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Day 13 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
My broadcast (which starts at 4 PM Japan time) opened with an up-close shot of Takakeisho's yusho placard hanging in the rafters of the Kokugikan and positive talk regarding the faux-zeki's prospects. The possibility of promotion to Yokozuna following this basho is gone after his second loss in as many days yesterday, but Kirishima, who was providing color today, reminded us that he can carry his results from this basho into next basho.

If Takakeisho ends up taking the yusho here in January, all that would do is lessen the requirements for him next basho. For example, a 12-3 yusho here and then a jun-yusho performance in Osaka would be enough.

If Takakeisho doesn't hoist the cup here in January, he'll for sure take the jun-yusho, and then we'll simply reset things going into March where a convincing yusho for Takakeisho will earn him the next rank.

Either way, it's a lose-lose prospect for fans like me, but it's clear that the Sumo Association wants another Japanese Yokozuna.

Prefacing the Day 13 action, let's start with the leaderboard that was posted as follows at the start of the day:

10-2: Onosho
9-3: Takakeisho, Kotoshoho

Let's go in chronological order today touching on all of the bouts.

I was thrilled to see Enho visit from Juryo to take on M15 Mitoryu, and I was even more thrilled to see he's still buying wins. Enho henka'd to his left and grabbed an outer grip against Mitoryu, and the latter just went with the flow offering weak underhand tsuppari as Endoh ushered him back and down to the venue floor. At 7-6 from the J4 rank, Enho likely won't return to the division in March, so fingers crossed he doesn't. As for Mitoryu, he made no effort to do anything here in falling to 5-8

Next up they broke away from the dohyo and over to the interview room where they interviewed Enho's stablemate, Ochiai, who took the Makushita yusho today with a 7-0 record.

Ochiai has been in the press a bit as one of Hakuho's prized prodigies, and at 19 years of age, there are high hopes for this kid. He looks the part, and he's got a good sumo body unlike Takakeisho, but then they showed his bout today against Kazekenoh for all the Makushita marbles, and watch the ending and see if the tsuki-otoshi slap warranted Kazekenoh's fall and roll off the dohyo:



That bout was obviously fixed, and if it's happening in Makushita, it's almost scary to think how deep bout fixing goes in the sport.

Ochiai was even featured during the NHK News 9 sports segment. They pulled out footage of him visiting Hakuho when Ochiai was still in junior high, and after introducing himself to Hakuho, he said, "My plan is to break your record for most yusho." Hakuho got a kick out of it, but he obviously saw something in the kid, and so he recruited him all these years later, and now you know the back story to Ochiai.

Problem is...that bout today for the Makushita yusho was fixed dang it, but this is a good example of how new stars are manufactured. I'm not saying that Ochiai isn't a dude with potential or that he doesn't have great sumo skills; I'm just pointing out the fact that his bout for the Makushita yusho today was fixed, and it disappoints me. The fall there at right was not warranted from that light slap, and what would cause a dude's legs to go up that high?

Moving right along, M14 Ichiyamamoto came with busy tsuppari against M12 Kagayaki from the tachi-ai, but there were no legs behind the move and the attack wasn't making an impact. Luckily for him, Kagayaki wasn't trying to win, so he took a page from Mitoryu's tsuppari book from the bout before offering these useless light shoves when he was really just backing up in tow. Near the edge, IYM lurched to the inside with the right and followed up with a left outer, and Kagayaki made no attempt to respond as IYM forced him across in the tsuppari affair turned migi-yotsu contest. I mean Kagayaki could have easily pivoted right and executed a counter scoop throw, but he stayed stiff and upright (cool). Too much bout fixing out of the gate for my taste as Ichiyamamoto buys kachi-koshi at 8-5 while Kagayaki still has plenty of room to sell at 7-6.

M11 Chiyoshoma forced the style of his bout against M14 Azumaryu into a tsuppari affair, but Shoma was really just keeping Azumaryu at bay and not trying to work his way inside. Azumaryu's shoves were defensive, so the two traded shoves but not blows for 12 seconds or so before Chiyoshoma went for a wild ke-kaeshi. The crowd was enjoying it, but it was fluff sumo that saw Azumaryu suddenly come away with a right outer grip. He attempted a throw straightway that Chiyoshoma survived, and then the two sorta dug in for another 20 seconds or so in a fluff yotsu bout. In the end, Azumaryu persisted in his outside belt throw, and Chiyoshoma finally lightly hit the deck putting his right elbow down quickly to aid his fall. A counter left inside throw from Chiyoshoma was missing here because this bout was not fought straight up as Azumaryu moves to 9-4 while Chiyoshoma falls to 5-8.

Maybe this is why I haven't been commenting on all the bouts the last couple of days.

M10 Aoiyama proved to be too big of a lug for M9 Endoh to handle, so the Happy Bulgar dictated from the start here with cautious tsuppari. After a few seconds of action, the two went into a clinch where Aoiyama used a left forearm into Endoh's throat to force him across the straw and down. Endoh managed a frontal belt grip at the edge, but he was too far gone in order to counter. Nice, methodical win from Aoiyama as both rikishi stand now at 8-5.

M9 Takanosho and M16 Chiyomaru greeted each other with stiff arms up high, and after a second or two, Maru moved left faking a pull that never came, and Takanosho used that momentum shift to dive in close and force Chiyomaru back and across without any resistance. This was a non-contested bout as Takanosho moves to 6-7 while Chiyomaru falls to 3-10.

M7 Ura did well to duck under M13 Kotoeko and force him back near the straw with some pushes, but Kotoeko stood his ground from there forcing Ura into pull mode, and when that happened, Kotoeko pounced getting moro-zashi and forcing Ura back and across the dohyo and out the other side. This was about as good of sumo as we could have expected from these two with Eko moving to 7-6 while Ura falls to 6-7.

M15 Tsurugisho put two hands towards M6 Myogiryu's upper chest at the tachi-ai and then went for a harmless slapdown about two seconds in. Myogiryu complied and put both palms to the dirt and stood right back up signaling the fix was in here. Why risk anyone getting injured as Tsurugisho moves to 6-7 while Myogiryu palms his way to 4-9.

M5 Nishikigi and M16 Takarafuji hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where they stood for a bit testing the outer grip waters, and then Takarafuji made the first move going for a nice tsuki with the right to the back of Nishikigi's shoulder, but he held up on the move signaling that these dudes weren't going full force. After Nishikigi "recovered," the two squared back up and then Takarafuji allowed Nishikigi to execute the slowest maki-kae ever (the second sign this bout was fixed), and after NG got it, he lightly dumped Takarafuji over and down with a scoop throw. I should clarify here...I think Nishikigi is the better rikishi of the two, but the bout was obviously arranged in his favor today. He picks up kachi-koshi at 8-5 while Takarafuji is a harmless 7-6.

The bout fixing would continue as M8 Ohho stuck M4 Sadanoumi with some nice paws to the neck as Sadanoumi kept his arms in no-man's land, and about two seconds in Ohho went for a light pull and Sadanoumi caught himself with both hands never letting any other part of his body touch the dirt. Pointless stuff here as Ohho moves to 2-11 while Sadanoumi falls to 4-9.

After the Takakeisho talk at the start of my broadcast, they shifted gears and highlighted the second most anticipated bout today: the M3 Abi - M13 Kotoshoho matchup. Whenever they highlight these matchups, they'll always show replays from previous bouts...one where this guy one and then another bout where the other dude won. In the case of these two yayhoos, they've only fought once, and it was last basho as part of Abi's run to the yusho, and in that bout, Abi scored on a cheap, orchestrated pulldown in about two seconds, and as soon as I was reminded of that, I knew that the favor would be returned today.

And it was even though Abi took charge the first second or two knocking Kotoshoho off the starting lines a few steps, but then he backed off pretending to pull and that let the action flow back to the center of the ring in favor of Kotoshoho. The two traded barbs from there before Kotoshoho slipped to his right and touched the back of Abi's right biceps, and that was Abi's cue to dive out of the ring. The explanation afterwards from Kirishima was that "Abi was the one who pulled first, and so that took away from his ability to stay in the ring." I see.

They use those explanations because they can't point to anything Kotoshoho did to dictate the pace or set his foe up. Abi was in charge of everything keeping his attack just light enough to let Kotoshoho maneuver around and then pull that rabbit out of the hat at ring's edge. Looked good to the sheeple as Kotoshoho stays the course at 10-3 while Abi falls to 7-6.

M1 Daieisho connected with very nice tsuki into M10 Hiradoumi from the tachi-ai, but credit the M10 for standing his ground and trying to fight back, but Daieisho is simply the better rikishi, and he trusted in his tsuppari attack until Hiradoumi had been dispatched from the dohyo via tsuki-dashi, and remember the different between a tsuki (thrust) and an oshi (shove) is that the elbow is locked for a tsuki and bent for an oshi. This bout was a great example of Daieisho's elbows being locked start to finish. He moves to 9-4 with the nice win while Hiradoumi falls to 7-6.

Hooboy. Now we know why M2 Mitakeumi didn't go for more tachi-ai henka throughout the years. Today against M1 Tobizaru, Mitakeumi henka'd to his left an an attempt to latch onto the outside belt of Tobizaru, but the move was so slow that Tobizaru responded in kind and tackled Mitakeumi over and down hard to the clay a second in. What an uncomfortable bout for everyone because you supposedly have a former Ozeki and three-time yusho guy get handled like that...by Tobizaru. The optics were terrible here as Tobizaru moves to 6-7 while Mitakeumi suffers make-koshi at 5-8 is about as humiliating a fashion as possible.

M6 Hokutofuji and Komusubi Wakamotoharu hooked up in a pretty routine hidari-yotsu bout from the tachi-ai, and slowly but surely Hokutofuji forced WMH back near the edge, but instead of continuing his charge or going for the right outer grip (I thought it was open), he suddenly backed up and let Wakamotoharu force him back across the ring and out. A great area to focus on if you watch the replay is Hokutofuji's right hand. He keeps it high and away from an attempt to grab the outside grip when he's attacking, and then he doesn't attempt to counter with it when he's retreating. The end result is both dudes setting (as we say in Utah) at 7-6.

In a similar bout, Komusubi Meisei took the upperhand from the tachi-ai knocking M4 Nishikifuji back with ease using the left inside and the right hand in perfect position to grab an outer grip, and with Nishikifuji coming with a pull, he was set up to get his ass kicked. Meisei forced him close to the edge and even had Nishikifuji turned a bit to the side, but instead of taking advantage, he put both arms up high and just waited for Nishikifuji to square back up and get moro-zashi, and the light scoop throw with the right came shortly thereafter.

I hear the manufactures of those Dummmies books have already reached out to Meisei to author: How To Throw Sumo Bouts for Dummies. Both rikishi end the day at 4-9.

A great example of a rikishi manufactured by the media and supported by yaocho is Komusubi Kotonowaka who took on M2 Tamawashi, and The Mawashi kept his hands high at the tachi-ai encouraging Kotonowaka to move forward, and he tried but couldn't supply sufficient pressure to Tamawashi. After a few seconds, Kotonowaka couldn't help himself and went for a really dumb pull that gave Tamawashi the clear path to score an easy pushout, but darn the luck...Tamawashi lost his footing and dove down and to his left before he could sill the dill. I love listening to the analysis after bouts like this. "Uh, well Kotonowaka applied good pressure." What does that even mean? Kotonowaka was hapless and it required Tamawashi (8-5) to do all the work and take a dive at the end. Kotonowaka buys his way to 6-7 with the fixed bout.

Komusubi Kiribayama came with a very light hari-zashi against M3 Midorifuji, but he was still able to get the left inside firmly thanks to a soft defense from MFJ. And that defense got even softer enabling Kiribayama to grab two frontal belt grips, but instead of dispatching Midorifuji straightway, Kiribayama was content to just stand there in a stalemate. About 30 seconds later, Midorifuji attempted a right kubi-nage with his right arm, but before it ever came to full fruition, Kiribayama used the momentum shift to rush Midorifuji over hard where he slammed him down by the bucket of salt. Kiribayama is a man's man at 9-4 while Midorifuji falls to 6-7.

Sekiwake Hoshoryu pointed his hands low from the tachi-ai giving Suckiwake Wakatakakage what he wanna, and WTK chose a left outside grip. Problem was...Wakatakakage didn't set anything up, and so he was lost even though he had the left outer, and so after a pause of 10 seconds or so, Hoshoryu did the unthinkable of bringing an arm from the inside to the outside, and he did it with the right bringing it up high, and that allowed Wakatakakage to execute the cheap scoop throw with the left. I'm not sure if execute is the correct word because even that scoop throw was as awkward as can be, and this was an obviously fixed bout where WTK was completely hapless. Both rikishi end the day at 7-6.

M5 Ryuden easily got the left inside from the tachi-ai against Shodai before lightly forcing Shodai back. You could see that Ryuden was refraining from grabbing a right outer even though he brushed it against Shodai's belt. For Shodai's part, he did manage a decent tsuki to the back of Ryuden's right shoulder that tripped him up a bit, but he couldn't follow through allowing Ryuden to resume that left inside position where he toyed with the right outer grip for a few seconds before saying "Ah hell" whereupon he just grabbed it and forced ShoDie back and across with little argument. Ryuden clinches kachi-koshi at 8-5 while Shodai falls to 6-7.

And that brings us to the grand poobah...the Takakeisho - M8 Onosho matchup. After watching the intro to the broadcast, I was pretty sure how this bout was gonna turn out. I mean, an Onosho win means he clinches the yusho on Day 13...not mathematically, but it knocks Takakeisho out of the yusho race and saddles him with a three-bout losing streak. It's also another great example of an Ozeki failing miserably at the end of a basho. There was just too much face to save prior to this bout to have Onosho blow the doors off of his opponent.

