cutting the cable so to speak and relying solely on streaming services.

Just like the newspaper industry in Japan, as the current population (i.e. typical sumo fan) ages and dies, nobody is going to subscribe to newspapers any more or to NHK, and so NHK's funding is going to decrease dramatically if it already hasn't started.

In the United States, ESPN has had to lay off hundreds of workers over the last few years because people stopped subscribing to satellite or cable packages, and the easy money started drying up.

Fortunately for ESPN, there's still a huge demand for the three major sports both professional and collegiate, and so the company is never going to fully dry up, but all the pork they had invested into the network had to be trimmed when the easy "cord" money was suddenly cut off.

As for sumo and Japan, there is no demand for it, and that's been the case for decades now. I remember how crushed I was when they cancelled the nightly show, Sumo Digest, which was produced by TV Asahi, a private television network in Japan. I couldn't comprehend why people wouldn't tune into Sumo Digest, but I was simply in my own little bubble where sumo seemed untouchable. When Sumo Digest stopped turning a profit, TV Asahi cancelled it, and nothing has taken its place because there isn't a demand for it.

So...in the coming years when the subscriptions to NHK start drying up fast, what will become of sumo? I wish I had the real numbers, but I know that NHK pays a ton of money for broadcast rights to sumo. Not only do you have the broadcast rights, but there's also the manpower cost, especially for the three basho outside of Tokyo, and then there are other costs like the Sumo Association charging NHK for bouts replayed from previous basho. These are not expenses that NHK is happy to pay; it's simply part of the whole system of government working with NHK; NHK feeling obligated to cover sumo; and Sumo feeling as if it's important because it's the legacy national sport...the legacy national sport that none of the private TV networks want anything to do with.

This isn't going to be a short term concern, but it wouldn't surprise me to see major changes coming in the next 15 years or so. The current model of cable subscriptions offsetting the cost to pay for a sport that generates low numbers cannot be sustained, and so at some point, the NHK money that is earmarked for sumo is going to have to be drastically cut.

Once again, this is not a short-term problem for sumo, but it's something that's coming within the next two decades.

I won't do a leaderboard report yet because it'd be just a few bouts, so let's cover everything from Day 9.

We begin with M16 Shirokuma taking on M13 Nishikigi, and the latter dominated here demanding the left inside from the tachi-ai and then forcing the rookie to go chest to chest, which lifted Shirokuma up high. From there, Nishikigi grabbed a right outer grip and forced the rookie back and across in three seconds.

Coming off of Onosato's awkward win against Mitakeumi yesterday, this bout is a great comparison to analyze how someone in complete control moves and then how they finish. The dude who got his ass kicked is the one fumbling around beneath the dohyo, not the due who won. Nishikigi was cool as a cucumber having easily kept his footing atop the dohyo in moving to 7-2 with the perfect win while Shirokuma falls to 2-7.

M13 Hokutofuji and M15 Takayasu hooked up in hidari-yotsu, but you could see that Takayasu didn't have the ability to apply pressure. As for Hokutofuji, he had the wide open path to a right outer grip (pictured at right), but he of course didn't take it. With Takayasu unable to apply pressure, Hokutofuji slowly forced him back and then pressed that right hand into Takayasu's left side, and Hokutofuji could have easily toppled him with a tsuki-otoshi at that point, but you could see him obviously let up and then just stand there waiting for Takayasu to compose himself and set up a weaker than weak pull which amounted to Takayasu's putting his hands on Hokutofuji's back. Hokutofuji did the rest by darting forward and across the straw giving Takayasu the cheap, improbable win considering his condition. Hokutofuji (7-3) dominated this one but allowed Takayasu to move to 7-2 and stay on the leaderboard.

The tachi-ai between M12 Bushozan and M17 Nishikifuji was not spectacular with each dude attempting to feel the other one out instead of wielding a beating stick from the get-go. About two seconds into this, Nishikifuji went for a quick pull as he shaded left, and when it didn't have an effect on Bushozan, the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu where they never did get settled in before Nishikifuji went for an even quicker pull that showed Bushozan the trap door as they say. Nishikifuji won this one by kata-sukashi as both dudes finish at 4-5.

M11 Kagayaki kept his hands wide at the tachi-ai against M16 Kitanowaka even though the right inside position and left outer grip were wide open for him (as seen at left), but Kagayaki seemed just fine to let Kitanowaka dictate the pace of the bout that settled into hidari-yotsu. From that point, Kagayaki had the better positioning, and his right hand was poised the entire bout to grab an outer grip, but instead of actually grabbing it, he kept his fingers wide and that hand completely out of harm's way again. I mean, at worst go for a tsuki-otoshi into Kitanowaka's side, but Kagayaki just dawdled around and played along even trading places in the dohyo with Kitanowaka so Kagayaki's own back was against the edge, and even then it took Kitanowaka some doing to score the force-out because he hadn't set anything up with his own sumo. This was a sleeper bout all the way with Kagayaki (1-8) throwing it in favor of Kitanowaka (3-6).

M11 Sadanoumi appeared to go for a quick pull against M14 Ryuden at the tachi-ai, but Ryuden shook that off with ease and grabbed a left frontal belt grip coupled with the right arm inside. With Ryuden already hunkered down low, there was nothing the Sadamight could do, and Ryuden brilliantly pinched inwards on Sadanoumi's own right arm rendering it useless, and then the force-out charge was swift and decisive. Kagayaki could have done this same exact thing to Kitanowaka in the previous bout, so these two bouts back to back were great examples of fixed sumo vs. real sumo. Textbook stuff from Ryuden that Onosato can only dream about as Ryuden moves to 6-3 while Sadanoumi falls to 5-4.

M10 Roga reached for and got a firm frontal belt grip on M14 Onokatsu's mawashi, and as the two jockeyed for position from there, the bout ended up in hidari-yotsu with Roga enjoying a firm right outer grip thanks to his setting up the position with that initial mae-mitsu (frontal belt grip). Just like the previous bout, Roga reeled his gal in close, used his right leg to the outside of Onokatsu's left to keep him pinned in, and then Roga executed another textbook yori-kiri in as many bouts. This is how real sumo is supposed to look, and Roga dominated here in moving to 5-4. As for Onokatsu, the rookie falls to 3-6 and was simply outmatched.

It is worth mentioning again that you never see such precisely executed yotsu-zumo from Onosato...or Kotozakura...or Takerufuji.

In a scripted bout, M12 Kinbohzan henka'd to his left and barely tapped M10 Tamawashi on the noggin, and Tamawashi's reaction was to stop, drop, and roll over to the edge of the dohyo. That henka was so bad that there's no way a rikishi trying to win wouldn't have at least put on the brakes and tried to square back up, but this was as scripted as it gets. Upon being henka'd, Tamawashi went into as light of a fall and roll as you'll ever see gifting the bout to the Kazakhstani. Kinbohzan oils his way to 4-5 here while Tamawashi doesn't care in falling to 3-6.

M9 Ohshoma used a very methodic tsuppari attack against M15 Takarafuji to keep the latter at bay, but Ohshoma was not driving with the lower body, and so his thrusts were soft and allowed Takarafuji to continually move left around the edge of the dohyo. After about eight seconds of this, Ohshoma went for the kill but didn't quite connect squarely into Takarafuji's torso, and so the veteran Fuji was able to briefly lock his left arm around Ohshoma's right and swing him to the dirt as Takarafuji himself crumpled down. The ref ruled in favor of Ohshoma as he instigated the action, but replays showed that Ohshoma's left elbow touched down first, so they rightly reversed the call. While I obviously have no rooting interest in this bout, I'm glad that Ohshoma was defeated because of his timid attack the entire way. Use that lower body, son, and trust yourself. Because he didn't, he now finds himself at 6-3 while Takarafuji moves to 5-4.

M7 Wakatakakage caught M8 Midorifuji perfectly with two hands to the neck, and that set up the path to the inside where Wakatakakage rushed in for the right inside position, but Midorifuji was slippery enough that WTK couldn't latch onto a left outer grip. Early on, Wakatakakage actually had an open kata-sukashi that he failed to see, and so the two dug in for around a minute with Wakatakakage trying to finagle a left outer grip and Midorifuji forced to hunker down and play defense. Finally, the stalemate was broken as Midorifuji looked to quickly grab a right outer to presumably use to dashi-nage WTK around and out, but the move wasn't quick enough, and Wakatakakage was finally able to make him pay as he scored the force-out win. There wasn't a lot of tactics employed here, but it was a great bout of o-zumo between two smaller combatants. Wakatakakage ultimately won this at the tachi-ai in moving to 7-2 while Midorifuji falls to 4-5.

M8 Endoh henka'd to his left against M6 Gonoyama pulling down at the back of Gonoyama's head as he flew by, and there was no hope of recovery for Gonoyama who crumpled into a heap across the straw. This was all out dirty pool as Endoh moves to 7-2 with the cheap win while Gonoyama falls to 3-6.

M6 Meisei and M9 Ichiyamamoto traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai with neither gaining ground until Meisei tugged at IYM's extended right arm pulling him off balance a bit. As IYM squared back up, Meisei connected on some effective shoves to the neck and jaw area, so when IYM tried to duck back into the bout, Meisei pulled him down for good. This was simply a savvy veteran taking advantage of a foe who didn't fully trust his size advantage and tsuppari attack. Meisei moves to just 2-7 with the win while Ichiyamamoto falls to 3-6.

M4 Kotoshoho won the tachi-ai against M7 Churanoumi catching him with two hands to the neck, but he stopped his charge at that point and pretended to go into pull mode. That let Churanoumi right back into the bout, and as Churanoumi began some thrusting of his own, Kotoshoho slowly but surely backed up pretending to pull, and Churanoumi was able to stay square and easily push KSH back and across with little argument. Kotoshoho gave this one away intentionally in falling to 5-4 while Churanoumi moves to a cheap 6-3.

M2 Ohho came with an ottsuke to M3 Mitakeumi's right side from the tachi-ai that moved Mitakeumi back a step or two, but when Mitakeumi put on the brakes, the two squared up in hidari-yotsu, and the chest to chest battle was on. Ohho had the right outer grip, but yotsu-zumo is not his thing, and you could see that he was timid in his attack. I mean, the textbook way to force someone back is to raise them up, use the leg on your uwate side to pin in your opponent, and then carefully wrench them over and out. Today, Ohho only attempted to use his frontal body in the force out, and so a veteran like Mitakeumi is going to exploit that easily, and he did by skirting right at the last instant and pushing into Ohho's right side with the perfectly executed counter tsuki-otoshi.

This one was close as Mitakeumi had to give up his body to execute the move, but he was successful in scoring a very nice win for the dude, and I was happy to see him get it in moving to just 3-6. As for Ohho, the bloom is fading from his rose a bit more now at 5-4.

Before we move on, Ohho beat Kotozakura straight up; Mitakeumi beat Ohho straight up; so who's at the bottom of that food chain?

M1 Takanosho focused on a tsuppari attack against M1 Tobizaru that moved the Flying Monkey back, but Tobizaru wisely grabbed at Takanosho's extended arms in an effort to pull him off balance. On the second pull attempt, Tobizaru had Takanosho bending over near the edge, and Tobizaru was clearly in his foe's head at that point. After squaring up and trading a few more tsuppari, Takanosho looked tired and upright, and that's when Tobizaru moved in for the oshi-dashi kill moving to 3-6 in the process. As for Takanosho, he falls to 2-7, and all of the favors he got last basho in that fake jun-yusho run are now being called in this basho no doubt about it.

Instead of bringing a solid tsuppari attack at the tachi-ai, Komusubi Daieisho put two palms against M2 Atamifuji's chest, but he wasn't looking to push forward. And that was manifest a second later when Daieisho began going for soft pulls as he skirted the edge of the dohyo, and once he made it to the other side, he just stood there and waited for Atamifuji to push him across that last step. If you watch the slow motion replays, there's nothing coming from Atamifuji to warrant Daieisho's retreat around the dohyo, and this was simply a fixed bout in favor of Atamifuji who cheaply moves to 4-5 while Daieisho falls to 5-4.

M3 Wakamotoharu's arms were wide at the tachi-ai providing Suckiwake Onosato the easy target to connect on a very nice right choke hold with another good left shove to the chest to knock WMH back a full step. The problem was that the two were now socially distanced, and Onosato did not have the footwork going to continue a linear charge after the tachi-ai, and so Wakamotoharu was able to move left and actually grab a hold of Onosato's left arm and start to pull him out of the dohyo. As he did, he instinctively positioned his right hand at the back of Onosato's belt, but instead of taking it and dumping Onosato off the dohyo altogether, he just went with the flow and agreed to step down to the venue floor first as Onosato crumpled out and down the side of the dohyo...yet again.

At the edge, there was this long pause with the two guys sorta standing there, and that was Wakamotoharu quickly processing, "Okay, I gotta quit this counter uwate-dashi-nage move and step out because this guy's going down if I don't."

Low IQ people will see that is a dominating win, but where did Onosato dominate? He won the tachi-ai because Wakamotoharu just kept his arms out wide. Onosato wasn't able to win in linear fashion because he wasn't applying any force into his opponent after the initial shoves. And how do you dominate a bout and end up on the venue floor beneath the dohyo? Wakamotoharu completely controlled everything at the edge and could have easily countered and dumped Onosato into the first row. I mean, this is the story of Onosato's career:  his opponents doing all the work and making him look like a star. There is not a lot of substance to Onosato's sumo, and it shows day after day, but there he is at 9-0 leading the shooting match. As for Wakamotoharu, he falls to 5-4 and was in complete control in this bout.

Up next was Sekiwake Abi doing battle with M4 Shodai, and Abi was in control early with his tsuppari attack that kept Shodai up high, but you could see that Abi wasn't using the lower body, and so that allowed Shodai to advance forward a bit. After about three seconds of light action, Abi began to move forward again, and when Shodai touched him on the left elbow, Abi belly flopped to the dirt as if he was pulled down or forced down. A big as-if. Shodai was so clueless, he tripped over Abi laying there on the floor and spun down himself, and that was an indication that Shodai had no say in this bout whatsoever. Just like the previous bout, you can learn so much from an ending if you just think about it logically. If Shodai did something to beat Abi, why did Shodai trip over backwards like that? It was such an unorthodox ending, but that's what you get in fixed sumo.

I don't know the politics behind this bout, but Abi (2-7) clearly dived to the dohyo due to nothing that came from Shodai, who backs his way into a 5-4 record.

Sekiwake Kirishima got the left arm inside against a defenseless M5 Shonannoumi, and he secured the right frontal belt grip just as easy a second later. From there, Kirishima took two seconds to compose himself, and then he executed the perfect force-out charge changing direction ever so slightly just to keep his foe guessing and off balance. I mean, Shonannoumi had no say in this bout whatsoever as his make-koshi becomes official at 1-8. As for Kirishima (8-1), he still controls his own destiny. Well, his stable master still controls his prodigy's destiny.

