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Senshuraku Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The turning point of this entire basho was the withdrawal of Hakuho at the end of Day 12. Up to that point, this was such a stinker of a tournament that Hakuho had to start dropping bouts on Wednesday of week 2 just to keep the leaderboard populated with bodies, and once the Yokozuna left, we all of a sudden had the perfect yusho race form with three Japanese darlings and M17 Terunofuji. It couldn't have worked out better for the Sumo Association in the end because I'm sure interest in the tournament improved greatly the last three days. Not only does Hakuho's withdrawal provide coverage for Takakeisho (the Mongolians always withdrawal to CYA for the supposed elite Japanese rikishi when they bow out), but the Sumo Association was able to legitimize some of its bigger names all while producing a pretty compelling yusho race down the stretch.

I have to emphasize that I'm not saying this was all orchestrated by the Association as a whole. I just think they caught a few lucky breaks the final three days, and it all began with Hakuho's strategic withdrawal. I believe the Sumo Association now has a bit of momentum as it heads into the Aki basho. Yes, Hakuho is still and always will be the Story Teller.

As we turn our focus to the bouts on the final day, it's worth reviewing the leaderboard:

12-2: Terunofuji
11-3: Asanoyama, Shodai, Mitakeumi

All four rikishi were paired together the final two bouts of the day, so it took awhile to get to any excitement.

We'll go in chronological order meaning up first was M17 Terunofuji against Suckiwake Mitakeumi. Just like Fuji's bouts the two previous days, the Ozeki secured the easy outer grip from the tachi-ai with the left hand, and I think it's worth pointing out here just how poor the defensive skills are from Asanoyama, Shodai, and Mitakeumi. None of the three are able to establish anything from the tachi-ai, and their defense is non-existent, and Fuji the Terrible exploited that yet again today. Once he had that early outer grip, he used it to lift Mitakeumi upright and into an outer grip on the other side as well, so with two outers and Mitakeumi upright, Terunofuji just marched him right back to the edge and across with zero argument. I mean, it was that easy, and I really like the picture here at right because you can see that Mitakeumi is completely cuffed and stuffed. He had absolutely nowhere to go but back and out, and echoing Kitanofuji's sentiments from Day 13 regarding Terunofuji's sumo against Asanoyama, "Umai wa."

The win clinched Terunofuji's 2nd career yusho, and it's his first championship in exactly five years. It really was a great moment, and I think deep down the audience appreciated this authentic yusho much more than they would have a fake yusho from someone who doesn't have the tools to win a Makuuchi tournament.

The result of Terunofuji's win rendered the final bout of the day between Shodai and Asanoyama useless in terms of the yusho race, but there was still quite a bit at stake...namely Asanoyama's status as a candidate for Yokozuna moving forward. No, it's not too early to start talking Asanoyama as the next Yokozuna. Not because he's worthy of it but because sumo needs their next Kisenosato.

The two hooked up in migi-yotsu with Asanoyama reaching for a left outer grip, but Shodai had him too upright for the faux-zeki to latch on, and so the two grappled a bit chest to chest with Shodai seemingly okay to be worked back towards the straw. Near the edge, however, Shodai instinctively backed up a bit to his left and began a counter tsuki-otoshi into Asanoyama's right side, but you could totally see him pull back from it and at that point I knew the result. This was actually a very good tachi-ai from both parties and a good bout of sumo the first two thirds, but Shodai let up in the end after pulling back from that tsuki-otoshi and he made no effort from there to evade as Asanoyama retooled his grip and just shoved the upright Shodai back from there. There were some bright spots to this bout, but Shodai was mukiryoku in the end. Asanoyama finishes the dance at 12-3, which is important because if he were to yusho in September, they'd undoubtedly promote him to Yokozuna.

In other bouts of interest, I'm glad that M7 Terutsuyoshi went for another ashi-tori against M16 Kotoeko today because it shows how easy it is to defend the move. It's obvious I don't think much of Kotoeko, but he easily pulled that leg aside and slapped Terutsuyoshi down just as fast as Terutsuyoshi felled Asanoyama yesterday. To me it shows that an Ozeki should never be fooled by such a tachi-ai. But then again, someone is not a real Ozeki. Kotoeko finishes the basho with an inflated 10-5 while Terutsuyoshi still has kachi-koshi at 8-7 and that brick of kensho from yesterday.

M15 Kotoshoho's tachi-ai against M11 Tochinoshin was decent, but the rookie didn't have the strength to fend off Tochinoshin's advance, and so the Georgian knocked him back a step or two before easily felling him with a left forearm to the top of the head. Like Takakeisho, for example, Kotoshoho is not useless. He does have some tools, so let's hope they let him figure things out on his own instead of buying so many of his wins. He finishes at 8-7 while Tochinoshin wins in double digits at 10-5.

And finally, it was nice to see Ichinojo back up in Makuuchi taking on M12 Shohozan. Unfortunately, Ichinojo made no effort to grab his opponent or apply any pressure and so he allowed himself to be worked back near the edge where he went for a half-assed pull down...after he had sloppily stepped out. Had Ichinojo won the bout, he would have moved to 10-5, and from the J5 slot, he likely would have replaced Terunofuji at M17 for September. However, at M12 had Shohozan lost this bout and fallen to 4-11 he would have fallen to Juryo. So...this bout was to determine who fights in Makuuchi next basho, and Shohozan paid for the honors.

Speaking of Juryo, six rikishi ended the tournament at 10-5, so there was a six person playoff for the yusho. Each of the six drew lots to determine the pairings for the first three bouts, and then the winners of those first three bouts entered a Tomoe-sen for the yusho. What was interesting to me is that Hoshoryu (Asashoryu's nephew) and Meisei met up in the Tomoe-sen, and the two are stablemates. It was a very good yotsu bout, which favors Hoshoryu, and he was the better rikishi, but you could see him let up and give Meisei the win. Meisei ultimately took the yusho, but the point is...kohai deferring to senpai in sumo is still alive and well and spans all divisions.

Okay, the comments today are short and sweet. My thanks to Gary for being my partner in crime this basho, and we'll see what September brings.

Day 14 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Each day prior to the bouts I like to scan the headlines on the news wires just to get a pulse on the trends and movement surrounding a basho, and heading into Day 14 it was nothing but love for Terunofuji. A few headlines that stood out mentioned just how many fans were commenting on sumo and seemed excited by Terunofuji's run. Now, prior to a few days ago, it was Asanoyama dominating all of the headlines, but the feel then was just obligatory. With Terunofuji, I sensed real fan interest and appreciation, and of course that sentiment mirrors exactly what we've seen atop the dohyo the first 13 days. Terunofuji's wins are real, dominant, and impressive whereas Asanoyama's wins have been soft and mostly comeback where it just didn't feel like there was much going on in the ring. Too many Japanese fans still believe what they're told, but it was just interesting to see the heartfelt buzz for Terunofuji, and that's because the fans know his sumo has been real.

With that in mind, Terunofuji was in prime position to post a historical comeback like no other. He'd be the first guy to have taken a yusho, fallen off of the banzuke altogether, and then rise back up to take another yusho. Throughout the broadcast, they kept panning close to Terunofuji's previous yusho placard that still hangs in the rafters of the Kokugikan, and as I watched the Day 14 broadcast unfold, it just felt like a done deal.

The leaderboard at the beginning of the day was as follows:

12-1: Terunofuji
11-2: Asanoyama
10-3: Mitakeumi, Shodai

A Terunofuji win coupled with an Asanoyama loss would give the former Ozeki the yusho on Saturday, so let's cover the leaders' bouts moving in chronological order.

First up was Terunofuji vs. Suckwake Shodai, and when I closed my Day 12 report, I stated the fact (yes, it's a fact) that Asanoyama cannot beat Terunofuji straight up. Well, the same obviously goes for Shodai, so once again, Terunofuji had a choice to make heading into this contest.

From the tachi-ai, Terunofuji reached for an grabbed a left frontal grip, but instead of just lifting Shodai upright from there, the Mongolian backed up two steps of his own volition. As Shodai gave chase, he was able to get a light moro-zashi about wrist deep, but Terunofuji's never met a moro-zashi from his opponent that he didn't like. Problem was, Terunofuji wasn't latched onto his opponent opting to just go through the motions, so when Shodai attempted a weak swipe from the inside with the right hand, Terunofuji just ran himself clear across the dohyo and onto one leg. He had plenty of time to square back up because it took Shodai three or four steps to catch up, but once he did, Fuji just let himself be forced out from there. Terunofuji actually stumbled off the dohyo a few rows deep into the suna-kaburi landing on his arse, a clear sign that there was no pressure coming from him at the edge, but the end result is a thrown bout in favor of Shodai.

One thing I love to do as I watch sumo is listen to the Japanese announcers and the way they react to the bouts. For example, with Asanoyama the entire basho, there hasn't been anything positive to say about his sumo. They never praise Asanoyama except maybe to say, "He was really patient," or "He stood there tough at the edge," but they never point out his offensive maneuvers and declare his victories as strong or overwhelming. And that's because none of them ever are.

Contrast that to Terunofuji's victory yesterday over Asanoyama, and Kitanofuji who was in the booth providing color used words like "sugoi" and "umai." At one point as they watched Terunofuji break off Asanoyama's outer grip in slow motion, Kitanofuji muttered "umai wa," which is an expression that translates to, "He's just so good." Kitanofuji was referring to Terunofuji's technical ability in the ring, and the comments are just night and day when they watch real sumo vs. fake sumo. I mean, they have to cover for the yaocho, but the commentary is just different.

Ota Announcer today said the following three lines during the Terunofuji - Shodai matchup:

Shodai wo tometa!
(meaning Terunofuji stopped Shodai's initial momentum)

Katasukashi, Shodai, kuzushita!
("Katasukashi" is a shoulder slap that never occurred although Terunofuji's reaction by stumbling across to the other side of the dohyo made it look as if one happened. "Shodai" just meant that Shodai had the advantage after Terunofuji ran himself to the other side of the dohyo, and then "kuzushita" means to break your opponent down, and referred to the fact that Terunofuji had no more positioning at the edge.

Yori-kiri, Shodai-no-kachi!
Yori-kiri was of course the winning technique, and then Shodai-no-kachi states the fact that Shodai won.

What's so interesting to me is that even while watching the replay, they never used Shodai as the subject of the sentence, and that's because Shodai wasn't doing anything. It was all Terunofuji including his lazy stance at the edge where he somehow forgot to use the tawara to brace himself.

That early left outer grip that Fuji got against Shodai was identical to the grip he got against Asanoyama yesterday. Both grips came from the tachi-ai, so yesterday Terunofuji lifted up with the grip and kicked Asanoyama's ass whereas today he got the same grip against Shodai and then just backed up two steps waiting for that pull attempt.

There are just so many subtleties that get glossed over, and so I thought I'd mention the way I break things down and see things.

I can only speculate as to why Terunofuji chose to lose today, but my guess is that the Terunofuji camp felt there were two compelling reasons to warrant his behavior. First, it just keeps things interesting heading into the final day. Sumo needs as much momentum as it can get, and the yusho being decided on Day 14 means they just throw away that final day. Terunofuji is still the Story Teller and the favorite to yusho despite the loss, so if he wants the yusho, he'll get it. Second, it further strengthens the appearance of parity in sumo. You have this Mongolian making this terrific run, but not so fast. He's got the likes of Shodai to solve on Day 14!! As if.

Anyway, I do not think a decision was made by the Sumo Association or anyone on the board of directors. I think Terunofuji and Isegahama felt it would be better for everyone if they keep this thing going into the final day, and I have to agree.

The end result is that Terunofuji gets bumped down to a 12-2 record putting him even with Asanoyama in the two-loss column. As for Shodai, he moves to 11-3 with the gift and is still technically in the yusho hunt.

Next up was Suckiwake Mitakeumi who was paired against M16 Kotoeko, and that's when you know the Apocalypse is upon is...Kotoeko fighting in such a prominent bout. Mitakeumi failed to break down Kotoeko at the tachi-ai, and so Kotoeko back-pedaled to his left completely befuddling Mitakeumi. Mitakeumi didn't shove and he couldn't establish himself to the inside, and it was all Kotoeko early on. The M16 got the right arm inside, and his left arm was right there at the side of Mitakeumi's belt, but he purposefully failed to grab it. I mean, Kotoeko had dominated the entire way with Mitakeumi having done zilch, but Kotoeko failed to grab the outer grip and just stood there waiting. Mitakeumi finally backed up slowly to the edge of the ring and fired on a very weak scoop throw with the right arm, but Kotoeko just played along and hopped out of the ring. Hooboy, Mitakeumi could do nothing here, which is indicative of just how hapless the dude really is at this level of the banzuke. Nonetheless, the accepts the gift and moves to 11-3 meaning he's still in yusho contention. As for Kotoeko, he's a prime candidate for a special prize as he falls to 9-5.

The final bout of the day featured Asanoyama vs. M7 Terutsuyoshi, and like Mitakeumi, Asanoyama does not belong at this level of the banzuke, so anything was bound to happen. And it did. With Asanoyama completely whiffing at the tachi-ai, Terutsuyoshi just ducked down and to his right grabbing Asanoyama's left stump with both hands and tripping him over and down about a second in. Goodness gracious as we like to say in Utah. First and foremost, the reason Terutsuyoshi rarely makes that move is because it rarely works. If it did, he and other rikishi would use it a lot more often. Second, the reason an ashi-tori is hard to pull off is you usually get pulverized by your opponent before setting it up. I mean, look at Enho when he tries the same move and his opponent wants to win. It's curtains. It worked today though because Asanoyama is so hapless at this rank, and he was not proactive at the tachi-ai.

Two years ago, Asanoyama was a much better rikishi than Terutsuyoshi, but after all of that fake sumo, the dude has simply forgotten how to ball. He's lost any ring sense, and he's just clueless. It's similar to the plight of Takayasu. Takayasu was a very good rank and filer, but once the powers that be decided he should be an Ozeki, his sumo took a huge turn for the worse. Same goes for Asanoyama and it's also the same for Takakeisho. The dudes are just awful up here.  Also, once again we have one of the Japanese "Ozeki" being left in the wake of an inferior opponent.

The end result is Asanoyama's falling to 11-3 while Terutsuyoshi picks up kachi-koshi at 8-7, and one of the highlights of the day for me was seeing Terutsuyoshi hoist that brick of kensho back down the hana-michi after the win. As they interviewed Terutsuyoshi afterwards, he said that he decided on the ashi-tori move last night with his tsukebito. His tsukebito suggested it, and then the two discussed it before deciding to try it. Terutsuyoshi was also quick to point out that he was part of the Isegahama "gundan," or clan, and he was implying that he was out there to help Terunofuji as well. That he did because despite the Terunofuji loss, the dude is still all alone at the top so instead of his winning on Day 14 and Asanoyama's losing for the yusho, Fuji now simply has to win tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, here's the final leaderboard heading into senshuraku:

12-2: Terutsuyoshi
11-3: Asanoyama, Shodai, Mitakeumi

The bouts set up really well with Terunofuji taking on Mitakeumi and Asanoyama drawing Shodai. There is no way that Mitakeumi can beat Terunofuji in a real bout, so it's completely up to the Story Teller. A win from Fuji and the yusho is his. A loss still leaves him tied with Mitakeumi and the winner of the Shodai - Asanoyama bout. That would lead to what's called a Tomoe-sen where three guys vy for the yusho. The three rikishi choose lots to determine who fights in the first bout and then who sits out. Bascially, the winner stays in the ring until he wins two in a row. The last time three rikishi were in a Tomoe-sen was 1994, so it'd be cool to see that as well. There's definitely drama heading into the final day, and the Sumo Association couldn't ask for anything more. My gut says that Fuji is just gonna win, but we'll see.