The two struck at the tachi-ai in a stalemate before Takakeisho skirted left and swung a wild swipe. It didn't do much damage and it left him vulnerable to a mild oshi attack from Onosho that sent the faux-zeki back near the straw, but Onosho wasn't committed to the charge, and so he allowed Takakeisho to move back left and assume the center of the ring, and from there the two traded mean face slaps before Onosho raised his hands high as if to pull and that allowed Takakeisho to bulldoze him off of the dohyo altogether.

This was actually a really good bout for the fans. There was a lot of action and few of those slaps connected. What it wasn't was well-grounded sumo with good footwork and sumo basics from either party, but this was the outcome that sumo needed, and it was the outcome they got. Takakeisho was bloodied as is usually the case, but he got in a few licks as well against a willing opponent who let him win.

The end result is three dudes all tied at 10-3 in Takakeisho, Onosho, and Kotoshoho. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there are no more head to head matchups among them, so this could get really ugly the final two days.

As we look ahead to tomorrow, Takakeisho gets Hoshoryu, and it goes without saying that the only way Takakeisho can win that bout is to buy his opponent off.

Ditto for Onosho who draws Kiribayama.

As for Kotoshoho, he's matched against Daieisho, and there is no way that he can overcome Daieisho's tsuppari attack.

So...once again we have all three yusho contenders 100% reliant on yaocho to win, and you'd have to say that Takakeisho is the favorite for the reasons that I mentioned in the intro.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
About a week ago, it was clear that the yusho would likely come down to Takakeisho, Onosho, or Kotoshoho. It's not that rare for the foreigners to pull back and ensure that a Japanese rikishi will take the yusho, but I think this is the first time in a long time when it was so evident that practically every win by these three "leaders" have been due to bout fixing. When Daieisho took his yusho, he actually looked good and scored quite a few legit wins, and even Wakatakakage was energetic when he hoisted the cup, but these three have had no substance whatsoever, and the yusho race here is like a creaky floor that could give way at any minute.

NHK did go down to three losses at the start of the Day 12 broadcast, so this was the leaderboard coming into the day:

9-2: Takakeisho, Onosho
8-3: Tamawashi, Kotoshoho

Going in chronological order, M13 Kotoshoho was up first, and he was paired against M5 Nishikigi, and the two hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Nishikigi had his left hand at the front of Kotoshoho's belt and the path to the left outer, but he didn't grab the front of KSH's belt nor did he pursue the left outer. Nishikigi was still in charge, however, so when Kotoshoho executed a light scoop throw with the right, Nishikigi just ran forward and dove across the straw and down to the venue floor as Kotoshoho tried to keep up with a hiki-otoshi pull.

Watching in real time, you could see that Nishikigi was instigating that forward movement at the edge, and it was all Kotoshoho could do to get a hand on him as he dove outta the ring. Gone from Nishikigi was any resolve that he showed against Tamawashi yesterday.

Up next was M2 Tamawashi welcoming M8 Onosho, and gone was Tamawashi's tsuppari attack that he used yesterday against Nishikigi. I mean, go back and watch his Day 11 performance and then try and figure out why he couldn't bring the same goods against Onosho today?

The answer is that he didn't bring the same good intentionally. From the tachi-ai, he stood straight up with hands wide allowing Onosho to take the initial surge, and Tamawashi retreated back in kind, but Onosho wasn't exactly kicking ass and taking names, and so Tamawashi briefly thrust him back into the center of the ring before faking a pull and setting himself up for the easy oshi-dashi win in favor of Onosho.

Onosho's first offensive shove was the final one he connected with into Tamawashi's torso that sent him across. Everything until that point including the tachi-ai was defensive minded. Tamawashi dictated the flow here in throwing the bout in favor of Onosho, so The Mawashi essentially knocked himself off of the leaderboard at 8-4. As for Onosho, he scoots to 10-2 where he waited the outcome of the Takakeisho bout.

Kotoshoho and Onosho were both granted easy wins, so would the fix also be in for Takakeisho against Komusubi Kiribayama? Kiribayama stepped a half step across his starting line, but he wasn't trying to get to the belt or execute tsuppari. As for Takakeisho, he moved forward, but like Onosho before, his outstretched arms were more in a defensive pattern, and so the two stood above Kiribayama's starting line where the Komusubi worked his left arm up and under Takakeisho's right side, and used the sukui position to scoop throw Takakeisho over and down easy as you please.

Oh snap. Just like that Takakeisho has lost two in a row now, and the result at the end of the day is Onosho's taking sole possession of first place:

10-2: Onosho
9-3: Takakeisho, Kotoshoho

I'm pretty sure they're not going to post the leaderboard down to four losses tomorrow, so we're right back to Larry, Curly, and Moe.

Onosho is paired against Takakeisho tomorrow, and Onosho is the clear favorite in a straight up bout. I'm not even going to try and guess what's gonna happen in that one, but I get the sense that Onosho is going to try and win it.

As for Kotoshoho, he's paired against Abi, and Abi is the favorite there, but we'll see. For what it's worth, NHK News 9 did NOT show highlights of the Kotoshoho bout against Nishikigi, which tells you that nobody cares about Kotoshoho.

They did show Asanoyama's bout against Shonannoumi, and Sho grabbed the early right outer grip against a defenseless Asanoyama, and he kept Asanoyama far away from getting his own outer grip. I mean, Shonannoumi dominated from the get-go, but instead of taking advantage of his positioning, he began spinning around and then back all the way across the dohyo using his right outer grip to pull Asanoyama into his own body. That was about as soft of a yori-kiri as you'd care to see, and Shonannoumi dictated start to finish. What a crock this Asanoyama "run" is, but what does it say when they show his highlight and not Kotoshoho's bout?

As Tamawashi was coming into the venue prior to his bout, the NHK Announcer roaming the back halls said he talked with Tamawashi, and his approach the rest of the way is going to be to show the fans a good time (tanoshimaseru). When I heard that, it reminded me of the NBA's all star game. The dudes are mostly out there half-assing it, and they're really there to just put on a show for the fans. That's exactly what's happening in sumo. Let's try and please the fans, not have 100% organic bouts to see who really is the best.

In the interest of time, let's just comment on one other bout from the day, the M14 Azumaryu - M10 Hiradoumi matchup. Hiradoumi came with a moro-te-zuki that was ineffective against his Mongolian foe, and Azumaryu absorbed that initial volley before shading left and setting up an easy pull where he yanked a stumbling Hiradoumi down by the back of the belt. It certainly wasn't anything to write home about, but Azumaryu picked up kachi-koshi at 8-4 for the first time in 10 tries in the division. The dude could have done it much sooner, but I suppose he found it more lucrative to sell Makuuchi bouts and then fall back down to Juryo. For whatever reason, he's chosen to kachi-koshi this basho, so I thought I'd mention it. Hiradoumi falls to 7-5 in defeat.

I'm quite sure that the Association will not let the yusho line fall to four losses, so if Onosho wins tomorrow, that will knock Takakeisho out of the race and all but guarantee Onosho the yusho even with two days left.

I'll try and comment on all the bouts tomorrow just to touch on each of the rikishi. See you then.

Day 11 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As I speculated yesterday, the Sumo Association did not hesitate to post a new leaderboard that extended down to three losses, and they actually posted it at the start of Day 11 not even waiting to see what would happen with Takakeisho and the head-to-head matchup between Onosho and Kotoshoho. It was such a logical move because even in week 1 it was easy to tell that the leaderboard in week 2 was going to lack substance, so by going down to the three-loss tier at the start of the day, it gives the appearance that the yusho is more exciting than it really is.

Prior to the start of the Makuuchi bouts, I noticed in the headlines that Asanoyama suffered his first loss on Day 11. They didn't show the bout during the Day 11 Makuuchi broadcast, so I haven't seen it yet, but it appears he ran into someone who couldn't be bought off. To be fair, I've only seen five of his 10 bouts coming into the day, and so there could have been some other legit wins from the days I haven't seen, but the five I did see were all compromised, and when the dude eventually does return to Makuuchi, it's going to be the same old song only the dude will be that much older.

The updated leaderboard coming into the day was revised to add the three-loss rikishi, and so as we enter the Shubansen, this is what we have to work with:

9-1: Takakeisho
8-2: Onosho, Kotoshoho
7-3: Tamawashi, Nishikigi, Hiradoumi, Azumaryu

Instead of touching on all the bouts as we did yesterday, let's follow the leaderboard in ascending order meaning we start with M10 Hiradoumi who was paired against M15 Mitoryu. The two hooked up quickly in migi-yotsu with Hiradoumi grabbing an nice left outer grip, but Mitoryu's a load to move around for sure, and despite his best yori attempts, Mitoryu could not put Hiradoumi in serious danger.

Whenever you commit to an offensive attack in sumo, you usually have to leave something else vulnerable, and as Mitoryu fought off Hiradoumi's yori charge by moving to his right around the ring, he was able to take advantage of his opponent's now upright position and grab a solid left grip of his own. Hiradoumi was able to wrench his hips and break that grip off, but the damage was done; Mitoryu had his gal pulled in snug, and Hiradoumi was too upright to mount another offensive against such a large dude. Mitoryu sensed this and went for a nice force-out charge leading with the right arm inside, and just when it looked as if Mitoryu would score the sukui-nage win with the right, Hiradoumi persisted just a bit causing Mitoryu to body his foe down abise-taoshi style.

I really enjoyed this chess match for obvious reasons, and this is what sumo should look like all the time with maybe a few exceptions. The rule these days is we get a bout like this maybe once a day. The end result is Hiradoumi getting knocked right back off the leaderboard at 7-4 while Mitoryu picks up a good win at 4-7.

M14 Azumaryu was intentionally half-assed at the tachi-ai against M9 Endoh, who skirted a bit right grabbing the right outer grip, and Azumaryu could have easily secured the left inside and squared up with Endoh whose back was against the straw, but he just went with the yaocho flow and dove over and down touching his right elbow to the dirt while Endoh was still looking for a solid grip of Azumaryu's belt. They ruled it uwate-nage, but there was no throw to be found. It was actually okuri-taoshi as Endoh pushed into the back of Azumaryu's butt as he was diving down.

If you look at this pic at the end of the bout, key in on Endoh's right hand and Azumaryu's left hand. Endoh does not have a grip of the belt and Azumaryu's left arm should be positioned in scoop throw fashion or he should be countering with an inside belt throw. A real bout would have been a nage-no-uchi-ai, but this one was just fluff where Azumaryu voluntarily took himself off of the leaderboard. Both dudes here end the day at 7-4, so maybe we'll see them back on the board at some point.

Here's an interesting question: how does M8 Ohho start out last basho 9-1 through 10 days only to go 1-9 through 10 days this basho by fighting very similar competition? There's only one explanation (I know, it's because he's injured this basho...). I only bring that up because he lost again today to Chiyomaru in between the last bout and this next one.

M8 Onosho and M13 Kotoshoho hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Onosho had a shallow left outer grip, but the two dudes were straight up chest to chest which rendered that outer left fairly useless. Speaking of useless, Kotoshoho made very little effort in this one as Onosho set up a casual scoop throw with the right that sent Kotoshoho over and down in about two seconds. I'm not sure if Kotoshoho was mukiryoku here or just hapless, but this was not a bout of o-zumo for sure. Onosho will take it, however, in moving to 9-2 while Kotoshoho falls to the three-loss tier at 8-3.

Skipping a few bouts ahead, two dudes who suddenly found themselves on the leaderboard heading into the day fought each other in M5 Nishikigi and M2 Tamawashi, and they treated us to a very well fought bout of sumo. Tamawashi dictated the pace with his tsuppari attack, but Nishikigi did well to stand his ground and make Tamawashi work. Nishikigi never could get established to the inside as he evaded this way and that, and Tamawashi handled him fairly easily in winning by tsuki-dashi in the end, but it was a great battle and true sumo. The reason Tamawashi still looks so good even at his current age is because he only has to expend energy like this once or twice a basho. Tamawashi moves to 8-3 with the nice win while Nishikigi is knocked back off the leaderboard at 7-4.

Our last bout that involved a leader was the final bout of the day featuring Takakeisho vs. Komusubi Kotonowaka, and Takakeisho was upright and flat-footed at the tachi-ai. I mean, you apparently have a dude who is Yokozuna material and he can't even execute a tachi-ai properly? Fortunately for him, Kotonowaka's tachi-ai wasn't great, or else he would have blown Takakeisho off of the starting lines, but instead, the two engaged in a purely defensive affair. A few seconds in, it was apparent that Kotonowaka wasn't mukiryoku, and you knew this because Takakeisho's wild sideways swipes didn't even budge him. With Takakeisho in a panic and Kotonowaka standing his ground firmly, Takakeisho skirted around and over near the corner where Kotonowaka picked up his salt, and finally Kotonowaka caught him with a nice shove to send Takakeisho sprawling and rolling off of the dohyo.

All it was gonna take is an opponent who refused to be bought out, and Takakeisho ran into him today. Not only did Takakeisho get his ass kicked, but he wasn't prepared to fight a larger opponent like this straight up, and so it was a lopsided affair. Go watch the slow motion replays and count the number of tsuki (thrusts) that Takakeisho executed. Ok, I'll save you the time. The answer is zero. The dude didn't attempt a single thrust the entire bout, and for the record, an Ozeki or Yokozuna should never be seen on all fours at the base of the dohyo in such a defeated pose.  Never! Yokozuna shmokozuna.

In scanning the headlines after the days' bouts, the word the media is using in concert to describe Takakeisho's Yokozuna status is "kibishii," or it's gonna be tough. Who knows? One more loss will be the death knell, but if he can run the table which would include wins over Kiribayama (he faces him tomorrow) and Hoshoryu, it might create enough fervor that they promote him anyway. Based on sumo content, Takakeisho was disqualified long ago.

The loss does put a big dent in the leaderboard, which now looks like this at the end of the day:

9-2: Takakeisho, Onosho
8-3: Tamawashi, Kotoshoho

I think there's a high probability that the yusho line falls to 12-3, and I think Takakeisho is still the favorite, but that is based purely on politics.

Reviewing the matchups tomorrow, Takakeisho draws Kiribayama, and that's purely a will he or won't he bout.