Ozeki Hoshoryu put two hands into Komusubi Hiradoumi's neck at the tachi-ai and then quickly grabbed and tugged at Hiradoumi's extended left arm as Hoshoryu circled right. After trading places in the dohyo, Hoshoryu rushed back in using a few shoves to secure the right inside position, and as Hiradoumi looked to evade to his own right, Hoshoryu pinned him against the edge and threw him over in style with a nifty scoop throw. Hiradoumi hopped on his right foot a bit trying to survive, but that only allowed Hoshoryu to exert more pressure as he flipped Hiradoumi over square onto his back. Very few rikishi can and do execute that throw, and Hoshoryu is one of them as both guys finish the day at 5-4.

In the day's final bout, Kotozakura was completely exposed as a fraud today by M5 Ura of all rikishi. Kotozakura is always defenseless at the tachi-ai, and so Ura moved forward, established the lower position, and then began methodically pushing Kotozakura upright and back. I mean, Kotozakura couldn't even move laterally, and Ura actually beat him in wham bam thank you ma'am fashion. Wow, an Ozeki should be forced to retire if you get beaten in linear fashion by Ura, and that's exactly what happened here.

I'll tell you exactly what happened. Kotozakura's camp thought that they could beat this dude straight up, and so they didn't pony up any cash. As for Ura, he knew there was a month's salary tucked away in all of those kensho envelopes, so why not kick the faux-zeki's ass and take all that cash in the process? Wow, this one gave me a good laugh to end the day as Ura moves to 5-4 while Kotozakura falls to 6-3.

With Day 9 in the books, the leaderboard is as follows:

9-0: Onosato
8-1: Kirishima
7-2: Wakatakakage, Endoh, Nishikigi, Takayasu

That is a sorry looking leaderboard. Everyone on that two-loss line except for Nishikigi fights small, and nobody knows who Nishikigi is. Wakatakakage draws Endoh tomorrow, so at least one more is coming off of that list.

As for the top two dudes, they are paired together tomorrow as well, and it goes without saying that Kirishima can dissect and destroy Onosato tomorrow if they let him. And that's the big question:  will they? I think you really need Kirishima to win because it would give the leaderboard a badly-needed reshuffle. You can still have Onosato lose tomorrow and easily take the yusho, and there's little doubt at this point that dudes will continue to roll over for him until he secures 12 wins and promotion to Ozeki.

Aki Basho Day 8 Comments
I've been quite surprised all year at the number of fans that have been in attendance, but with this Aki basho, there has been a noticeable rise in empty seats. All of the feeds available to me never show the second tier, and so I'm only basing this on what I can see in the masu-seki seating in he lower bowl. Usually, the weekends are always full, but there was noticeable seat gapping Saturday and today, and it just feels like there's no steam in this sport right now. As I mentioned previously, I've also noticed fewer headlines and pics available on the wires afterwards, so a definite shift seems to be occurring.

The yusho race this basho looks a bit worrying as well. I know everyone's got a stiffie for Onosato, but you always want a little bit more substance to the yusho race. Kirishima is the only hope at this point, but nobody who is a paying fan wants him to win, and so sumo needs to make a choice. Do they want Onosato to run away with this thing? Or do they want to lower the yusho line...yet again in order to create a fake yusho race?

Time will tell, so in the meantime, let's cover all of the Day 8 bouts.

M13 Hokutofuji took on M17 Nishikifuji, and it was Nishikifuji reaching for the early left frontal belt grip, but Hokutofuji was able to push him off the belt and then quickly retreat causing NFJ to stumble forward. Apparently, Nishikifuji thought his only way out was to do a 360, but Hokutofuji was able to trip him up as he came out of the move leading to an unorthodox start to the day. Hokutofuji improves to 6-2 with the win while NFJ falls to 3-5.

M13 Nishikigi looked to get the left arm inside at the tachi-ai against M16 Kitanowaka, but the latter backed out of the chest to chest contest and began moving left latching onto the side of Nishikigi's belt in an attempt to drag him over and down. Nishikigi kept a solid right arm inside, however, to neutralize the move, and so Kitanowaka next put his right arm at the front of NG's belt, and at that point, Nishikigi countered with a lumbering left kote-nage that was good enough to throw Kitanowaka across and down. The difference here was that Nishikigi (6-2) was the attacker while Kitanowaka (2-6) looked to fight from a defensive posture.

Both M12 Bushozan and M14 Onokatsu were defensive at the tachi-ai with Bushozan putting his hands forward as if to shove, but his heart wasn't into it. A second or two later, the rookie moved to his left around the edge of the ring, and as Bushozan advanced, Onokatsu got the left arm inside and secured the right hand at the front of Bushozan's belt, and from there as Onokatsu looked to set up a force-out charge, Bushozan just went limp and literally walked back and across of his own volition.

Around 2011 when they actually canceled a basho due to the big yaocho scandal, the news outlets showed examples of yaocho from the bouts of rikishi who were booted out of sumo, and they looked just like this bout here as Onokatsu buys his way to 3-5 while Bushozan falls to 4-4.

M12 Kinbohzan henka'd to his left against M16 Shirokuma grabbing the cheap left outer and coupling it with the right inside as Shirokuma looked to square up, but the rookie was already too far gone after this ill-gotten performance by Kinbohzan. Shame, shame, everyone knows Kinbohzan's name as he moves to 3-5 while Shirokuma falls to 2-6.

M11 Sadanoumi and M15 Takarafuji hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Sadanoumi tried to grab a right outer grip at the front of Takarafuji's belt, but he was repeatedly denied. From there, it looked as if Sadanoumi was attempting a maki-kae by shifting to his left to the other side of the dohyo, and the result was a sudden nage-no-uchi-ai looking move where Sadanoumi threw with a left scoop throw while Takarafuji tried to do anything with a right outer grip, but Takarafuji was too slow to keep up and was thrown to the dirt before Sadanoumi exited the dohyo. Speed won out here as Sadanoumi moves to 5-3 while Takarafuji falls to 4-4.

M15 Takayasu and M11 Kagayaki looked to hook up in hidari-yotsu, but Kagayaki refused to get his left arm in deep and go chest to chest. With Takayasu nursing a bad lower back, the only thing Kagayaki needed to do was exert some pressure on that back, so when he didn't, you knew he was looking to throw the bout. I mean, Takayasu couldn't apply any force from his end, and the bout slowly drifted so that Takayasu's back was closing in on the edge. At that point, Takayasu put both hands up and under Kagayaki's jaw signaling a pull attempt, but before he could execute it, Kagayaki just flopped to the dirt by himself.  Easy yaocho call here as Takayasu moves to 6-2 bad lower back and all while Kagayaki purposefully flounders at 1-7.

M10 Roga executed a quick hari-zashi tachi-ai against M14 Ryuden slapping with the left hand and attempting to get the right arm inside, but after a few quick shoves from Ryuden, the two ended up in hidari-yotsu where they wanted to move laterally more than go chest to chest, and both were really looking for cheap pulls. After about 10 seconds, Ryuden got the left arm up and under Roga's right shoulder, and he was in the prime position to attack, but he just waited for Roga to make a move, and said move was a rather mediocre right inside dashi-nage type move that was Ryuden's cue to just hop over and across the straw giving Roga the cheap win. Roga evens things up at 4-4 with the gift while Ryuden coulda taken control of this bout at any point but refused to do it in falling to 5-3.

M10 Tamawashi put his hands forward against M7 Wakatakakage, but he was not thrusting or looking to attack. It was clear at that point that Tamawashi was not trying win, but his outstretched arms freaked WTK out enough to where the M7 was having trouble getting to the inside or returning thrust fire of his own. After about 6 seconds of grappling where Wakatakakage wasn't coming close to defeating his opponent, Tamawashi went into pull mode without really pulling, and as Tamawashi backed up and outta the ring, Wakatakakage was able to get a right arm inside and follow in tow. Wakatakakage buys his way to 6-2 while Tamawashi falls to 3-5.

Before we go on...has Wakatakakage's sumo this basho looked worthy of a 6-2 rikishi? There's not a single bout to this point where anyone came away saying, "Wow, he's back." It's all just yaocho fluff as it was today.

M9 Ohshoma came with his hands low against M7 Churanoumi in a light charge, and that's because Ohshoma was looking to pull early. Shortly after contact, he backed up and to his left a bit, and easily pulled an unsuspecting Churanoumi forward and down. This one lasted maybe two seconds as Ohshoma moves to 6-2 while Churanoumi falls to 5-3.

M6 Meisei's tachi-ai was similar to Tamawashi's where he came forward at the initial charge, but he didn't do anything. His opponent, M8 Midorifuji, wasn't really blazing forward himself, and so Meisei stood there like a practice dummy as Midorifuji sorta attempted a few thrusts but was really looking for an opening to pull. It wasn't until Meisei positioned himself in full pull mode himself that Midorifuji was able to get moro-zashi, and of course, the pull from Meisei never came, so as Midorifuji began to force him back, Meisei just turned to the side 90 degrees just to make it easier on his foe. Midorifuji moves to 4-4 with the gift while Meisei gets paid to fall to 1-7.

M9 Ichiyamamoto used some high thrusts into M6 Gonoyama's neck area from the tachi-ai before skirting to his right and going for a quick pull. Gonoyama wasn't watching out for it and was felled in short order leaving both dudes at 3-5.

M8 Endoh henka'd so far to his right against M5 Shonannoumi, I thought he left himself vulnerable, but Shonannoumi was too slow to react, and so by the time the two squared back up, Endoh had the deep left arm inside and was able to force Shonannoumi back and across with little argument. We haven't exactly been treated to hall of fame bouts to this point as Endoh moves to 6-2 while Shonannoumi falls to 1-7.

M2 Atamifuji and M4 Kotoshoho traded tsuppari at the tachi-ai, but both guys were really looking for an opening to pull, and so it was largely a bout with some bark but little bite. A few seconds in, Atamifuji positioned his hands up high as if to set up a pull, and so Kotoshoho made an advance forward, but it was too timid allowing Atamifuji to skirt to his left and fell Kotoshoho clear off of the dohyo with a left kote-nage. Atamifuji's footwork at the Tawara was suspect, however, and replays from the mono-ii showed that Atamifuji touched his foot out before Kotoshoho hit the deck, so it was gunbai to Kotoshoho for the timid oshi-dashi win. Kotoshoho moves to 5-3 while Atamifuji falls to 3-5.

M2 Ohho attempted to charge with an oshi attack against M1 Tobizaru, but it didn't have great effect as Tobizaru wouldn't hold still. That's still not an excuse for Ohho, and you just got the feel that neither of these guys were trying to sink their teeth into the other. After a lot of motion with little effect, Tobizaru began shading left and then after making a turn around a quarter of the dohyo, he ducked way down as if to grab Ohho's right leg and execute an ashi-tori, but instead of doing that, he just flopped to the dohyo. They ruled it hataki-komi, but there certainly wasn't a slap that came from Ohho as he's gifted 5-3 while Tobizaru flounders around at 2-6.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Hiradoumi was paired against M1 Takanosho, and the Komusubi reached for a left frontal belt grip but couldn't quite latch on. Luckily for him, Takanosho was firing thrusts, but he wasn't moving forward as he did so, and so despite Hiradoumi's stumbling around with his feet early, Takanosho wasn't making him pay. When the Komusubi gained his composure again, he darted left going for a wild swipe, and Takanosho was just playing along never taking advantage of Hiradoumi's mistakes, so when Hiradoumi finally squared up with his foe, Takanosho went into pull mode but just used that as an excuse to back himself outta the ring with Hiradoumi in tow. Fake bout here as Hiradoumi is gifted 5-3 while Takanosho falls to 2-6.

Sekiwake Abi was paired against Komusubi Daieisho, and the Sekiwake let his thrusts slip high over the top of Daieisho. Daieisho was looking more to attack laterally, and so he shaded to his left, and you could see Abi pretending to slip and slide with his feet, but Daieisho couldn't take advantage. In the end, Abi turned his side 90 degrees allowing Daieisho to finally move in and force a willing Abi over and across, but Daieisho did absolutely nothing to cause any of Abi's movements or set up that final force out. Daieisho moves to 5-3 with the lackluster win while Abi retreats to 2-6.

Sekiwake Kirishima was cautious at the tachi-ai against M5 Ura for good reason. I mean, Ura isn't going to beat a Mongolian in a straight up attack, so why take chances of running into a henka? Kirishima didn't and the two were social distanced really the entire bout as Kirishima looked to latch onto his opponent while Ura looked to evade. The two traded slaps and attempted pulls as they circled the ring, and after about 15 seconds...with Ura tiring out...Kirishima found his opening and pushed Ura clear into the front row. The Sekiwake showed great sportsmanship by hopping off the dohyo and brushing his foe off, and once he realized his opponent was okay, he hopped back up to the clay to collect his prizes. Kirishima moves to 7-1 with the win, and he really needs to become the anchor is this basho. As for Ura, he quiets down a bit to 4-4.

Suckiwake Onosato was paired against M3 Mitakeumi, and Onosato came at the tachi-ai putting two hands high into Mitakeumi's jaw, but Mitakeumi wasn't really knocked off of his craw, and Mitakeumi actually had the path to moro-zashi, but he didn't attempt to get his right arm inside. The result was both dudes hooking up in hidari-yotsu, and with Onosato seemingly prepping for a force-out charge, he felt the resistance come from Mitakeumi and positioned himself for a pull instead. When he smartly didn't go for a pull, it was Mitakeumi's turn to pretend as if he was going to pull, and that was the momentum shift Onosato needed to go for a desperate and unnecessary do-or-die shove with a wild, lateral shove with the right, and the end result was Mitakeumi's jumping down off the dohyo and running up the hana-michi a few steps in complete control while Onosato sprawled down the side of the dohyo towards the venue floor.

I'm quite surprised at the number of people online who thought this was a great performance from Onosato. This was a very shaky bout of sumo, and Mitakeumi looked mukiryoku to me. The positive from Onosato was that he was faster out of his stance at the tachi-ai as he placed two hands into his opponent, but he did not blow Mitakeumi back even a half step. If you watch their feet at the tachi-ai, Mitakeumi doesn't move back a centimeter after the point of contact. From there, Onosato wasn't confident in his ability, and so he immediately thought pull first instead of let's go chest to chest and let me power this guy back. The only reason Onosato was able to go forward was when Mitakeumi decided to go backwards as if he was going to pull, but the pull never came of course.

I think the real tell here was the ending. What rikishi who is in control or who is dominating his opponent careens down the side of the dohyo at the end? Onosato was either out of control here, or Mitakeumi was so mukiryoku that the resistance wasn't there as Onosato executed that final push...a shove that certainly did not connect squarely into Mitakeumi's torso from the front. In fact, go watch the slow motion replays and count how many times Onosato's hand touches Mitakeumi's chest with the two facing each other chest to chest.

Spoiler alert: it was zero.

This was a farcical bout where Mitakeumi was largely in control and where Onosato was reactionary, and while I didn't cover the Day 7 bouts, Hiradoumi was mukiryoku against Onosato in that one as well.

Regardless of all that, Onosato is gifted an 8-0 start while Mitakeumi falls to 2-6.