In other bouts of interest on the day, Komusubi Daieisho pounded M6 Enho back and down tsuki-taoshi style. Enho landed on his arse beyond the straw and went down hard, which is typical for him in his losses. He falls to 5-9 while Daieisho has been stellar at 10-4.

M2 Onosho finally picked up his first win of the basho as M9 Ikioi just stood in front of him and let him score the easy oshi-dashi win. That's 1-13 now for Onosho if you need him while Ikioi ain't much better at 2-12.

I loved the M10 Myogiryu - M15 Kotoshoho bout. Taking a page out of Kyokutenho's book, Myogiryu allowed the rookie to push him back little by little, and then at the edge of the ring, Myogiryu sprung the hataki-komi trap. It's just veteran sumo at it's best, and Kotoshoho needs bouts like this so he can learn. He's still stuck on eight wins at 8-6 while Myogiryu has quietly had a wonderful basho at 10-4.

Note just how easy it was for M12 Sadanoumi to defeat M14 Kotoshogiku. With his eight in the bag, there's no reason for the Geeku to buy his bouts, and so his opponents are going to get theirs.

And finally, M16 Nishikigi was back to his yaocho ways just dragging M13 Takayasu into his body as part of a fake kote-nage attempt. Nishikigi may be able to survive in the division with a win tomorrow (he's 6-8) while Takayasu "improves" to 9-5.

I'll be back again tomorrow to wrap it all up.

Day 13 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, you may have noticed already but we are missing another Yokozuna. Sumo is dropping its big names like a viral epidemic, mirroring the depleted Sumotalk ranks. Hey Justin. Hey Harvye. Hakuho withdrew from the remainder of the basho to join Kakuryu and Takakeisho in the champagne room of Abi's new gentleman's club. Miyagino oyakata says he has been getting medical treatment including pain-killers for cartilage and ligament damage. Miyagino mentioned day 4 as a bad one for Hakuho and his right knee, but that things really only got too much for him when he fell against Mitakeumi yesterday.

I'm thinking two things. One, if this 10-0 run is Hakuho hurting, then Miyagino, fetch the bat and start whacking him every basho because he's been better this month than the entire preceding year. And two, his right knee was only finished AFTER that horrible stiff legged fall against Mitakeumi. So what caused him to go down like that in the first place, hmmm? Shodai picks up the no sweat fusen win and goes 10-3. He's still in with a chance to win it all (about as much chance as Yago being the next big thing) and can kick start some talk about an Ozeki run for the second half of the year. In a strange way, part of me is pleased that Hakuho withdrew, I don't think I could take a third such performance in a row.

Chiyomaru (M15) 3-9 vs Tochinoshin (M11) 7-5
Tochinoshin has finally managed to get himself a kachi-koshi. Considering we are in the opening Makuuchi match that shouldn't be anything notable. He's a former Ozeki who still has plenty of physical strength left, but this magical eighth is his first in a whole year of trying. He hasn't made more than 6 wins since he was in that special place of Oz-wake. He dealt with Chiyomaru's moro-te-zuki in a competent fashion, nothing showy. He stopped the thrusting shenanigans with a palm to the offending arm (and offensive face) and brought his teats in close. Two seconds later Chiyomaru was in a migi-yotsu battle with the former judo player. That just about guaranteed the yori-kiri finish for the former soviet baby. Gilotsav Levan.

Shimanoumi (M11) 4-8 vs Kotoyuki (M17) 6-6
I know he has more wins than guys like Onosho and Yutakayama, but to me Shimanoumi has been the dud of the day more than anyone. He's put in some seriously lackluster efforts along the way. His sumo has been limp and floppy, like he's been dining with Tagonoura oyakata. Well at least today that head down and hang around style matched up well against the hand flapper, Kotoyuki. With no target to hit, Kotoyuki just did the decent thing and went straight backwards where he was tipped over oshi-taoshi. The last thing the crowd wanted was for Kotoyuki to dig in and suddenly start practicing yotsu sumo against the flaccid one. Five white stars flatters Shimanoumi.

Wakatakakage (M14) 8-4 vs Myogiryu (M10) 8-4
Bout number three and we have yet another henka to add to the basho total. Wakatakakage served up a slice of sideways action and watched Myogiryu run all the way to the edge. Sneaky Wakatakakage then rushed in and put a firm hand under the jaw, trying to pry his opponent back one more step. But he didn't have quite enough weight behind it. Myogiryu not only survived but was able to move away, creating just enough space to bring down Wakatakakage with hataki-komi. Which is not an easy thing for the announcer to say when he's drunk.

Kaisei (M10) 5-7 vs Nishikigi (M16) 5-7
On day 11 I found myself praising the efforts of Tokushoryu as he did good, ambitious sumo in a losing effort against Kaisei. Today Nishikigi did something similar, he perked up and his sumo energy levels went up another notch. What is it with Kaisei? Something about him draws out the fire in his opponents. It could be his intimidating size, even for sumo, Ricardo is immense. Maybe he triggers the old fight or flight instinct. Or as it's known in sumo, the Shohozan or Enho instinct.

Well, Nishikigi fought today. Unlike so many of his days this tournament, he fought hard and looked good doing it. At the tachi-ai he was looking for the outer grip early. This was denied but his head was placed nice and low and he circled as his big Brazilian (slightly Japanese) opponent came rumbling forward. Again we saw Kaisei turning well to face a rikishi trying to get round him. 90 degree turns are not an easy maneuver to pull off when you're 200kg (445lb). But Nishikigi was lively in this bout and he stuffed a right arm deep inside and powered forward, sweeping the M10 backwards to the edge.

Kaisei actually kept his composure together as he resisted at the tawara and brought the action back into the ring with an outer left over the top. Solid sumo action on display here. Nishikigi still had the strong inner grip cinched in and of course he was lower than the 6'5” (195cm) guy so after a few breaths he went for it and heaved the massive load out for his best yori-kiri of the basho. Thank you Kaisei, you bring out the best in people.

Tamawashi (M9) 8-4 vs Kotoeko (M16) 9-3
Three times they've met and three times Tamawashi has emerged victorious with ease. Nobody, not even Kotoeko was surprised. They named it tsuki-dashi, because Kotoeko was just bounced back and away. Far, far away.

Kotoshoho (M15) 7-5 vs Chiyotairyu (M8) 5-7
This 20 year old is going to be a load in a few years time, the weight is just hidden on him. One of the rookies who should stick, baring injury of course (Hey Yago!). The bout was short and devastating. Out charged Chiyotairyu in his customary cannonball start. And with the fearlessness of youth, the rookie met him head on, skull to skull. A heavy dull crack came from the dohyo. The 20 year old did it intentionally and had the follow up ready, a jolting thrust to the face. The Kokonoe man reeled from the rough treatment and staggered forward, pushing at the air as he tried to continue his cannonball thing. A stunned Chiyotairyu was charging at nothing, Kotoshoho had long gone, stepping away to let his man fly past him. A hand to the back of the head prevented any last second recovery.

They say sumo is mostly won or lost at the tachi-ai. Well, here it is. The most brutal tachi-ai this basho. Kotoshoho got his kachi-koshi at the expense of Chiyotairyu being pinned with his make-koshi. Chiyotairyu has been alternating between kachi-koshi and make-koshi all year long, getting nowhere in his sumo. Gambare man!

Endo (M1) 6-6 vs Hokutofuji (M5) 7-5
The list of opponents Endo has either beaten or lost to, clearly demonstrates that for now he is at his correct ranking of M1. All of the six Sanyaku men he has faced since Kakuryu's silly self-inflicted kicking on day one have beaten him. And equally, all five of the Maegashira men he has faced, he's defeated.

Which means that Hokutofuji may be in the wrong team as the Maegashira 5 bullied, chased and shoved Endo round the ring. Once Endo stopped retreating and tried to mount an attack, down he went to a half hataki-komi, half hiki-otoshi hybrid. That's a winning score for Hokutofuji and two more wins might see him take Endo's M1 spot. Day 14 brings him Tochinoshin.

Enho (M6) 5-7 vs Okinoumi (K) 7-5
Of all things Enho cannot afford to be if he wants to survive in sumo, it's predictable. But he's in danger of becoming just that. For his make-koshi today he ducked down with his head at mawashi height. Okinoumi was ready for it and denied the pixie from getting in any further with a left hand blocking the arm and then pushing at the shoulder. Enho tried a desperate pull at Okinoumi but it left the pixie no more space to play in as he went over oshi-taoshi. Okinoumi just had to keep his stance tight and low to collect his early kachi-koshi. It very nearly looked like an orthodox bout of sumo. Surely not. With that eighth win Okinoumi completes the full set of lower Sanyaku with kachi-koshi. It doesn't happen all that often and it's said that a strong lower Sanyaku leads to an exciting basho. So how is it for everybody?

Daieisho (K) 8-4 vs Aoiyama (M4) 5-7
Was that a bit of Takakeisho style wave action I saw from Daieisho? It got him moving forward into Aoiyama's side of the sand but the 66 pound (30kg) weight difference meant the watery surge ran out and the bout stalled in the center. Big Daniel made his move and leaned into some seriously powerful looking thrusts. Daieisho must have know he couldn't resist that kind of assault in a straight line so he hightailed it to the side and let Aoiyama push past him to the floor for the both wise and sneaky tsuki-otoshi. Aoiyama brought the big guns for this one but walks away with a make-koshi. Best oshi battle of the day though.

Kagayaki (M4) 4-8 vs Mitakeumi (S) 9-3
There is a lot to like with Kagayaki's sumo, he's quite strong and very stable. But there's also a lot to pick at too. He's not all that heavy for his frame but he is quite slow, let's be kind and call it methodical. He's too tall to ever find it easy to push his opponents backwards and he seems hellbent on doing that and only that. And sometimes he just looks miserable out there. Perhaps he's trying to be all calm and zen-like but it just seems to me he doesn't enjoy his sumo.

For yet another bout, corn fed Mitakeumi went in reverse, but at least today he planned to do it. He pushed back just enough for Kagayaki to bite on it and then Mitakeumi released the pressure, letting Kagayaki fall forward zen-like into nothingness. They called it hiki-otoshi because of the hand position but it was actually Mitakeumi getting the heck out of the way that did it. The Sekiwake moves up to 10-3 to join his rival Shodai on the bottom of the leaderboard. It's an effective dance move, but it doesn't look very attractive, a bit like Chiyomaru in his emerald sequined gown.

Terunofuji (M17) 11-1 vs Asanoyama (O) 11-1
Once Hakuho sat down (hitting the corner of the chair and tipping over backwards, his legs flailing in the air, to land in the chanko pot as the drummer in the band goes bum-paa) all eyes were on this one as the Yusho decider. It didn't disappoint.

Terunofuji took a page out of Hakuho's book called cheating-not-cheating and got away with not putting both hands down. It meant he rose fast enough to be in position to receive the quicker Asanoyama who had crossed the shikirisen looking for his favorite outer left grip. Why anyone would give Terunofuji the inner right grip is beyond me, but Asanoyama did just that. It wasn't a good trade because the first move Asanoyama tried was a destabilising throw with his inner right arm which totally broke his own outer left grip. All Terunofuji had to do was get back into his usual balanced stance. And that's his specialty.

Before the injuries shattered the most promising sumo career since Hakuho, the man was a boulder anchored to the ground. I don't know of any rikishi who set his feet and regained position better than Terunofuji when he was in his prime. That includes the two great Mongolian khans. Maybe Takanohana, but he wasn't as hard to move. Maybe Chiyonofuji, but he would go into a defensive stance more often. Maybe Kitanoumi, but his shorter legs had to move a lot more to do it. I never saw Taiho so I can't say, but the former Ozeki is in some damn good company with that particular ability. And Asanoyama ran right into it.

Terunofuji recovered absolutely everything. The bout was already over as Terunofuji began to muscle his way to the yori-kiri win. Asanoyama put up some spirited defense and made the M17 work for it. Terunofuji levered him to one side then the next as he was driving forward. But it was just a matter of time. Time and incredible pressure generated from those knees, which have held up beautifully. Those pain killers must be the really good kind. The yori-kiri delivered his twelfth win and sole lead for the Yusho with only two more days left to go.

For day 14 Asanoyama gets fed M7 Terutsuyoshi and Terunofuji goes against Shodai. It looks like we just had our fun.

And now, the all new revised edition of the July basho Leaderboard. What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours.

12-1 Teruno-Freaking-Fuji
11-1 Asanoyama
10-3 Shodai, Mitakeumi

Mike will be taking all the spare painkillers left and grinding his joints heroically through days 14 and 15. Enjoy!

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The big news heading into Day 12 is the withdrawal of Takakeisho. The soon to be 24 year-old cited an injured left knee as the reason for his withdrawal, but it's no secret that he was ready to bail as soon as he got his eight gifts. Takakeisho was kadoban coming into the basho, so this allows him to hang on to his rank for two more basho, which should be a treat for us all. Starting a few days ago, Terunofuji actually bumped Takakeisho out of the top three watched bouts for the day, and so it's nice to see that people are starting to appreciate what real Ozeki sumo looks like.

Thanks to some horrible acting on the part of Hakuho yesterday, NHK was able to expand the leaderboard down to three losses, and so as we enter the day, this is how things stand:

10-1: Hakuho, Asanoyama, Terunofuji
8-3: Takakeisho, Shodai, Mitakeumi, Tamawashi, Kotoshogiku, Kotoeko

Had Hakuho not thrown that bout yesterday, the leaderboard would have appeared as follows with both Mongolians fighting like men and Asanoyama looking like soft cream

11-0: Hakuho
10-1: Asanoyama, Terunofuji

It's much easier to appeal to the Japanese fans with the leaderboard we have now, and so you can see the benefit of Hakuho's actions yesterday.

Let's start with the three-loss rikishi and work our way up.

First and foremost, Komusubi Daieisho picked up the freebie due to Takakeisho's withdrawal, and while he hasn't received a lot of run this basho, Daieisho has been fighting well. I'm happy to see him pick up kachi-koshi, and he's a lot better than both Suckiwake.