Onosho is paired against Tamawashi, so ditto above.

Kotoshoho gets Nishikigi, and Nishikigi is as much a favorite in that bout as Kiribayama and Tamawashi are in their own bouts.

I think sumo needs Tamawashi on that leaderboard, so look for him to defeat Onosho and then Kiribayama to defer to Takakeisho...a scenario that would put Takakeisho back in sole possession of the lead.

In other bouts of interest, Sekiwake Hoshoryu shaded right at the tachi-ai grabbing the cheap outer grip on that side against M4 Nishikigi, and the Sekiwake lifted Nishikifuji upright enough to where he grabbed a left inside frontal grip, and it was curtains from that point as Hoshoryu scored the easy force-out win. They actually showed a replay of this bout on the NHK New 9 Sports segment just to get a good, solid bout of sumo in the highlight reel in my opinion. Hoshoryu moves to 7-4 with the nice win while Nishikifuji suffers make-koshi at 3-8.

It's worth commenting on the M3 Abi - M1 Tobizaru matchup just to point out how unstable Abi's firehose tsuppari attack is. He was busy from the tachi-ai forcing Tobizaru back near the edge with his shoves, but a controlled attack would not have allowed Tobizaru to skirt laterally at the edge and cause Abi to accidentally step out isami-ashi style. Normally, the isami-ashi kimari-te is seen in fixed bouts, but this was a legit bout all the way. Abi's had a tough luck last few days as he falls to 6-5 while Tobizaru is 4-7.

Here's sumo's bread and butter: middle-aged women who need a hobby. This sign actually had the words "Ura ganbatte!" that would scroll laterally, and look how invested this gal is in the bout. M7 Ura faced M12 Kagayaki today and tried to duck under his foe from the tachi-ai, but Kagayaki kept his eyes squarely on the dude and tsuppari'ed him upright and then followed him in his lateral retreat sending Ura back and across with a nice tsuki attack. Both dudes finish the day at 6-5, and no, they unfortunately did not revisit the Ura fans to get their disappointed reactions.

Let's call it a day at this point, and pick it back up tomorrow.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
In my opinion, to properly analyze the happenings in the Makuuchi division, you have to fully comprehend the reporting in the Japanese media and understand the commentary provided on NHK's daily broadcast. There are so many cultural nuances to glean, and it's why I comment on the broadcast and not just the daily bouts.

As part of the daily broadcast, they list the three most streamed bouts from the previous day, and the lineup from Day 9 as revealed on the Day 10 broadcast was this:

1. Asanoyama - Kitanowaka
2. Wakamotoharu - Hoshoryu
3. Nishikifuji - Ura

Does anybody notice whose missing from that list? On the surface, you have Takakeisho taking charge in the yusho race, and then he's up for promotion to Yokozuna, but those storylines are not exactly resonating with the fans. You have people clearly more interested in Hoshoryu's injury and anything Ura does than you have interest in Takakeisho.

My opinion is that even the gullible fans aren't enamored with the sumo they're seeing from Takakeisho in the ring. The daily pattern is the dude loses the tachi-ai, gets his ass kicked, gets his lip bloodied, and then somehow escapes in the end. The lone exception was the Sadanoumi bout yesterday, but even then, everyone could see that Sadanoumi gave up from the tachi-ai and just turned his shoulder and looked for a soft landing one second into the bout.

It's one thing to have a guy like Chiyonofuji back in the day who was handsome, muscular, and a pure bruiser (even if Chiyonofuji was heavily involved in yaocho), but Takakeisho? He's shaped like a dude's junk after he steps out of cold swimming pool. There's just nothing attractive about him other than he's Japanese and he's apparently an Ozeki.

You can hype guys incessantly and set them up with wins and ranks, but at some point the quality of the sumo matters.

Day 10 began when J2 Daiamami shaded to his left at the tachi-ai grabbing the cheap outer grip against M14 Azumaryu, and this also forced the bout to migi-yotsu. Daiamami hurried his charge without having Azumaryu pinned in with the right arm, however, and so Azumaryu was able to execute a very nice counter inside belt throw with his own right, and that put Daiamami upright to where Azumaryu secured moro-zashi, and from there the force-out was academic. Very good counter work and footwork here from Azumaryu who moves to 7-3 while Daiamami falls to 2-8.

M12 Kagayaki kept his arms in tight and low as he awkwardly moved forward right into an orchestrated henka from M13 Kotoeko to his left, and instead of trying to put on the brakes and adjust, Kagayaki just kept walking forward and across the straw. What an awful bout this was after that very good bout to start the day. Both dudes are now even steven at 5-5.

M11 Chiyoshoma struck M15 Mitoryu well from the tachi-ai getting the left arm inside, and even though he knocked Mitoryu back a step or two, he gave up that ground in order to get the right outer grip, and once he had that, he was able to wrench Mitoryu's back to the wall with a left belt throw. After shoring up the right outer, he survived a nice counter tsuki attempt from Mitoryu and forced him back and across.

Everyone should be forced to watch this bout at the start of the day just so your brain can remember what real sumo looks like. Everything here was perfect and in place as Chiyoshoma moves to 4-6 while Mitoryu falls to 3-7.

M14 Ichiyamamoto put his hands forward from the tachi-ai against M10 Hiradoumi, but without really pushing, he started to retreat and go for a weak pull, and Hiradoumi just followed him right around the ring before sending him across with an easy oshi-dashi. Hiradoumi moves to 7-3 with the nice win while Ichiyamamoto falls to 6-4.

M9 Endoh and M16 Takarafuji were out of sync at the tachi-ai, and to make matters worse, the plan was to have Endoh henka, so it was a very awkward start as Endoh moved to his right with Takarafuji crouched down there watching him, but instead of taking advantage of the compromised Endoh, Takarafuji just plowed forward into thin air and allowed Endoh to spin him around and out. What a laugher as both dudes end the day at 6-4.

At this point of the broadcast, they introduced the top three streamed bouts from the day before, and as mentioned in the intro, Asanoyama took top honors. They showed the replay at this point, so let's break it down.

The bout went to migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai and instead of grabbing the easy left outer (you can see at left that Kitanowaka is positioned perfectly to grab a left outer) against a completely upright Asanoyama, Kitanowaka backed up and to his left as if he was going to throw, but he just backed himself across the straw as he brushed his right hand down Asanoyama's face. Kitanowaka threw this bout in favor of Asanoyama no doubt, and so at least half of Asanoyama's wins (I've only watched five of them) have been fake. Asanoyama is moving these days like Mitakeumi, and the dude is clearly washed up.

As I was scanning the wires for Day 10 pics, I came across this one of Asanoyama's Day 10 bout (I haven't watch it yet), and you gotta admire that footwork.  I'm sure the result was a very clean ending for the former Ozeki:

M15 Tsurugisho grabbed an early left outer grip from the tachi-ai, and instead of clashing chests, the two circled in the center of the ring before the bout settled into migi-yotsu. It didn't get too far, however, before Tsurugisho used that left outer to wrench Ohho easily over to the edge and then dump him uwate-nage style for the nice win. Tsurugisho moves to 4-6 in the process while Ohho falls to 0-9.

The first dude on the leaderboard to fight today was M13 Kotoshoho, and he was paired against M7 Ura. It's obvious the Sumo Association wants Takakeisho to yusho here in January, but you have to be careful about eliminating everyone else from the leaderboard. From the tachi-ai here, the bout went to migi-yotsu, but before Kotoshoho could get settled, Ura dodged to the side and went for a very nice scoop throw with the right while Kotoshoho countered with a left kubi-nage. Both dudes crashed down together, but Ura's left elbow clearly touched down first.

They called a mono-ii and ruled it a tie, so we had to watch another cat and mouse session, and for round two, Kotoshoho looked to have the path to migi-yotsu again, but Ura slipped out of harm's way and made Kotoshoho give chase, and in the process, Ura grabbed a hold of Kotoshoho's right leg and had him completely off balance, but instead of scoring the easy ashi-tori win, he just fell backwards and down of his own volition. That shows you how bad Kotoshoho really is when Ura has to let up for him. He moves to 8-2 with the "win" while Ura falls to 6-4.

M10 Aoiyama was thinking slow retreat from the start never once going for a true pull, and as he moved to his right, he grabbed M6 Hokutofuji's extended left arm and could have yanked him down with it, but he refrained further signaling that he was not looking to win the bout. And he wasn't allowing the contest to go to migi-yotsu where he just slowly backed up and across with Hokutofuji in tow. Laughable yaocho here as both dudes finish the day at 6-4.

M16 Chiyomaru was completely upright locking his knees from the tachi-ai, but M6 Myogiryu wasn't exactly lightning in a bottle. Myogiryu did move forward, however, and Chiyomaru's response was to crumble at the edge and just go down. Another terrible displays of sumo here as Myogiryu limps to 4-6 while Chiyomaru suffers make-koshi at 2-8.

M9 Takanosho and M5 Nishikigi clashed hard at the tachi-ai with Takanosho sort of in moro-zashi, but Nishikigi was pressing in so tightly with his girth not to mention a firm left outer, and Takanosho couldn't budge him despite the dual insides. Nishikigi kept his gal in snug with that left outer and then executed a nice yori-kiri to move to 7-3. As for Takanosho, he was smothered here in falling to 4-6.

Our next "leader," M8 Onosho, stepped into the ring to battle M4 Nishikifuji, and this bout went to hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai...a position that favors Nishikifuji, but instead of attacking, he literally just backed up to the edge and offered a weak tsuki with the right arm into Onosho's side that actually sent Onosho down. Nishikifuji was in full control, however, and stepped back before Onosho touched down giving the cheap win to Onosho.

I mean, if you're trying to win the bout, you move firmly to the side and send your opponent sprawling with a counter tsuki, but Nishikifuji went half-assed and made sure to step across prematurely. This resembled a bout where Takakeisho comes away the winner. He can't win the tachi-ai; his opponent dictates the style and flow of the bout; and he needs a fake dive from his opponent at the edge. Onosho stays on this horrible leaderboard at 8-2 while Nishikifuji falls to 3-7.

M3 Abi's tsuppari tachi-ai was useless against M5 Ryuden and only left him fully exposed to his opponent should he have chosen to take the insides. Ryuden didn't and instead backed up and shaded left, and with Abi applying zero pressure, Ryuden could have grabbed an outer grip, but he instead went for a light tsuki, and it almost did Abi in. With Abi's back against the wall literally, Ryuden coulda done what he wanna, but he anticipated a swipe from Abi and just dove to his right and outta the dohyo altogether pretending as if Abi connected on a counter tsuki.

This was another ending that defied the laws of physics, and it's just silly sumo here as Abi buys the cheap win in moving to 6-4 while Ryuden falls to 5-5.

M1 Daieisho was proactive from the tachi-ai firing away at tsuppari against M2 Tamawashi, but the Mongolian was clearly not fazed and just went with the flow. The problem was that nobody paid him off, and so he absorbed Daieisho's tsuppari attack before countering with a soft kubi-nage neck throw that sent Daieisho over and down. Tamawashi moves to 7-3 with the easy win, and it'd actually give the leaderboard a bit more credibility if a heel like Tamawashi was on it. As for Daieisho, he's been the best Japanese rikishi so far this basho even though this loss sent him to 6-4.

Komusubi Wakamotoharu met M1 Tobizaru with a fair kachi-age with the right, but Tobizaru was just firing defensive tsuppari as he moved back to the edge of the ring, and with Wakamotoharu giving chase, Tobizaru did him another favor by setting up a pull, which was really a maneuver to set himself up for the oshi-dashi. Wakamotoharu picked up the win, but he did nothing to cause Tobizaru's backwards movement. This was Tobizaru (3-7) throwing the bout in favor of Wakamotoharu, who moved to 6-4 with the cheap win.

Komusubi Kotonowaka did his best C3P0 impression giving M2 Mitakeumi moro-zashi from the get-go, and as Mitakeumi hurried his force-out charge, Kotonowaka complied and went backwards with the flow stepping across and not even bothering to stand his ground at the edge even though he got his right arm inside rather deeply. Ho hum as Mitakeumi moves to 5-5 while Kotonowaka falls to 4-6.

Komusubi Kiribayama picked up the freebie due to Sekiwake Hoshoryu's withdrawal leaving both dudes at 6-4. I thought I heard on the morning NHK news program that Hoshoryu was going to come back, and sure enough he's scheduled to fight on Day 11.

Suckiwake Wakatakakage shaded to his left at the tachi-ai and focused too much on a shove into M4 Sadanoumi's jaw, but that only left Wakatakakage's insides fully exposed, and so Sadanoumi lurched his way into moro-zashi and easily forced WTK back and across as he tried in desperation to escape. Hooboy. I see all of these Wakatakakage signs and posters in the venue because the sheep have been told that he's a hot rikishi, but this sumo today was just terrible. He falls to 5-5 and was dominated here by the Sadamight who moves to 3-7 with the nice win.

Ha ha, I've never seen anyone kime-dashi'ed by the wrists before, but that's what happened today in the M3 Midorifuji - Shodai bout. Midorifuji got moro-zashi from the tachi-ai, and then there were a few maki-kae where neither party looked to make the other one pay, and when Midorifuji found himself in moro-zashi again, instead of rushing Shodai back and across, he retreated clear across the dohyo with his legs sliding out from under him as Shodai tried to keep up with both arms positioned outside of Midorifuji's wrists. They had to rule it kime-dashi, but there was no pinching in from the outside by Shodai for sure. This was just a silly bout of puff sumo where Midorifuji (5-5) threw the bout in favor of Shodai (4-6).

In the day's final bout, Takakeisho was paired against Komusubi Meisei, and this was basically a carbon copy of Takakeisho's bout against Midorifuji a few days earlier. Takakeisho failed to make an impact from the tachi-ai, and that allowed Meisei to get in tight with the right arm to the inside, but instead of forcing Takakeisho back, he just stood there near the edge and waited for Takakeisho to execute a left kote-nage. The throw was awful, and there wasn't enough behind it to hoist Meisei across, and so the Komusubi just dove down pretending as if he'd been thrown.