Two fake Ozeki met today in Kotozakura...a dude currently ranked Ozeki and M4 Shodai, a dude that never earned his Ozeki rank nor fought like an Ozeki his entire time at the rank. The tachi-ai between the two was fiddy-fiddy, and like the previous bout, Shodai could have gotten moro-zashi against the largely exposed faux-zeki. He didn't grab it, but he did have Kotozakura forced back a full step, and then Shodai suddenly stopped his forward momentum and turned his shoulder in just a bit enabling Kotozakura to sorta patty cake against the shoulder, but there was no force there and so Shodai continued to retreat this way and that, and as Kotozakura came closer, Shodai basically grabbed Kotozakura's extended arm and walked back across.

This was another bout that contained very little force from the overly hyped rikishi, and Shodai did a lot of the work here. But...everyone will chalk it up as a strong performance from the Ozeki when it was anything but. Kotozakura begs his way to 6-2 while Shodai falls to a harmless 4-4.

The final bout of the day featured Ozeki Hoshoryu taking on M3 Wakamotoharu, and Hoshoryu defensively put both hands to the M3's chest at the tachi-ai before the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu. Hoshoryu noticeably wasn't trying to wrench his foe and grab that right outer grip, but he did defend himself from giving away a right outer to Wakamotoharu. After settling in the ring for about five seconds, Hoshoryu pressed the action going for a light kote-nage with the right, and it looked to me that Hoshoryu was leaving himself vulnerable to any pressure that should come form Wakamotoharu, but nothing came, and so Hoshoryu finished off his foe using the right leg up and under Wakamotoharu's left to send the M3 over and down.

You know, a big deal will be made about the Onosato bout, but that subtle move by Hoshoryu is worth a lot of attention. How many rikishi can actually do that? The ones who can do it actually show it from time to time, and you can count them on one hand. Hoshoryu moves to 4-4 with the casual yet impressive win while Wakamotoharu falls to 5-3.

Since I no longer get the traditional NHK feed, I have no idea whether or not they flashed a leaderboard at the end of the day, but this is what it looks like going into Day 9:

8-0: Onosato
7-1: Kirishima
6-2: Kotozakura, Wakatakakage, Endoh, Ohshoma, Hokutofuji, Nishikigi, Takayasu

That two-loss line is useless except for Kotozakura's name being on the board, and the only guys with a chance to yusho at this point are Onosato, Kirishima, and Kotozakura.

I'm pretty sure the Association doesn't want Onosato to run away with this, so we'll see if someone brings him back to the pack over the next few days. It's my opinion that all of his remaining opponents can easily beat him if they actually try, but let's see what happens.

In the meantime, I expected to see less open seats in the arena for the middle Sunday, but both of these weekend days have contained gaps of empty seats all over the arena. Here's the view just prior to the Hoshoryu bout:

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And here's the view of Hoshoryu walking down the hana-michi after the bout:

It doesn't bode well for the future of sumo, and I also think it's a sign that people aren't going gaga over the likes of Onosato and Kotozakura.

We'll see what happens when Takerufuji and Asanoyama are back.  Do you think it's any coincidence that Onosato and Takerufuji are the only rikishi to start out 8-0 in their respective divisions?

Back at it for Day 9.

Aki Basho Day 6 Comments
It's been a very slow basho so far in terms of newsworthy events. The focus is obviously on Onosato and his quest for Ozeki promotion, but tournaments need a little bit more excitement than that. I mean, if we're talking alone about Shohei Otani's quest for a 50-50 year (fiddy home runs and fiddy stolen bases), that alone could carry the baseball headlines, but an Ozeki candidate who has been handed his first five wins is not generating true excitement. Obligatory excitement? Yes, but true excitement? I just don't sense it. Beyond Onosato, it seem the biggest headline was the chief of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council already talking about Terunofuji. Call me Grandpa Simpson who falls asleep on a dime at the first sign of disinterest.

Without spoiling any of the bouts on Day 6, I was scanning the wires afterwards looking for pics to steal..er..uh use, and I was shocked at the dearth of any material available. Normally I have to scroll through three full pages of headlines before I work my way back to the articles published after 6 PM Japan time, but today there was like a half a page of links to headlines and pics. With no access to NHK anymore, I can't tell you what's occupying everyone's interest, but I'm sure it's Shohei Otani here in the states and then the playoff run for baseball teams in Japan. Regardless, sumo's gotta put a better product on the dohyo to prevent this slow exodus of fans.

I know the only reason I'm watching these days to see if this goth chick is there sitting in the suna-kaburi on the East side:

Day 6 began with M14 Ryuden taking on M16 Shirokuma, and the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Ryuden ultimately grabbed a right outer grip. Ryuden didn't go for the force-out charge straightway, however, and actually let the rookie quietly maki-kae with the right. With Shirokuma now in moro-zashi, he attempted to budge Ryuden and then throw him with a left inside belt throw, but Ryuden easily withstood the moved before finally forcing Shirokuma back and across. In my opinion, Ryuden could have finished this bout off in five seconds, but he let it go on for what seemed like 45 seconds for whatever reason. Ryuden improves to 4-2 while Shirokuma falls to 2-4.

M16 Kitanowaka purposefully kept his right arm up high against M14 Onokatsu letting him get the easy left arm to the inside, and that was the first red flag. After the two settled in, Kitanowaka then pretended to go for some right kote-nage throws, but they were half-assed at best. It was clear that Kitanowaka was mukiryoku at this point, but the problem was that Onokatsu hadn't created any momentum and wasn't in the position to do anything. Kitanowaka next tried a slow maki-kae with the right arm, but Onokatsu was too clueless to capitalize on that, and so Kitanowaka took that right arm from the inside back to the outside and then just backed up to the straw. The rookie finally clued in at that point and easily forced Kitanowaka back and across. I mean, Kitanowaka was trying to give this bout away, but Onokatsu couldn't set anything up and so Kitanowaka had to do all the work as both dudes end the day at 2-4.

M17 Nishikifuji fished for migi-yotsu against M13 Nishikigi, but he really didn't want to go chest to chest and smartly so. With Nishikifuji indecisive, Nishikigi began to plow forward, but you could see that Nishikigi wasn't going all out either and trying to latch onto his opponent, and so this awkward finish occurred where Nishikifuji skirted right at the edge going for a desperate pull while Nishikigi just moved straight forward and out of the ring seemingly obliviously to what was going on. Both stepped out nearly at the same time, but Nishikifuji stepped out first in an otherwise ugly, forgettable bout of sumo. I'm not even going to try and speculate what was going on here because I was hoping to see some good sumo. Nishikigi moves to 4-2 with the win while Nishikifuji falls to 2-4.

M12 Bushozan lightly put a right hand into the side of M15 Takayasu at the tachi-ai, but he didn't follow through on anything and then just largely stood there allowing Takayasu to execute a series of pushes. The problem with Takayasu's shoves is that there was zero lower body behind them, so they were largely useless and ineffective. Bushozan did his part by backing up near the edge, but in the end, Takayasu went for a light pull, and Bushozan complied by flopping forward and putting both palms to the dirt. Yaocho giveth in the case of Bushozan who faked his way to a 4-1 record, and yaocho taketh away handing him this loss as both dudes finish at 4-2.

M12 Kinbohzan came with two hands pushing high into M15 Takarafuji, and so the latter scooted to his left grabbing at Kinbohzan's right arm, but Kinbohzan just went with the flow and bodied Takarafuji back and across as Takarafuji retreated to his right. Very bland sumo here, but at least it was real as Kinbohzan moves to 2-4 while Takarafuji falls to 4-2.

In a scripted affair, M13 Hokutofuji slowly henka'd to his left, and M11 Kagayaki's response was to slowly lean forward and downwards allowing Hokutofuji to easily push his opponent onto all fours from there. Kagayaki had plenty of time to react to that slow henka, but the fix was in here unfortunately as Hokutofuji buys his way to 4-2 while Kagayaki willingly falls to 1-5.

In a very similar bout, M10 Tamawashi slowly moved to his left against M9 Ohshoma but didn't try and foil his opponent with a pulldown, and so Ohshoma easily pivoted and put two hands to the back of Tamawashi's head, but before he could pull, Tamawashi just did the work for him and quickly put two palms to the dirt. This didn't even go two seconds as Ohshoma begs his way to 4-2 while Tamawashi doesn't have a care in the world at 2-4.

M8 Endoh grabbed the early frontal belt grip against M11 Sadanoumi who came with his arms out wide at the tachi-ai, and so facing no resistance, Endoh immediately lifted Sadanoumi upright and onto his heels. Sadanoumi briefly faked a left counter kote-nage, but he wasn't trying to win this from the start. Far too easy for Endoh who buys one in moving to 4-2 while Sadanoumi quietly falls to 3-3.

M10 Roga kept his arms low and tight as he bodied his way into M8 Midorifuji from the tachi-ai, and Midorifuji's quick response was to position his hands for a pull and dart left, but Roga easily read the move, got the right arm deep to the inside, and forced Midorifuji back and across without argument. Both fellas finish the day at 3-3.

M9 Ichiyamamoto and M7 Churanoumi traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai, and then a few seconds in Churanoumi connected on an upper push with the right into IYM's side, and that seemed to scare Ichiyamamoto into pull mode, and so the rest of the bout was spent with Ichiyamamoto looking pull and Churanoumi taking advantage eventually scoring the push out win. Churanoumi moves to 4-2 with the win while Ichiyamamoto falls to 2-4.

M6 Gonoyama focused a tsuppari attack towards M5 Ura from the tachi-ai, but Gonoyama had no lower body fueling the attack nor did he bother to force the bout to the chest or belt despite Ura's being very vulnerable. So after five seconds of volleying from both parties where Ura wasn't trying to evade or duck, Ura went for a methodical pull and Gonoyama read it and began his dive down to the dohyo before Ura actually made contact. You can see Ura try and hurry to catch up, but this bout was obviously scripted to keep the fans excited as Ura moves to 4-2 while Gonoyama falls to 2-4.

M6 Meisei looked to get the early left arm inside from the tachi-ai against M5 Shonannoumi, but he withdrew it and began firing away with some shoves. Shonannoumi answered in kind for a few seconds before Meisei next established the inside position with the right arm. With Shonannoumi still not really making progress, Meisei went for a left kote-nage where he literally began falling backwards while pulling Shonannoumi into his own body. Shonannoumi was extremely hapless here, but Meisei gifted him the bout and his first win of the tournament at 1-5. As for Meisei, he also falls to 1-5, and he dictated everything here start to finish.

M4 Kotoshoho didn't exactly pummel M7 Wakatakakage from the start with his thrust attack, but he scored on enough jabs to make WTK play defense, so after about five seconds when Kotoshoho went for a nice pull, he was able to pull Wakatakakage off balance and stumbling near the edge. Just as WTK looked to square back up, Kotoshoho was right there in his craw firing off a few more oshi volleys that sent Wakatakakage back and across. Great stuff here from Kotoshoho who moves to 4-2 while Wakatakakage falls to the same mark.

M1 Takanosho pushed M2 Atamifuji away from an early frontal belt grip attempt at the tachi-ai, and then pushed Atamifuji back a step or two before halting that charge and agreeing to get into the clinch where the two weren't shoving, but they weren't chest to chest either. As the two dudes caught their breath, Atamifuji looked to reach for a left outer grip, and as he did, Takanosho pivoted to the side and pulled Atamifuji down to the clay. This was a pretty uneventful bout altogether as both rikishi finish the day at just 2-4.

The two Komusubi, Daieisho and Hiradoumi, fought for bragging rights today, and this was really a matter of who was going to dictate the pace of the bout...Daieisho with his shoves? Or Hiradoumi with an inside attack? The former prevailed as Daieisho caught Hiradoumi squarely from the tachi-ai with some nice shoves, and as he drove his fellow Komusubi back, all Hiradoumi could do was think about a pull, but that only comprised him further, and so Daieisho finished him off once, twice, three times a lady. This was the best sumo I've seen from Daieisho in a coupla basho as he moves to 3-3 while Hiradoumi is humbled a bit at 4-2.

Suckiwake Onosato drew M4 Shodai today, and Onosato caught Shodai squarely in the chest with a nice shove attack from the tachi-ai, and all Shodai could do was hope to move laterally and score on a surprise pull. Shodai moved left, but Onosato was right there to clean up the mess, and he pulverized Shodai back and across in two seconds or less. It was nice to see Onosato smell blood today and actually win a tachi-ai as he picks up his first legit win of the tournament at 6-0 while Shodai simply got his handed to him in falling to 4-2.

Sekiwake Abi was paired against M3 Wakamotoharu, and Abi purposefully came way too high with his tsuppari attack thrusting towards Wakamotoharu's head and then letting his arm slide up and over the top of his foe. With Abi standing there facing the outside of the dohyo with his arms pointing high, Wakamotoharu slipped to his left and pushed a willing Abi out from behind. Wakamotoharu didn't exactly redefine the term "blazing speed" today, but with Abi just standing there like a statue, not even Wakamotoharu could blow this one. Wakamotoharu is gifted 4-2 here while Abi's been throwing a ton of bouts in falling to 2-4.

Sekiwake Kirishima rushed forward a step against M1 Tobizaru and put his hands way too high in an effort to gift Tobizaru moro-zashi, but the M1 was too hapless to realize it, so after the dust settled, Tobizaru had the right inside position while Kirishima just kept his hips high. Tobizaru still didn't make a move despite Kirishima's giving him chances, and so Kirishima said "to hell with it," got Tobizaru in a left kote-nage hold, and threw him across the straw and down. Kirishima moved to 5-1 after the bad start and nice finish while Tobizaru falls to 2-4.

I was excited to see that Kirishima decided to win because it gave us a glimpse of Goth Chick in attendance today:

Kotozakura drew an easy opponent in M3 Mitakeumi, or so one would think. Kotozakura aligned his feet at the tachi-ai and meekly hopped forward allowing Mitakeumi to get the right arm inside and halt Zak's weak charge. When Kotozakura complied by getting his own right arm inside, Mitakeumi's next goal was to not use his left arm whatsoever. Despite Kotozakura's right side being completely open to an outer grip on that side (see the pic at left), Mitakeumi refused to take it, and then at one point he brought that left arm up high and inside as if to maki-kae, but he stopped halfway just resting his left arm on top of Kotozakura's right forearm in a purely WTF? moment. Well, WTF? if you were viewing this as a straight up bout, which it definitely wasn't. With Mitakeumi literally standing there with his hips as high as he could get them and with that left arm just dangling in no man's land, Kotozakura finally went for a force-out and Mitakeumi just complied by stepping backwards in tow until he crossed the straw. Kotozakura buys another one here in moving to 5-1 while Mitakeumi falls to 1-5.