I can't believe that I'm actually entertaining M14 Kotoshogiku as one of the leaders, but whatever. Today he was paired against M10 Myogiryu who has looked very good to me this basho. Myogiryu moved right at the tachi-ai throwing the Geeku off balance from the start, and before Kotoshogiku could really square back up, Myogiryu hit him with a right choke hold and the left arm to the inside. Myogiryu easily stood his foe completely upright, grabbed moro-zashi, and then forced Kotoshogiku back and across without argument. Both rikishi end the day now at 8-4.

The marquee matchup of the first half was easily M9 Tamawashi vs. M17 Terunofuji, and while we didn't get a straight up fight, it was still good. Both rikishi bounced off of each other at the tachi-ai thanks in part to Tamawashi's failure to drive with his legs, but he did keep Terunofuji away from a yotsu contest. The two traded shoves for a few seconds, and it was obvious that Tamawashi was not trying to win this one. Fuji never was able to grab his foe, but Tamawashi went for a few fake pulls reducing his momentum and keeping Terunofuji alive, and finally Fuji the Terrible was able to catch The Mawashi with a right arm to the left side that "spun" Tamawashi around, and from there Terunofuji rushed in for the yotsu win. Tamawashi definitely deferred here allowing Terunofuji to remain on the one-loss perch at 11-1 while Tamawashi himself graciously falls to 8-4.

Up next was M16 Kotoeko vs. M7 Tokushoryu, and I agree with Gary that Tokushoryu has looked quite good this basho. He definitely dominated start to finish, but in this day and age of sumo, that means nothing. And Tokushoryu showed why demanding the left arm inside and completely lifting Kotoeko upright, but on the other side, Tokushoryu refrained from grabbing a right outer grip even though it was wide open. Instead, Tokushoryu kept that arm up high as he spun Kotoeko around before just spinning himself into the defensive position at the edge and allowing Kotoeko the cheap force-out from there. So pure domination by Tokushoryu all the way to the end where he turned the tables on himself giving Kotoeko the win. Heck (as we say in Utah), if they were paying me $10 grr to throw a bout, I'd do it too. The end result is Kotoeko's moving to 9-3 while Tokushoryu falls to 6-6.

Suckiwake Shodai had it easy today facing M6 Enho, and not even Shodai could screw this one up. Shodai smartly kept his arms in tight and waited for Enho to come to him at the tachi-ai, and Enho did that trying to get his arms inside for some sort of leverage. Shodai initially flirted with a left arm to the inside, but he ultimately settled on two grips around Enho's arms from the outside, and really, all you have to do is grab a hold of Enho and then use your weight advantage to bully him out. Shodai just charged forward winning by kime-dashi and sending Enho into the last row of the unoccupied suna-kaburi. Shodai's hopes are alive at 9-3 while Enho falls to 5-7.

At this point, let's move to the remaining one-loss rikishi starting with Asanoyama vs. M5 Hokutofuji. Hokutofuji showed how easy it is to keep Asanoyama upright and away from the belt at the tachi-ai using a few shoves, and then the M5 backed up going for a brief pull before getting the right arm firmly established to the inside. Hokutofuji's position was so good, he had the wide open path to the left outer grip, but he purposefully drew his hand away from the easy outer twice. I took the pic at left during the slo mo replay to show just how open Asanoyama's right side was.  I can't say that I was surprised that Hokutofuji failed to latch onto the belt, and even when Asanoyama seemed to lift Fuji upright, he was able to hunker back down and grope that outer belt again, but in the end he just went limp allowing Asanoyama to lightly spin him around and down with a weak scoop throw. I know I sound as if I'm beating a dead horse, but a real bout would have ended in a nage-no-uchi-ai here, and every picture of the Asanoyama "win" shows how backwards his footing was at the end.  If you attempt a scoop throw with the right arm, it's the LEFT leg that's planted to the outside and the right leg that's used to push into the opponent's left thight.  In looking at the pic at left, Asanoyama's footing is completely backwards thus the lightweight finish where  Asanoyama's gal just spun around his arms as the faux-zeki lightly set him down to the dirt. With the gift, Asanoyama moves to 11-1 while Hokutofuji is at least a bit richer at 7-5.

And that leads us to the final bout of the day, Yokozuna Hakuho against Suckiwake Mitakeumi. The Yokozuna came with his patented hari-zashi tachi-ai slapping with the right but instead of getting that right arm inside, he grabbed an outer grip instead. He subtlety had the outer position on the other side as well giving Mitakeumi moro-zashi, but moro-zashi is only good if you have leverage and momentum, and Mitakeumi had neither. In less than two seconds, Hakuho just bulldozed Mitakeumi back to the edge before spinning around and onto his back giving Mitakeumi the utterly fake tsuki-otoshi win. First, in order to put THAT Yokozuna on his back, you have to have leverage with the legs to make the scoop throw that was Mitakeumi's initial reaction at the edge. Mitakeumi had none, and he knew it because as Hakuho was falling down, Mitakeumi went for an extra slap drawing the final kimari-te of tsuki-otoshi. I mean, how does someone win by tsuki-otoshi and have his opponent spin around and land on his back? It's not possible unless of course the Yokozuna spun himself around and down. This was one of those bouts that people who just erase yaocho from their consciousness look at and say..."Yeah, that looked real."  What's implausible though is that at no point during the bout did MItakeumi have the positioning to make the Yokozuna go parallel with the dohyo.  The Khan took care of that ll on his own.

With the loss, not only did Hakuho vault Asanoyama into sole possession of first place, but he made a big show limping around the base of the dohyo favoring his right leg. That's what happens though when rikishi let up in the ring, so we'll see if Hakuho decides to withdraw. As he falls to 10-2, the leaderboard heading into the final Friday is as follows:

11-1: Asanoyama, Terunofuji
10-2: Hakuho
9-3: Mitakeumi, Shodai, Kotoeko

Asanoyama and Terunofuji fight tomorrow, so we'll see what Terunofuji decides to do. I have no idea of his intentions, but this much I can say:  Asanoyama cannot defeat Terunofuji in a straight up bout.

Just two other points of interest from the rest of the day. First, M4 Kagayaki's fall was the fakest among the bouts that had no yusho implications. At M4, that dude has tons of room to barter, and he did just that today giving Komusubi Okinoumi the 7-5 record.

Finally, wasn't it interesting to watch M16 Nishikigi try and counter against M14 Wakatakakage? Nishikigi is one of the premier sellers in the division along with Kagayaki, and when Nishikigi is trying to win a bout, he fights as he did against Wakatakakage today. When he sells a bout, he just stays upright and walks his way out of the ring. It was a very noticeable contrast today compared to most of Big N's bouts.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Day 11 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, and the 2020 Ichinojo watch continues on, at least while there's still hope anyway. Today he tackled fellow 27 year old 400 pounder Daiamami. The age and weight category is the only thing these two have in common. The highest Daiamami has ever kachi-koshi'ed from is (quick check online) is M16. Wow, that's even worse than I thought it would be. Ichinojo should absolutely splatter him. Ichinojo did move quickly (quick for Ichi anyway) to take a nice outside grip. Daiamami matched it with a strong inside right and his shoulder stuffed into Ichi's voluminous chest. He even resisted manfully when the Mongolith rumbled forward for the yori-kiri win. That may be the best I've ever seen him, well done Daiamami. You lost slower than I thought you would.

Ichinojo now sits at 7-4 from the J5 rank. Mere kachi-koshi is never really enough for this guy. We're waiting for the signs of a return to Yusho winning greatness that may never come. Right now he's neck and neck with Tokushoryu at one a piece.

Nishikigi (M16) 4-6 vs Chiyoshoma (J1) 3-7
A matta followed by henka, it must be time for Chiyoshoma. What a way to start the main broadcast product off with a bang. The Juryo visitor dragged the hapless Nishikigi off his feet and pushed his head into the sand. For his contribution to the show, Nishikigi flew over like a clothes store mannequin and held his hands so straight and stiff I though he was having a stroke. But wait, it gets better, a mono-ii was called. The time where sumo can really shine. Chiyoshoma's foot had slid out giving the oshi-dashi win to Nishi. Oh, and the Gyoji had pointed to the J1 guy, so he was overturned as well. Things can only get better after that one.

Terunofuji (M17) 9-1 vs Tochinoshin (M11) 6-4
Back in the day, Terunofuji used to routinely beat Tochi. Now with the pair of ex-Ozeki both in a terrible physical predicament these days, all bets are off. But all is not lost as we got treated to a slow but deliberate gappuri-yotsu masterclass. The crowd recognized what was in front of them early and showed their love. Tochinoshin was the first to make a move for the finish line and tried that old grunt power of his. He made it half way and then got himself turned.

Once things came to a halt, Terunofuji pulled his outer grip in tight to his hips and Tochinoshin started to wriggle. From demanding to clinch in close and looking to power out his boy, he was now wanting space between him and the comeback king. It would seem these days Tochinoshin has only one bullet in his musket and he'd just shot it, wad and all. More applause from the public, a sound not heard at all during the Nishikigi Chiyoshoma bout.

Terunofuji had one crucial shoulder under his boy. Once he started to apply big pressure that left side grip was useless for Tochinoshin, who had to give up on it and turn his left side away. Now defending only, and with a two to one grip disadvantage, Tochinoshin was done. The big Mongolian claimed his much deserved yori-kiri to yet more hand noise from the faithful. It looks like the average sumo going fan actually prefers this sort of thing to the hit and hide tactics they often get to see. Who knew?

Kaisei (M10) 4-6 vs Tokushoryu (M7) 6-4
He's an easy target to criticize but Tokushoryu has made a good effort with his sumo for the last few days. And today he gave it a decent go again. The trouble is Kaisei was also feeling a bit genki and Kaisei doesn't sweat the big round rikishi. The rounder the better for Kaisei, unless your name is Ichinojo you still ain't round enough to tackle Kaisei mass to mass. Tokushoryu tried damned hard to get the win here, at one point he almost scored on a tottari arm throw but Big Brazil (Kaisei) balanced like a ballerina hippo on one leg and survived it.

The problem our favorite Yusho winner was having today was one of speed. The little'uns can zip round to the side of Kaisei, blobby Tokushoryu was just taking to long. Kaisei was turning to face him, on balance and just in time, every time. Eventually the dohyo became too small for these two behemoths to avoid coming together (it's the summer of love in Seattle, after all) and Kaisei took the yori-kiri win in a fun battle of the big boys. I really think both of them gave as good a bout of sumo as they could. It made me appreciate Tokushoryu, even if only for one day, as he was doing his best. It's Kaisei that made me think a bit. If he's looking good and fighting hard but still going toe to toe with Tokushoryu in an even, competitive match-up, can Kaisei really be so much better than him? I may have the Brazilian pegged too high in my mental banzuke, or worse, Tokushoryu pegged too low. Yikes.

Shodai (S) 8-2 vs Hokutofuji (M5) 6-4
I'm confused, Shodai, the defensive, evasive Shodai, roared out and barreled into his foe with an out of control, don't give-a-damn attitude. Hokutofuji, wild and violent Hokutofuji let Shodai bring it to him. Until at the very edge the M5 man turned the tables with a crafty tsuki-otoshi. Did I miss something? Did these two have a body swap overnight?

Kagayaki (M4) 4-6 vs Asanoyama (O) 9-1
For his tenth win Asanoyama took a page out of Tochiozan's book and went hunting for moro-zashi. They both had a decent start to this one. A good angle leading to a nice bit of impact right over the shikirisen. Kagayaki did what so many opponents do against Asanoyama, and thrust the poor boys head skywards, checking to see if it's securely attached. For some reason, Asanoyama never seems to adjust to this, his head is right there, central and high. Just asking to be knocked about a bit. He does usually deal with it well though.

Today he took the chin thrust and made sure his left arm came out of the tachi-ai nicely placed under Kagayaki's shoulder. This is the same start Kagayaki used to bludgeon Yutakayama straight back and out. In that bout he was able to push at his boy with his blocking arm, the left one. But today Asanoyama made him purely defend with it as he pushed his way in to moro-zashi. After that Kagayaki became his usual passive self and was taken out yori-kiri. One day it would be good to see a Rocky Balboa type snarl on his face, but he just doesn't seem to be made that way.

Takakeisho (O) 7-3 vs Mitakeumi (S) 8-2
It's getting to be a bit of a habit with Takakeisho but again today he takes full advantage of the loosely interpreted bumper book of sumo's best rules. It would seem this basho he is mostly facing dead men and falling bodies. And the dead are still putting him either out of the ring or down to the sand.

Mitakeumi was beaten at the tachi-ai. He's too slow this basho and he got caught. Well done Takakeisho. The follow-up stumble style de-ashi from the Ozeki was just abysmal though. Mitakeumi leaned on him and down he went as the Sekiwake himself flew out. It was a deliberate offensive attempt to beat the Ozeki but Mitakeumi had probably left it just a bit too late, his body was past the point of no return. Yet again Takakeisho touches down first as he just can't stop his overstuffed body moving once the momentum gets going. It's not good sumo for an exhibition, never mind a Hon-Basho. And it looks incredibly desperate for a young Ozeki. He's beginning to make Kotoshogiku look real good.

In the replay it was close, in real time it was a blink of an eye. The judges didn't even bother to have a quick mono-ii. I'm not sure they were even looking during the bout. This wall of silence is what's wrong here and it's what was wrong in the bout with Enho, the judges don't care enough about sumo itself to find the clear winner. All they have too do is let the rikishi sort it out between themselves with a rematch. But no. Takakeisho now has his all important kachi-koshi, 8-3.

Hakuho (Y) 10-0 vs Daieisho (K) 6-4
Hakuho lost against Daieisho for the second time. But before you hear any mean rumors about Hakuho slipping and sliding in this bout and generally being out of control, let me tell you, after the tachi-ai it was DAIESHO who slipped and stumbled forwards all exposed and ready for the plucking. Nope, Hakuho was in full control.

Following Daieisho's head-down stumble, Hakuho ignored it and moved back (for the first time this basho) and missed the close range swat with his left, taking his balance away and giving Daieisho the time to recover his own balance.

Khan-Not-Khan brought it back to the center with a controlling left arm, beautifully placed to get the uwate grip. He went for the more shallow mae-mitsu grip instead but his hand only brushed past it on it's way to the other side of his opponent, his shoulder following right along behind it. Hakuho then stumbled for the second time this bout as he went from having two feet in between the shikirisen to a foot on the outside of the ropes in one move.

Credit to Daieisho, when Hakuho's ass was staring straight at him, the Komusubi did try to grab the mawashi right at the back on it's way past. This was the first offensive move from Daieisho. The first. Hakuho continued to twist around on his 360 spin and so even that grip from Daieisho didn't amount to anything. As Hakuho came around from his spin move his foot touched on the sand outside. So they ruled it oshi-dashi. What else? The yusho race remains tight and the interest remains as high as possible. All good in the sumo hood.