Once again we have a supposed candidate for Yokozuna who can't win the tachi-ai and can't advance across his starting lines against a 3-7 rikishi. There is definitely no greatness here, and that's why the fans are watching other bouts. At 9-1, Takakeisho looks weak and is not controlling the flow of his bouts, but it doesn't matter in sumo.

The updated leaderboard is as follows:

9-1: Takakeisho
8-2: Onosho, Kotoshoho

Onosho and Kotoshoho are paired together tomorrow, so assuming that Kotonowaka lets Takakeisho win, the leaderboard could be whittled down to just two bad rikishi by the end of Day 11. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them dip down to the three-loss tier if that happens.

Day 9 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Coming off of a three day weekend here in the US, you'll forgive me for not spending a lot of time on sumo. I did force myself to watch the bouts all three days, and it's just amazing how low the Sumo Association is willing to stoop. The most popular bout each day continues to be Asanoyama and whoever he fought in Juryo, and then second place is always the Takakeisho bout. I think it's worth noting as well the third place bout from Day 8 (as presented during the Day 9 broadcast) was the Wakatakakage - Midorifuji matchup.

Say what? Two dudes who ended Day 8 at 4-4 apiece is the third most appealing bout of the day?? I suppose it is if you're just doing what you're told and following the rikishi hyped in the media. If you step back and analyze what is going on here, you can see that the fans are being force fed these stories, and nothing right now that is a storyline this basho has been organic.

It's sad in a way, but I think all of this is best explained by examining the history of the Ozeki going back the last few years.

Here's a good trivia question: Name the last Ozeki to take the Makuuchi yusho? I'll bet if you asked that of any sumo fan in attendance on Day 9, they would have answered Mitakeumi with Takakeisho or Shodai being the second and third place answers, but the correct answer is Terunofuji, who took the yusho in May of 2021 as an Ozeki.

Terunofuji quickly ascended to the Yokozuna rank after that, and we don't associate him with "Ozeki sumo" because Ozeki sumo is nothing but yaocho.

If you ask the question, "Who was the last Japanese Ozeki to take the Makuuchi yusho?", the answer would be Takakeisho at the 2020 Kyushu basho. So it's been three years since a Japanese Ozeki took the yusho, and of couse that was all set up and fake just like the yusho race has been this basho.

Who was the previous Japanese Ozeki to take the yusho prior to Takakeisho in 2020? That would be Kisenosato who had his first career yusho orchestrated for him in January of 2017.

So...going back six years, only two Japanese Ozeki have taken the yusho. In other words, we can expect a Japanese Ozeki to yusho about 5.5% of the time.

What does that say about the Ozeki rank and sumo in general?

I usually bring it up every basho and point out that the Ozeki are incapable of carrying a basho, and even though Takakeisho is the sole leader through Day 9 here at the Hatsu basho, he is the one being carried by his opponents who are falling for him left and right.

I thought it interesting on Saturday and Sunday that Takakeisho had his ass kicked by both Midorifuji and Nishikifuji, and yet, he somehow came away the victor. I snapped this pic from Day 7 which shows Midorifuji with an insurmountable right inside position about 12 seconds into his bout against Takakeisho, which means the faux-zeki was gassed, and you can also see that Takakeisho has no secure footing, and yet...Midorifuji just stood there in that position a second or two waiting to be thrown.

It wasn't a blink or you missed it moment either. Midorifuji literally stood there and waited for Takakeisho to muster enough gas to execute a left kote-nage throw that threw Midorifuji wildly to the ground, so yet again, Takakeisho has his ass handed to him and was bloodied in the process but still came away with the win.

On Day 8, Nishikifuji refused to use his arms the first few seconds of the bout, but Takakeisho couldn't dispatch him, and feeling as if he needed to do something, Nishikifuji began mounting an offensive attack, and like his stable mate the day before, he had Takakeisho on the ropes--literally--only to dive forward and out in anticipation of a desperate Takakeisho side swipe. That swipe didn't actually connect, but Nishikifuji just dove out anyway giving Takakeisho another cheap win. This was Takakeisho after the bout as he squatted to receive his prize money:



On Day 9, Sadanoumi didn't even try against Takakeisho. The dude did nothing at the tachi-ai and then turned his left shoulder 90 degrees and waited for a final shove to come from the faux-zeki before lightly hopping off of the dohyo in a controlled fashion and softly landing on two feet. When a dude who is trying to win gets pushed across, it's usually a scary landing, but today Sadanoumi's intent was to go across the straw from the start, and that's why he was fully able to control his landing.  I'm sure someone said to the Sadanoumi camp, "We'll throw in an extra 500K yen if you don't bloody our guy today."

It's all shullbit, but it's an effort for the Sumo Association to try and legitimize the rikishi they are placing in the Ozeki rank who are just terrible.

Takakeisho is the easy favorite to yusho at this point, but he's still gotta arrange five or six bouts, and it's not as easy of a process as you might think. All it takes is one guy who comes from a stable that has no love for the Takanohana prodigy, and Takakeisho could still suffer a bad loss, and that's strictly where the drama lies for him the rest of the way. He has yet to win a bout legitimately, and he's not the favorite against Meisei tomorrow in a straight up bout. Meisei beat Takakeisho last basho, so we'll see what his camp decides to do on Day 10.

The second storyline of the basho and perhaps the most popular one has been this fake "run" by Asanoyama in the Juryo division. The last three days I've been pausing the tape to watch the recap of the Asanoyama bout, and all three days have been fixed bouts in favor of the former Ozeki.

Today against Gonoyama, Gonoyama henka'd to his left thinking about grabbing the left outer, but that would have given him too good of a position, so he abandoned that and waited for Asanoyama to square back up. As Asanoyama looked to recover, his footing was terrible and unstable, and Gonoyama was in position to easily push him over and down in the middle of the ring (as seen at right), but he instead put a left hand towards Asanoyama's jaw and then just ran across the ring to the other side.

It was an interesting move indeed, and even though he was setting the table for Asanoyama, Asanoyama hadn't caused Gonoyama's movements to that point, and so he wasn't prepared to finish him off. Asanoyama did rush his opponent, but Gonoyama met him with some defensive tsuppari that kept him upright, and Gonoyama had the perfect path to moro-zashi with Asanoyama's back to the edge. Instead of capitalizing, he just stood there, however, and waited for a very weak right kote-nage from the former Ozeki, and instead of being thrown down, Gonoyama had to physically dive down towards his right because there was no meat on that throw.

At every junction of the bout, Gonoyama was in complete control, and he even had the better positioning at the edge should the bout have gone to a nage-no-uchi-ai with Gonoyama's left scoop throw position vs. that terrible right kote-nage we saw from Asanoyama.

As for Asanoyama's Day 7 bout against Shimazuumi, we had this dandy ending that left Shimazuumi practically doing the splits in the middle of the ring...the result of an alleged Asanoyama belt "throw." What a crock this entire run has been in Juryo, and the headlines are now saying that if Asanoyama runs the table, he could be promoted for Makuuchi next basho.

Regardless of when he comes back to the division, you can already see what is being orchestrated here, and I can only shake my head at the lows in which sumo is willing to go in order to hype these has-been Japanese rikishi.

I don't know that there is a 3rd place story dominating the headlines, and the yusho race certainly isn't going to draw anyone's attention with a leaderboard at the end of Day 9 that looks like this:

8-1: Takakeisho
7-2: Onosho, Kotoshoho

I suppose it's good that they're not trying to rely on a yusho race to keep the fans' attention because in order to manufacture an exciting leader board down the stretch, they're going to have to give up on Takakeisho's yusho run. It's damned if you do and damned if you don't.

In other Day 9 news, Sekiwake Hoshoryu has withdrawn from the tournament after hurting his left leg while taking a dive against Komusubi Wakamotoharu. WMH was completely exposed at the tachi-ai, but instead of getting inside, Hoshoryu backed up to the edge setting up what he thought would be a nage-no-uchi-ai of his hurried right kote-nage against Wakamotoharu's left scoop throw, but instead of this going to a basic nage-no-uchi-ai, Hoshoryu actually pivoted to the outside of the throw and twisted his body down quickly before Wakamotoharu touched down, and in the process, it appears that Hoshoryu's left toe got caught in the straw, and it looked as if he suffered an ankle sprain. You look at that pic, though, of the ending, and how is it possible to twist your opponent like that with a scoop throw?

Either the Force is strong in guys like Wakamotoharu and Asanoyama, or the theatrics to the endings of these bouts are over the top.

At least we had a pure ending in Shodai's hataki-komi "win" against Kiribayama:



Now that the holiday here is over, I'll be back in full force tomorrow to pick up where I left off on Friday.

Day 6 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Following on the heels of Tochinoshin's withdrawal yesterday, we learned that Okinoumi and Takayasu have both withdrawn as well. Okinoumi announced is retirement the morning of Day 7, and we learned that he will assume the oyakata name of Kimigahama. I was kinda hoping he would apply for the sous chef job at Chiyotairyu's yaki-niku joint, but to each his own. As for Takayasu, he reportedly suffered a contusion in his right lower leg, and so he is done after a jun-yusho performance in November.

Beyond the injury announcements, the foreign rikishi are clearly pulling back, so it already looks like this will be an all-Japan affair in terms of the yusho race, and then the Takakeisho Yokozuna run should continue to generate headlines as long as his opponents keep cooperating.

Day 6 began with M16 Chiyomaru welcoming Akua up from Juryo, and Akua was proactive moving forward at the tachi-ai, but he didn't do anything, and so Maru sorta struck him with two hands up high and and then moved left as if to pull, and from there he simply watched Akua (0-6) run himself clear out of the dohyo. You watch a bout like this and it's surprising that even one of these dudes has a win, but since they fought each other... Chiyomaru moves to an impressive 1-5!

M15 Tsurugisho and M14 Azumaryu hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but with Tsurugisho coming in too high, Azumaryu was able to get an outside grip on the front of TS' belt essentially neutralizing Tsurugisho's inside position. After a second or two pause, Azumaryu used that frontal belt grip to wrench Tsurugisho over to the edge and across for the nice and easy force out win. Azumaryu moves to 5-1 with the textbook win while Tsurugisho falls to 2-4.

M13 Kotoshoho came with his usual tachi-ai against M16 Takarafuji, which means he made no impact whatsoever, and that allowed Takarafuji to move right and go for a slight pull, and Kotoshoho just crumbled forward and down to his first loss. When rikishi are truly hot, they have good tachi-ai, but Kotoshoho has been buying all of his wins to this point, so to see him perform like this in a straight up affair should not be a surprise. Both rikishi end the day at 5-1.

M14 Ichiyamamoto caught M13 Kotoeko with some nice tsuppari from the tachi-ai, but he just couldn't help himself and positioned his arms up high as if to pull, and he lost his momentum at that point. I think IYM realized his mistake and quickly repented resuming that thrust attack, but with Kotoeko facing minimal pressure, he was able to skirt left and pull Ichiyamamoto forward and down. The sumo wasn't great here, but Kotoeko will take that it in moving to 4-2 while Ichiyamamoto falls to 3-3.

M15 Mitoryu picked up the freebie moving to an even steven 3-3 due to Okinoumi's withdrawal.

M11 Chiyoshoma kept his arms high from the start of his bout against M9 Takanosho, and so Takanosho connected on a decent thrust initially, but it was Chiyoshoma dictating the pace by moving left and faking pulls the whole time with his insides completely exposed. As Chiyoshoma moved clear across the ring forcing his foe to give chase, Takanosho lost track of his footing and nearly stepped beyond the straw, but he barely kept this footing, so they played on where Chiyoshoma eventually took a fake dive from a Takanosho pull that really didn't connect. Surprisingly, they called a mono-ii here and said that Takanosho pulled Chiyoshoma's hair, so they gave the bout the Mongolians. Go figure. Takanosho falls to 3-3 with the hansoku make while Chiyoshoma picks up his first win at 1-5.

Before we move on, this bout was a great example of a fixed bout where the guy who was supposed to win wasn't in control from the start. It was all Chiyoshoma dictating everything including the fake fall, and so with Takanosho forced to react to everything, he couldn't keep track of his footing when forced to chase his foe across the dohyo.

M9 Endoh attempted the worst tachi-ai henka I've seen against M12 Kagayaki, but the bout was obviously arranged beforehand, and so Kagayaki just put his hands forward and then dove over towards the edge. I'm sure they'll be replaying this one for years to come as Endoh oils his way to 4-2 while Kagayaki falls--literally--to 2-4.

M10 Aoiyama won the tachi-ai without even trying by pushing into M8 Onosho's face, but then Aoiyama went into pull mode without really pulling, and with the dude retreating and keeping his hands high, Onosho was finally able to get an oshi attack going, and as he did, Aoiyama just politely turned around 180 degrees at the edge allowing Onosho to push him out from behind. The only thing that stood out to me with Onosho's sumo was his terrible footwork at the tachi-ai, but whatever. I'm used to this yaocho nonsense as both dudes end the day at 5-1.

M10 Hiradoumi was fearless in charging straight into M8 Ohho and getting the right arm inside, and he coupled that with the left outer, and as Ohho stood there defenseless, Hiradoumi pulled him with the left outer and then quickly switched gears executing a nice scoop throw with the right arm that felled Ohho with ease. Hiradoumi moves to 4-2 with the nice win while Ohho is still a goose egg at 0-6.

During the intermission, they showed the Asanoyama - Roga bout from Juryo, and the two hooked up in the gappuri migi yotsu position from the start, but Roga quickly broke off Asanoyama's outer grip and took control of the bout with his left outer. He refused to use his advantageous position, however, and then just let go of Asanoyama's belt in the end and allowed himself to be forced out. That makes two Asanoyama Juryo bouts I've watched now, and his opponents were mukiryoku in both of them. So let it be written.