The day concluded with Ozeki Hoshoryu going for a half-assed hari-zashi tachi-ai where he fished for a face slap while shading a bit right against M2 Ohho. Hoshoryu briefly grabbed the right outer grip but then let go just as fast and pretended to execute a kote-nage with the right vs. an Ohho left scoop throw, but Ohho apparently forgot he was supposed to throw and so Hoshoryu literally just threw himself down to the dohyo and rolled over to the edge while Ohho was still trying to figure out what just happened. I mean, Hoshoryu was in the perfect position to execute the throw using his right leg for leverage, but in an instant he went from the stance to rolling over to the edge without being thrown by his opponent. Good grief, this bout was so obviously fix in Ohho's favor, and Hoshoryu was simply covering for Ohho's legit win over Kotozakura yesterday. Hoshoryu willingly falls to 2-4 after doing all the work while Ohho is even steven at 3-3.

This was a view of the mukou-joumen side directly following the final bout before anyone could get up and leave...well, I mean Hoshoryu did leave early without bowing to Ohho, but you know what I mean:



The highlight of the day for sure was Onosato's dominating win over Shodai, but the dude needs to prove he can do it against rikishi who don't go back to their stable at the end of the day and read assisted living pamphlets delivered in the mail.

I highly doubt I'll cover all of the weekend bouts, but I plan on commenting on any significant movement from both days.

Aki Basho Day 5 Comments
During the most recent US Open tennis tournament, ESPN showed a graphic stating that it had been 79 basho since an American male had won a major. The conclusion of the tournament pushed that number up to 80 or 20 years since an American has won. America currently has decent talent...legit top 20 talent, but they don't have anyone who is top 10 talent in my opinion. The draw this tournament and the early upsets of Alcaraz and Djokovic put two American in the semi-finals, but the talent is still not there to get over the top.

The heyday of American tennis was of course the 80's and 90's, but I think the level of tennis has risen since then, and American tennis has stayed on the same plane. The biggest reason is that tennis is not a glamorous men's sport in America, and when I say that, I mean the chicks in high school aren't chasing the tennis players. I know this because I played tennis in high school. The glamour sports are football, basketball, and baseball in that order, and I don't even know if tennis can be considered more glamorous than high school track and field. The point is that American boys knows this, and the true athletes gravitate to the glamour sports, and then tennis gets the leftovers.

I see similarity of men's tennis to sumo wrestling in how it relates to the Japanese rikishi being stuck in a similar rut. When dudes like Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru came on the scene, sumo was raised to a higher level. Those three were largely stifled because it would take another decade for Japan to accept the fact that Japanese rikishi--even the best Japanese rikishi--were simply inferior to the foreigners. Then, at the turn of the century you had the Mongolians come on the scene, and that brought in an extremely elite level of sumo, and those guys could be compared to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and even Alcaraz belongs in that group in my opinion even though he's young.

When the Mongolians were allowed to fight freely, Japanese rikishi stopped taking the yusho. There was a stretch of 10 straight years where a Japanese rikishi didn't yusho, but the final yusho that began that streak--Tochiazuma in Hatsu 2006--was rigged, and every Japanese yusho since then has been rigged. I think the last Japanese rikishi to legitimately yusho was Kaio around the turn of the century, but Japan has gone through a similar stage of 20 years without a legitimate yusho.

The difference between the American male tennis players and the Japanese rikishi is that the American men have legit top 20 guys. They're not good enough yet to finagle yusho in major tournaments, but if you compare the best Japanese rikishi at the moment (probably Ryuden) to male tennis players, he'd be ranked like 150 in the world.

And yet, Japanese rikishi are taking the yusho at a near 40% clip. You just have to watch the sumo in the ring to realize that the quality of Japanese sumo does not equal yusho 40% of the time, and I think over time, even the most devoted fans are realizing this and slowly losing their passion for the sport.

I know my passion for sumo has been missing for a decade or so, but there's still a story to tell, so let's get to it.

The day began with M15 Takayasu paired against M16 Shirokuma, and the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu where the rookie just turned his hips inward giving Takayasu the easy left outer grip. In the process, Shirokuma actually had moro-zashi, but he quickly brought his right arm to the outside further giving Takayasu the advantage. The final tell that Shirokuma was throwing the bout was his right hand. He could have easily grabbed an outer grip of his own, but he kept it in no man's land (as depicted at right) and just stood there waiting for a throw from Takayasu. It came in the form of a right uwate-nage, and of course Shirokuma did not counter with a left inside throw resulting in a very lopsided throw for Takayasu.

This was the exact belt throw I was talking about yesterday that is one sided, and so the loser just crumples limply to the dirt when in reality, the loser would execute some sort of counter throw and at least put pressure on the attacker. In the pic at left, both of Takayasu's feet are grounded to the dohyo.  In a real bout, Takayasu's right leg and Shirokuma's left leg should be battling each other for position, but Takayasu is flat-footed not mention that Shirokuma is not applying any pressure with his leg or left arm.  The pic at right is taken from the Sumo Association's page, and that's how they depict an uwate-nage...the guy executing the throw puts his inside leg in the air for added momentum.  Takayasu's inside leg is flat-footed.

Regardless of all that, I could see from the tachi-ai that Shirokuma made every move in order to give Takayasu the biggest advantage possible, so the end result was no surprise whatsoever. Also remember how gimpy Takayasu looked yesterday because his opponent was trying to win. Today, where his opponent was completely mukiryoku, you wouldn't know that Takayasu's lower back is bothering him. Takayasu buys the win in moving to 3-2 while Shirokuma graciously falls to 2-3.

M14 Ryuden held up a bit at the tachi-ai against M17 Nishikifuji, who rushed his charge into the hidari-yotsu position, and Ryuden easily took his time fishing for and getting the right outer grip, so despite Nishikifuji's having gained ground at the tachi-ai, once Ryuden got that right outer, he executed the textbook yori-kiri across the entire span of the dohyo. Very tactical sumo today from Ryuden who moves to 3-2 while Nishikifuji falls to 2-3.

M15 Takarafuji and M13 Nishikigi hooked up in hidari-yotsu with neither dude grabbing a right outer grip, and they stood there belly to belly for a few seconds before Nishikigi just backed up to the side pulling Takarafuji into his body as Nishikigi willingly stepped across.

Here's how you know this bout was fixed. The loser who did all the work is standing straight up just across the straw in a very controlled position; whereas, the winner is mounting the straw in the missionary position having been unable to control his balance whatsoever. Who applied the force here? It was Nishikigi by pulling his opponent forward and down but not before he conveniently stepped out giving Takarafuji the cheap win and 3-2 record. Nishikigi willingly falls to that same 3-2 mark.

In a straight up bout, M13 Hokutofuji and M14 Onokatsu both stiff armed each other from the tachi-ai looking for position, and it was the veteran Hokutofuji who placed the better jabs. Hokutofuji had the rookie up high enough to get to the inside, and he threatened with the left arm inside and a right hazu position, and that sent Onokatsu onto his heels enough and thinking counter pull that it allowed Hokutofuji to swoop in and deliver the final oshi-dashi blow. Really good sumo in this one as Hokutofuji moves to 3-2 while Onokatsu falls to 1-4. Despite that 1-4 mark by the rookie, today's sumo was a good indication of his ability.

M16 Kitanowaka's sole focus today against M12 Bushozan was to keep his hands high and wide in an effort to play defense, not to go for a pull. The bout lasted for about five seconds and was mainly Kitanowaka drifting this way and that before allowing Bushozan to easily push him across for the tainted win. Bushozan moves to 4-1 with the obvious yaocho while Kitanowaka lightly falls to 2-3.

M12 Kinbohzan attempted a hari-zashi tachi-ai against M11 Kagayaki, but the latter was already moving to his left, so the tachi-ai was awkward between the two giants. After trading places in the ring, Kinbohzan bested Kagayaki in a tsuppari affair by knocking him back to the edge where he then got the right arm inside to secure the dominating victory. Murray Johnson seemed a bit surprised by the bout because Kinbohzan was winless coming in, but this was simply the first bout this basho where Kinbohzan tried to win, and he did it with flying colors in moving to 1-4. As for Kagayaki, he falls to the same 1-4, and he knew he was in for a fight today thus the lateral movement at the tachi-ai.

M11 Sadanoumi and M9 Ohshoma never went chest to chest nor did the two try and execute an oshi attack against each other. Each took turns swiping each other from the side, and Ohshoma's swiping proved victorious in the end on about the third try. It was an ugly bout not even worth breaking down as both rikishi settle on 3-2.

M9 Ichiyamamoto was proactive against M10 Roga from the tachi-ai attempting to lead with stiff-arm tsuppari, but he couldn't knock Roga onto his heels, and so as IYM gave chase, Roga evaded well and countered with shoves of his own and threats of side swipes that ultimately forced Ichiyamamoto into pull mode, and once IYM went for the pull, Roga got to the inside, plowed forward, and forced his foe across with ease. Both rikishi end the day at 2-3.

M10 Tamawashi was quite passive at the tachi-ai keeping his arms a bit wide against M8 Endoh giving him the early left arm inside, but The Mawashi put the brakes on from there and suddenly remembered that he's a tsuppari guy, and once he began a thrusting charge, he blasted Endoh back and across with some oomph. Not sure why Tamawashi didn't do thrust sumo from the tachi-ai, but he really laid the wood to Endoh in the end. Tamawashi moves to 2-3 with the tsuki-dashi win and compare this tsuki-dashi with Bushozan's tsuki-dashi a few bouts earlier. You can easily tell which bout was real and which bout was fake. As for Endoh, he was sent into the second row in falling to 3-2.

M8 Midorifuji henka'd to his right against M7 Churanoumi grabbing for the cheap right outer grip, but Churanoumi was able to escape across the dohyo. As Churanoumi squared back up, Midorifuji was already into his craw firing a few quick thrusts before moving left and grabbing that mawashi again from the side, and this time he was able to usher Churanoumi over and across with the cheap okuri-dashi win. Both rikishi end the day at 3-2.

M7 Wakatakakage moved forward proactively against M5 Shonannoumi, who shaded a bit to his right and back, and from there both dudes looked strictly for pull maneuvers as their main technique. Because WTK pressed forward from the tachi-ai, Shonannoumi had no choice but to skirt laterally, and Wakatakakage was able to pull him down on the second or third swipe attempt about five seconds in. Overall, this was a bad bout of sumo (although real) as Wakatakakage moves to 4-1 while Shonannoumi is still winless at 0-5.

M6 Meisei charged hard into M5 Ura keeping his hands in tight and pressing Ura back near the edge with his body, and so Ura darted across the ring to his right and managed to slip to the right of the hard-charging Meisei, and even though Ura ended up in the front row, he was just able to keep a foot in the dohyo as he dragged Meisei down by the back of the belt. Watching live, I thought that Meisei had clearly won, but in watching the slow motion replays, it was evident that Ura really burned Meisei with that move. If Ura is going to win straight up...which this bout was, it's going to look just like this, so credit Ura for the win against a good opponent in my opinion. Ura moves to 3-2 with the nice win while Meisei had this look on his face like, "WTF? I just tried to beat Ura and I lost!" A 1-4 record only adds insult to injury.

M6 Gonoyama got two arms inside of M4 Kotoshoho's body from the tachi-ai, but instead of getting the arms underneath KSH's pits, he opted for the hazu-oshi where you press a guy upwards with two palms to the torso. Gonoyama was able to drive Kotoshoho back, but not well enough to disallow KSH from countering, and he did so with a right arm inside, which enabled him to turn the tables on a dime at the edge with brilliant left tsuki-otoshi that sent Gonoyama packing across the straw. I mean, this wasn't o-zumo by any stretch, but I enjoyed watching the tactical efforts from both dudes as Kotoshoho moves to 3-2 while Gonoyama is now under water at 2-3.

M3 Wakamotoharu came with a right kachi-age against M1 Tobizaru, but WMH was way too high for his own good, and I think Tobizaru could have exposed the move at the tachi-ai. Instead of exposing it, he went for a mediocre pull with nothing intentionally behind it, and so that allowed Wakamotoharu to begin a thrust attack that was rather weak. It was weak because Tobizaru had plenty of room to move right, but instead of trying to counter his opponents lukewarm attack, Tobizaru anticipated a blow from Wakamotoharu and just turned 180 degrees as he hopped off the dohyo and down to the venue floor in a perfectly controlled dismount. This bout was obviously fixed in favor of Wakamotoharu who sheepishly moves to 3-2 while Tobizaru is a harmless 2-3.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Daieisho showed no confidence in his tsuppari tachi-ai against M4 Shodai, and so after connecting on a thrust or two, Daieisho backed up looking to spring the pull trap. The problem was that the execution was so slow that Shodai knew what was coming. The problem for Shodai, though, is he's as slow as they come in trying to plod along the dohyo, and so Daieisho shimmied ever so slightly to his left before darting right as Shodai came for the kill, and Daieisho was just barely able to send Shodai down with a tsuki-otoshi push to the side before Daieisho stepped out himself. I mean, the crowd was excited at the close finish, but the sumo here was not good as Daieisho moves to 2-3 while Shodai suffers his first loss at 4-1.

Sekiwake Abi was spastic at the tachi-ai against M2 Atamifuji first moving left after offering a hari-te and then going back right as Atamifuji looked to charge forward. Atamifuji never could lay a stiff paw on his opponent, and so Abi finally wrapped both arms high around the top of Atamifuji's head, and that's asking for trouble if I've ever seen it. With Abi having dangerously exposed himself, Atamifuji moved forward and forced Abi down hard right onto his coccyx yori-taoshi style, and this is a perfect example of how rikishi get hurt when they let up in the ring as Abi obviously did today. Abi shook himself off a bit as he got up slowly, but looked fine as both dudes end the day at 2-3.

Sekiwake Kirishima looked to duel with Komusubi Hiradoumi, but despite the latter's coming in dangerously high and exposing himself to giving up the moro-zashi position to the Sekiwake, Kirishima completely ignored it and instead just went along with Hiradoumi's delayed pull, and so with Kirishima having voluntarily put his back against the wall, it was easy peasy Japanesey for Hiradoumi to rush in and score the cheap oshi-dashi win. Kirishima landed the perfect dismount on the venue floor showing that he was in complete control here, and Kirishima may as well have had his tsuke-bito tie his arms tightly against his torso with layers of duct tape. The former Ozeki subtly drops one here to take his name from the lead in falling to 4-1, and Hiradoumi himself moves to that same 4-1 record although undeservedly.

M1 Takanosho connected squarely with two hands to the neck of Suckiwake Onosato causing the faux-zeki hopeful to look up at the rafters, but instead of moving forward after winning the tachi-ai, Takanosho simply backed up letting Onosato recover and look as if he was in charge. In charge Onosato wasn't, which is why he couldn't push/force Takanosho across the edge, and so despite leaving himself completely vulnerable, Takanosho slowly moved to his right tight roping the straw just waiting for Onosato to connect on a shove. Onosato didn't really connect, however. I mean, yes, his shove attempt did touch Takanosho in the chest, but it was in the same motion as Takanosho backing out of the ring.  If you look at that pic at left, Takanosho is well beyond the straw and Onosato is still mid-push when he should be in finishing mode. Takanosho did most of the work here as Onosato picks up another ill-gotten win after losing the tachi-ai. I mean, you watch the slow motion replays and try to detect what caused Takanosho's backwards motion, and the only answer is he did it himself. The sheep are being played here as Onosato moves to 5-0 while Takanosho gets paid to fall to 1-4.