Your new and fully revised Leaderboard is as follows.
10 wins - Hakuho, Asanoyama, Terunofuji
9 wins - Nobody Whatsoever
8 or less - Everybody Else

Tomorrow, Mike may have the energy to give day 12 a looksie.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The later we got into week 1, the more and more it seemed fans were coming out to see the sumos, and so I was wondering if sumo was starting to gain a bit of moment. When Day 9 came along, however, the stands were noticeably empty again with hardly anybody occupying seats in the upper level. That trend continued today into Day 10, and what that indicates is that the people coming out to watch the sumos purchased their tickets prior to the basho. It was announced a few days before the basho that there were still tickets available for every day, so let's see if they can manage to sell out (reach 25% capacity) a day during the closing weekend. If they can, it means that people are still excited by the current Japanese stars and watching the basho has inspired more people to attend.

In other news, there's a bit of an uproar outside of the dohyo surrounding Tagonoura-oyakata who was photographed in public supposedly passed out after consuming 50 drinks of tater mash. The oyakata lamely explained that he was just grabbing a bite to eat, but pictures and eye witnesses have him downing 50 drinks of a potato-based whiskey at the eatery. The pictures are all over the web drawing criticism of yet another member of the Association taking lightly the order to hunker down during the Corona virus pandemic.

A lot of times, bad PR like that can be overshadowed by the action in the ring, but that's definitely not the case this basho. The overall sumo content especially from the Japanese darlings has been awful, so I'm guessing more people are going to read about this latest public intoxication scandal than they will search for Enho bouts.

But that's that, so let's get to the Day 10 action.

Meisei was up from Juryo taking on M16 Kotoeko, and Meisei dominated this one from start to finish including his dive out of the ring at the end. Kotoeko could not solve Meisei's tsuppari charge, and he was forced to evade around the ring, and while Meisei kept up nice pressure, he never pounded that final nail in the coffin leaving himself vulnerable for a weak hataki-komi in the end. The actual kimirate is a slap down, but in this one Meisei just took himself clear off the dohyo altogether. Kotoeko moves to 7-3 with the gift.

M14 Wakatakakage henka'd to his right against M13 Takayasu easily felling the former faux-zeki down in half a second with a push into his side. Takayasu looked just plain old in this one, and he should have been able to at least try and square up. That he didn't has me thinking Wakatakakage could have been calling in a favor. Karaage moves to 6-4 with the cheap win while Takayasu falls to 5-5.

M15 Chiyomaru henka'd to his let against M12 Sadanoumi, and while the quick tsuki-otoshi attempt didn't fell the Sadamight right away, he was never able to fully recover and get to the belt. Chiyomaru used his shelf gut nicely to keep Sadanoumi away from the belt, and his consistent tsuppari attack didn't hurt either. With Sadanoumi never able to establish solid footing, Chiyomaru was able to pull him down after a six second tussle. Chiyomaru staves off make-koshi for now at 3-7 while Sadanoumi falls to 4-6.

M12 Shohozan stayed tight and low against M17 Terunofuji in an effort to keep Fuji the Terrible away from the belt, but the Mongolian is as equally adept fighting from the outside in. As Fuji leaned in on his lowered opponent, Shohozan went for a dumb pull, and as he backed up briefly during that attempt, Terunofuji countered with a pull of his own with all of his weight behind it, and it forced Shohozan down to the dohyo easily. This was an uneventful bout as Terunofuji moves to 9-1 while Shohozan checks in now at 2-8.

Nishikigi's arms were wide open at the tachi-ai giving Shimanoumi moro-zashi if he wanted it, but Shimanoumi didn't take it and instead allowed Nishikigi to get the right arm inside sending the bout to migi-yotsu. From there Nishikigi attempted a bullish force-out charge without having his gal in snug, and Shimanoumi was able to slip left at the edge with Nishikigi's belt totally exposed for an easy dashi-nage, but Shimanoumi didn't go for the kill allowing Nishikigi to square back up in the center of the ring. Nishikigi still didn't have anything to the inside, and so after a brief stalemate where Shimanoumi stayed low, Shimanoumi just backed up to the edge of the ring pulling Nishikigi towards him, and Nishikigi was finally able to get to the inside and finish off the yori-kiri. This is a bout where Shimanoumi dictated everything including that final sequence that gave Nishikigi the likely ill-gotten win. I can't believe I spent so much time on this bout as Nishikigi hobbles to 4-6 while Shimanoumi's make-koshi is official at 2-8.

M11 Tochinoshin kept his arms high and wide at the tachi-ai against M17 Kotoyuki never looking to get to the inside, and so as Kotoyuki came with his usual mediocre charge, Shin just played along faking a pull while backing up giving Kotoyuki the room to score the winning push out in the end. Tochinoshin was completely mukiryoku in this one as Kotoyuki limps to 4-6 while Tochinoshin falls to 6-4.

M15 Kotoshoho exhibited his best sumo of the basho denying M10 Kaisei the inside from the tachi-ai, but unfortunately the rookie decided to backup to his right to keep Kaisei away instead of using his so-called double-edged sumo skills to attack. After the early pull attempt, Kaisei was able to square back up and force the bout to migi-yotsu. Kotoshoho had a left outer but nothing inside, and so that's why Kaisei was able to force the rookie upright and into a position that allowed Kaisei to secure the equalizing left outer grip on the other side. Now from the gappuri-yotsu position, Kotoshoho did well to stave off Kaisei's force-out attempt going for an outer belt throw with the left, and Kaisei naturally responded with a right inside throw--the nage-no-uchi-ai one would expect in a straight up bout, and Kaisei simply overpowered the rookie down to the dohyo causing his knee to wrench awkwardly as he was pressed down to the clay.

This was a very good chess match, and it's worth pointing out that Kotoshoho showed here that he has good potential. He's a big kid and he knew when to counter, but he was simply beaten by a stronger, more experienced rikishi. To me, throwing bouts in Kotoshoho's favor does nothing to help him live up to his supposed potential. Make him figure things out the hard way...the same way that Terunofuji did when he began his rise up the Makuuchi division. With the dust settled, Kaisei moves to 4-6 while Kotoshoho settles for 7-3.

M8 Ishiura hopped forward and ducked into M14 Kotoshogiku completely aligning his feet, but the Geeku made him pay, and so Ishiura secured the left arm inside and right outer grip at the front of the former Ozeki's belt completely cutting off an inside for Kotoshogiku. Kotoshogiku still tried to use his bulk to force Ishiura back and across but he didn't have his gal in snug, so at the edge Ishiura darted left and then back right dragging Kotoshogiku off balance and down across the straw. The Geeku was schooled here and surely if his seven wins coming in were legit he would have been able to handle a tiny guy like this in yotsu contest. Kitanofuji made the excuse the Kotoshogiku was too tired after yesterday's bout. Uh huh. Nice try as Kotoshogiku falls to 7-3 while Ishiura moves to 4-6.

M10 Myogiryu was completely out of sync with M8 Chiyotairyu at the tachi-ai. I almost thought they'd reset and even Kitanofuji gave a grunt as if to say, "They ain't in sync," but Myogiryu went anyway and completely aligned his feet. Chiyotairyu's answer was to just destroy him back and it in two beefy thrust attempts. I think it's worth going back and watching Myogiryu's tachi-ai here because Takakeisho does this every bout. What happened today is what would happen to Takakeisho if his opponent was trying to mount a solid, frontal attack. Myogiryu blew this one by failing to sync up at the tachi-ai falling now to 7-3. As for Chiyotairyu, he's even steven at 5-5.

M7 Terutsuyoshi went hard at M9 Tamawashi disabling the Mongolian from firing initial thrusts, but The Mawashi quickly covered with a quick pull attempt and then thrusts of his own. With Terutsuyoshi trying to burrow inside, Tamawashi adjusted to an attack of two or three thrusts and then a pull attempt. On the third round or so he finally caught Terutsuyoshi with a right tsuki-otoshi to Terutsuyoshi's left side sending him down for good. Tamawashi also dove to the clay for no reason as he moves to 7-3 while Terutsuyoshi is level at 5-5.

M9 Ikioi came with a right kachi-age into M7 Tokushoryu, and Tokushoryu's response was to grab that right arm, step back left, and yank Ikioi around and out of the dohyo in under three seconds. Pretty good strategy from Tokushoryu who moves to 6-4 while Ikioi falls to 2-8.

M4 Kagayaki applied the early tsuppari pressure to M6 Enho forcing the pint-sized rikishi to back up and look to slip away, but Kagayaki just covers too much real estate. The larger Kagayaki looked to get a right arm inside, but Enho darted away and next ducked in to grab Kagayaki's right leg ashi-tori style. Before he could really get anything going, Kagayaki just leaned all of his weight down onto Enho's back and crushed him to the clay mound. All of these guys can do this to Enho every bout, so it was nice to see Kagayaki choose to win here moving to 4-6 while Enho falls to the same mark.  The picture at left shows my favorite ending to any bout this basho we've seen so far.  I only wish Enho would have looked up.

The most obvious yaocho performance from the day came from M3 Kiribayama who was purposefully slow at the tachi-ai against M6 Ryuden. Kiribayama charged with his head low and literally just froze as Ryuden grabbed a fistful of sagari and then finally a right outer grip, and once obtained, he easily bowled the listless Kiribayama over and down dashi-nage style. This took less than three seconds and Kiribayama redefined the term mukiryoku here as both rikishi finish the day at 4-6. Sheesh.

M1 Endoh reached for and grabbed a right frontal grip against M2 Onosho who was completely listless. Endoh pulled Onosho back which set up a left inside grip for him with that right outer on the other side, and with Onosho doing nothing, Endoh lightly dumped Onosho over and down in just a few seconds. Endoh breezes to 4-6 while Onosho is still an o'fer at 0-10.

M3 Takarafuji reached for and got a right frontal grip against M1 Yutakayama, but Yutakayama quickly pushed him off of it sending Takarafuji back a step or two. As Takarafuji went back, he yanked Yutakayama's right arm and then wrestled his way into moro-zashi with Yutakayama's back facing the straw. As Takarafuji went for the force-out kill, Yutakayama moved left going for a counter tsuki-otoshi causing both rikishi to crash down together. It looked to me as if Takarafuji's left elbow touched down first, and the gyoji correctly ruled in favor of Yutakayama, but they went to the tape and overturned the decision saying that Takarafuji indeed won the bout. Apparently the dude in the video room has lost his reading glasses because that's two blown calls in two days. The Enho / Takakeisho fiasco yesterday was more blatant, but Takarafuji escapes with the win today at 4-6. As for Yutakayama, he falls to 1-9.

M2 Takanosho bested Komusubi Okinoumi at the tachi-ai getting the left arm in deep and knocking Okinoumi up high as he pinched off Okinoumi's own left arm on the other side. The problem was that Takanosho didn't have a right outer grip, and so Okinoumi was able to dig in, gather his wits, and then turn the tables pushing Takanosho upright and forcing him back leading with the left inside. Near the other side of the dohyo, Okinoumi went for an extremely light kata-sukashi with the right arm, and Takanosho just hit the dirt. That was a strange finish as Okinoumi moves even with Takanosho at 5-5.

Komusubi Daieisho knocked Suckiwake Shodai upright at the tachi-ai with two hands to the chest, and then when Daieisho looked to take advantage with his tsuppari attack, Shodai threw a wild inashi attempt with the right arm barely connecting with Daieisho's left. That move compromised Shodai's footwork, and so Daieisho easily squared back up with Shodai and knocked him back and across with a final push. This was too easy for Daieisho who moves to 6-4 while Shodai should be embarrassed by this performance at 8-2.

In the faux-zeki ranks, Takakeisho welcomed M4 Aoiyama who failed to cross his starting line even though he could have pulverized Takakeisho in mere seconds. Instead, he waited for Takakeisho to fire some thrusts while using his own shoves to counter. The two bounced thrusts off of each other's arms like this two or three times before Aoiyama faked a pull attempt. He put his right arm up high and backed up but really didn't go for a pull. Still, Takakeisho didn't dare get in close so he timidly fired a few more shoves before going for his own ineffective pull. Aoiyama gave chase to the other side of the dohyo planting both hands into Takakeisho's face, but he didn't apply any pressure allowing Takakeisho to escape and then set up a weak shoulder slap with the left hand. Aoiyama of course anticipated the light blow and just dove down to the dohyo leading with his left shoulder. Easy yaocho call here as Takakeisho moves to 7-3 while Aoiyama falls to the opposite mark of 3-7. Takakeisho is kadoban this basho, so someone will give him one more one, and then the dude can just disappear from there.

It's been giving NHK a big stiffie to post a graphic every day showing Asanoyama's "quick" start as a new Ozeki. His 9-0 start through yesterday put him in a tie for fifth place all time for quick starts by rookie Ozeki. I don't know that I've seen a worse 9-0 start in my sumo career, but just sayin'.

Today against Mitakeumi, Asanoyama reached for a left outer grip from the tachi-ai, but Mitakeumi easily pushed him away and back upright and looked to get the right arm inside. Mitakeumi also had the open path to a left outer grip on the other side, but he whiffed in that attempt creating a bit of separation. As Asanoyama looked to square back up, Mitakeumi didn't fail in his second attempt getting the right arm inside and the left outer grip easy as you please. Before Asanoyama could counter with his own right arm to the inside, Mitakeumi just spun him around and out all the way to the arena floor with an outer belt throw. To me it's embarrassing to see an "Ozeki" done like this, but we all know that this is not a real Ozeki. Mitakeumi's charge wasn't polished, but it ran circles around Asanoyama as Mitakeumi picks up kachi-koshi at 8-2 while Asanoyama suffers his first loss at 9-1. Coincidentally, this was the first bout all basho where Asanoyama's opponent actually attempted to defeat him.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Hakuho welcomed M5 Hokutofuji by getting his right arm inside from the tachi-ai while flirting with the left outer grip, but he really didn't need it just bodying Hokutofuji back so quickly knocking Hokutofuji airborne as he sent him across thanks in part to Hokutofuji's going for a stupid pull attempt. Hakuho is still perfect at 10-0 while Hokutofuji falls to 6-4.

I guess it's time to start talking leaderboard with 10 days in the books, so here's how it shakes out as we enter the shubansen:

10-0: Hakuho
9-1: Asanoyama, Terunofuji
8-2: Mitakeumi, Shodai

Day 9 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, and media reports suggest that M5 Abi will not be allowed to return to the basho regardless of any medical problems he may or may not have. His enforced absence isn't a politely requested kyujo. This is now a punishment as the dirty little secret he's been hiding tumbles out. He also snuck out for a night on the town just before the tournament began. The first time he didn't get caught, so he did it again mid-basho.

The wretched hive of villainy he is said to have enjoyed himself in was a hostess bar. Think at least a Hooters without any natural C cups. Abi is now lined up for a severe punishment as he's basically pooped on the JSA's corona virus lockdown measures. To make matter worse, he also has a fever, although he may just be feeling the heat coming his way. They've tested him for corona and the result may decide if he has a career left in sumo.

If he tests positive he may well have been infected before the basho even started and have already been spreading it around the Shikoroyama Beya. Then there's every opponent he faced, any staff member he walked by, and every single rikishi and reporter in the preparation area. If he's positive there is a good chance this basho is over. And what then? Do they boldly declare the sole leader, if there is only one, as the Yusho winner and have a parade in the car park? Do they risk a quick sudden death playoff behind closed doors with only the 2 or 3 rikishi in contention. Or (and this is the most likely) will the JSA apologize unreservedly, turn tail and pretend this basho never happened? Abi may end up as the least popular guy in sumo for 2020, and that's in a year when an Oyakata had his entire heya disbanded for punching the recruits in the face.