M6 Hokutofuji stayed low at the tachi-ai looking for the quick pull against M6 Myogiryu, and when that failed, Myogiryu turned the tables executing a hataki-komi of his own and Hokutofuji looked to press back forward. Talk about the dog days of the basho with all these lopsided or uncontested bouts as Myogiryu limps forward to 2-4 and Hokutofuji falls to 3-3.

We finally got a straight up yotsu contest between M5 Ryuden and M5 Nishikigi who hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Ryuden used his long right arm to secure a right outer grip. At first it was on just one fold of NG's belt...that was coming loose, but Ryuden kept his gal in snug as he retooled that grip to more folds of the belt. Nishikigi stood strong against Ryuden's force-out attempts, and he thought about a maki-kae midway, but Nishikigi was really cuffed and stuffed in terms of executing his own offensive maneuver. After some good wrenching of the belts, the ref stopped the action so they could cinch up Nishikigi's loincloth, and from there, Ryuden proved the more persistent rikishi using his belt grips to finally force Nishikigi back and across. Feels like I've been waiting six days to see a bout like this one (because I have) as both rikishi end the day at 4-2.

M4 Sadanoumi kept his arms non-committed as he moved towards M7 Ura at the tachi-ai, and the key to beating Ura--beyond merely showing up--is to latch onto him and then use your strength advantage, but Sadanoumi just stood there pretending as if he had the right arm inside, and he just went limp allowing Ura to score the linear force-out win. As if. Ura is gifted 3-3 while Sadanoumi falls to 2-4.

M2 Mitakeumi moved forward proactively at the tachi-ai against M4 Nishikifuji getting the left arm inside, and he hurried his force-out charge despite not having NFJ pinned in close. It wouldn't matter today because Nishikifuji passed up on a wide open counter tsuki and just went with the flow allowing himself to be forced back and across with little fanfare. Mitakeumi bought this one in moving to 3-3 while Nishikifuji is a quiet 2-4.

Komusubi Kiribayama pretended he was in a hot tsuppari contest with M1 Daieisho, but Kiribayama spent more time thrusting up into thin air while backing his way up. Daieisho never really did connect with Kiribayama's torso, and it was the Komusubi who sloppily let his right foot slide across the straw without being pushed out. Watch the slow motion tape. Daieisho buys one here at 5-1 while Kiribayama plays team ball at 3-3.

Komusubi Meisei crushed fellow Komusubi Kotonowaka back from the tachi-ai before maintaining that momentum and bodying Baby Waka back to the edge, but Meisei refused to get an arm inside or moro-zashi, which was open.  He also refused to grab the belt, so when Kotonowaka lamely skirted right and went for a weak pull at the edge, Meisei complied and just dove to the dirt. The announcers afterwards could only say of Kotonowaka's sumo, "There's a few things he needs to work on." I'd say. He moves to 2-4 with the obvious gift while Meisei knows his place at 1-5.

Sekiwake Wakatakakage has officially been demoted to Suckiwake status. Today against M2 Tamawashi, he lamely henka'd to his left, and it wasn't that good, but instead of trying to square back up, Tamawashi complied and put both palms to the dirt a second in. Just great as both dudes finish the day at 3-3.

M1 Tobizaru beat Shodai back from the tachi-ai, but similarly to Meisei, instead of getting inside or finishing up what he started, he began to backpedal and feign pulls, but all he was really doing was setting himself up at the edge for the final shove from Shodai. Great example of the loser doing all the work and then giving up the win to a hapless rikishi as Shodai begs his way to 2-4 while Tobizaru falls to the same mark.

Komusubi Wakamotoharu picked up the freebie after Takayasu's withdrawal moving WMH to 3-3.

Sekiwake Hoshoryu slammed into M3 Midorifuji hard from the tachi-ai knocking Midori-chan back a bit, but instead of capitalizing on the tachi-ai win, Hoshoryu puts his arms out wide giving Midorifuji moro-zashi. Midorifuji still couldn't do anything with it, and so Hoshoryu brought his right arm inside and did nothing with it, and I think the Mongolia was ready to take a dive from a kata-sukashi from Midorifuji's right side, but the latter was so out of sorts, he couldn't attempt it. In the end, Hoshoryu drove Midorifuji hard to the edge and then pretended to go for a watashi-komi with the left, but instead of executing the move, he just dove out and made sure his left shoulder touched down first. You look at that pic there and watch the slow motion replays, and there is no way that Midorifuji could have caused that fall by Hoshoryu.

I hear the word "science" thrown around politically a lot these days by people who make arguments that are as baseless as the presumption that all sumo wrestling bouts are real, but what about "physics"? That's probably the easiest way to tell a fake bout. Did the victor really apply enough force to cause the loser to take such a fall? Regardless of that, Hoshoryu dives to 4-2 while Midorifuji oils his way to the same record.

In the day's final bout, M3 Abi connected well into Takakeisho's neck at the tachi-ai, but he purposefully held his right tsuki in place too long so Takakeisho could sorta swipe with the left. The inashi was weak and had no momentum behind it (think physics again), but Abi just went with it and ran himself away from Takakeisho and to the edge, but Takakeisho still couldn't bully him across because he hadn't forced Abi's movement in that direction. As Takakeisho looked to catch up, Abi went for a kachi-age that actually worked, but instead of taking advantage, he moved back to his left and just stepped out. Takakeisho was actually moving away from his opponent at the end when the supposed final oshi came, and this was just a puff bout of sumo where Abi did all the work.

Takakeisho is as bigga fraud as there is in sumo as he begs his way to 5-1 while Abi graciously falls to that same mark. All of Abi's wins have not been straight up this basho, but you watch this bout and can easily tell he's a superior rikishi to Takakeisho.

They lowered the man-in on-rei banners today, which was a bit of a stretch, but both weekend days should be close to sell-outs. I guess since sumo is the only gig in town right now, the people are still showing up.

We'll see what happens over the weekend.

Day 5 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As I was fast-forwarding in between bouts on Day 4, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the most streamed bout from the day before was the Day 3 matchup between Asanoyama and Hakuyozan. I made a mental note of the fact that a bout from Juryo was #1 and then made sure to watch for the most streamed bouts from Day 4 during today's broadcast, and sure enough, it was the Asanoyama - Tsushimanada contest from Day 4. I stopped fast forwarding and actually watched the bout from Day 4, and Tsushimanada made no attempt to win. The bout was over in about three seconds and featured a linear yori-kiri for Asanoyama where Tsushimanada was as mukiryoku as you please.

I find it interesting that Asanoyama is the hottest topic so far of the Hatsu basho. What does it say about the quality of the Makuuchi rikishi that people are most focused on a J12 rikishi who is coming off of a recent year-long suspension for not only breaking Covid rules and patronizing tittie bars but then blatantly lying to sumo officials about it when they opened an investigation into the matter? And what does it say about Takakeisho...a so-called Ozeki who is being shown up by a rikishi in Juryo whose already 28 years old?

I've always been fascinated by the politics of sumo, and I suppose that was a key reason in starting Sumotalk over 20 years ago, and the first five days of this basho has been fueled solely by politics and not the sumo content exhibited in the ring.

The day began with M14 Ichiyamamoto bringing a weak tachi-ai against M15 Tsurugisho, and IYM's feet were slipping all over the place as he tried to mount a tsuppari attack. It was weak for sure, but Tsurugisho wasn't looking to do anything but lose, and so when Ichiyamamoto went for a lame pull, TS (2-3) just flopped forward and down giving Ichiyamamoto the cheap win at 3-2.

M16 Chiyomaru came with weak kachi-age from the tachi-ai against M13 Kotoeko looking to do no damage, and it wasn't as if Kotoeko was getting snug either. The two were social distanced across the starting lines for a few seconds before Chiyomaru faked a pull or two, which was really an excuse to back up near the straw, and finally Kotoeko came forward giving chase and lightly pushing into Chiyomaru's shelf gut sending him back across the tawara. Ho hum in another lackluster bout as Kotoeko oils his way to 3-2 while Chiyomaru falls to 0-5, and as far as I'm concerned, they soiled the tsuki-dashi kimari-te by declaring it the winning technique here.

M13 Kotoshoho has been buying his bouts this basho hand over fist, and today against M15 Mitoryu was no different. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai and Mitoryu pretended as if the left outer grip was too far away. It obviously wasn't, and so with Kotoshoho attempting no sort of attack, Mitoryu finally...and easily grabbed the left outer, and after gathering his wits, he feigned an uwate-nage, but instead of positioning himself to the side of his foe, he just dragged Kotoshoho by the belt into his own body and lightly crumbled across the straw all of his own volition. What a crock.

Let's go down the list of sumo you'd expect from a 5-0 dude:

1. He won the tachi-ai: no
2. He defended the outside grip: no
3. He secured his own outside grip: no
4. He went on the attack: no
5. He executed the winning throw: no

That's why they use the word "gaman" or patience all the time for fake bouts. The guy who ends up benefiting has to sit there and wait for his opponent to do all the work. It's unbelievable that anybody buys this as Kotoshoho is a weak 5-0 while Mitoryu knows his place at 2-3. As for the explanation afterwards from Sakaigawa-oyakata on how Kotoshoho won the bout: his body was more limber. I see...

M14 Azumaryu and M12 Okinoumi struck chests well at the tachi-ai coming away in hidari-yotsu, and it was Azumaryu who worked his way to the outside right grip, and once obtained, he easily forced Okinoumi back and across. Okinoumi has lost the will to live at 0-5 while Azumaryu is a nifty 4-1.

M16 Takarafuji moves to 4-1 after picking up the freebie due to M11 Tochinoshin's withdrawal. With a final record of 2-13, Tochinoshin is a lock for Juryo in March.

M12 Kagayaki put a right hand into M10 Hiradoumi's jaw at the tachi-ai and coulda used that to set anything up, but instead of grabbing a left outer grip or pressing forward, he let Hiradoumi get the right inside, and as Hiradoumi went for the yori-kiri, Kagayaki played along without attempting to counter with a left kote-nage or left tsuki...two moves that were wide open. Hiradoumi is a cheap 3-2 while Kagayaki is 2-3.

M11 Chiyoshoma henka'd wildly to his right hoping that M9 Endoh would just push him out, but Endoh wasn't positioned to capitalize, and so Chiyoshoma began wildly retreating around the ring going for fake pulls, and after about four seconds of uncontrolled sumo, Chiyoshoma stepped back and out before Endoh hit the deck. Chiyoshoma threw this one for sure in falling to 0-5 while Endoh ekes his way to 3-2.

M10 Aoiyama won the tachi-ai easily keeping M8 Ohho at bay with defensive tsuppari, and you could tell a few seconds in that Aoiyama was looking for the lazy pull, but Ohho stood his ground fairly well and even looked close to taking advantage of an Aoiyama pull attempt, but the Happy Bulgar is just too experienced at this and managed to pull SlowHo down in the end. I'm trying to think if we've had a good bout of sumo to this point, and I think the answer is now as Aoiyama moves to 5-0 with Ohho the opposite at 0-5.

M9 Takanosho and M7 Ura were out of sync at the tachi-ai; in fact, both dudes had fists on the ground a second before they finally charged. Well, charge isn't the best word to use. Ura ducked low and Takanosho slapped him down with ease, and for good measure, Ura somersaulted over for no reason. This is clown sumo as Takanosho moves to 3-2 while Ura falls to 2-3.

The most glaring aspect of M8 Onosho's sumo to this point is that he hasn't been winning his tachi-ai, and yet, he's a magical 4-0 coming in against M5 Ryuden. Onosho was proactive today for sure moving forward and attempting to neutralize Ryuden with some shoves, but Ryuden fought it off and secured moro-zashi easy as you please, and form there, Ryuden showed no mercy by forcing Onosho back and across. Onosho falls to 4-1 after the sound defeat while Ryuden moves to 3-2.

M6 Hokutofuji tried to work his way up and under M4 Sadanoumi from the tachi-ai, but he couldn't get the Sadamight off balance and on his tip toes, and the result was Sadanoumi moving laterally and getting the firm right inside with the left close. Instead of give up moro-zashi, Hokutofuji attempted a desperate pull, but Sadanoumi (2-3) read it well and used his foe's backwards momentum against him shoving Hokutofuji (3-2) back and across with some oomph.

M5 Nishikigi was a hair late at the tachi-ai against M4 Nishikifuji, but Gi was too big of a load for Fuji to move around, and so Nishikigi got the dominant left arm to the inside and forced Midorifuji back and down faster than you can say failed retreat. Nishikigi landed on his opponent at the side of the deck adding insult to injury, and this was a good display form Nishikigi who finds himself at 4-1 while Nishikifuji falls to 2-3.

M6 Myogiryu kept his arms high and wide at the tachi-ai gifting M3 Midorifuji moro-zashi, but Midori-chan was having a tough time budging Myogiryu back, and with Myogiryu just standing there not looking to win, Midorifuji gave up his left inside as Myogiryu locked him out of the grip. From there, Myogiryu could have easily scored a kime-dashi win, and he instinctively lifted Midorifuji up high as if to charge, but he halted that and stood there like a bump on a log waiting for Midorifuji to make a move. Said move was a poorly executed uchi-muso that barely made contact if at all, but that was Myogiryu's cue to take the knee and give Midorifuji the cheap win. I just about threw up in my mouth when Sakaigawa-oyakata said, "Myogiryu was defending against the kata-sukashi so that's why he wasn't ready for the uchi-muso." Huh? It's just drivel as Midorifuji buys his way to 3-2 while Myogiryu falls to 1-4.

M2 Mitakeumi got the left arm inside nicely at the tachi-ai against Komusubi Wakamotoharu, but Mitakeumi hurried his force out charge without securing WMH in place with the right arm, and so Wakamotoharu was able to stand his ground at the edge, secure a right outer grip against the too-tall Mitakeumi, and then escape to his left because Mitakeumi hadn't secured him in place with the right. From that point, Mitakeumi was gassed, and so Wakamotoharu used his right outer grip to keep Mitakeumi in place as he forced the former faux-zeki back and across with ease. Both dudes end the day at 2-3, and this was a nice comeback from WMH after losing the tachi-ai.