Ozeki Hoshoryu welcomed M3 Mitakeumi by getting the left arm inside coupled with a right outer grip, and instead of really bearing down and forcing Mitakeumi back in textbook style, Hoshoryu stayed largely upright and scored the easy yori-kiri win that way. Mitakeumi was too upright himself to counter, and this was over in about three seconds. The Ozeki moves to 2-3 with the easy win while Mitakeumi falls to 1-4.

In the day's final bout, Kotozakura welcomed M2 Ohho, and the latter easily won the tachi-ai by pushing Kotozakura back two steps, and at that point, both rikishi traded places in the ring and traded shoves. It looked to me that Ohho was not going full bore, but Kotozakura couldn't bully the dude around, so to the other side of the ring they went where a tiring Ohho got the right inside position. I thought he could have hoisted Kotozakura over with a scoop throw at that point, but he didn't even try, and the two eventually moved back near the center of the ring with Ohho maintaining the ideal inside right while Kotozakura had to reach an uncomfortable distance to get and maintain and outer left. Both dudes were gassed at this point, so they dug in for about 20 seconds, and it was simply a matter of would Ohho choose to win. He had plenty of opportunities to this point, and he dictated the bout the entire way, so I was surprised to see Ohho say, "Aw, what the hell," and force Kotozakura back and across with little argument. Ohho moves to 2-3 with the win, and this was not an upset by any means. As for Kotozakura, his sumo was all reactionary as he suffers his first loss in falling to 4-1.

There was a bit of movement today with three unbeatens falling in Shodai, Kirishima, and Kotozakura, so that leaves Onosato alone at 5-0. The dude seems a shoe-in for Ozeki at this point, and I'm trying to figure out who is more useless in the ring...Kotozakura or Onosato.

To conclude, my current feed doesn't really give me full shots of the arena, but this is what the seating looked like on the mukou-joumen side directly proceeding the final bout:

It looks like even the diehards are starting to figure out just how little substance there is atop the dohyo, especially in regards to the hyped rikishi.

Aki Basho Day 4 Comments
It was a quiet ending to Day 3 and a quiet beginning to Day 4 in terms of quality news items, and so let's start off by talking briefly about sumo technique. The two most hyped rikishi these days are clearly Onosato and Kotozakura in that order; yet, neither of these two guys is capable of demonstrating really any sound sumo technique. They lose the tachi-ai everyday, and they can only react to their opponents' movements. The endings of their bouts are usually unorthodox, which is the result of mukiryoku sumo, and it's quite stunning to watch this take place day after day and see nobody else question the quality of their sumo.

With most of this basho and one more full basho to go, and I can already tell you the bout of the year occurred on Day 11 of the Natsu basho. That's when Hoshoryu did this to Onosato:



That is as beautiful of an inside belt throw as you'll ever see, and it occurred in a straight up bout. The only problem is that we only have a handful of guys on the banzuke who are able to execute such a throw and none of them are Japanese. If they could do it, we'd be seeing it, but an outer belt throw from a Japanese rikishi looks like someone dragging a dead animal through the woods after gunning it down.

Does anyone besides me wonder why we never see Japanese rikishi perform throws like that?

Even when their opponents are mukiryoku, they still can't do it, and so from time to time the Mongolians will give us a glimpse of what sumo could be. Enough of that; let's move to the Day 4 action.

M16 Kitanowaka and M15 Takarafuji bounced off of each other at the tachi-ai, and then Kitanowaka immediately went into defensive mode even though Takarafuji wasn't pressing. Kitanowaka would fire tsuppari and then back up; jab, and then back up. During the melee, Kitanowaka had the easy path to the left inside, but he refused to take it, and when Takarafuji finally went for a weak pull, Kitanowaka just flopped to the dirt. Whenever you see a guys legs and feet up that high after being pulled down, you know the bout was fixed. Takarafuji improves to 3-1 after buying the bout while Kitanowaka falls to 2-2.

M17 Nishikifuji hooked up in migi-yotsu with M14 Onokatsu from the tachi-ai for a half second before they both switched to hidari-yotsu with neither dude getting a right outer grip. NFJ seemed to be pressing more while the rookie played defense, so some decent yotsu grappling occurred for eight seconds or so before Nishikifuji went for a maki-kae with the right that stood Onokatsu completely upright, and although Nishikifuji didn't get moro-zashi, he was able to score the force out win due to his constant offensive pressure. Good sumo from both parties as NFJ moves to 2-2 while Onokatsu falls to 1-3.

M13 Hokutofuji was quick out of the gate against M16 Shirokuma catching the rookie with a nice choke hold, and Hokutofuji was able to pressure Shirokuma back to the edge. Hokutofuji was bought off, unfortunately, and so he stopped his charge just short of winning and let Shirokuma make a move. Said move was a very bad reach for a left outer grip with Shirokuma straddling the Tawara, and Hokutofuji had his right arm deep inside ready for the kill, but of course Hokutofuji not only let him survive, but Hokutofuji hopped backward step by step to the other side of the dohyo where he relinquished his outer grip and let the rookie force him across. Onosato would have been proud of this performance as both rikishi end the day at 2-2.

M15 Takayasu went for a high thrust against M13 Nishikigi at the tachi-ai, but NG simply ignored it and got the right arm deep inside as he bodied Takayasu back quickly while fishing for the right outer grip. He wouldn't need that right outer, however, as Takayasu was hapless in his uwate-dashi-nage attempt, and the result was a Nishikigi force-out win in about two seconds. The dude moves to 3-1 with the easy performance, and you could see Takayasu favoring his lower back as he falls to 2-2.

M12 Kinbohzan put his hands up high against M14 Ryuden as if to pull from the tachi-ai, but Kinbohzan just stood there doing nothing, and so Ryuden forced the bout to migi-yotsu where he was able to keep Kinbohzan up high thanks to Kinbohzan's awful tachi-ai. The two dug in from there in migi-yotsu for about 20 seconds where Ryuden had the left outer grip, and this was a great chest to chest bout, but Kinbohzan never could overcome that awful tachi-ai where he kept himself up high, and so Ryuden scored the nice win in the end in moving to 2-2. As for Kinbohzan, he falls to 0-4, and I'm not sure if that tachi-ai was intentional or not. Regardless, it was a recipe for disaster.

M11 Kagayaki slammed into M12 Bushozan nicely threatening moro-zashi, but Kagayaki quickly took his left arm to the outside turning the bout to migi-yotsu, and then Kagayaki simply backed up from there as he allowed Bushozan to execute a force out. At the edge, Bushozan was comically on his tip-toes and extremely vulnerable to a left tsuki-otoshi counter move from Kagayaki, but of course it never came as this bout was fixed from the start. Bushozan is gifted 3-1 with the..um..win while Kagayaki whistles Dixie in falling to 1-3.

M9 Ichiyamamoto briefly went for M11 Sadanoumi's neck at the tachi-ai before quickly morphing into a yotsu stance with the right arm inside and solid left outer grip that had Sadanoumi completely upright. Once Ichiyamamoto began his force-out charge a second later, the Sadamight had no answer as IYM picked up a really nice yori-kiri win here in a matter of seconds. That was probably my favorite Ichiyamamoto bout ever as he moves to 2-2 while Sadanoumi falls to his first loss (because the bout was straight up) at 3-1.

M9 Ohshoma henka'd to his right against M10 Roga, but it wasn't a killer move, and so Roga could have easily recovered, but you could see Roga just stand there with his body angled just a bit as if to say "do me now," and Ohshoma did ushering Roga across and out in front of the chief judge. There was very little contact in this bout, and it looked more like Roga exited the dohyo on his own in falling to 1-3 while Ohshoma picks up a cheap win in moving to 2-2.

In a comical bout, M10 Tamawashi caught M8 Midorifuji with a right choke hold from the tachi-ai that would have made Darth Vader proud, but instead of choking Midorifuji back, Tamawashi just stood there waiting for Little Midori to make a move. The problem was that Midorifuji was so overwhelmed, he couldn't manage even a lateral movement, and so it was Tamawashi who moved to his right and laterally towards the side of the dohyo, and that allowed Midorifuji to sorta go for a counter shoulder slap that they of course ruled kata-sukashi. Uh, not quite. Are you telling me that Midorifuji had the wherewithal to send Tamawashi sprawling like that with no meager position whatsoever? This was simply a great example of Tamawashi throwing the bout and exaggerating his fall.

They actually called a mono-ii here, which meant we got to watch Tamawashi's dive with greater scrutiny, and a definite dive it was no question as Tamawashi falls to 1-3 with Midorifuji begging a 2-2 mark.

M8 Endoh agreed to a hidari-yotsu tussle with M7 Churanoumi where Endoh wasn't trying to establish any position, but Churanoumi is a hapless dude, and so after a failed pull attempt form Churanoumi, Endoh had him twisted to the side with the clear path to a right outer grip at the back of Churanoumi's belt as pictured there at right. But of course Endoh didn't grab the belt and just darted to the edge of the ring as if he was pulled, and Churanoumi somehow a managed a slight tap with Endoh doing the rest as he twisted his body, stepped out early for good measure, and then flopped out of the dohyo altogether. Both dudes finished the day at 3-1 after Endoh threw the bout in his opponent's favor.

M5 Ura stayed low at the tachi-ai as M7 Wakatakakage tried to grab him, but Ura proved too slippery and was ultimately able to dash to his right to the other side of the dohyo. As WTK gave chase, Ura slipped a half step further right and tugged at Wakatakakage's extended arm causing the latter to face plant across the straw.

They rightly called a mono-ii, which showed that Ura's left foot clearly stepped across the Tawara as he looked to set up that tug, and so they reversed the decision giving Wakatakakage the win instead. It was the correct call as WTK moves to 3-1 while Ura falls to 2-2. It was still a win for sumo, though, because I think the crowd was fired up about this bout more than any other. sSo as long as they get a show from Ura, I guess they're happy.

M5 Shonannoumi left his armpits completely exposed as they say at the tachi-ai against M6 Gonoyama, and so the latter simply put his hands on Shonannoumi's teets, felt him up a bit, and then pushed him back and across easy as you please. It was over in about two seconds as Gonoyama moves to 2-2 while Shonannoumi falls to 0-4.

You could tell from the tachi-ai that M6 Meisei was going to throw his bout against M4 Kotoshoho. Meisei just stood there and let Kotoshoho charge forward, and as KSH did, he was completely vulnerable to giving up a right outer grip to Meisei (see pic at left). Instead of grabbing the position, Meisei ducked out of it, and then he just kept his hands high the rest of the way pretending to fish for a pull. As I always say, though, because Kotoshoho didn't cause Meisei's movements and actions, he couldn't capitalize on them, and KSH was clueless throughout as Meisei had to do something else, and so he started to tug at Kotoshoho's extended arm that would have worked, but he let that go and finally put us all out of our misery by anticipating a pull that actually didn't come and flopping to the dirt as Kotoshoho tried to catch up. What a farcical bout this was as Meisei falls to 2-2 by choice while Kotoshoho buys his first win at 1-3.

M4 Shodai and M3 Wakamotoharu struck well at the tachi-ai as both dudes finally ended up in the hidari-yotsu position. Shodai didn't really have the strength to force his younger opponent back, and so Wakamotoharu tested the force out waters covering more than half of the dohyo as he forced Shodai the other way leading with a soft right outer grip, but at the edge, Shodai was able to score on a counter scoop throw with the left that just did dump Wakamotoharu across the straw. This was about as emphatic as me making love to my wife at 54, but hey...you gotta do what ya gotta do. Shodai moves to 4-0 while Wakamotoharu falls to 2-2.

In the Sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Hiradoumi took on M2 Ohho, and the smaller Komusubi was able to steal moro-zashi against the slower Ohho from the tachi-ai, and Hiradoumi wasted no time in driving Ohho around and out. Ohho did attempt to counter pull, but he just didn't have the footwork to set it up, so credit Hiradoumi with the very nice win...set up with the perfect tachi-ai. Hiradoumi moves to 3-1 if you need him while Ohho falls to 1-3.

Sekiwake Kirishima was passive at the tachi-ai against M3 Mitakeumi opting not to move forward, so when Mitakeumi came forward himself, Kirishima welcomed him with the left inside position and right outer grip. Mitakeumi dug in well as the two traded places in the dohyo, but Kirishima gathered his wits straightway and then executed the swift force-out of Mitakeumi. Kirishima moves to 4-0 and looks to be the token Mongolian in the yusho race while Mitakeumi falls to 1-3.

Sekiwake Onosato was paired against Komusubi Daieisho, a bad matchup for Onosato in a straight up bout. Daieisho came at the tachi-ai hard knocking Onosato upright in a flash, but instead of capitalizing on the move, Daieisho just backed up all the way out of the dohyo as Onosato tried to keep up with a right arm across Daieisho's chest. They ruled it oshi-dashi in the end instead of yori-kiri, but whatever. The Komusubi dictated start to finish here, which explains why Onosato ended up on his knees at the end. I mean, how do you exactly score a win by oshi-dashi or even yori-kiri and end up on your knees like that? It's an unconventional finish to a fixed bout as Onosato is gifted 4-0 while Daieisho falls to 1-3. Someone wake me up when Onosato actually wins a tachi-ai. Ozeki shmozeki.

Sekiwake Abi was proactive from the tachi-ai against M1 Takanosho coming with the usual firehose tsuppari, but Abi's thrusts weren't exactly pushing Takanosho around, and so Takanosho was able to press forward a bit, but he didn't have Abi contained as he did so, and that resulted in Abi's moving to his left and going for the quick pull, and the result was Takanosho's being shown the trapdoor. This was rather mediocre sumo as Abi improves to 2-2 while Takanosho falls to 1-3.

Kotozakura was paired against M2 Atamifuji, and talk about a slow-developing tachi-ai. For his part, Atamifuji just stood straight up and kept his arms out wide signaling his intentions from the start. As for Kotozakura, he moved like a sloth as he came forward, but he led with the right inside position, and from that point, Atamifuji just backed straight up while Kotozakura tried to keep up as part of the force out...which lacked any force whatsoever. It was over in two seconds as Kotozakura is gifted 4-0 while Atamifuji falls to 1-3.

In the day's final bout, Ozeki Hoshoryu stood straight up at the tachi-ai allowing M1 Tobizaru to make the first move. The problem was that Tobizaru wasn't blazing forward, and so this looked like a tachi-ai between two fairies. When the two did hook up, they were each completely upright and grabbing at each others' wrists before Tobizaru went for a silly pull, and Hoshoryu dutifully put his left hand to dirt and then stumbled forward to the side of the dohyo as if he'd been tricked. Good grief, this was such a pathetic ending to the day it's no wonder I'm seeing empty seats all over the venue. Tobizaru moves to 2-2 with the WIN while Hoshoryu falls to 1-3.

Could Hoshoryu be providing cover for Takakeisho's demise? Time will only tell.