Meisei (J1e) 4-3 vs Ichinojo (J5w) 5-3
In a Juryo-Not-Juryo bout Meisei spun Ichinojo around and down for a nice shitate-nage fifth win. Big Ichi looks like he has lost a bit of excess blubber, it's always hard to tell amongst so many other kilograms but a few seem to have been burned off during the lockdown. Maybe they have been able to watch what he eats back at the heya a bit more. It can only do him good to lose a few. This basho he's been moving a little easier on some days and the swelling on his lower leg is less horrific. Both positive signs. It looks possible he might just squeeze his bulky way back into the Makuuchi before the year ends. No big entrance and certainly no Juryo Yusho but if he doesn't fade a kachi-koshi here seems likely. How the mighty fall in sumo. Tomorrow he gets Chiyoshoma, and if he can't beat him then Ichi doesn't deserve to be a Maegashira 17.

Takayasu (M13) 4-4 vs Chiyomaru (M15) 2-6
Instant slap-down win for the former Ozeki. The scrubs have been tolerable for Big Bear Takayasu, not exactly easy pickings though. Some of them have even dared to grab his bad arm and win, but he seems happier here, less pressured. Chiyomaru has been an upright waste of time the first week. Incredibly, a full half of his wins have been by yori-kiri. A move he swore he would never use.

Sadanoumi (M12) 4-4 vs Terunofuji (M17) 7-1
Instant force-out win for the former Ozeki. The battle of the bandages was over in a clogged heartbeat. With Terunofuji doing so well I'm moved to do a leaderboard, just to see his name on it. With Shohozan drawn for day 10 a hungry Terunofuji should stay on it for a few more days too. Don't call it a comeback, call it THE comeback.

Ishiura (M8) 3-5 vs Tochinoshin (M11) 5-3
Before the basho began I vaguely recall reading something about Ishiura and an injury or health problem. I can't see anything obvious but this little bee clearly isn't buzzing. Another problem is his rank. He's as high as he's ever been and the lack of sting in his tail isn't helped with the step up in opponent. His henka has looked sharp though. And today he tried to utilize this particular skill and performed a Henka-Not-Henka in front of the Nagoya-not-Nagoya crowd. It didn't do any good, he was gathered up and swatted away yori-kiri. With the six whole days left to secure just two more wins it looks like Tochinoshin has finally stopped the slide down to Juryo and retirement talk. It was looking close.

Chiyotairyu (M8) 3-5 vs Ryuden (M6) 3-5
For just one day we got to see the Chiyotairyu from 2017 to the Chiyotairyu of, well, mid 2018. True it was only against Ryuden, who is in the deepest funk. But the cannonball blasted him to pieces, knocking him clean off the dohyo and down to the floor. Tsuki-dashi with a certified fresh certificate.

Takarafuji (M3) 3-5 vs Tokushoryu (M7) 4-4
For a big boy, Tokushoryu has some fancy footwork. He got them short legs pumping away as he circled half the ring trying to slide the sticky Takarafuji down his body. Even Ishiura hasn't managed to back-peddle quite so much this tournament. Beware, with that magnificently evasive tsuki-otoshi, Tokushoryu is on course for a kachi-koshi. And with a Yusho under his belt as well, perhaps an even bigger promotion one day. Maegashira 8 Tokushoryu anyone?

Onosho (M2) 0-8 vs Yutakayama (M1) 0-8
Well, one of them had to get a win today. It just happened to be Yutakayama.

Endo (M1) 2-6 vs Takanosho (M2) 5-3
Bully boy Endo cracked heads and ran a low road straight through Takanosho. This fine oshi-dashi still only gives him his third win. The first real one was over hapless Yutakayama. The other was the day one koshi-kudake over the world's worst futaball player Kakuryu. It's not been fun for Endo this July.

Daieisho (K) 5-3 vs Hokutofuji (M5) 5-3
For once it wasn't Hokutofuji that was too wild and uncontrolled in there. Daieisho tried to gather and go. But he didn't have any grip and he wasn't quite fast enough to win with shock tactics. They both crashed out to the floor but it was clear Fuji was waiting for him and had turned the young Komusubi Jedi to the losing side before he fell with tsuki-otoshi. The mono-ii told us nothing we didn't already know. Daieisho should still get his first Sanyaku kachi-koshi this time round and that's a step forward.

Kiribayama (M3) 3-5 vs Mitakeumi (S) 7-1
The extra weight on Mitakeumi seems to be a step backward. It's taking away his explosion from the tachi-ai. I'm not sure but I don't think he has managed to drive anyone back across the dohyo this basho. He tried to drive the other Michinoku Mongol back today but Kiribayama said no thanks and took two big fistfuls of mawashi instead. The mega-sized Sekiwake tried to stall the bout in the middle but he had no grip to play with and his shoulder was being raised upwards. The inevitable duly happened and Kiribayama claims a superb yori-kiri fourth win. Keep your eye out for this guy.

Shodai (S) 7-1 vs Kagayaki (M4) 3-5
Unlike the sluggish Mitakeumi, Kagayaki did get his foe pushed back to the tawara. But that's where the fun ended for him. He didn't have a grip either and as soon as Shodai reached down and took an undefended inner left Kagayaki hit the emergency eject button. Gone was all forward pressure and gone was his composure. Like his grip-less friend Mitakeumi, he knew he had over played his cards. He grabbed at the wrist to rid himself of the troublesome hand but in doing so stopped pushing and moved back, and back, and back. Shodai gave chase and finished him off oshi-dashi. Kagayaki is obviously not looking to expand his sumo skill set into any type of yotsu sumo but in the pushing game, he's no Akebono either.

Okinoumi (K) 4-4 vs Asanoyama (O) 8-0
In part one of the best bout of the day (sez me), Okinoumi drove hard at the shin-Ozeki and had him going over and out. Asanoyama just managed to anchor a foot down and throw him down with his favorite outer left grip. Mono-ii of the day number 2. The replay showed quite clearly Okinoumi touched down first with the top of his foot and then his elbow and Asanoyama's feet were still in contact with the sand so no dead man falling garbage. But the judges in sumo are nothing if not asleep, so tori-naoshi (rematch) it is.

For part two Asanoyama took his customary outer left and bullied the Komusubi around with it. Big Oki moved and powerfully squirmed as much as I have ever seen him do. He did succeed in denying the right hand, but that left stayed on and delivered the uwate-nage finish. Even as he was going over Okinoumi tried to hook the knee of his opponent, I like this guy. I like both guys. But one is younger and heavier, less banged up, and crucially for throwing, sets his hips low and stable. And that is the key for Asanoyama.

Takakeisho (O) 5-3 vs Enho (M6) 4-4
For those of you in a rush, or who have little patience for my sumo drivel, here's the short version. Takakeisho won, tsuki-otoshi. That's 6 wins with Aoiyama next on day 10. And now for the long version.

The judges must have used up all their rematch tokens earlier because there wasn't one left for plucky little Enho. He can rightfully go into the arena toilets and scream and punch the doors. And for once I'm not teasing the guy. OK I'm teasing about the punching bit, he doesn't seem the type. But still, he deserved a do-over today. Ignoring the predictably awful start, lets get straight to the controversial finish.

Takakeisho sent a thrust out and half of it caught Enho. As we have seen many times before, the M6 tries to absorb such blows by dropping into a squat. Effectively he's using his legs as a crumple-zone in order to keep his upper body in balance. Usually the impact from his bigger opponents is too much to handle and he ends up flying off the dohyo with his arms and legs rotating around like a four blade gyro-copter. But not today. Enho was legitimately still in the bout whilst he was performing his one-legged spinning tawara squat.

Just as an aside, we didn't have to put up with this bison bilge back when Musashimaru was an Ozeki, when he shoved them out they stayed out. Or even Asashio IV, remember him? He looked like Elvis after he discovered deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. He was built like Chiyomaru but he pushed as hard as a constipated Chiyotairyu. I've already spoken about Takakeisho's lack of reach this basho and he didn't get enough extension on the thrust to just end this mess there and then. He then went on to miss the follow-up thrust on a wide open target by a hand length as his stubby arms just couldn't stretch to send his boy over and out. Anyway, back to Enho.

Once at the rope and doing his thang, Enho wasn't touched again. And he was still hanging in there, falling backwards slower than any fully grown human has ever been pushed out of the dohyo. Move over Aminishiki, Enho is the new king of tawara walking. But the balance-challenged Takakeisho ran out of the dohyo after whiffing on that last thrust. Enho put a hand to the back knot of his mawashi as he passed by. It probably had nothing on it but that's not for the judges to say. He did it, so it's an offensive move then. At this point he's still in it, as the Gyoji are fond of saying.

Takakeisho jumped over to the straw on the outer edge and he had  maybe a single foot and a bit of ankle left flying high above the straw, Enho has his foot in contact with straw and sand, his lower leg and his knee above the straw and the sticky little guy still hasn't broken into a fall. Both men are in an irrecoverable position. But the last offensive move had been performed by the M6. Takakeisho also touched out first by a clear margin. The judges have made a decision about when his balance died in the fight. But this is Enho, the stickiest of sticky things. They've given a re-match for far less before. They even did it today with Okinoumi. So why should plucky little Enho, the man who puts his life on the line for you and me every time he gets in there, be denied a crowd pleasing re-match against the kadoban Ozeki? Oh wait, I think I get it now. Only two more wins to go then. One more win if you already count Aoiyama tomorrow.

Hakuho (Y) 8-0 vs Aoiyama (M4) 3-5
The Bossman has looked rejuvenated this July, clearly supping the fresh unsullied blood of Enho and Ishiura has worked wonders for the supernatural one. The only time he has looked even a teeny tiny bit concerned about the blood bag placed in front of him was in his first meeting with the sweet and tender Kiribayama. Those Mongolian youngsters can really move. For that boy, Hakuho found a way to get there a bit earlier. He surprised his meal with an uncalled matta and distracted him with only the fingertips of a slap. It was enough of a head start for Hakuho to get in close and do the deed. An unsporting but kinda funny blitzkrieg win. That was the only day Hakuho looked anything less than absolutely certain of his ability.

No, Aoiyama didn't change that today, in 22 attempts he never has. He put his head down too low and tipped forward in a move we see so often in modern sumo. Easy hataki-komi dining for the still mobile Hakuho, unending lord of the night. For a day 10 treat the Yokozuna gets to taste Hokutofuji. No wait, that doesn't sound right.

Leaderboard time.
9-0 the leaders,
Some guy called Hakuho
Asanoyama

8-1 the chasers,
Shodai
Teruno-Freaking-Fuji

For day 10 on Sumotalk it could be anybody, absolutely anybody. OK, it's Mike.

Day 8 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
With this basho being a little bit different, I thought I would just do a weekend wrap-up of the main rikishi garnering press coverage in Japan because when you really get down to it, the stories surrounding sumo are less and less about real action in the ring and more focused on painting the Japanese rikishi in a good light. I mean, just compare Terunofuji and Kotoshoho through the first seven days. Both ended week 1 with a 6-1 record, and Terunofuji bludgeoned the rookie in their head to head match, but Kotoshoho is getting at least five time the coverage as Fuji the Terrible.

Then you have what they still call the yusho race. Is it really a yusho race or does it simply come down to a matter of what Hakuho decides to do? Harvye will forever leave his mark on ST with his coining of the Story Teller moniker for Hakuho, and if you compare the sumo in the ring between say Hakuho and Asanoyama, Hakuho is throwing his opponents around like a pit bull playing with his chew toys while Asanoyama's bout are lightweight with the faux-zeki seemingly always being forced to fight from behind and his opponents just walking out of the dohyo that last step. There is no comparison whatsoever and thus there is no true yusho race in sumo, and there hasn't been one in years.

So...let's just review the rikishi who we expect to be hanging around on the leaderboard in the end.

Until he decides to lose, Yokozuna Hakuho will always be the focus of each day, and the Yokozuna hasn't been in any trouble whatsoever at the turn. On Saturday he took advantage of a slow tachi-ai by Kiribayama to send his fellow Mongolian out of the ring in maybe two seconds, and then on Sunday Hakuho bitch slapped Kagayaki to the floor in less time. Regarding that fall from Kagayaki, it was a bit exaggerated and not the complete result of Hakuho's slapdown, but it was simply a case of Kagayaki knowing he was defeated and just going down quick instead of taking more punishment. These guys ain't stupid.

As for Hakuho, he reigns supreme at 8-0 and completely holds the outcome of this basho in his hands.

I suppose we need to address Asanoyama next who also checks in at the turn with an 8-0 record. On Sunday he traded jabs with Aoiyama briefly before Aoiyama just opened up his arms completely (waki wo hiraku) and went into pull mode. You know, that pull mode where you actually forget to pull but still back up until you coincidentally walk yourself right out of the ring. I mean, has Asanoyama sent a single opponent OFF of the dohyo yet?  It's one thing to have a foe walk backwards without showing any resistance, but it's quite another to have Asanoyama send a dude off of the dohyo altogether whose trying to win. Fortunately for the faux-zeki, nobody has actually fought 100% against him leading to that 8-0 start.

I've touched on the Aoiyama bout, and yesterday against Takarafuji, Fuji just had the C3PO arms going from the tachi-ai lightly mawari-komu'ing to his left as he allowed Asanoyama to get an easy left arm inside and score the four second force out win where no force was actually exerted by either guys. Just to watch how lethargic Takarafuji is and how useless his hands are the entire bout is a clear indication of mukiryoku sumo on his part.

But that's been the template for every single finish in Asanoyama's bouts so far. Puff sumo where the opponent just walks back that last step. It's either that or the sumo association is trying to save water by having certain rikishi go so light that no one needs to shower after the bout.

The same analysis given to Asanoyama applies to both Suckiwake, Shodai and Mitakeumi, who check in at the turn with 7-1 records apiece. Coincidentally, the two met up today in a bout that could have been straight up. It's hard to tell sometimes when the only baseline you have to go off of his pure yaocho the first seven days. From the tachi-ai, Mitakeumi showed interest in getting the left arm inside but pulled that limb back for no reason whereupon he kinda kept both hands near Shodai's teets not doing much of anything. As for Shodai, his left arm was positioned up and under Mitakeumi's right, and after a few seconds of both rikishi spinning their wheels in the mud from the tachi-ai, Shodai moved left going for a tsuki-otoshi with the left arm into Mitakeumi's right side. Shodai also pulled down at Mifakeumi's head with the right hand sending his fellow Suckiwake down with ease, and it looked to me that Mitakeumi took a dive here. Once again, it's hard to tell when all of the bouts are like this, but no one came away from this contest going, "Wow, that was chikara-zumo."