M1 Tobizaru henka'd wildly to his right, and the move was poor, but Komusubi Kiribayama just played along and put both palms to the dirt before crab walking his way clear off the dohyo. Kiribayama (3-2) could have shifted on a dime here for sure, but he played along giving Tobizaru the cheap win and 2-3 record.

Komusubi Meisei caught Shodai by the neck at the tachi-ai knocking him upright, and Shodai attempted the only move he seems capable of these days.. an inashi swipe as he moved right, but Meisei easily survived, and as Shodai look to square back up, Meisei grabbed him in the kote grip and escorted Shodai over to the edge before pushing him out. Sakaigawa seemed really frustrated as to why Shodai can't do better sumo, but when has Shodai ever done legit sumo?? Both rikishi end the day at 1-4.

Suckiwake Takayasu came with dual kachi-age that knocked Komusubi Kotonowaka back from the tachi-ai and really left him vulnerable, but instead of storming forward, Takayasu alternated neck pushes that looked defensive. Kotonowaka tried to move laterally and go for a pull, and Takayasu responded with a bad pull of his own, and after a very sloppy start to the bout, the two finally hooked up in migi-yotsu. Neither dude had an outer grip, so after resting for 30 seconds or so, Kotonowaka went for a left kote-nage that threw Takayasu off balance enough to where he was able to push him out in the end. This was very unorthodox sumo start to finish, and it's not the way they draw it up, so no wonder Sakaigawa-oyakata said Kotonowaka won today due to "gaman." Both rikishi stand at 1-4 after the bout, and "gaman" feels like what I've been doing this entire broadcast.

Sekiwake Hoshoryu easily beat M1 Daieisho back from the tachi-ai with a quick hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping with the left and getting the right arm inside, and all Hoshoryu had to do was continue his forward momentum against an out of sorts Daieisho, but he stopped his charge for no reason other than to throw the bout, and that he did by suddenly retreating back and slightly to his right near the edge, and the final shoves from Daieisho were just a spot on a match. Hoshoryu was mukiryoku here as both rikishi end the day at 4-1, and it was only a matter of time before Hoshoryu took one for team Japan.

M3 Abi came wildly from the tachi-ai looking for his usual moro-te-zuki, but he didn't connect that strongly, but for whatever reason, Wakatakakage just moved wildly right letting his right foot step way beyond the straw as he took a knee with the left. I'm not going to speculate on exactly what was going on here, but an objective view of this bout is that the sumo content was poor. Abi did not connect squarely with that initial tachi-ai, and there was no move that would have caused WTK to react like that, and if this bout was straight up...what does it say about Wakatakakage going down like a house of cards to that? Abi moves to 5-0 with the win while Wakatakakage falls to 2-3.

In the day's final bout, M2 Tamawashi offered two hands towards Takakeisho at the tachi-ai, but he then brought the hands and arms up high completely exposing his insides to his foe, and Takakeisho knowing this bout was fixed coming in was able to execute a forward moving charge to which Tamawashi offered zero defense. It was over in maybe three seconds, and you can see that the Tamawashi camp wasn't going to stand in the way of this so-called Yokozuna run.

Takakeisho moves to 4-1 with the gift, and if he can somehow run the table and get promoted, what's going to make him any different from that failed Yokozuna experiment with Kisenosato? Takakeisho draws Abi tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what Abi decides to do. Abi's sumo isn't exactly sound, but he can kick Takakeisho's ass if he wants to.

Back at it tomorrow.

Day 4 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Already by Day 4 we are getting a sense of the direction in which this basho is headed. Out of the gate, the Sumo Association has been highlighting the new blood who is expected to fill out the elite ranks of the banzuke in the next few years. Those names have included Wakatakakage, Kotonowaka, and today's featured rikishi, Wakamotoharu. They also focused a bit on Abi and his fresh yusho board hanging in the rafters. I think it's a bit of a sore spot to highlight guys like Abi and Asanoyama who were both punished for breaking Covid rules and patronizing the strip clubs, but beggars can't be choosers. With Wakatakakage, Kotonowaka, and the like stumbling out of the gate, they'll take whatever they can get as long as they can hype a Japanese rikishi.

The day began with M15 Mitoryu catching M16 Takarafuji by the neck from the tachi-ai, but Mitoryu didn't have the de-ashi to take his foe straight back. After a bit of social distancing, the two banged bodies again, and Takarafuji's right hand/fingers got jammed in Mitoryu's girth at which point the veteran immediately let up and allowed himself to be softly pushed out of the ring. I'm not sure it he broke some fingers or whether it was the wrist, but Takarafuji (3-1) withdrew mid bout here giving Mitoryu the win and 2-2 record.

M16 Chiyomaru gave M14 Azumaryu his best shot with a tsuppari attack from the tachi-ai, but Azumaryu was able to fight it off after a brief retreat, and from there he forced the bout to migi-yotsu where he grabbed the secure left outer grip. After gathering his wits for a second or two, he dashi-nage'd Chiyomaru over to the edge and dumped him across for the nice comeback win. Azumaryu moves to 3-1 with the V while Chiyomaru falls to 0-4.

M15 Tsurugisho executed a mild hari-zashi tachi-ai against M13 Kotoeko slapping with the left and getting the right arm inside. As for Kotoeko, he was moving to his own left from the tachi-ai, but Tsurugisho maintained momentum and the inside position. Tsurugisho could have wrapped Eko up into a nice bow at any moment during this bout and tossed him across the straw, but he was mukiryoku and ultimately let Kotoeko force him out even though Eko did nothing to set it up. Both rikishi end the day at 2-2.

M14 Ichiyamamoto caught M12 Okinoumi with a nice tsuki to the throat at the tachi-ai, and instead of trying to swipe away the arms, Okinoumi just stood there and went with it. A good rikishi would have scored the quick tsuki-dashi win here--especially against a mukiryoku opponent (which Okinoumi was), but Ichiyamamoto didn't trust in his skills and went for the cheap pull instead to which Okinoumi played along and flopped forward and down. IYM moves to 2-2 while Okinoumi falls to 0-4 and has apparently been picking Chiyotairyu's brain on the logistics of opening a yaku-niku restaurant.

M11 Tochinoshin came with high, ineffective kachi-age against M13 Kotoshoho at the tachi-ai, and he kept his arms high as the bout morphed to migi-yotsu. Instead of reaching for an outer grip with the left, The Private fiddled with that arm up high and in an unnatural position so much so that his shoulder popped out of it's socket. That gave Kotoshoho the easy force-out win in the end, and Tochinoshin has withdrawn from the basho with a dislocated shoulder. And you could totally see the left shoulder hang four or five centimeters lower than the right. Sucks for him as he'll likely fall to Juryo. As for Kotoshoho, he buys his fourth win now at checking in at 4-0.

M10 Aoiyama was flat-footed at the tachi-ai putting his arms forward towards M12 Kagayaki in tsuppari fashion, but Aoiyama was way too upright for his own good. Kagayaki moved forward but not with any power, and then with Aoiyama nearing the straw he sorta went for a pull, and Kagayaki just dove down and flipped over in wild fashion. There was little to no pressure from either party in this one, and that Kagayaki flop was painfully obvious. Aoiyama moves to 4-0 with the gift while Kagayaki falls to 2-2.

The fake falls would continue as M11 Chiyoshoma easily won the tachi-ai against M10 Hiradoumi catching him by the neck and pulling him off balance. At that point Chiyoshoma grabbed the back of Hiradoumi's belt but didn't dispatch his compromised foe. Rather, he waited for a weak Hiradoumi tsuki with the left, and then Chiyoshoma just dove across the straw. The Mongolian literally orchestrated the flow of this entire bout as he falls to 0-4 while Hiradoumi picks up the cheap win at 2-2.

M8 Onosho's 4-0 start has been as soft as his tachi-ai. Against M9 Endoh today, he made zero impact, but it didn't matter. The bout was compromised and Endoh immediately went limp allowing Onosho to then push him back and across like a tough guy. It's all inflated. Onosho did not set that momentum up from the tachi-ai. He took advantage of a willing opponent as he greases his way to 4-0. As for Endoh, he takes the cash at 2-2 and even the announcers noted watching the replays of Endoh, "He never once tried to get to the inside." Uh, yeah.

M8 Ohho was weak at the tachi-ai allowing M9 Takanosho to best him with a decent tsuppari attack, and as Ohho looked to move laterally, Takanosho pushed into his side and turned him around 180 degrees easily dispatching the fruit of Taiho's loins in mere seconds. Takanosho moves to 2-2 with the easy win while the piper continues to call in the favors against Ohho, who falls to 0-4.

The tachi-ai between M5 Ryuden and M7 Ura was completely out of sync and should have been called back, but they got lazy and let it stand, so after a moment of awkwardness, Ryuden grabbed a right outer grip and used it to position himself to the side of Ura, and after letting Ura hang around far longer than was necessary, he finally dragged him over and down leaving both rikishi at 2-2.

Is it me or does it feel like M4 Nishikifuji and M6 Myogiryu have fought every day this basho?? It's a good thing we only get to see their match once because after a short tussle at the tachi-ai, Myogiryu anticipated a NFJ pull too quickly and just put his palms to the dirt right there in the center of the ring before the pull really came. Nice bitta yaocho here as Nishikifuji moves to 2-2 while Myogiryu falls to 1-3.

M5 Nishikigi wrapped both arms around M4 Sadanoumi's own arms from the tachi-ai and then just kime'd him back to the straw. As Sadanoumi tried to resist, he broke off Nishikigi's death grips, and so Nishikigi shoved him in the chest that final half step beyond the tawara for the lopsided win. Nishikigi moves to 3-1 if you need him while Sadanoumi falls to 1-3.

M6 Hokutofuji came with his usual right kachi-age left arm up high tachi-ai against M3 Midorifuji as if to set up a pull, but that allowed Midorifuji to oil his way into moro-zashi. No matter, however, because Hokutofuji was trying to win, and so he used his strength advantage to wrap up both of Midorifuji's arms form the outside and just kime-dashi him back and across. Hokutofuji moves to 3-1 with the nice win while Midorifuji falls to 2-2.

Komusubi Kiribayama and Komusubi Kotonowaka appeared to go to hidari-yotsu from the tachi-ai, but KBY was pushing into Kotonowaka's chin with the left instead of getting it inside. After Baby Waka tried to push his foe away, the bout turned to migi-yotsu where Kiribayama got the solid left outer grip. I thought Kiribayama was in prime position to attack from that point, but he allowed Kotonowaka to square back up, and the bout quickly turned to a decent nage-no-uchi-ai with Kiribayama's inside scoop throw challenging Kotonowaka's outer right. Because Kiribayama had dictated everything to this point, his scoop throw easily won out, but it was a good finish at the edge. Kiribayama moves to 3-1 with the win while Kotonowaka is still searching for a legit win at 0-4.

Komusubi Meisei won the tachi-ai against Komusubi Wakamotoharu and had the open path to moro-zashi, but he kept just the left arm inside and let WMH get his own left inside to send the bout to hidari-yotsu. Still, WMH was up high and Meisei had the clear path to the right outside grip, but instead of taking it, he let Wakamotoharu level the playing field and square his body back up so he wasn't so upright. From that point, Wakamotoharu grabbed a right outer grip, but he didn't smother Meisei with it because he hadn't set it up with his own sumo; it was all Meisei dictating the pace out there. The two settled in tight to some nice applause from the crowd, and after gathering their wits, Meisei got his own right outer, and the gappuri match stalled a bit until Meisei drove Wakamotoharu quickly to the edge. He had his foe beaten at that point (he had him beaten throughout the match if he'da wanna), but Meisei stood up high at the edge, relented on his right inside position just leaving that hand in no-man's land, and then generously let Wakamotoharu counter tsuki him down and off the dohyo.

Both dudes touched down first, and they called a mono-ii with Meisei taking a long time to get up. I mean, they say if someone lets up in the ring, they'll get hurt, and this was a picture perfect example. In the do-over, Meisei henka'd weakly to his left and just stood there waiting for Wakamotoharu's oshi attack, and WMH had the fork in Meisei in under two seconds. You start the broadcast by highlighting Wakamotoharu, and so they gave him the cheap win today to get him off the winless schneid. The end result was a very entertaining fake bout that gave WMH his first win at 1-3 while Meisei settles for 0-4 and a bit of cash.

Speaking of giving a winless guy his first dubyah, M1 Tobizaru henka'd to his left against Suckiwake Takayasu, but Tobizaru had no plan other than to stand there and take a beating. Takayasu didn't exactly wield the beating stick, however, opting to put his hand against Tobizaru's face, and after a few touches, Tobizaru stepped his right foot way across the straw intentionally and then flopped over. I'm not sure where they got the tsuki-dashi kimari-te because Takayasu never connected on a tsuki that resulted in Tobizaru's fall. Whatever as both dudes end the day at 1-3.

M2 Tamawashi pulverized Sekiwake Hoshoryu from the tachi-ai with some powerful tsuki that sent the Sekiwake over and nearly down, but instead of finishing him off, Tamawashi just stood tall and wide open allowing Hoshoryu to recover and get to the inside, and the Sekiwake lifted up on the front of Tamawashi's belt and drove him back and across moro-zashi style in the end. How can you watch this bout and not comment on Tamawashi's awesome tachi-ai and then clear mistake of keeping his hips high and hands wide? But they didn't say a word about it. Tamawashi obviously gave one to his fellow countryman here as Hoshoryu moves to an undeserved 4-0 with Tamawashi graciously falling to 3-1.

M1 Daieisho kicked Sekiwake Wakatakakage's ass today catching him from the tachi-ai with a sweet tsuppari attack and then driving him back and across with a paw to the neck. WTK was completely overmatched here as Daieisho moves to 3-1 With Wakatakakage falling to 2-2. It's so obvious that Daieisho is superior to guys like Wakatakakage and Takakeisho and Abi, but for whatever reason, they're not making him a star.