Aki Basho Day 3 Comments
The big news in between the days was the announcement that Takakeisho had withdrawn from the basho citing the usual neck issues. I've read through enough articles now, and none of them are speculating that he'll try and make a return this basho, so that means he will not regain his Ozeki rank (thankfully), and he will drop all the way down to the bottom third of the division for Kyushu...assuming he doesn't choose to retire. In my opinion, his neck is not the reason he withdrew. I've had a sore neck after sleeping wrong, and I've also experienced whiplash after a car accident, and I know what it feels like and how a person walks when their neck is giving them issues. I'm not saying that Takakeisho does not have some chronic pain in his neck area; I'm simply saying that he doesn't have neck pain that is debilitating.

I mean, was Takakeisho moving differently this basho than he has his entire career? No. He's the same out of shape blob that he's always been. In my opinion, the stable can no longer afford monetarily to keep up the ruse of having him maintain or regain the Ozeki rank, and so nature is taking over.

Regardless of that speculation, Takakeisho was rarely on the list of top three streamed bouts on the day even when he was in the yusho hunt, and he simply wasn't a draw anymore for the fans. Now that they have younger guys in there to hype, the Sumo Association is not going to mandate any help for the Takakeisho camp, so we'll see what he decides to do. I know I ain't gonna miss him.

Turning out attention to the Day 3 bouts, M17 Nishikifuji attempted to get inside on M16 Kitanowaka at the tachi-ai, but the taller Kitanowaka kept him at bay with some stiff arms before moving to his left, grabbing an outer grip at the back of NFJ's belt, and then swinging him around and out of the dohyo with ease. Pretty good display of sumo to start to the day from Kitanowaka who moves to 2-1 while Nishikifuji is beaten down to 1-2.

Rookie M16 Shirokuma welcomed Tokihayate up from Juryo, and the two clashed immediately in the hidari-yotsu position where Tokihayate enjoyed the early outer grip near the front of the rookie's belt. After trading places in the dohyo, the smaller Tokihayate looked to set up an uwate-dashi-nage throw by circling left and dragging with the right outer grip while Shirokuma looked to keep pace and counter with a left scoop throw, but Tokihayate used his right leg beautifully inside against the rookie's left to finally hoist him over the edge in another good bout to start to the day. Shirokuma falls to 1-2 in defeat, but I'm glad the rookie is being tested this basho instead of getting cheap wins handed to him. Bouts like this will only make him better in the long run.

Our next rookie, M14 Onokatsu, stepped into the ring against M15 Takayasu in what was a perfect demonstration of how easy it is to expose the former faux-zeki. Takayasu came with a shove or two from the tachi-ai before the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu with Takayasu grabbing an early right outer grip, but the rookie shook it off as Takayasu looked to make a force-out charge, and Onokatsu actually moved a bit right grabbing a right outer of his own to turn the tables.

From this point, Onokatsu simply pressed the action in textbook yori-kiri fashion, and Takayasu had no answer as he was whisked back and across in a flash. Takayasu always leaves himself vulnerable to the outer grip near the front of the belt, and when his opponents grab it and use it to beat him as Onokatsu did here, you know the bout is real. When Takayasu's opponents fail to grab that easy outer, you know the bout is fixed. It really is that simple as Onokatsu picks up a legit win here in moving to 1-2 while Takayasu falls to 2-1.

As if right on cue, the M14 Ryuden - M15 Takarafuji bout was the perfect example of what I was talking about in regards to an opponent who purposefully fails to grab an outer grip on his opponent when it's wide open. The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Ryuden had the wide open path to the right outer grip, but he refused it signaling his intentions straightway. After refusing the outer grip and with Takarafuji doing nothing, Ryuden actually went for a slow maki-kae with the right and got it, and he could have now used a right scoop throw to hoist Takarafuji over, but he let up on the attempt and intentionally slid his right foot over the straw carelessly as Takarafuji looked to set up a force-out win.

Coming into the bout, I was literally thinking about how much I was enjoying the day, and then this yaocho went and woke me up like a nice slap to the face. In the golden years of sumo, yaocho occurred for sure, but it wasn't prevalent as it is today, and it certainly wasn't used to skew the banzuke and comprise yusho for completely inept rikishi. I think that's been the biggest shift over the last 10 years. Instead of turning a blind eye to yaocho among guys who wanted to do it, the Sumo Association began using it to prop up the Japanese rikishi and thus the sport in an effort to save it.

Anyway, the previous bout was so obviously fixed it insulted my intelligence as Takarafuji is gifted 2-1 while Ryuden the merchant falls to 1-2.

M13 Hokutofuji's tachi-ai against M12 Kinbohzan was awful as the former put both hands high as if to pull, but Kinbohzan refused to grab moro-zashi and simply let Hokutofuji back into the bout that went to migi-yotsu where Kinbohzan then gave Hokutofuji the left outer. Kinbohzan had made so many critical mistakes intentionally to this point, you knew he wasn't trying to win, and that was the case as he allowed Hokutofuji to mount basically a one-armed force-out charge leading with the left, and Kinbohzan did half the work himself by not opting to counter with a right scoop throw and by walking back and across the straw of his own volition. They ruled it a force-out, but there was little force in this one as Hokutofuji is gifted 2-1 while Kinbohzan loads up on cash at 0-3.

Hooboy.

M13 Nishikigi used a methodic tsuppari attack against M12 Bushozan to knock the latter back near the straw while keeping him upright, and instead of grabbing something to the inside, Nishikigi reversed gears on a dime and slapped the hapless Bushozan forward and down for the nifty hataki-komi win. Both fells end the day at 2-1 after the lopsided win for NG.

M11 Sadanoumi and M10 Roga hooked up immediately in the migi-yotsu position, and Roga reached for and got the early left outer grip. And then promptly let it go, and so I knew what was coming at that point. After signaling his intentions at the tachi-ai, Roga allowed Sadanoumi to force him back where Sadanoumi went for an ill-advised uwate-nage with the left. It was ill-advised because the Sadamight wasn't in the proper position to throw a larger foe, but no matter as Roga just put his left palm to the dirt early giving Sadanoumi the cheap win. So much for pointing out the good start to the day because it's been all yaocho since as Sadanoumi buys yet another win moving to 3-0 while Roga knows his place at 1-2.

M10 Tamawashi and M11 Kagayaki butt heads at the tachi-ai as Tamawashi came with a potent tsuppari attack, and he had Kagayaki on his heels early and skirting to his left, but Tamawashi was trying to win this one, and so he stayed square and pushed Kagayaki over to the edge where Kagayaki carelessly stepped to the side and across. The result leaves both guys at 1-2, and there was a noticeable applause for Tamawashi who picked up a win in his record-setting 1,631 consecutive bout of sumo.

M9 Ichiyamamoto used some nice shoves to keep M8 Midorifuji at bay and upright, but you could see that IYM was not going for the kill, and sure enough, a few seconds into the bout, he positioned his hands for a pull that never came, and it was just an excuse to back up across the entire length of the dohyo and let Midorifuji lamely push him out for the ill-gotten win. Another tainted oshi-dashi here as both rikishi finish the day at 1-2.

M8 Endoh came with a hari-zashi tachi-ai against M9 Ohshoma slapping with the right hand, but he failed to get inside. As for Ohshoma, he shaded a bit left after the tachi-ai as Endoh gave chase, and like the previous bout before, the taller Ohshoma put his hands in pull position but wasn't trying to execute the move, so when Endoh caught Ohshoma with a very light shove to the gut, Ohshoma just took a dive to the dirt creating a very unorthodox ending. Ho hum as Endoh moves to a cheap 3-0 while Ohshoma falls to 1-2.

M6 Gonoyama bulldozed his way forward into M7 Wakatakakage from the tachi-ai, but Gonoyama wasn't thrusting nor did he try and get to the inside of his opponent, so Wakatakakage easily skirted right at the edge and Gonoyama just belly flopped forward and down in awkward fashion. You can watch the slow motion replays and see that nothing Wakatakakage did caused that Gonoyama fall. It was just a badly executed fake bout in favor of WTK who oils his way to 2-1 while Gonoyama assumes a 1-2 record.

M6 Meisei beat M7 Churanoumi back a step with an early thrust from the tachi-ai, but then Meisei immediately went for a quick pull whose only purpose was to give Churanoumi the momentum. Churanoumi didn't exactly seize the momentum because he didn't create it himself, and so the two traded a few more wild tsuppari as Meisei crept over to the straw, and when Churanoumi went for the kill, Meisei faked a left kote-nage that had Churanoumi more outta sorts than he wanted to be, and so Meisei quickly dipped his right knee down touching the dohyo before Churanoumi flopped out. Very subtle move by Meisei but obvious to me even watching live, and the slow motions replays confirmed that Meisei had no reason to put that knee down other than to throw the bout. And that he did as Churanoumi moves to a sheepish 2-1 while Meisei falls--literally--to 1-2.

In a ridiculous bout, M4 Kotoshoho briefly grabbed M5 Ura with a right kote-nage grip, but he quickly let Ura outta the hold for no reason. Well, no reason other than to throw the bout. The problem was as I always say, since Ura didn't cause Kotoshoho to lose that grip, he couldn't capitalize on it, and so Kotoshoho stood there in the center of the ring firing soft, obligatory tsuppari, and when Ura sorta made a move, Kotoshoho anticipated it too soon and just dropped to the dohyo before any concrete contact came from his foe. All the announcers on the day deducted that Kotoshoho slipped. Yeah, uh huh. We've seen this tired movie hundreds of times as Ura moves to 2-1 with Kotoshoho graciously assuming 1-2. Anyone who was entertained by this bout is simply low IQ.

M4 Shonannoumi stood upright at the tachi-ai with his arms in tight and uncommitted, which allowed M4 Shodai to nudge him back with a half oshi attack half yori charge that didn't feel like either. I mean, the real explanation here is that Shonannoumi simply moved back as Shodai moved forward giving Shodai the cheap, uncontested win. These guys just can't help themselves as Shodai moves to 3-0 while Shonannoumi falls to 0-3.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Daieisho came with a decent tsuppari attack M3 Mitakeumi's way that nudged the latter back towards the straw, and when Daieisho went for the kill, Mitakeumi moved right looking for the counter tsuki-otoshi. The move threw Daieisho off balance a bit, but he recovered in kind and resumed his oshi attack sending Mitakeumi back clear across the other side of the dohyo where he used a left arm inside to force Mitakeumi down and out for the eventual win. Daieisho didn't exactly put a stamp on this one, but a win is a win as both rikishi end the day at 1-2.

M2 Ohho put both palms against Suckiwake Onosato's teets from the tachi-ai, but instead of pushing or driving forward, Ohho just started to go back. During this process, Onosato managed to get a right arm inside, but he was still giving chase and not the one forcing Ohho back. Rather, it was Ohho latching onto Onosato's arm and literally pulling him into his own body as Ohho just walked across the dohyo sideways and out as Onosato followed in tow. Onosato is gifted his third win in as many tries while Ohho falls to 1-2.

Gentleman Murray Johnson, who provided the English commentary on my broadcast, called Onosato's footwork "crab-like" and then Murray said of that crab-like footwork, it's "where he follows his opponent across the dohyo." It was actually spot-on, unintentional analysis from Murray. He's exactly right. Onosato follows his opponent across the dohyo instead of driving his opponent or pushing his opponent across the dohyo. As for crab-like footwork, that's exactly what they don't teach you in sumo. If your footwork is crab-like, you're the one being manipulated by your opponent just as the sheep are being manipulated to believe that Onosato is an Ozeki candidate. Job well done Murray!!

Sekiwake Abi abandoned a real tsuppari attack against Komusubi Hiradoumi from the tachi-ai and instead opted to move laterally, go for pulls, and do everything but try and defeat his opponent. Hiradoumi had no stability or continuity to his sumo whatsoever, and Abi had him on the ropes a few times, but he refused to push him across. After a wild five or six seconds of non-sumo, Abi lifted his right knee up and stood on one leg voluntarily, and that allowed Hiradoumi to sorta move in for the cheap push out win, but Abi still had to step his other foot across the straw to make it official. What a terrible bout of sumo here--if you can call it that--as Hiradoumi moves to 2-1 while Abi falls to 1-2.

As mentioned previously, Takakeisho withdrew from the tournament which gave M3 Wakamotoharu the freebie and 2-1 record.

Sekiwake Kirishima shaded to his left at the tachi-ai against M1 Takanosho as the latter attempted a decent tsuppari attack, but Kirishima's lateral movement is what dictated the pace here, and before Takanosho could catch up with a shove attack of his own, Kirishima was able to latch onto an outer grip with the left and carry the flow of the bout into a simple dashi-nage win over Takanosho. This was not pretty sumo whatsoever, but give Kirishima the win at 3-0 while Takanosho falls to 1-2.

Ozeki Hoshoryu put a stiff right arm into M2 Atamifuji's chest at the tachi-ai, but it was a meaningless tactic...if Hoshoryu was trying to win. It's one think to use that stiff-arm to set up moro-zashi or latch onto the inside, but the Ozeki was waiting for Atamifuji to counter the move. When he didn't, Hoshoryu found himself in the position to secure moro-zashi, but he stayed limp allowing Atamifuji to maki-kae with the right arm, and right there...when a maki-kae occurs that isn't do or die--you know that one party is mukiryoku as Hoshoryu was. After the maki-kae, Hoshoryu was in the perfect position to grab the left outer grip, but he refrained of course. Yet, he was able to body Atamifuji back to the Tawara, but he didn't exert that last effort to nudge him across, so you knew at this point that Hoshoryu was waiting to react to an Atamifuji move and just flop to the dirt. The problem was that Atamifuji was too hapless to do anything, and so Hoshoryu started backing his way towards the edge, gave Atamifuji the gifted left outer grip, and then put his right foot forward a bit off the dohyo just playing along as Atamifuji finally went for a force out. Hoshoryu orchestrated this one start to finish, and he did a masterful job in making it look as if Atamifuji won the bout straight up. A big as if. Hoshoryu held his opponent's hand the entire way as both dudes find themselves at 1-2, and Hoshoryu continues to signal that he won't be a part of the yusho race.

The day's final affair included Kotozakura taking on M1 Tobizaru, and the tachi-ai between these two contained no slap whatsoever. Kotozakura kind of tiptoed forward with bad footwork, and Tobizaru wasn't looking to do any harm, and the two finally had to square up in migi-yotsu where Tobizaru reached for an outer grip with the left that was there, but he pulled his arm back just as fast signaling his intentions. At this point, Kotozakura's koshi was so takai meaning the dude was standing straight up, which left him vulnerable, but Tobizaru's clown reaction was to burrow his head up and under Kotozakura's right arm just begging the faux-zeki to get him in a headlock. Kotozakura couldn't take advantage, however, because he hadn't set anything up to this point, and so Tobizaru voluntarily swapped positions in the dohyo putting his own back to the wall, and then he went for a right dashi-nage from the inside that actually worked causing Kotozakura to lose his balance and put both palms to the dirt before Tobizaru even came close to stepping out, but they refused to call a mono-ii and just gave the win to Kotozakura.