On day 7, Shodai got his ass kicked by Aoiyama all the way to the edge of the dohyo in a second and a half, and then the wily Bulgarian just stopped for no reason allowing Shodai to evade this way and that. Shodai did evade but had nothing set up for a counter move, and Aoiyama had multiple times to square up and shove his foe off the dohyo, but in the end he just "bit" hook line and sinker a weak pull from Shodai and walked his way out of the dohyo and into the corner by the bucket of salt and then down the stairs to the safety of the arena floor.

As for Mitakeumi, his day 7 opponent was Abi who suddenly withdrew from the basho giving Mitakeumi the win by default. The media wouldn't report it at first, but we all knew where he went. I finally saw it today on the Monday morning news that his oyakata withdrew him from the basho after learning he went to one of those girlie establishments...twice. The Association has guidelines in place that rikishi are only to venture outside their stables for essential activates, and so my question is:  who gets to determine what's "essential?"

Moving right along, Terunofuji is the final 7-1 rikishi at the midpoint, and he has just been stellar all basho. On Saturday, he shrugged off a quick moro-zashi from Wakatakakage by wrapping both arms around tight from the outside and scoring another kime-dashi win. I mentioned it early, but we haven't seen the art of the kime-dashi like this since Takanonami...a real Ozeki back in his day.

On Sunday, Terunofuji got the easy right inside and left outer grip against Nishikigi and then took his time working Nishikigi this way and that and then finally across. Terunofuji's only "blemish" so far was his throwing a bout to Takayasu, and I was mildly amused that the press touted that bout as a contest between two former Ozeki. Uh, no. That was a former Ozeki and a guy who never deserved the rank, and now that I think about it, how similar are the paths of Takayasu and Asanoyama?

Everybody liked those two guys as they battled in the rank and file, and both dudes has decent tools, but when the powers that be decided to make them both Ozeki, their sumo just turned rank. I mean, the best word to describe Asanoyama's sumo these days is SoftyNoYama. As for Takayasu, I've thoroughly enjoyed watching him this basho fight from his true level on the banzuke.

Dropping down to the 6-2 level, Kotoeko and Kotoshogiku's records are a complete joke, and I'm not even going to bother commenting on their fake wins. Kotoshogiku (pictured at right "defeating" Chiyotairyu) tallied his 714th victory today in the division which puts him in a tie 6th place all time.  They had Kisenosato in the booth today providing color during the forgettable moment, and I've never heard a guy who can talk the entire two hours and not say a single thing.  Definitely a lowlight of the Day 8 broadcast. Kotoshogiku's counterpart and stablemate Kotoshoho is worth noting simply because there's a movement in the media to make him the next Next. On Saturday he executed his best tachi-ai of the tournament knocking Shimanoumi back with some oomph, but he didn't have the tools to finish things off (what happened to this double-edged sword business?). After winning the tachi-ai, Shimanoumi was able to work the bout in hidari-yotsu where Shimanoumi had the right outer grip, but credit Kotoshoho for using his length to square things up and turn the bout to gappuri yotsu. From there, you would normally expect a good chest to chest battle or a nage-no-uchi-ai, and in this case we got neither. Kotoshoho went for a hurried attack with the left inside belt grip, and instead of digging in and countering with the left outer grip (the more advantageous position), Shimanoumi just crumpled to the dohyo landing on his right shoulder. Good tachi-ai but fake finish here as Shimanoumi took the dive.

On Sunday, Kotoshoho was unable to bully Sadanoumi from the tachi-ai, and due to a lack of any pressure applied by the rookie, Sadanoumi easily worked his way into the right inside position and a left outer grip. Unlike yesterday's bout where Shimanoumi made no effort to keep his foe away from an outer, the veteran Sadanoumi kept his can back and stayed low. The problem here for NoSho is that he hasn't been forced to fight out of a position like this, and so he had no idea how to defend. After forcing KotoNoSho back a step, Sadanoumi quickly shifted gears and threw him back into the center of the ring using the best outer belt throw I think we've seen all basho. Sadanoumi easily handled the "next Taiho" in this bout taking a bit more bloom off of the rookie's rose.

Tamawashi is the highest ranked rikishi at 6-2. Today he dominated the tachi-ai with a stiff arm into Nishikigi's neck, and when Nishikigi attempted to counter by swiping away The Mawashi's arm, Tamawashi countered with a pull attempt that worked on the first try.

Tamawashi should be even better, but he obviously threw his bout against Enho the day before going for that ever potent hold of clutching onto your opponents right wrist with the left hand. I mean, we see when Enho just gets his ass kicked the first thing his foes do is grab him tightly from over the top, but Tamawashi was completely mukiryoku here faking a few moves before allowing Enho to force him out.

I guess since Enho is still one of the top three rikishi according to the fans, it's worth mentioning they're keeping him alive at 4-4.

Myogiryu has managed a 6-2 record simply because he's better than most of his opponents in the rank and file, but I just can't see him being part of the finish, so let's move on.

If Asanoyama is soft, Takakeisho is hapless. His tachi-ai against Kagayaki on Saturday was the single worst tachi-ai of the basho. The dude came up out of his crouch literally hopping with both feet and landing so that his feet were perfectly aligned across the starting line. Think about it. You have a tsuppari guy like Kagayaki whose also one of the tallest in the division. If he comes with his normal tsuppari tachi-ai and catches Takakeisho in that position, he'd topple him similarly to how Okinoumi toppled Takakeisho early on in the basho.

Kagayaki played nice and allowed Takakeisho to tsuki-otoshi him down on Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. Against Hokutofuji today, the M5 was looking to win, and so he took advantage of another horrible tachi-ai today from the faux-zeki striking hard and then moving left with that extended arm and knocking Takakeisho forward and down with an early tsuki-otoshi. It didn't even last two seconds, and all Takakeisho could manage was two hops with feet perfectly aligned both hops. This dude is gawd awful, and he's lucky to be checking in at 5-3.

In other news, Kotonowaka withdrew on Sunday after getting pushed down awkwardly in his bout against Kaisei yesterday. In that bout, Kotonowaka came forward with two outstretched arms at the tachi-ai, but his stance was so timid. Kaisei, normally a belt guy, decided to play the tsuki/oshi game and the result was two solid pushes into BabyWaka that sent him back to the edge after the first shove and then down across the straw as he tried to evade to his left when the second volley came. It was just an awkward landing, and that's what happens when these guys are not used to sound sumo basics in the ring.

I'll just end the wrap-up by stating that my favorite Japanese rikishi to watch his basho has been Wakatakakage who finishes week 1 at 4-4. That record includes a few bouts sold to the Sadogatake-beya, so he's been performing even better than his record shows.

I'm not even going to attempt a forecast for week 2 because yaocho is just so hard to predict, but here is the NHK leaderboard as we head into the final week:

8-0: Hakuho, Asanoyama
7-1: Mitakeumi, Shodai, Terunofuji
6-2: Tamawashi, Myogiryu, Kotoshogiku, Kotoshoho, Kotoeko

Day 6 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
As I read the morning headlines prior to the day 6 bouts, I noticed that the hype for Kotoshoho is gaining steam. One headline proclaimed a quote from the former Kisenosato, "He's so well grounded. He's at a different level than I was for my Makuuchi debut." This was a purposeful quote because Kisenosato entered the Makuuchi division when he was 19, and so the subtle message is sent that if Kisenosato made it to Yokozuna, what about this new kid whose even better than I was?!

Then there was a comment from the former Mitoizumi, "He's got tools that we haven't seen in a long time." The ironic thing about Mitoizumi's statement is that it wasn't that long ago that Terunofuji was a rookie in Makuuchi. Now THAT dude had some serious tools, and so far it doesn't look to me as if he's lost them. If you're new to sumo to the extent that you did not see Terunofuji when he entered the division, then you sadly missed the last LEGITIMATE rise and promotion of a rikishi to the Ozeki rank.

One headline I failed to mention from Day 5 regarding Kotoshoho is that his 5-0 start is the first time that a rookie has gone undefeated during the jobansen since Ichinojo. And where is Ichinojo now? He ain't in Makuuchi and that's because he's a foreigner. Whether it's politics or sumo wrestling, it is so interesting how the media works in tandem to spin these narratives that unfortunately too many people believe.

Enough of that. Let's get to the day's action that started out very well but unfortunately petered out in the end.

M16 Nishikigi was lazy with his arms at the tachi-ai and waltzed right into moro-zashi from J3 Azumaryu. He still gave a decent effort pinching in tight and forcing Ryu back near the edge, but when Azumaryu dug in and halted Nishikigi's momentum, he had just taken his foe's best shot. And that meant it was time for Azumaryu to attack himself taking advantage of his gassed opponent, and so he used his moro-zashi to twist Nishikigi this way and that and right across the ropes. Very well done as the Juryo rikishi moves to 4-2 while Nishikigi falls to 2-4

The most compelling matchup of the day was rookie M15 Kotoshoho vs. M17 Terunofuji. The two clashed chest to chest at the tachi-ai in the migi-yotsu position where Terunofuji easily grabbed a left outer grip, and normally this would spell curtains for anyone, but there was still the question of would Terunofuji let up for the over-hyped Kotoshoho. Thankfully he would not because despite Shoho's best effort to counter with a left inside belt throw, he wasn't able to throw Fuji the Terrible completely off balance or break that outer grip. The counter move was fairly effective, however, and made Terunofuji hop a bit and lose his inside position, but before Kotoshoho could establish moro-zashi, Terunofuji forced him over and out easy as you please.

A really good rikishi would have realized that he had the chance for moro-zashi after that counter inside throw. Course, moro-zashi against Terunofuji is largely worthless, and T-Fuji is even better than Takanonami was at winning despite giving up both insides. I think in time and with experience, Kotoshoho will make that adjustment, but he was clueless today. He also wasn't aware of his position in the ring because he stepped out unknowingly before making Terunofuji force him across even that last half step. As crazy as it sounds, though, this was Kotoshoho's best sumo of the basho. That inside belt throw made Fuji think for just a bit, and it's the best move we've seen from the rookie so far. Still, he was KotoNoShow today when the bout wasn't paid for as both rikishi end the day at 5-1. And before we move on, the ease with which Terunofuji latched onto the rookie's belt from the outside today shows what a joke it was that he kept giving the outer grip up against Takayasu yesterday.

M17 Kotoyuki uselessly moved to his right against M13 Takayasu going for a weak tsuki into Takayasu's left shoulder, but Takayasu easily turned on a dime and shoved his compromised opponent's arse back and across for the easy victory. Takayasu showed today just how easy it is for a guy who has been henka'd to at least attempt to square back up with his opponent, and it was nice to see Kotoyuki defeated after that oily tachi-ai. Remember when the tachi-ai henka was my biggest issue with sumo? Those were the days...
Takayasu moves to 4-2 with the nice win while Kotoyuki falls to 1-5.

M15 Chiyomaru "struck" M13 Kotonowaka with two useless kachi-age into Baby Waka's torso at the tachi-ai before immediately just backing up and faking a few pulls. Not even Kotonowaka could screw that up as he nimbly moved forward and pushed Chiyomaru back and across. I'm not sure that push is the right term. There never was a shove from the youngster that actually forced Maru back. He was retreating backwards of his own volition with Baby Waka in tow trying to keep up. Puff bout for sure here as Kotonowaka is gifted his 4-2 record while Chiyomaru falls to

M14 Wakatakakage henka'd to his left against M12 Sadanoumi putting both hands against Umi's shoulder and head actually lifting himself up higher off the dohyo using Sadanoumi as a perch. That extra weight forced Sadanoumi into an immediate roll across the dohyo giving Wakatakakage the quick and dirty win. I was a bit disappointed because Wakatakakage has been my favorite rikishi so far in the first half bouts. Well, I guess there's also Terunofuji, but Wakatakakage evens things up at 3-3 while Sadanoumi falls to 2-4.

M12 Shohozan came with his usual right hari-te against M16 Kotoeko that had little effect, and so Kotoeko was able to move right and swipe Shohozan a bit sideways knocking the dark one out of his inside position. The problem was that Kotoeko had no oshi attack whatsoever, and so he chased Shohozan this way and that in a busy bout that had little significant contact, and in the end, Shohozan nicely timed a shove attempt from Kotoeko moving to the side and swiping him right out of the ring. Shohozan picks up his first win at 1-5 while Kotoeko falls to 4-2.

After some shenanigans at the tachi-ai from M14 Kotoshogiku, he finally charged against M11 Tochinoshin into the migi-yotsu position, but Shin grabbed the left outer grip so easily it was laughable. After forcing the Geeku over in front of the chief judge's seat as if to win by yori-kiri, Tochinoshin changed on a dime and dumped Kotoshogiku back into the center of the ring with an easy outer belt throw for good measure. If Tochinoshin was as annoyed as I was by Kotoshogiku's stall tactics at the tachi-ai, it probably explains why he wasted no time in kicking Kotoshogiku's ass today. Both rikishi end the day at 4-2.

M9 Tamawashi was up high and largely flat-footed at the tachi-ai against M10 Myogiryu perhaps expecting something shifty from his opponent. Myogiryu came straight forward, though, and was able to stand toe to toe with The Mawashi...for all of one and half seconds, and then it was Tamawashi's turn to get the tsuppari going, and as he drove Myogiryu back a step or two creating separation, Myogiryu put both hands forward as if he was saying, "I just dare you to advance into this pull trap." Well, Tamawashi did and sent Myogiryu off of the mound altogether making him hop over the basket of salt in his corner. Both rikishi here finish the day at 5-1.

M9 Ikioi came with a right kachi-age against M11 Shimanoumi leaving it pressing into Umi's chest for a bit as the two worked their way into a stalemate in the center of the ring where both pushed against each others shoulders with straight arms. A few seconds after this, Ikioi went for a quick swipe down that had zero effect. Well, the effect was that it was Shimanoumi's cue to finally rush forward and shove his compromised opponent clear off the dohyo, and that he did nicely moving to 2-4 while Ikioi fell to the same mark.

M8 Ishiura shaded to his left against M10 Kaisei coming away with the inside belt grip that he used to spin Kaisei around a bit, but Kaisei recovered and had his left positioned well to the inside and his right arm flirting with the inside on the other side. Instead of lifting his lightweight foe upright and demanding moro-zashi or at least a chest to chest conflict, Kaisei kept his arms outside and non-committed letting Ishiura work from the initial inside left belt position to eventually spin the defenseless Kaisei around and down leaving both fellas at 2-4. Wow, this is only the second yaocho I've called today and we're nearly done with the first half bouts!!

M6 Enho henka'd to his left as M8 Chiyotairyu intentionally threw both arms high and into thin air, and Enho's next move was to grab Chiyotairyu around the inner thight (fresh!) with the right hand while maintaining a left grip at the back of the belt, but Enho did not have the strength to life Chiyotairyu's stump off of the dohyo. This allowed Chiyotairyu to finally square back up somewhat, but he made no effort to grab his wily foe who was just standing there instead diving down in anticipation of an okuri-taoshi attempt. Problem was, no okuri-taoshi came, and so with Chiyotairyu just diving over, Enho made up for it by jumping on his opponent's back as if he had just tackled him. Watching the slow motion replay here, it's obvious the only reason Chiyotairyu went down is because he dove down. The two ended the day at 3-3 apiece.