M3 Abi stood Shodai straight up at the tachi-ai with two hands to the neck, but credit Shodai for connecting on a minor inashi with the left that sent Abi sideways a bit, but Shodai couldn't follow it up with anything, and so Abi finally got into gear and shoved Shodai across the dohyo and out. This was a pretty lopsided affair, but Shodai did score on one minor counter move. He still falls to 1-3, and I think he can qualify for Ozeki again with 10 wins, but that ain't gonna happen. As for Abi, he moves to 4-0 with a nice, legit win.

In the day's final affair, M2 Mitakeumi kept his arms wide and allowed Takakeisho to just target the middle of his chest with some nice thrusts, and Mitakeumi didn't seem as if he wanted to counter or fight back, and so Takakeisho had him pushed back and across in about three seconds. Credit Takakeisho for the forward attack, but this usually happens when he knows the fix is in. The faux-zeki and...let's see if I can type this with a straight face...Yokozuna contender moves to 3-1 while Mitakeumi settles for 2-2.

There was a decent crowd on hand today, but nowhere close having the sell out banners lowered. If they can keep high-profile Japanese rikishi in the yusho hunt, it should be a successful start to the year for sumo in terms of maintaining fan interest. I don't think they're growing it here, but right now it's just a matter of survival.

Day 3 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The Day 3 broadcast began with an in-depth look at the career of former Yokozuna Kotozakura, and then they attempted to make comparisons with his grandson, Komusubi Kotonowaka, on our current banzuke. This follows the theme of "Who's the next Japanese rikishi to assume an elite rank on the banzuke?" they began on Day 1. You notice how they won't do a similar feature on Hoshoryu and compare him to Uncle Asa, and it's a sign of the subjective coverage of sumo. And I understand why the coverage of this sport has to be subjective, but to pretend that it doesn't happen is simply being obtuse.

In case you're wondering (and I know you are!), the career comparisons to this point between grandfather and grandson are as follows.

Kotonowaka vs. Gramps
Entered Sumo: Age 17 and Age 17
Makuuchi Debut: Age 22 and Age 22
Sanyaku Debut: Age 25 and Age 23
Ozeki Promotion: Age 26 for Kotozakura
Yokozuna Promotion: Age 32 for Kotozakura

This is not the Sumo Association's calling its shot in regards to Kotonowaka's promotion up the banzuke. Rather, they are signaling to the fans, "Don't worry. Someone's coming. We're not sure if it's Kotonowaka, but someone's coming." It was Wakatakakage on Monday and now Kotonowaka this morning. The Association knows the banzuke is way too lean for anyone's good, and they're trying to address it. An organic banzuke we don't have; otherwise, we'd see dudes like Tamawashi, Hoshoryu, and Kiribayama already in the elite ranks.

Let's switch things up a bit and start with the final bout of the today because it totally fits the narrative of subjective media coverage.

A main storyline heading into the tournament was possible promotion of Takakeisho to Yokozuna pending his performance in January. The meyasu for number of wins was given at 14, so coming off of his loss yesterday, the dude's basically gotta run the table.

Today he was paired against M1 Daieisho, and the M1 came out hot from the tachi-ai using a very good tsuppari attack to knock the faux-zeki up high, and then Daieisho instinctively went for an offensive pull that would have worked had he followed through on it. You knew at that point he wasn't trying to defeat Takakeisho because he had him completely set up, and so now it was waiting for Takakeisho to connect on something legit enough for Daieisho to take his dive.

Well, that wasn't happening either. Daieisho was dominating the tsuppari contest even when moving backwards with his feet instead of forward, but with Takakeisho offering nothing, the bout quickly moved back in favor of Daieisho where he drove Takakeisho back to the edge with the latter staring at the rafters, but instead of finishing off his business, Daieisho just ran to his right as if he'd been swiped and put both palms to the dirt. And that was that.

Takakeisho got his ass kicked today, and he was bloodied out there both literally and figuratively, but wouldn't ya know it...it was Takakeisho who came away with the win. Of course.

During the bout, language such as "who can gaman more than the other?" was used instead of calling it straight up as in, "Daieisho is connecting on haymakers!" After the bout, Aminishiki in the mukou-joumen chair could only babble, but the one coherent thing he did say was, "The flow was definitely in favor of Daieisho."

Afterwards in the funny papers, the headlines were quoting Commissioner Hakkaku as praising Takakeisho because he did "gaman" well. It's just unbelievable to me how they're all working in concert to spin this. Everybody saw Takakeisho get his ass kicked today by Daieisho (2-1), and everybody saw that phony ending. But...Takakeisho comes away with the win moving to 2-1, and all is supposedly well in Sumo. For now at least.

Before we get to the other bouts, I would be shocked if Takakeisho's remaining 12 opponents cooperate the way the Daieisho camp did today. The back halls of the Sumo Association are quite similar to what we saw in the United States Congress last week with the Republicans' infighting and negotiating behind closed doors in order to agree on a speaker of the house. There are different factions among the Sumo elders, and they are not all lock, stock, and barrel with each other.

Ok, enough of that. Let's move back down to the bottom of the banzuke and work our way up starting with M16 Takarafuji vs. M14 Azumaryu. Azumaryu was lethargic from the tachi-ai as Takarafuji bumped chests well, and then shortly after the initial charge, Azumaryu went for the stupidest pull attempt you'll ever see, and he was just gifting Takarafuji a path to the inside. T-Fuji took it getting the left arm inside and uncontested right outer grip, and the yori-kiri was as uncontested as the tachi-ai. Ho hum as Takarafuji moves to 3-0 while Azumaryu falls to 2-1.

In a similar bout in terms of one dude being completely mukiryoku and out of sorts, M16 Chiyomaru did nothing to establish a presence at the tachi-ai opting to stand straight up and just absorb M14 Ichiyamamoto's tsuppari attack. And the offensive wasn't even that great, but with Chiyomaru willing to just go backwards, IYM had him pushed out once, twice, three times a lady. Ichiyamamoto buys one here in moving to 1-2 while Chiyomaru falls to 0-3 without a care in the world.

M13 Kotoeko was proactive from the tachi-ai getting the right arm inside against M15 Mitoryu, and he quickly went for the force-out without having anything on the left side, and so near the edge, Mitoryu was able to counter easily by slipping left and spilling Kotoeko across and down with a picture perfect counter tsuki-otoshi. Both dudes finish the day at 1-2.

M15 Tsurugisho connected on a good hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping with the right and getting the left arm inside of M13 Kotoshoho, and the M13 didn't know what hit him as Tsurugisho drove him quickly to the edge, but the fix was in here, and so instead of Tsurugisho finishing off his bidness, he just dove to his left and put his elbow to the dirt before Kotoshoho had stepped out. I mean, Kotoshoho didn't even offer a counter tsuki with the left; Tsurugisho just flopped down. Kotoshoho buys his 3-0 start while TS definitely had room to sell at 2-1.

M11 Tochinoshin and M12 Okinoumi hooked up in migi-yotsu where Shin had a stifling left outer grip, and so the Private just forced his foe back to the edge two seconds in. At some point, Okinoumi had maki-kae'd getting his left arm inside, but he was too far gone and couldn't defend himself against Tochinoshin's sheer size pressing in on him. This was a simple yori-kiri that saw Tochinoshin move to 2-1 while Okinoumi falls to 0-3.

M11 Chiyoshoma was high at the tachi-ai against M12 Kagayaki giving the M12 anything he wanna, but Kagayaki didn't come hard from the charge, and so Chiyoshoma moved to his left going for a wild pull where he stepped beyond the straw about a half meter before pulling Kagayaki down. What a meaningless bout this was where the loser dominated start to finish. Chiyoshoma falls to 0-3 while Kagayaki moves to 2-1.

M10 Hiradoumi was able to sneak two hands in tight at the tachi-ai against M9 Endoh thrusting towards his face, but Endoh was able to wrap up those extended arms from the outside and throw Hiradoumi off of his game. Having taken Hiradoumi's best shot and easily survived, it was Endoh's turn to show off his tsuppari skills, and he drove Hiradoumi back and across without argument. Endoh moves to 2-1 with the nice comeback win while Hiradoumi falls to 1-2.

M9 Takanosho was proactive from the tachi-ai using a decent tsuppari attack to keep M10 Aoiyama upright, but Takanosho wasn't putting Aoiyama in a difficult position, and so the Happy Bulgar moved to his right and executed a pull attempt that was better than Takanosho's thrusts. It wasn't pretty, but Aoiyama will take it in moving to 3-0 while Takanosho falls to 1-2.

M8 Ohho and M7 Ura weren't quite in sync at the tachi-ai, and so Ura was able to duck under Ohho who lazily left his arms straight and high after a lethargic tachi-ai. With Ura burrowing in tight, Ohho complied by going for a pull, and Ura just followed him outta the dohyo scoring the uncontested oshi-dashi win. Ohho falls to 0-3 and likely doesn't have the cash to buy two really good tournaments in a row. As for Ura, he moves to 2-1, and I'm sure a genki Ura draws more fans than the tired, "Hey, it's Taiho's mago!" card.

M6 Myogiryu offered a meager kachi-age at the tachi-ai against M8 Onosho before going for a half-assed pull, and once he started that pull, Onosho was able to charge forward as if he was executing an oshi attack, but this was really Myogiryu just throwing the bout, and so Onosho stumbled forward and down before Myogiryu had fully stepped out, and so they ruled it a tie and made us watch another one from these two yayhoos.

Myogiryu had already signaled his intentions in the first bout, and so he kept his hands high as if to pull again from the tachi-ai, and this time he moved left and made sure to step out before Onosho could eff up another oshi charge. Two meaningless bouts giving Onosho a 3-0 start while Myogiryu quietly falls to 1-2.

M5 Ryuden was uncommitted at the tachi-ai leaving his hands open and wide, and that allowed M4 Sadanoumi to just plow forward and knock Ryuden back and across oshi-dashi style. As if. I think Amy Winehouse sang a song about watching sumo with some dude named Mr. Jones where she pined, "What kind of fakery is this?" Both dudes finished the day at 1-2 here after the fakery.

M6 Hokutofuji put both hands high as if to pull from the tachi-ai against M4 Nishikifuji, and usually that's an invitation to your opponent to just "do me now!" Nishikifuji held up, however, and didn't take advantage, and so Hokutofuji lamely moved to the side and ended up pushing an aimlessly wandering Nishikifuji across for the ugly oshi-dashi win. Nishikifuji (1-2) won this clash of the titans last basho, so I'm sure Hokutofuji was calling in the return favor here as he moves to 2-1.

M3 Midorifuji got the left arm inside at the tachi-ai against M5 Nishikigi in perfect kata-sukashi position, but apparently someone failed to pay off the NG camp because Nishikigi just barreled forward and had Midorifuji pushed back and across easy as you please. I wonder what gives fans the bigger stiffie. Midorifuji winning by kata-sukashi or Taiho's grandson notching a win? Both dudes end the day at 2-1.

Komusubi Kiribayama caught fellow Komusubi, Wakamotoharu, with a stiff choke hold from the tachi-ai, and he used it to drive WMH back a step or two, and as Wakamotoharu looked to press back in tight, Kiribayama switched gears and scored the easy pull down win in moving to 2-1 while Wakamotoharu falls to 0-3.

M3 Abi completely whiffed at the tachi-ai opening up the right side of his belt to a left frontal grip by Komusubi Meisei, but Meisei didn't take it and instead moved to the side as if to use an inashi, but it was all a ruse to set himself up for an Abi oshi charge. Problem was that Abi hadn't connected on anything to that point, and Meisei had another opening to move sideways and swipe but he instead just stepped back and across as Abi looked to connect on a meager push.

You listen to the commentary after the bout while they watch the slow motion replays, and the one thing they can't talk about is how Abi set this one up and connected on key shoves to knock Meisei back. With Aminishiki fumbling around for words, the NHK dude did manage to tell the truth once and say, "In the middle there, it was Meisei in control." Yeah, he was in control start to finish as he threw this bout giving Abi the cheap 3-0 start while Meisei falls to 0-3.

Sekiwake Hoshoryu charged low and hard into M2 Mitakeumi's body at the tachi-ai coming away with a right outer grip and a left outer at the front of Mitakeumi's belt. This technically gave Mitakeumi moro-zashi, but it was wrist deep at best, and Hoshoryu easily bodied Mitakeumi back and across without argument in just a few seconds. This was pure yotsu-zumo from the tachi-ai, and occasionally we see this brilliant execution from the Mongolians. Notta a lotta Japanese guys that can do this anymore as Hoshoryu breezes his way to 3-0 while Mitakeumi was beaten soundly in falling to 2-1.

While M1 Tobizaru fooled around with a hari-zashi tachi-ai that was executed poorly, Sekiwake Wakatakakage established the right arm inside early and then secured the left outer grip. Tobizaru was like a fish who had swallowed the hook at this point, and so Wakatakakage easily dashi-nage'd him over to the edge with his outer grip and then pushed Tobizaru out for good from behind. Easy peasy Japanesey as Wakatakakage moves to 2-1 with the nice win while Tobizaru falls to 1-2.

Komusubi Kotonowaka slammed hard into Suckiwake Shodai at the tachi-ai getting the left arm inside and sending the bout to hidari-yotsu, but instead of grabbing a right outer grip that was there for the taking, Kotonowaka circled that way and purposefully put his back against the tawara leaving Shodai in attacking position. The problem was that Shodai hadn't been attacking nor did he do anything to set up Kotonowaka's lateral movement, and so he wasn't ready to score the quick force-out win. Didn't matter, however, as Kotonowaka just backed across the straw for him. Shodai's movements in this one looked like that inflatable dude you see at the Honda dealership, and he obviously bought his first win here in moving to 1-2. As for Kotonowaka, he falls to 0-3, and my guess is that he is taking one for team sumo so far in exchange for this undeserved sanyaku berth.