Look, everyone in the know knew that Tobizaru was trying to throw the bout in Kotozakura's favor, so all of the officials including the referee just went along with the charade. What an embarrassing ending to the day for the Association, and I'm positive they got a ton of calls from the old folks after this travesty. I mean, it's one thing to allow yaocho to occur like this but to not even call a mono-ii here shows everyone that a narrative has been established prior to the basho, and you are upholding said narrative. Kotozakura is the worst 3-0 I think I've ever seen while Tobizaru falls to 1-2.

I did some digging online and found a clip of this bout with Japanese analysis, and the oyakata in the mukou-joumen chair explained that Tobizaru's body was too far over the edge, and so they gave the bout to Kotozakura. Wait, and Kotozakura's body wasn't too far over the edge? Don't they look like they've both broken the plane of the dohyo equally?

It's impossible to explain away yaocho and have it make sense while it's rather easy to explain how we know yaocho occurred here. Regarding Kotozakura's fall, he wasn't controlling the pace or the pressure of the bout, and so he lost his balance when his opponent moved unexpectedly. It's a great indication of who was in charge and who wasn't, but whatever. A Kotozakura win was in the cards; everyone knew it; and nobody had the stones to reverse it.

What a horrible ending to the day, and this is going to be the problem for the entire basho.

Aki Basho Day 2 Comments
According to the headlines, the two biggest pieces of news on Day 2 were Tamawashi participating in his 1,630th consecutive bout, a mark that will put him in a tie for first place all time, and then Takakeisho is also receiving a bit of ink in his quest to have his Ozeki status restored pending his performance this basho (he needs 10 wins for re-promotion to Ozeki). I thought it was interesting that so much focus was put on old-timers, but in time, the spotlight will return to the younger guys like Onosato, Kotozakura, and Takerufuji (yes, the Juryo rikishi is getting more run than most Makuuchi rikishi).

It doesn't feel as if the basho has any teeth early on, and that's mainly because we aren't seeing strong sumo the last 30 minutes of the broadcast. Love him or hate him, Terunofuji is so healthy for sumo because when he tries to win, you always end the day with good sumo.

Speaking of good sumo, the day began with a bang, and you never like to see the best bout of the day occur this early because it's all downhill from there, but that's what we got with rookie, M16 Shirokuma, taking on M17 Nishikifuji. From the tachi-ai, Nishikifuji pressed the action into hidari-yotsu but instead of grabbing a right outer grip, he had that arm up a bit high wrapped around the rookie's left. So despite Nishikifuji's forcing the rookie back a few steps, Shirokuma was able to use his bulk to dig in and counter by applying pressure with the left inside position.

When Nishikifuji realized it wouldn't be easy, he too began wrenching the rookie with his inside left in order to finally set up the right outer, and once NFJ got that, he was able to strangle Shirokuma back near the edge and finally across despite some great counter scoop throw attempts from the rookie.

What a perfect start to the day, but the problem is that you set the bar too high in the very first bout, there's going to be too much disappointment to follow. Both rikishi ended the day here at 1-1, but before I go on, I can't stress the point enough that this is what real sumo looks like. Everything was perfect here in terms of attacks, counter attacks, pressure, counter pressure, etc. It's just a shame that all 20 or so bouts won't be fought with this same posture from both parties.

Up next was Onosho visiting from Juryo to take on M16 Kitanowaka, and the latter easily absorbed Onosho's initial thrust volley before moving left and working his way into a sneaky left outer grip, and once he had that, Kitanowaka had Onosho spinning and out of sorts enough that Kitanowaka was able to dump Onosho in short order with an easy outer belt throw. Both rikishi end the day here as well at 1-1 after a decent bout of real sumo.

M14 Ryuden was passive at the tachi-ai against M15 Takayasu allowing the latter to begin a mediocre tsuppari attack that Ryuden easily survived by moving laterally. After a full turn around the ring, Takayasu began to tire and so Ryuden instinctively assumed the hidari-yotsu position that included a right outer grip. Instead of attacking against his tired opponent at this point, however, Ryuden let go of the right outer grip for no other reason than to let Takayasu win the bout.

And that he did by positioning his hips so that Takayasu could grab a right outer of his own, and while Takayasu did grab a right outer, he was still stifled to the point where he couldn't attack, and so Ryuden kept his footwork sloppy and applied zero pressure towards his foe, and Takayasu was finally able to set up a very weak outer belt throw attack that Ryuden went along with by just flopping forward to the dirt and down.

I mean, you go back to the Nishikifuji - Shirokuma bout and look at all the attacking and counter attacking, and any sorta counter attack from Ryuden was missing here, especially a counter left inside throw that would have created a nage-no-uchi-ai. That Ryuden wasn't trying to win this bout was obvious as he dictated start to finish, but I'm sure Ryuden will be compensated as he falls to 1-1. As for Takayasu, he's an undeserved 2-0 for sure.

Veteran M15 Takarafuji welcomed our other rookie, M14 Onokatsu, who looked very unsure of himself at the tachi-ai, and so Takarafuji methodically forced the bout to hidari-yotsu and then forced Onokatsu around the dohyo and out in workmanlike fashion to end this uneventful bout. I mean, it was straight up for sure, but Onokatsu is already lost in this division at 0-2 while Takarafuji moves to 1-1 with the easy win.

The biggest benefit of this bout is that a dude fighting from the East finally won, so it allowed the TV viewers to scan the crowd for this chick:

M13 Hokutofuji easily won the tachi-ai against M12 Bushozan standing the latter upright and forcing him to think pull a few seconds in. With Hokutofuji enjoying all of the momentum, he suddenly went into pull mode himself for no reason other than to throw the bout, and once he positioned his hands as if to pull, Bushozan was able to work his way back to the inside. Still, Hokutofuji was positioned in the center of the ring with Bushozan's back facing the straw, and so Hokutofuji traded places on the dohyo with his foe and that allowed Bushozan to score the final ill-gotten push out. A fake bout this was as Bushozan oils his way to 2-0 while Hokutofuji settles for 1-1 and some extra spending money.

M12 Kinbohzan was entirely lethargic at the tachi-ai allowing M13 Nishikigi to raise him up with a nice initial thrust and then assume the right inside left outer grip position, and Kinbohzan made no effort whatsoever to stand his ground as Nishikigi executed the sleeper force out charge from there. Kinbohzan redefined mukiryoku sumo here in graciously falling to 0-2 while Nishikigi picks up his first cheap win at 1-1.

M10 Tamawashi stood M11 Sadanoumi upright easily from the tachi-ai using a nice initial volley of tsuppari, but with Sadanoumi already on his heels, Tamawashi just tucked his arms in tight while ducking his head, and so Sadanoumi was able to skirt right at the last moment and pull a very willing Tamawashi down and out. This was a joke of a bout as Sadanoumi was destroyed at the tachi-ai yet still pulled out a meager win in moving to 2-0 while Tamawashi was selling all the way here as he falls to 0-2. Hey, if I had the chance to make 10 grr by throwing a bout of sumo to celebrate my 1,630th consecutive bout, I'd take the cash in a heartbeat.

Before we move on, if I was in charge of sumo, I'd have Black Sabbath's Iron Man play as Tamawashi's walk up music.  A little Sabbath would take the edge off of the fake sumo.

Moving right along, M11 Kagayaki and M10 Roga exhibited a very slow tachi-ai as if both parties were like, "Wait, how were we going to orchestrate this one again?". Roga suddenly remembered and went into C3P0 arm mode enabling Kagayaki to lead with the right inside, and in tandem, Roga backed up across the straw while Kagayaki appeared to be in force-out mode. There was little force here, however, as Roga throws the bout leaving both rikishi at 1-1.

M8 Endoh and M9 Ichiyamamoto traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai, and with Endoh offering a stiff arm into IYM's neck, the latter tried to press his way back into the bout, and less than two seconds in, Endoh reversed gears on a dime and pulled his opponent forward and down just like that. We'll call this one legit as there wasn't enough action to dissect as Endoh moves to 2-0 with Ichiyamamoto falling to 1-1.

M9 Ohshoma aligned his feet at the tachi-ai against M8 Midorifuji taking away his size advantage, and so the two rikishi dug in in the center of the ring with both stiff arming each other and looking to set up a pull. Midorifuji of course wanted the kata-sukashi at this point, but Ohshoma was just too big and kept Midorifuji away from the inside position he needed, so after about five seconds of grappling, Ohshoma was able to use his size advantage and pull first sending Midorifuji into an ill-advised 360 near the edge that allowed Ohshoma to push the smaller Fuji out from behind in the end. This was a scrappy bout that contained very little sumo as Ohshoma moves to 1-1 while Midorifuji is cut down to 0-2.

M7 Wakatakakage henka'd slightly to his left against M6 Meisei who seemed oblivious to the move, and so after WTK knocked his foe over to the side with a swipe to Meisei's right shoulder, Meisei's response was to keep his hands high and wide and allow Wakatakakage to get to the front of his belt, and once WTK has that positioning, the yori-kiri came straightway. This was one was scripted start to finish as Meisei never made an effort to win the bout leaving both rikishi at 1-1.

M6 Gonoyama caught M7 Churanoumi nicely from the tachi-ai with a stiff tsuppari attack, and Churanoumi's only hope was to evade laterally and try and swipe Gonoyama off balance. Gonoyama survived the move and easily squared back up resuming his tsuppari attack, and despite Churanoumi's getting a left outer grip, he was on the run as he did so, and so Churanoumi didn't quite have the momentum needed to execute a counter belt throw at the edge. This one was close, but Gonoyama's consistent tsuppari attack won out in the end. Good stuff here from Gonoyama as both dudes land on 1-1.

M4 Shodai hopped forward awkwardly against M5 Ura aligning his feet as he went, but Ura was in complete defensive mode from the tachi-ai. As Shodai pressed forward with his arms in tight denying Ura anything to the inside, Ura was finally forced to go for a pull, and as he did, Shodai rode that backwards momentum by Ura nicely sending the smaller Ura into the front row with a nice shove at the end. Shodai moves to 2-0 with the nice win while Ura falls to 1-1.

M4 Shonannoumi and M4 Kotoshoho clashed well at the tachi-ai and with SNNU looking to get inside, Kotoshoho trusted in his nice shove attack that kept Shonannoumi at bay. Ultimately, KSH was able to get Shonannoumi upright enough to where he got the left inside and right outer grip, and once he had that position, the yori-kiri was swift and decisive in favor of Kotoshoho. Both dudes end the day at 1-1.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Hiradoumi and M3 Wakamotoharu butted head at the tachi-ai where Hiradoumi looked to get the left arm to the front of his foe's belt. Wakamotoharu used his size advantage to press forward a bit, but Hiradoumi was able to slip away laterally never losing that inside position, so after a nice dipsy do in the ring, Hiradoumi once again had Wakamotoharu upright with the Komusubi inside at the belt, and that enabled Hiradoumi to easily force WMH back and across. This was stellar sumo from the smaller Hiradoumi who evens his record at 1-1 along with Wakamotoharu.

Sekiwake Abi was paired against M3 Mitakeumi, and Abi easily caught his foe with two hands to the neck while using perfect de-ashi to move Mitakeumi back once, twice, three times a lady, and when Mitakeumi looked to evade left at the edge, Abi caught him with one final paw to knock Mitakeumi off of the dohyo altogether. Great stuff here from Abi as both dudes move to 1-1.

Suckiwake Takakeisho was matched up against M2 Ohho, and Ohho could smell blood in the water at the tachi-ai as he slammed into Takakeisho hard, and the latter knew he wasn't going to win straight up, so he moved to his side going for a left swipe that briefly knocked Ohho off balance, but Ohho had just survived Takakeisho's best shot, and so he resumed his attacking position getting the left arm easily to the inside and a right outer grip, and he forced Takakeisho back quickly from there. Good stuff from Ohho who moves to 1-1 while Takakeisho falls to 0-2, and looks as if Takakeisho's stable is plum out of cash.

Sekiwake Kirishima fought M2 Atamifuji today, and both dudes aligned their feet at the tachi-ai leaving them both standing upright, but the Sekiwake adjusted nicely getting the right arm inside followed by the nice outer belt grip with the left. Kirishima didn't go for the kill straightway, however, and he let Atamifuji press with a left kote-nage. The youngster couldn't really budge Kirishima, and so the former Ozeki pretended as if he whiffed on a throw and spun around turning his back to Atamifuji, but the sudden movement caused Atamifuji to crumple to the dirt before Kirishima could throw the bout. Kirishima moves to 2-0 and will surely make up for the accidental win soon while Atamifuji falls to 0-2.

Suckiwake Onosato was paired with M1 Tobizaru, and Tobizaru easily ducked under Onosato's tachi-ai reaching for and getting the right leg, but instead of executing the easy ashi-tori move from there, Tobizaru let it go and stood straight back up like a dutiful practice dummy. The problem was that Onosato wasn't pressing, and so Tobizaru literally faked a few pulls as an excuse to back up to the straw, and Onosato sorta caught him with a shove, but Tobizaru just backed across of his own volition. Yet another tired yaocho in favor of Onosato who lost the tachi-ai and needed his opponent to do all the work. This is getting stale fast as Onosato is gifted 2-0 while Tobizaru knows his place in falling to 1-1.

M1 Takanosho executed the worst tachi-ai possible charging into Kotozakura with his arms as high and wide as he could possibly get them. The result was Zak being gifted moro-zashi, but even then, the force out was quite awkward and it required Takanosho to do some back pedaling of his own. What a joke of a bout as Kotozakura is gifted 2-0 while Takanosho is giving back at 1-1 after his fluke jun-yusho last tournament.

The final bout of the day featured Ozeki Hoshoryu taking on Komusubi Daieisho, and Hoshoryu easily moved forward at the tachi-ai getting the right inside before Daieisho could even fire off a thrust, and the Ozeki had Daieisho forced back, across, and down in under two seconds. Hoshoryu evens things up for himself at 1-1 while Daieisho was dominated here in falling to 0-2.

It was good to see someone end the day with a solid win in Hoshoryu, but it just feels as if there is no anchor to this tournament. It feels that way because there isn't.

Aki Basho Day 1 Comments
I'm not sure if it's good to be back in the saddle after taking an entire basho off for the first time ever in July. My intentions when setting this site up in the first place 22 years ago was to provide analysis of the ins and outs of sumo that you wouldn't get from the mainstream media (English or Japanese) or anywhere else on the web, but it's really getting old talking about fake bouts and a fake banzuke all the time. I feel as if I could literally copy and paste my comments from one basho to the next and nobody would even tell the difference.

And this is not to say that I intend on shutting down the site. I have no intentions of doing that. Rather, fake sumo means that when I have other things going on like travel or summer camping, etc., I'm not going to make as much of an effort to comment on fake bouts, and so it was interesting to see how I would feel ignoring an entire basho.