M5 Abi was proactive today against M6 Ryuden, and it seems like for the first time in a long time we got to see the firehose tsuppari. Problem was for Abi is that Ryuden is too big and stout to really be pushed around, and so Ryuden awkwardly attempted to fight back with tsuppari of his own. The action went this way and that covering most of the dohyo, and at one point Abi had both arms at the back of Ryuden's head, but he wasn't grounded enough to the dohyo to execute a true pull, and so back they went to the other side of the dohyo where Ryuden finally pivoted left and yanked the tired Abi down for good. These are two of my favorite rikishi in the upper half, so I was a bit disappointed to see such a sloppy affair. Ryuden limps forward to 2-4 as Abi is even steven at 3-3.

M7 Tokushoryu and M5 Hokutofuji spent more time twisting their wrists prior to the tachi-ai than they did performing actual sumo. Hokutofuji struck well at the tachi-ai driving back Tokushoryu a step or two, and then for no explicable reason, Hokutofuji just ducked his head down as if to say, "Pull me down now ya dumbass." Tokushoryu's reaction was to reach for the back of Hokutofuji's belt with the left, but he really couldn't yank Hokutofuji forward and out, and so Hokutofuji just dove out of the ring himself as Tokushoryu looked to catch up with a tsuki-otoshi. The ending was so awkward that Tokushoryu actually stumbled forward and landed on top of Hokutofuji which is a sure sign of yaocho. In a real bout, the victor has planted himself to the dohyo with one leg as he makes his move, but in a fake bout, the victor largely has to catch up and can't stop himself from tripping over his opponent lying there in his own gore. This was a joke bout as Tokushoryu buys his way to 3-3 while Hokutofuji falls to 4-2.

M4 Aoiyama was cautious at the tachi-ai against M7 Terutsuyoshi watching for a henka and keeping his arms stiff, and when the henka didn't come, Aoiyama advanced across his starting line looking for the kill as Terutsuyoshi skirted left hoping for a crafty pull. It would never form, however, and so Aoiyama easily shoved his compromised opponent back and across from there quick as you please. Aoiyama evens things at 3-3 while Terutsuyoshi falls to 2-4.

M4 Kagayaki caught M1 Yutakayama by the neck at the tachi-ai with both hands but wasn't driving forward. As for Yutakayama, he just stood there failing to swipe Kagayaki's arms away, and then after a second or two, he just backed up with no real pressure coming from his foe. With Yutakayama now compromised and moving backwards, Kagayaki just advanced forward and pushed him out with ease from there. I'm not sure of the politics behind this one, but Yutakayama was mukiryoku. These two rikishi are evenly matched in my opinion, so I was disappointed that we didn't get an honest, hard-fought bout. Kagayaki lands at 3-3 while Yutakayama is still an o'fer.

Komusubi Daieisho unleashed two effective volleys into M2 Takanosho knocking him upright and back, and all Takanosho could do was swing a weak right hand into Daieisho's left shoulder, and that was Daieisho's cue to start falling off balance and just stumble forward without even trying to square back up with his foe. As Takanosho advanced, Daieisho pretended to put on the brakes at the edge, but "slipped" backwards as Takanosho came in to finish him off. What a fake bout. Daieisho dominated the tachi-ai here and then all of a sudden just went limp after the weakest of touches from his foe. Both rikishi end the day at 3-3.

M1 Endoh had the clear path to the front of Suckiwake Shodai's belt with the right arm, but he chose not to grab it and just pulled back. As for Shodai, he lamely had both arms extended forward but was doing nothing, and so Endoh grabbed the left arm and pulled Shodai dangerously off balance, but Endoh stopped short of silling the dill. As the two awkwardly squared back up, they found themselves in hidari-yotsu where Endoh had the right outer grip, and he instinctively went for the force-out kill driving Shodai to the brink...whereupon, Endo just let him out of it altogether allowing Shodai to spin away to one side. Endoh spun himself to the other side, and as both rikishi turned around to face each other, they actually collided in the center of the ring. As was the case the entire way so far, Endoh was still in full control and so he grabbed Shodai's right arm and had the clear path to just yank him out of the ring again, but he stopped mid-pull and just stood there at the rope waiting for Shodai to nudge him across. Wow, what a terribly orchestrated bout here, and Shodai is so hapless. Endoh dominated this one in a classic yaocho where the loser literally does all the work. Shodai's 5-1 mark is a joke while Endoh falls to 1-5.

Suckiwake Mitakeumi and Komusubi Okinoumi met up in hidari-yotsu where Okinoumi knocked his opponent back a full step. The taller Okinoumi also had the easy path to the right outer grip, and he instinctively put his right hand forward a few times but purposefully refrained from actually grabbing the belt. With Okinoumi clearly letting up at this point, he allowed Mitakeumi to force him back the other way, and when Mitakeumi put his right hand into Okinoumi's left side as if to set up a tsuki-otoshi, Okinoumi just curled to his right directly in front of Mitakeumi just plopping to the dohyo in as fake a fall as you'd care to see. My goodness this was such an easy yaocho call as MiFakeUmi is gifted his 6-0 start while Okinoumi falls to 3-3.

M3 Kiribayama shaded to his left against Takakeisho offering a stiff arm into Takakeisho's side as the faux-zeki was unable to make his foe pay for the lateral movement. Still, instead of grabbing Takakeisho's belt with the left and swinging him out, Kiribayama stood there and waited for Takakeisho to square back up and go for a shove, but it had no effect against the stationery Kiribayama. When Takakeisho attempted the second volley, the Mongolian next wildly jumped to his left putting an arm at the top of Takakeisho's head as if to pull, but the pull never came. As Takakeisho squared back up, he walked right into the left arm inside and a right outer grip for Kiribayama, and Kiribayama couldn't resist at this point lifting Takakeisho up nearly off his feet by the front of the belt and just bulldozing him across the ring and onto his arse in the front row of the suna-kaburi.

What a strange bout this was. Kiribayama had multiple chances to easily finish off his foe, but he kept letting him hang around, and then in the end, he just kicked Takakeisho's ass. Regardless of what Kiribayama was thinking in there, the main takeaway in this is that Takakeisho was completely clueless and never once scored a decent shot against his opponent. I mean, Kiribayama dictated this one start to finish and just schooled his foe and further exposed just what a fraud Takakeisho and his fake rank of Ozeki are. The best word to describe Takakeisho's sumo is "hapless" as he falls to 4-2 while Kiribayama moves to 2-4.

Speaking of fraud Ozeki, Asanoyama was greeted by M2 Onosho with a stiff right paw to the neck, which Asanoyama could not fight off, and so Onosho quickly relented putting his right arm inside and keeping his hips close to an easy left outer grip from Asanoyama. At least Asanoyama knew what to do with the gifted right arm inside and left outer grip, and so he immediately forced Onosho over and out with zero resistance. I guess for Onosho's part, he did pull his outside left arm away from his opponent's body while patting Asanoyama's back with his right hand as he was being forced out, so there was that. Otherwise, this was just a puff bout of sumo where Onosho won the tachi-ai and then relented from there. Asanoyama is an undeserved 6-0 while Onosho falls to 0-6.

Yokozuna Hakuho crushed M3 Takarafuji back from the starting lines getting the left inside and driving with his chest, and before Hakuho could grab the right outer grip, Takarafuji attempted a quick counter pull as he shaded left, but the Yokozuna was so far into his craw that it turned into a two and half second moro-zashi victory for the Yokozuna. Hakuho is a perfect 6-0 while Takarafuji falls to 2-4.

As we head into the first weekend, we'll see what happens in terms of reporting, so stay tuned.

Day 5 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
I was scanning the headlines around noon on Day 5, and the biggest headline that jumped out to me compared Kotoshoho to Taiho of all rikishi. It read that Kotoshoho is a "double-edged" sword meaning that he can attack from the belt or compete with shoves. I don't know when I've been so incredulous before because you can go back and watch all four of his bouts this basho, and he has yet to employ shoves or a belt attack an any of them. His sumo has been slow and reactive, and everyone of his foes has let the dude win. At 191 centimeters and 20 years of age, I can see why he officially received the label of "hope" in the article, but I'm just baffled by the lack of objective analysis from the Japanese media.

Kotoshoho still hasn't broken into the "most watched bouts of the day" survey that NHK reports on during the broadcast. That's dominated by Asanoyama, Takakeisho, and Enho...the three rikishi the fans are told to root for. Now, the articles in the funnies don't come out and explicitly tell the fans to root for this person or that person, but day after day a narrative is spun in the media and the fans just pick up on it and accept it. Free thinkers the Japanese ain't, but that's why sumo still has a pulse.

With that, let's head into Day 5, and I'll still continue to cover all of the bouts on the day.

Kotoeko and Tobizaru looked lost at the tachi-ai with each rikishi kinda sorta doing tsuppari because they had to. With no one taking charge, the two ebbed over to the side of the ring where they finally hooked up in migi-yotsu. I've never seen Tobizaru fight before, so I can't comment on his sumo content, but it was clear he was doing nothing the entire bout. At the edge, Kotoeko went for an awkward right scoop throw, and Tobizaru just played along putting his right hand down flat against the dohyo with no other part of his body touching down. The headlines are making quite a deal of the Sadogatake-beya rikishi this basho, and it's been hard to avoid them since five of them occupy the bottom ranks of the banzuke, but the sumo from them has been horrible. I'm not sure how this is all being bank rolled, but Kotoeko bought this one as well as he moves to 4-1 while Tobizaru falls to 2-3.

M15 Chiyomaru looked to take charge at the tachi-ai against M16 Nishikigi firing high shoves into his neck, but Nishikigi withstood the attack well moving left at the edge and throwing Chiyomaru off of his rhythm just enough to wear Nishikigi baited Maru into a pull attempt. Once that came, Nishikigi completely turned the tables firing tsuppari of his own that sent Chiyomaru back and across in mere seconds. Nishikigi moves to 2-3 with the win while Chiyomaru falls to 0-5.

The recently-retired Toyonoshima was in the mukou-joumen chair today, and so they spent some of the broadcast focusing on the highlights of his career. As part of the festivities, NHK showed a recorded clip where they skyped or zoomed with Kotoshogiku asking him to comment on his career rival. I wasn't really paying attention to what the Geeku was saying, but I did note the horrible connection. The screen was blurry and the end of each word from Kotoshogiku was followed by a squeak as if he was calling up from a coal mine a few hundred meters below the surface. It makes sense though that with all the money the stable has been using to buy up bouts so far, they just can't afford to upgrade their innernet.

Moving right along, the one Sadogatake guy who isn't consistently getting his bouts paid for is M17 Kotoyuki who was paired against M14 Wakatakakage. Yuki was genki at first firing a few tsuppari up high, but Wakatakakage easily survived and was able to duck under the shoves, move laterally, and ultimately force Kotoyuki into thoughts of pulling. Once that happened, Wakatakakage took control with shoves of his own that sent Kotoyuki back and across with ease. Wakatakakage moves to 2-3 with the win while Kotoyuki is the red-headed stepchild of the stable at 1-4.  Before we move on, Wakatakakage's sum oin general has been better than all five Sadogatake guys put together.

M17 Terunofuji reached for a left frontal belt grip against M13 Takayasu, but instead of demanding it, he just backed up as the bout was trying to go to hidari-yotsu. With nothing but inaction from Terunofuji, Takayasu offered a nice swipe that allowed him to get the right arm inside, but Terunofuji complied with his own right inside position causing Mainoumi to comment, "You don't want to go chest to chest with Terunofuji like that." He stopped short of adding, "When he's trying to beat you," because Fuji was not trying to win this one from the start. Instead of latching onto Takayasu's belt or raising the former Ozeki up high, Terunofuji just leaned in and waited for Takayasu to begin his attack. A couple of times, Terunofuji reached for and got his hand on a left outer grip (which is why I chose the pic at left), but he pulled away from it two or three times signaling his intentions like a gentleman on the first date. Takayasu ultimately mounted a proper yori charge, and Terunofuji just went along standing upright and walking back across not even thinking about a counter move. You can't take away from Takayasu's solid sumo basics here as he moves to 3-2, but Terunofuji let him win as Fuji the Terrible suffers his first loss.

And that brings us to everyone's new hope, M15 Kotoshoho who was paired against M12 Shohozan. Shohozan came with a quick right hari-te while shading right accidentally getting both arms inside for moro-zashi. The NHK Announcer even commented that it looked like Shohozan was taking charge here (pic at right), and he actually was. It just wasn't in an effort to win the bout but rather by instinct.  Instead of capitalizing on moro-zashi and digging in, Shohozan just continued to mawari-komu to his right as Kotoshoho tried to keep up with a right kote-nage. The end result was Shohozan just spinning around and falling over the ring's edge, and it was ruled kote-nage in the end, but just to watch the flow of this bout it's like Shohozan doing that hari-te and then dancing laterally until he had thrown himself right out the ring. There was no grunting or chest to chest sumo here, and it was sorta like that kote-nage I mentioned earlier in the basho where Kisenosato "defeated" Terunofuji to clinch the Yokozuna rank. Kotoshoho's feet were not set for the throw, and it was just a matter of his keeping up with Shohozan's antics. Kotoshoho moves to 5-0 while Shohozan falls to 0-5, and now they've added "speed" as one of Kotoshoho's strengths. He's nimble, he's fast, he's alert at the edge, he practices hard, and everything. They just can't break down sound sumo moves in the dohyo because he hasn't exhibited them yet this basho.

M12 Sadanoumi and M11 Tochinoshin hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Tochinoshin reached for a left outer grip, but Sadanoumi denied him nicely by forcing him upright. Shin quickly went for that left outer again but then immediately moved to his right going for a kata-sukashi that caught Sadanoumi off guard. With Sadanoumi now stumbling towards the edge off balance, Tochinoshin simply escorted him out from behind with a hand to the belt. This bout ended quickly before either rikishi could get established, but Tochinoshin showed decent speed here moving to 3-2. As for Sadanoumi, he falls to 2-3.

M11 Shimanoumi was able to slip into moro-zashi against M14 Kotoshogiku from the tachi-ai, but he just ducked out of it dipping his left shoulder downward giving Kotoshogiku the ridiculously easy left other grip. Kotoshogiku also managed the right arm inside whereupon Shimanoumi put his hands up high as if to pull and the result was Kotoshogiku's sending him crashing off of the dohyo hard down to the arena floor below. I know that Shimanoumi doesn't exactly equal solid sumo, but giving up moro-zashi and going limp like that was actually dangerous to his health. Sheesh. I mean, it looked like a great win for the Geeku in the eyes of the sheep, but this was a clear yaocho in favor of the Sadogatake veteran who moves to 4-1 with the gift while Shimanoumi falls hard to 1-4.