Sekiwake Takayasu proactively attempted a hari-zashi from the tachi-ai against M2 Tamawashi, but it wasn't effective enough and so The Mawashi wrapped up around Takayasu's right arm and lifted him upright to where he was able to execute a nice tsuppari attack and send Takayasu back and across with ease. Tamawashi moves to 3-0 with the nice win while Takayasu falls to 0-3. I appreciated Takayasu's effort here even though the result was a loss.

The final bout of the day was the aforementioned Takakeisho - Daieisho matchup, so that does it for Day 3. Once Takakeisho suffers his second loss, the backup story this basho will likely flow to Abi, and I'm also seeing Hoshoryu get a lot of run among the newsies at the end of the day, so his promotion to Ozeki this year may be inevitable.

As expected, there was about a 50% drop in attendance today now that everyone is back at work, but I think they can drum up good attendance in Week 2 if they have the storylines.

Day 2 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
During they Day 1 broadcast, the announcers noted that Sumo was able to lower the man-in on-rei banners for the first time on Day 1 at the Hatsu basho in several years. Covid protocols the last few years have either limited the amount of people allowed into the venue or scared enough people away from filling most of the seats. There was a great crowd on hand for Day 1 and another good crowd on hand for Day 2...the Seijin-no-hi holiday, and the sport needs to capitalize on these non-working days the best they can.

Sumo was dealt a difficult hand for the November basho as the sport was forced to compete with the World Cup head to head. In fact, so little attention was paid to sumo down the stretch that I'll bet if you asked 90% of the people who walked through the doors today to name the yusho rikishi from last basho in three seconds or less they couldn't have done it.

The Kyushu basho and the Hatsu basho are the two tournaments where sumo has very little competition from other sports, and so I think it's extremely important for the momentum of the sport to put on a good showing here in January since they were overshadowed in November. At the end of the Kyushu basho, I was quite shocked (although I shouldn't have been) to see headlines saying that Takakeisho was up for Yokozuna consideration with a yusho of 14 wins or better.

With the demotions of Mitakeumi and Shodai late in the season, it was clear that there would be just one Yokozuna and one Ozeki on the January banzuke. With that Yokozuna being Mongolian, it is imperative that they stack the elite ranks of the banzuke with more Japanese rikishi. It's the number one MO for the Association even though they can't say it.

My broadcast began today with discussion of a fan poll taken where they asked the fans, "What rare kimari-te would you most like to see?" The answer was Mitokoro-zeme, or literally translated...a three-prong attack, and the three prongs are a hand, a leg, and the head. They showed an example of a Mainoumi (he was in the mukou-joumen chair today) "win" by Mitokoro-zeme over Kotofuji back in 1992, and he did so with the watashi-komi position using the right hand, the uchi-gake position with the left leg, and then then the crown of Mainoumi's silicon-padded melon pushing in at Kotofuji's torso.

They showed a replay of the bout and it took a long time for the move to develop, and there's no way it would have happened had Kotofuji not let it. I mean, more than what Mainoumi is trying to do in that three-pronged attack, I noticed what C3P0fuji wasn't trying to do, and that was win the bout. My point, though, is not to break down yaocho from the past. Rather, what kind of audience are they catering to with this question and answer session? It's definitely not the coveted 18-54 year old beer-drinking male demographic.

As soon as they posed the next question, "How do you choose the color of your mawashi?", I hit the fast-forward button to get to the bouts.

Up first was M15 Tsurugisho vs. M16 Chiyomaru, and Maru came with his usual thrust attack up high, but it wasn't enough to keep Tsurugisho away from an outer belt grip with the left, and once he got it, Tsurugisho was able to reel in Maru close adding the right inside position, and the yori-kiri was academic from there. Decent bout to start the day as Tsurugisho moves to 2-0 with Chiyomaru falling to 0-2.

M14 Ichiyamamoto looked to bully M16 Takarafuji around with a thrust attack from the tachi-ai, but the veteran easily fended off the attack and sent IYM into defensive mode by firing a few nice thrusts of his own with the added threat of pushing up and under Ichiyamamoto's outstretched arms. With IYM forced to now look for a pull, he darted to the side and back towards Takarafuji, and that's when the savvy vet pulled him down near the edge. It wasn't pretty, but Takarafuji knows how to win in moving to 2-0 from the brink of the banzuke while Ichiyamamoto falls to 0-2.

M14 Azumaryu and M15 Mitoryu connected in the gappuri-migi yotsu position from the tachi-ai, but instead of going chest to chest, they circled a bit before Mitoryu hurried a force-out charge. He knocked Azumaryu back to the edge, but the latter was able to cut off the outer grip from Mitoryu and turn the tables forcing Mitoryu back to the edge with a stifling right outer grip that he used to throw Mitoryu over and out with in the end. Azumaryu is a nifty 2-0 while Mitoryu falls to 0-2.

I was just about to type "wow, three real bouts to start the day," but then M12 Kagayaki stepped into the ring against M13 Kotoshoho and forgot that he's actually allowed to bend his elbows and knees. Kotoshoho's attack was weak, and Kagayaki had multiple openings to attack, but he only fired a few lame thrusts and then hopped backwards across the ring as Kotoshoho put together a very weak oshi charge. Kotoshoho buys one here in moving to 2-0 while Kagayaki falls to 1-1.

The tachi-ai was weak between M13 Kotoeko and M12 Okinoumi, and with Eko doing nothing, Okinoumi got the left arm inside by default, and without even trying he had Kotoeko forced back to the edge, but then for no reason Okinoumi just backed over to the other side of the dohyo and waited for Kotoeko to cheaply push him across. Fake start to finish here as Kotoeko buys his first win at 1-1 while Okinoumi falls to 0-2.

M10 Aoiyama was high in his tsuppari attack against M11 Chiyoshoma and completely vulnerable, but the Mongolian didn't take advantage, and despite getting the easy moro-zashi position, Chiyoshoma pulled back so his dual insides were like wrist deep as Aoiyama scored the very weak kime-dashi win from there. No force in this bout starting from the tachi-ai as Aoiyama moves to 2-0 with the gift while Chiyoshoma falls to 0-2.

M10 Hiradoumi reached for the left frontal belt grip against M11 Tochinoshin, and while the attempt didn't quite stick, Tochinoshin didn't shake the grip off. Instead, he allowed the bout to go to migi-yotsu with Hiradoumi maintaining a left outer grip, but Hiradoumi was in too far over his head, and it showed as Tochinoshin wrenched him upright and then faked a few attempts at grabbing a left outer of his own, but through it all, Tochinoshin was not trying to win, so with both dudes in the center of the ring, Tochinoshin faked a right scoop throw, but it was only an excuse for the Private to just crumble over and put his left elbow to the dirt. They had to rule it uwate-nage, but Hiradoumi was not positioned for such a throw, nor did he execute an outer belt throw. This was Tochinoshin diving over of his own volition. The end result is both rikishi ending the day at 1-1.

M9 Takanosho's hands were high and non-committed at the tachi-ai, and so M8 Onosho just bulldozed him back and across the straw in under two seconds. It was hard to tell whether or not Takanosho was trying here, but it was excellent sumo form Onosho who moves to 2-0, so let's credit him with the fine win. I think it's worth noting that Onosho destroyed Ohho on Day 1 in a similar manner which is indicative of how inflated Ohho's run last basho was. Takanosho fell to 1-1 in defeat.

Speaking of M8 Ohho, according to Itai, rikishi can either buy a win outright for a million yen or they can negotiate with a dude to let one guy win this basho and then have the other guy win the next basho. You may remember (but likely don't) that Ohho was in the thick of the yusho race last November heading into the final weekend, and to get to that point, he either had to buy a lot of bouts or negotiate a lot of wins. When he's out of money, he's forced to fight straight up, and the results are not good. Today against M9 Endoh, Ohho survived for a bit thanks to his size, but Endoh persisted in getting a left frontal belt grip, and once he finally had it established, he had Ohho worked over near the edge where he felled him with a rather weak inside belt throw. Ohho bites the dust again at 0-2 while Endoh moves to 1-1.

M6 Hokutofuji put his hands high and over the top of M7 Ura's head from the tachi-ai and just stood there as Ura executed an oshi charge in the vein of Hokutoumi of old. As effin if. This was purely a gift in favor of Ura to excite the gullible fans watching the broadcast today as both rikishi end the day at 1-1.

M6 Myogiryu was looking for moro-zashi from the tachi-ai, but M5 Nishikigi was just to big of a load for him, so the rikishi danced this way and that around dohyo before Nishikigi used his bulk to push Myogiryu around and out. Both dudes stand now at 1-1 and Nishikigi is a very good Makuuchi rikishi who is simply a Makuuchi merchant caught up in the buy and sell game.

M4 Nishikifuji briefly looked for the inside position against M4 Sadanoumi who just put his arms forward and stood there waiting to be pulled. And the pull came in short order as Nishikifuji abandoned his initial yotsu quest and took the cheap way out scoring the uncontested hataki-komi in about two seconds. This bout was compromised as Nishikifuji buys his first while The Sadamight falls to 0-2.

In a very similar bout, M5 Ryuden also put his arms forward as if sleep walking and that allowed M3 Midorifuji to shade left and execute what else but the kata-sukashi!! What a silly bout this was as Ryuden redefined what it means to be mukiryoku in falling to 1-1 while Midorifuji oils his way to another ill-gotten win at 2-0.

M3 Abi knocked Komusubi Wakamotoharu upright from the tachi-ai using two hands to the neck, but Abi's force was centered too high, and so Wakamotoharu flirted with moro-zashi, but he just wouldn't take it. Abi was in a pickle at that point and pivoted over to the edge going for a wild kubi-nage with the right. Problem was, he never grabbed his foe around the neck, but no matter as Wakamotoharu just dove outta the ring never once attempting to defeat Abi. A suss bout if I've ever seen one as Abi moves to a cheap 2-0 while Wakamotoharu falls to 0-2.

M2 Tamawashi struck Komusubi Meisei perfectly from the tachi-ai using a nice tsuppari thrust to knock Meisei upright and shove him back and across without argument. I mean, if Tamawashi wants to do this everyday he can, so it was nice to see it here as the Mongolian moves to 2-0. Meisei's still a bagel in the win column at 0-2.

The chatter at the start of the Day 1 broadcast was focused on who the next Ozeki candidate would be. The two names brought to the forefront were Wakatakakage and Hoshoryu...two of our Sekiwake this basho. After brief discussion, the consensus was of course that Wakatakakage was the favorite over Hoshoryu, which means they weren't factoring in actual sumo ability.

Today the favorite was paired against M2 Mitakeumi, who got the right arm inside early and just bellied WTK back near the edge. The Sekiwake was able to hold on, but he never got a chance to counter, and so he moved quickly to his own right in an attempt to escape, but Mitakeumi was glued to him, so after a 90 degree jaunt around the edge, the two sorta attempted a nage-no-uchi-ai with Mitakeumi's right scoop throw battling a feeble left outer grip attempt from WTK. The latter never really had that solid outer, and so as his grip slipped away, Mitakeumi was able to body him back for good. This bout never had sound sumo basics displayed by either party, and it sums up the abilities of the so-called elite rikishi. Mitakeumi moves to 2-0 with the win while Wakatakakage is saddled with his first loss at 1-1.

The venue announcer could be heard calling, "Clean up on aisle Shodai" in the arena as M1 Daieisho executed a perfect tsuppari attack knocking Shodai upright that sent him back and across with little argument. Sho Gonna Die falls to 0-2 in another defeat while Daieisho picked up his easiest win of the basho in moving to 2-0.

Like Ohho earlier in the day, Sekiwake Takayasu made a huge run at last year's Kyushu basho, but the debts need to be paid this basho, and so Komusubi Kiribayama caught Takayasu with an easy tsuki to the side from the tachi-ai that pushed Takayasu over to the edge in a flash, and the Suckiwake did okay to fire a few tsuppari in attempt to defend, but Kiribayama simply worked his way up and under his foe and executed a solid thrust attack that sent Takayasu flying off of the dohyo and onto Takakeisho's lap below. Shoulda been tsuki-taoshi because it was an ass kicking, but they watered it down a bit to take the sting off of the lop-sided bout saying it was only oshi-taoshi. Kiribayama picks up his first win and shows how easy it is to beat anyone at this level if he tries while Takayasu is an o'fer.

Sekiwake Hoshoryu kept his arms in tight as he focused on pushing into Komusubi Kotonowaka's chest, and he had the Komusubi pushed back near the edge, but Kotonowaka connected on a decent left counter shove to Hoshoryu's side knocking him off balance a bit. After brief social distancing, the two hooked back up in migi-yotsu, but Kotonowaka's girth was just too much for Hoshoryu to reach around and grab and outer grip, so he switched gears and dragged Kotonowaka across the dohyo with a right dashi-nage before felling Baby Waka with a sweet inside belt throw. Kotonowaka proved to be a load of lard to deal with, but Hoshoryu's superior sumo skills won in the end. Hoshoryu is 2-0 if you need him while Kotonowaka falls to 0-2.

Obviously distracted by that lap dance he got from Takayasu mere moments ago, Takakeisho was not ready for the Flying Monkey, M1 Tobizaru who tried a reckless hari-zashi attempt slapping with the right as he moved that way in order to grab an outer grip. He wouldn't get it, but Takakeisho hadn't connected on anything, and so Tobizaru just focused on moving right and slapping, moving right and slapping, and on about the second attempt Takakeisho lost his balance and fell to the dirt. Both rikishi end the day at 1-1, and Takakeisho's suffering that early loss deals a big blow to his so-called Yokozuna run not to mention the leaderboard that will form early in week 2.

It's way too early to start talking yusho, but already the negatives going for sumo two days in are:

Takakeisho's loss
Wakatakakage loss
Takayasu's 0-2 start
Shodai's 0-2 start

The positives are Mitakeumi and Abi's 2-0 starts but the lack of any new blood in the division means we focus mainly on the jo'i rikishi, and too many of the Japanese dudes have suffered losses too early.

Tomorrow is our first non-holiday or weekend day, so we'll see how many people show up after two straight days of really good attendance and mediocre sumo.