It actually felt quite refreshing, and I didn't miss sumo in the least. I would check on the results each morning, but I didn't even need to watch the bouts to know how they played out, and the Nagoya basho followed the usual template:

- Manufacture a fake yusho race
- Try and take the yusho race into the final day at all costs
- Continue to prop up Japanese rikishi with fake sumo
- Have the Yokozuna lose only to Japanese rikishi

And there are a few more bullet points I'm sure I'm missing there. It's the same old song and dance.

Prior to the Nagoya basho, I was doing my usual pre-basho chat with my bud, Matthias, and I made this prediction:



And that's pretty much how it played out in a nutshell. After those two fake yusho in March and May, I was hearing quite a few grumblings from oyakata within the Association about how guys were taking the yusho without performing any significant techniques, and the sumo faithful have got to be catching on by now.

I don't get anymore the full NHK feed that I enjoyed for two decades, so I can't see the entire arena and how many empty seats there are, but I did get this glimpse just prior to the Kirishima - Ohho matchup:

There are a lot of gaps in that seating for a Sunday / Day 1, and you just can't throw crap around in the ring forever and have fans constantly come back and shell out money.

Anyway, the Terunofuji yusho in July was a smart play, and then sure enough, the Yokozuna promptly withdrew this basho shining the spotlight back on the Japanese rikishi. According to reports, Terunofuji is suffering from high glucose levels in the blood, and I think that's the first time I've ever read that excuse. Others are saying that Terunofuji injured his knee at an exhibition tournament in late August, but the dude is not injured. Trust me. He's sitting out to give the Japanese rikishi the spotlight, and as Matthias and I chatted about this upcoming basho, it just felt like everything was pointing to a Kotozakura yusho in September.

Before I get to my comments on the day, let's just review the storylines aside from Terunofuji's planned withdrawal heading into the tournament:

1. Onosato is up for Ozeki promotion. With 21 wins the last two basho, he technically needs 12 wins here in Tokyo, but they'd probably give it to him with just 11 wins. Now you can see how strategic Terunofuji's planned loss to Onosato was on Day 11 in Nagoya. Not only did it purposefully bring Fuji back to the back in terms of the yusho race, but it gave Onosato a win that is going to prove critical here in September as part of his fake Ozeki run.

2. Takakeisho was (thankfully) demoted from the Ozeki ranks and must win 10 in September to regain that rank. I don't wish ill will on anybody, but I refuse to treat fake sumo as real, and nothing that Takakeisho has done in his entire Makuuchi career has been real, so forgive me for rooting for his NOT getting 10 wins.

3. We have two rookies in the division this tournament in M14 Onokatsu and M16 Shirokuma. I know nothing about these two rikishi, but I'm sure they'll make little impact on the division. I think the last legit rookie we got with a lot of potential was Kinbohzan.

There really aren't any other significant stories. I noticed that Takerufuji is back fighting in Juryo, and he'll get more run in the Japanese media than most of the Makuuchi guys, but I'm not interested in his story this basho.

I also noticed that Asanoyama is kyujo from the Juryo ranks, so there will be no headlines there.

The focus is really going to be on Onosato and little else, but something tells me that they'll go with seniority on the banzuke in terms of the yusho, but let's just see how the script plays out.

Turning our attention to the bouts themselves, Day 1 began with M17 Nishikifuji taking on Chiyoshoma visiting from Juryo, and Chiyoshoma was a bit passive at the tachi-ai getting his left arm inside, and with Nishikifuji moving forward without a secure position, Chiyoshoma easily skirted to his left and pulled NFJ forward and down for the easy win.

The first of our two rookies this basho, M15 Shirokuma, made his debut against M16 Kitanowaka, a dude making his return to the division after what seems like a year or so. Kitanowaka got the secure left outer grip at the front of the rookie's belt at the tachi-ai, and then promptly backed up and around the ring for no reason other than to give Shirokuma the cheap win. And cheap it was. Near the end of the bout, Kitanowaka actually had moro-zashi, but he stayed completely upright and square at the edge letting Shirokuma force him meekly across.

Some may say the rookie looked good here, but nobody can point to anything he did to dictate the pace of the bout. He was along for the ride and was awarded the cheap win. Reminded me a lot of Onosato.

M15 Takayasu took on fellow M15 Takarafuji in a battle of two veterans, and Takayasu looked to charge with tsuppari, but Takarafuji easily defended them swiping at Takayasu's arms and leaving Takayasu vulnerable to the inside, but Takarafuji wasn't looking to win the bout. That was manifest when he actually had Takayasu turned to the side a bit near the edge, and Takarafuji instinctively put his left hand to the side of Takayasu's belt, but instead of latching on and forcing Takayasu out sideways, Takarafuji pivoted for no reason and just belly flopped to the East side of the dohyo and down as Takayasu looked to catch up with his opponent's antics. Like the Shirokuma bout before, there was nothing Takayasu did to win this bout; it was all Takarafuji throwing it to no one's surprise.

Our next rookie of the basho, M14 Onokatsu, entered the dohyo to take on fellow M14 Ryuden, and the two hooked up in a rather mediocre hidari-yotsu position where Ryuden fished for the right outer grip. At first, I thought he was going to purposefully not grab it and throw the bout in the rookie's favor, but he fortunately did grab that grip a few seconds in and then executed the uncontested yori-kiri from there. Onokatsu was able to do nothing here, and his camp prolly doesn't have the cash to buy him a kachi-koshi.

The two M13's squared off today in Hokutofuji and Nishikigi, and the latter never even attempted to get an arm to the inside or latch onto Hokutofuji's belt, and so Hokutofuji executed his usual tachi-ai before playing along in the attacking position that saw the two dance around the ring a bit before Hokutofuji scored the cheap oshi-dashi win. There was little force exerted in this bout as Hokutofuji picks up the cheap win while Nishikifuji displayed the C3P0 arms start to finish.

M12 Kinbohzan greeted M12 Bushozan with two hands to the face and had Bushozan moved back and drifting left a few seconds in, but you could see Kinbohzan completely let up on his attack and leave himself vulnerable to a pull from his opponent. Bushozan couldn't clue in, however, and so Kinbohzan squared back up and offered a few defensive thrusts as he backed up to the straw letting Bushozan move forward and finish him off. Great example here of the victor doing nothing and the loser dictating start to finish.

M11 Sadanoumi and M11 Kagayaki looked to hook up in migi-yotsu, but despite bodying his foe back from the tachi-ai, Kagayaki failed to get an arm inside or grab an outer grip, and so after winning the tachi-ai, Kagayaki just pulled both arms to the outside and backed up clear across the dohyo allowing Sadanoumi to defeat him easily leading with the right arm inside. One easy way to tell fixed bouts is the ease with which the loser keeps his footing on the dohyo or the graceful way he jumps down to the dohyo floor in a perfect dismount.

In sumo they often use the phrase "[rikishi name] ni tsuchi" to indicate that the loser hit the dirt, but most of these guys don't even need to shower after this mukiryoku sumo.

M10 Tamawashi and M10 Roga did battle with Tamawashi using a few brief thrusts to shove Roga back with his feet against the straw, but Tamawashi immediately relented in his thrust attack and ignored a hataki-komi that was there for the taking, and instead allowed Roga to grab two grips at the front of The Mawashi's mawashi and then practice a little dashi-nage move that Tamawashi purposefully walked right into. At least Tamawashi got a little bit dirty here as he went into a controlled roll off the dohyo and into the judge's lap sitting ringside West.

The two M9's, Ichiyamamoto and Ohshohma, squared off today in a bout that saw Ichiyamamoto come with a methodic tsuppari charge to which Ohshohma responded by standing straight up and faking a pull. The fake pull was just an excuse for Ohshohma to back himself up at the straw with arms out wide enabling Ichiyamamoto the easiest oshi-dashi win you'll ever see. Ohshohma was so mukiryoku at the edge, Ichiyamamoto's soft pull sent him into the lap of the judge sitting ringside West for the second bout in a row. The judge was seen slipping a dollar bill into Ohshohma's mawashi before he got back up and stepped atop the dohyo for the post-bout bow.

M8 Midorifuji was looking for the quick kata-sukashi against M8 Endoh, but Endoh was trying to win the bout, and so he easily kept his footing as Midorifuji backed around the ring this way and that, and after about five seconds of reckless action, it was Endoh who was able to counter with the kata-sukashi sending Midorifuji down and out for the nice win. I think this was just the second legit bout of the day to this point, but who's counting?

M7 Wakatakakage and M7 Churanoumi hooked up today, and both dudes were looking to pull from the tachi-ai. The result was a very busy bout that contained no sound sumo, and so back and forth the two went with terrible footing until Wakatakakage finally got a right outer grip, but it wasn't set up with sound sumo, and so Churanoumi countered with the easy moro-zashi and used that to force WTK back and across in the end. The first eight seconds were bad, but the last two seconds were enjoyable.

M6 Meisei and M6 Gonoyama traded tsuppari from the tachi-ai with Meisei slowly gaining the upper hand, but after about three volleys of thrust sumo, the two hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Gonoyama was able to use his bulk advantage to grab a right outer grip. He wisely attempted to force Meisei back and across leading with the outer grip, but so many of Gonoyama's bouts are compromised that he wasn't ready to soundly execute the technique, and so back to square one they went with both guys too gassed to really do anything except flail away at pulls, and Meisei simply has the more experience and so he was able to pull Gonoyama down and out in a decent bout of sumo...that was real.

M5 Ura and M5 Shonannoumi were paired against each other today, and Shonannoumi's MO was to keep his hands high and wide, and so it goes without saying that after a five second tussle or so, Ura was able to get up and under a completely upright Shonannoumi who as more than willing to backpedal while faking a pull, which allowed Ura the cheap oshi-dashi win. Once again, Shonannoumi was in complete control as he exited the dohyo and performed a dismount to the venue floor carefully navigating around the bucket of salt in the corner of the ring. Nice fake bout here to please the fans.

M4 Kotoshoho knocked M4 Shodai back a step from the tachi-ai and then went into complete pull mode conveniently forgetting to actually pull as he concentrated on the most obvious dive of the day. I mean, Kotoshoho had both palms to the dirt before Shodai could even pretend to slap down, and this was an obvious yaocho here. The best contact Shodai made on the day was pushing into Kotoshoho's back with both hands after Kotoshoho was already lying face first on the dohyo floor.

Komusubi Daieisho welcomed M3 Wakamotoharu with two hands to the throat that had WMH looking at the rafters one second in, and that usually spells doom for Daieisho's opponent, but today, the Komusubi relented on his attack a few seconds in and then dipped his shoulder towards his opponent asking to be slapped down. Wakamotoharu was so out of sorts at this point, the couldn't do anything, and so Daieisho stood straight up and pretended to go into pull mode backing up around the ring and then stepping out as he anticipated an oshi attack from Wakamotoharu that never came. The ending here was extremely awkward as Daieisho sheepishly stepped across the straw one way and then darted a different direction with no pressure coming from Wakamotoharu the entire time. Not sure of the politics here, but Daieisho dominated the tachi-ai and then obviously threw the bout from there.

Suckiwake Takakeisho welcomed M3 Mitakeumi, and Takakeisho gave Mitakeumi his best shot one second into the bout that amounted to a very weak shove attempt, and so Mitakeumi was able to brush that off, get the right arm inside, and easily force Takakeisho back and across without argument. One of the biggest travesties of the last few years was Takakeisho being inserted into the Ozeki ranks and then giving him a few fake yusho. It's so obvious.

This was a crucial loss for Takakeisho in terms of regaining the Ozeki rank because it appears that an effort won't be made to buy him 10 wins much to the disappointment of the ones of Takakeisho fans out there.

Sekiwake Kirishima was paired against M2 Ohho, and Kirishima was a bit passive as both dudes looked to trade defensive tsuppari, but Ohho quickly went into pull mode allowing Kirishima to move forward with a push attack, and Ohho carelessly stepped across as he whiffed on a pull. This was ho-hum sumo, but at least it wasn't fixed and the superior rikishi won, which is all you can ask these days.

Suckiwake Onosato as paired against M2 Atamifuji, and as is usually the case, Onosato lost the tachi-ai giving Atamifuji the right inside and left outer grip, but Atamifuji wasn't trying to set up a force out instead slowly shading back towards the straw waiting for Onosato to do something...anything. Onosato was hapless, however, and so Atamifuji pretended to shove Onosato back and across but quickly put his hands down before Onosato wildly stepped out. This was so lopsided in Atamifuji's favor that the gyoji first pointed towards Atamifuji but then realized that Atamifuji slapped his hands down so fast that Onosato hadn't touched out yet, and so he reversed his call in Onosato's favor, which was upheld by a mono-ii.

I don't know about you, but this is exactly the sound technique I like to see from my Ozeki candidates:

Or not.

I can tell you the one thing I didn't miss in July were these obviously fake bouts thrown in favor of Onosato. I can see that the dude still can't win a tachi-ai much less do anything else of consequence in the dohyo. He's a whited sepulcher if I've ever seen one (and I've seen one).

Suckiwake Abi looked to do battle against M1 Tobizaru, but the M1 henka'd to his left going for a rather bad pull, but this one was orchestrated as Abi plopped forward and down lightly with no pressure coming from Tobizaru. What an ugly bout of sumo the last few bouts of the day, and I think all this fake sumo is even wearing down the Japanese faithful.

Ozeki Hoshoryu welcomed M1 Takanosho fresh off of his undeserved jun-yusho performance in July, and in an attempt to make Takanosho's run last basho look legitimate, Hoshoryu got the right arm inside, but quickly pulled his left hand away from an outer grip and literally moved to his right for no reason and then backed up outta the ring dragging Takanosho into his body in the process. It looked as if Takanosho's right hand touched down before Hoshoryu stepped out, but they ignored the mono-ii. I mean, why make the fans witness a fake bout twice in a row when you don't need to? The crowd was rather silent after this one because they could tell that the bout was fixed. I mean, regardless of what your opinion is on that, there's nothing you could point to in Takanosho's sumo to cause Hoshoryu's antics, and the same old shtick is just getting tired for everyone.

The day concluded with Kotozakura taking on Komusubi Hiradoumi, and I knew Hiradoumi was going to throw the bout as soon as he aligned his feet and hopped towards Kotozakura in lame fashion from the tachi-ai. Of course, Kotozakura is incapable of applying any pressure from the tachi-ai, so Hiradoumi still had some work to do as he backed up near the edge. When he realized that Kotozakura wasn't there to push him out, Hiradoumi darted back to the center of the ring and had moro-zashi before Kotozakura could fully square up, but instead of using that position to force the faux-zeki into the front row, he lamely waited for the first sign of pressure from his opponent before hopping over and down landing on his back and then spinning over wildly. You can watch the slow mo replays and you'll find no evidence of a move from Kotozakura that caused those antics at the end, but whatever. We all know the drill. Kotozakura is a complete fraud as he's gifted a win on Day 1 for losing the tachi-ai, giving up moro-zashi, and doing nothing to win the bout.

That intentional loss by Hoshoryu was huge because it takes him out of the early running.  It already looks like the yusho will come down to Kotozakura and Onosato in the end.