In a decent bout, M10 Myogiryu caught M13 Kotonowaka flat-footed at the tachi-ai enabling Myogiryu to push the youngster back early, and then Myogiryu took a swipe with the left against Kotonowaka's right shoulder sending him and the action to the other side of the ring. Kotonowaka survived the onslaught well, though, and was able to square back up where both rikishi leaned into each other with fully extended arms. After a few seconds of this stalemate, Myogiryu mounted another charge causing Kotonowaka to mawari-komu nicely to his left throwing Myogiryu off balance briefly, but Kotonowaka was unable to attack, and so Myogiryu persisted again drawing a pull attempt from the kid, and from that point Myogiryu sent him packing with a nice oshi-dashi win. Myogiryu moves to 5-0 if you need him while Kotonowaka cools a bit at 3-2.

Before we move on, I've seen Kotonowaka a few basho now, and he's a lot like Kotoshoho. Neither dude can set anything up on their own, and while their size allows them to survive in a bout like this, they are entirely reactive in straight up bouts. They have not demonstrated the ability to set up their own attacks.  It doesn't mean they won't get there, but everything so far has been fraudulent.

M10 Kaisei was lazy at the tachi-ai giving M9 Ikioi moro-zashi, but Kaisei did have a solid left frontal grip on one side while he seemed to hesitate in grabbing the right outer on the other side. It was there for the taking, and he did finally latch on, but he just stood there and waited for pressure from Ikioi. Said pressure came in the form of a left inside belt throw, and instead of countering with a right outer belt throw...which would have been then natural reaction, Kaisei just moved to the edge and fell across onto his arse. What an unnatural fall here, which is the direct result of a fixed bout. Kaisei also came up gimpy, and one of the first adages I ever learned watching sumo is that if someone lets up in the ring, they're going to get hurt. And that was the case today. I took a picture of the ending of this bout. In a proper bout where a dude wins by an inner belt throw, the natural flow would have been a nage-no-uchi-ai where Kaisei pivoted and countered with a right outer throw, but he just collapsed of his own volition with little pressure coming from Ikioi, and so at the edge, Ikioi is just awkwardly mounting the Brasilian. What bland sumo as both rikishi end the day at 2-3.

M8 Ishiura attempted a lame henka to his left against M9 Tamawashi, but the Mongolian wasn't fooled for an instant, and so he just pivoted to his right and shoved Ishiura clear off the clay mound the instant he landed from his initial jump. That was nice to see as Tamawashi moves to 4-1 while Ishiura falls to 1-4.

Speaking of henka. M8 Chiyotairyu moved to his right at the tachi-ai against M7 Terutsuyoshi immediately grabbing the back of his foe's belt with the right hand while pulling down at the back of Teru's head with the left. There was no way a small dude like Terutsuyoshi could survived this, and Chiyotairyu had him pulled around and down in about two seconds. Chiyotairyu moves to 3-2 with the crafty win while Terutsuyoshi falls to 2-3.

M6 Enho and M5 Hokutofuji were out of sync at the tachi-ai where Hokutofuji jumped the gun a bit. While replays showed that Enho's left fist wasn't quite touching down, watching live it looked as if both hands were down, so the ref yelled hakke-yoi, and Hokutofuji attacked pushing Enho straight back to the edge so fast it created a bit of separation. Enho instinctively crouched into that defensive ball of his where he squats over the edge of the rope as if he's camping in the wild and just enjoyed a can of chili for dinner, and Hokutofuji offered one last shove that sent him off the dohyo altogether. You could see Enho's hesitation at the tachi-ai, and yes, this should have been called back, but does it really matter? If Hokutofuji's intention was to win the bout, Enho cannot beat him, so let it be. Hokutofuji moves to 4-1 with the dominant win while Enho falls to 2-3. We'll see how long it takes for Kotoshoho to supplant Enho on the top three most-watched bouts from the day. Prior to the bout, Enho was number one yesterday with the two faux-zeki bouts checking in at 2 and 3. It's utterly amazing to me how easily manipulated the Japanese fans are.

Moving right along, if there has been one rikishi who has stood out to me this basho, it's been M5 Abi. I just feel as if he's looked sharper than usual and so filtering out all of the fake bouts, I've enjoyed watching Abi. Today he caught M7 Tokushoryu by the neck with both hands from the tachi-ai, and as Tokushoryu tried to shade left and swipe those arms away, Abi just continued his forward momentum and easily shoved his compromised opponent off of the dohyo in three short seconds. Abi moves to 3-2 with the good win while Tokushoryu falls to 2-3.

I often point out the difference between Enho losses and then his fake wins as the contrast is so blatant. Another aspect of sumo to watch with M4 Aoiyama is whether or not he crosses the starting lines in his tsuppari attack. When he sells his bouts, he never crosses his starting line, but when he means bidness, he steps across it straightway as he unleashes his beefy shoves. Unfortunately for M6 Ryuden, it was the latter for Aoiyama today and he easily bullied Ryuden back two steps from the tachi-ai and then reversed gears pulling his foe down in with a nice offensively-minded hataki-komi. Nothing Ryuden could do hear as he falls to 1-4 while Aoiyama moves to just 2-3.

M4 Kagayaki won the tachi-ai against M2 Takanosho with his tsuppari attack knocking Takanosho back a step, and as Takanosho pivoted to his right, Kagayaki just continued to move forward as if his eyes were closed allowing Takanosho to easily push him over and out in about three seconds. This bout was fixed from the get go as any sane rikishi trying to win would have squared up there. I mean, it wasn't as if we need to rename Takanosho as The Flash because that move to the right was defensive, not offensive. For Kagayaki's part, he just kept his head ducked and kept moving forward into thin air making it appear as if it was a nice win for his opponent. Takanosho bought this one as he moves to 2-3 while Kagayaki is a notorious seller falling to the same record.

In the sanyaku ranks, Komusubi Daieisho met up with M1 Yutakayama in a bout that was very entertaining. Both rikishi traded stiff tsuppari with Daieisho gaining the slight edge methodically forcing Yutakayama back and to the side. Yutakayama defended well, but it was just that...a defensive posture, and so Daieisho eventually worked Yutakayama upright enough to where Daieisho perfectly timed a Yutakayama thrust by moving to the side and swiping at the back of Yutakayama's shoulder sending him sprawling across the clay. I thought the fall was a bit exaggerated, but Daieisho dominated the bout and was/is the better rikishi. He moves to 3-2 while Yutakayama falls to 0-5.

M1 Endoh kept his hands out of harm's way against Suckiwake Mitakeumi at the tachi-ai. I mean, if you were asked to describe Endoh's usual initial charge, you'd have to mention his reaching for a frontal belt grip, but he kept his hands away from everything here adding insult to injury by staying upright. The result was Mitakeumi's driving him back and into the last row of the suna-kaburi in about two seconds. Still, did this "feel" like Chiyotairyu doing the same thing to a weaker foe when he wants to win straight forward? No. This was a quiet bout due to Endoh's lack of reciprocity with any force into his opponent, and so it was a very lightweight oshi-dashi win for Mitakeumi where Endoh was already planning where to land at the edge.  In fact, I went back and watched the bout live trying to detect any sounds of the two clashing, and after the initial head butt it was as if I was watching a silent film from the 1920's...minus the sweet piano music of course. Yaocho here as the Suckiwake moves to 5-0 while Endoh quietly retreats to 1-4.

Komusubi Okinoumi completely dominated the tachi-ai against Suckiwake Shodai demanding the left inside position with a right outer grip to boot, but you could just see Okinoumi keeping himself upright instead of bearing down into his opponent, and so as Shodai moved left and applied some pressure with a weak left sukui-nage, Okinoumi incredibly let go of his own left inside position and just hopped over to the side and out playing along with that girly scoop throw attempt from Shodai. I mean, where do I even start with this one?? Let's see...I've mentioned that Okinoumi dominated the tachi-ai...I mentioned that he just let go of his inside position--an unthinkable move...oh, and there was also the lack of a nage-no-uchi-ai at the edge. If your opponent goes for a scoop throw with the left and you have a right outer grip, you absolutely apply counter pressure there, especially after having dominated the tachi-ai. But I'm wasting bandwidth here going through all this. Okinoumi (3-2) completely went limp giving Shodai the cheap, cheap win and undeserved 4-1 record. My intelligence is officially insulted.

Problem is, I know we're not finished so lets move onto the fauz-zeki. M3 Kiribayama moved left at the tachi-ai against Asanoyama grabbing the early outer grip on that side as he spun Asanoyama around. Normally, you just continue on with this momentum and swing your foe around and out, but when Kiribayama refrained and let Asanoyama square back up with the firm right inside position, I just rolled my eyes. After the initial melee the two dug into a stalemate in the center of the ring for a dozen seconds or so, and then Kiribayama made a few yori threats leading with the left outer, and you could just see he could have lifted Asanoyama completely upright and forced him back. As part of these short attacks, Asanoyama countered with a right scoop throw that seemed to keep Kiribayama at bay, but all that signaled to Kiribayama was, "I've just taken my opponent's best shot and easily survived." As for Asanoyama, he had no idea what to do after that and was at the complete mercy of his opponent. About 75 seconds into the bout and Asanoyama doing absolutely nothing, Kiribayama went for an unnecessary maki-kae with the left aligning his feet and squatting down a bit signaling to Asanoyama, "here ya go." Asanoyama moved forward grabbing a right outer grip and easily dispatched the Mongolian from there facing no resistance. How often do we see a bout where the loser dictates everything and dominates for 95% of the time, and then all of a sudden the Japanese darling wins in the end thanks to a bone-headed move from his opponent. If we're talking about the Ozeki rank, I think it's the Ozeki who needs to dominate, not the other way around. What a joke as Asanoyama is gifted his fifth win in as many days as Kiribayama falls to 1-4.

Moving right along, M3 Takarafuji just stood there for Takakeisho, and the faux-zeki still couldn't move him around. Takakeisho tried a few weak shoves, and then he moved right as if to pull before going back left and offering a weak swipe and another pull. The end result of those first few seconds was Takakeisho standing completely upright and vulnerable, but instead of driving forward, Takarafuji just stood there with his hands not committed to anything. And so Takakeisho resumed his...um...attack sticking and jabbing this way and that until finally committing on a pull attempt. Takarafuji willingly just dove down throwing both feet back up into the air as he broke his fall with both palms hitting the dirt. This bout completely defied Newton's Three Laws of Motion...unless of course extra force came from Takarafuji diving on his own.  My goodness this is pathetic stuff as Takakeisho moves to 4-1 while Hokutofuji literally falls to 2-3. Unbelievable.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hakuho attacked M2 Onosho hard with both hands grabbing a left outer grip and alternating between the inside and outside position with the right due to Onosho's inability to make up his mind on that side. It all didn't really matter as Hakuho just pressed in with his size advantage before dumping Onosho over to the side with an easy as you please left outer grip. The contrast between Hakuho's sumo and the two doofuses ranked beneath him is so blatant as the Yokozuna moves to 5-0 while Onosho falls to 0-5.

Well, that wraps up the joubansen, and it appears that a few more fans are starting to occupy the seats, which is good. I'm not going to bother commenting on the yusho or making any predictions because sumo has just one MO right now: build up enough Japanese rikishi to keep the fans coming back.

Speaking of coming back, I do believe you have me through the weekend, so we'll see what happens there.

Day 4 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Terunofuji (M17) 3-0 vs Chiyoshoma (J1) 0-3
Hello to all, it's been a while since Chiyoshoma has been in the top division and I don't miss his crazy antics. Shot selection is a vital part of many sports, quickly selecting the right move at the right time is more a product of the innate ability of the mind than repetitive training. Some guys can just do it from day one, others never really get there despite years of dedication. Witness a rookie Hakuho switching effortlessly from effective oshi sumo to a lightning strike nage attack. It was easy for him and shows a quick, confident intellect behind the bulky frame. Ikioi is a match for Hakuho physically but the man's shot selection is sluggish and riddled with uncertainty. So what does undersized Chiyoshoma betray of himself to the world when he dives into the mass of Terunofuji and tries to overpower him? Answer, the boy is crazy. Absolutely crazy. Of course he lost, the Terror Kime'd him up and dashi'ed him out. Kime-dashi, yep that was the right thing to do.

Nishikigi (M16) 1-2 vs Tochinoshin (M11) 1-2
Yes Tochinoshin is looking stronger this tournament, not back to full strength, but much improved. He's more stable on those legs and not angling his weak one away to the rear anymore. But he's a long way off his career beast. Today he went for the uwate grip from the get-go and missed it when his opponent saw it coming and pulled his hips away. Fortunately he was only in there with Nishikigi, who's looked disinterested in this basho from day one. Nishikigi could have had the frontal grip but instead just brushed past it, twice. That offensive hand finally came to rest on the massive lump of meat Tochi calls a thigh, just as Nishikigi was felled. It was a barely contested hataki-komi, but it moves Tochinoshin's score to even. It looks like his only realistic goal is to scrape his kachi-koshi, despite being down at M11.

Tamawashi (M9) 3-0 vs Shimanoumi (M11) 0-3
Look away child, avert your eyes! The sheer awfulness of this bout shouldn't be seen by anyone under the age of 42. Shambolic Shimanoumi performed one offensive maneuver, he moved forward. And it proved to be enough as a retreating single yusho winner (does anyone think there will be a second?) Tamawashi tried to change direction at the edge, stumbled and fell over, brought down by his own betraying feet. Shimanoumi chased after him in a crouch, all alone as his first victory happened before him. Lucky, lucky Shimanoumi. He has been awful so far this basho and this doesn't change things one little bit. They plucked a tsuki-otoshi kimari-te from the air for this one. Which is fitting as there was quite a lot of air between them in the end.

Enho (M6) 1-2 vs Aoiyama (M4) 1-2
The power of Enho compels you! Deathly pale Aoiyama, wrapped tight in his bedroll bandages, dutifully rose up. The power of Enho compels you! Higher and more upright rose the Bulgarian. The power of Enho compels you! Aoiyama threw his hands to the air in thrusting exultation. The power of Enho compels you! The 430lb (194kg) beast lowered his head in submission. The power of Enho compels you! Aoiyama stepped out of the ring in a trance-like state. The power of Enho compels you! Aoiyama began to twitch an involuntary dance on the floor. The 12 year old girl ran away to safety before anyone could ask, how in Enho's name did that just happen? Roll the end credits.

Onosho (M2) 0-3 vs Okinoumi (K) 2-1
As he is regrettably unskilled in the ethereal arts, Okinoumi could only to resort to utilizing sumo technique and physique today. Starting well back from the shikiri-sen to give his 34 year old body the extra bit of time needed, he absorbed the initial impact with his bulk and put his left hand immediately under the arm of Onosho and pushed up. That was the de-ashi dead in the water. Okinoumi then used that same hand to dislodge and raise the follow-up thrusting attack from Onosho. That was the offense dealt with. Okinoumi squeezed in tight with his elbow, controlling Onosho and leaned in with his big body. That was the end of Onosho. A strong oshi-dashi behind a magnificent ottsuke. How refreshing was that?

Shodai (S) 2-1 vs Kiribayama (M3) 1-2
Another day, another shocking display of forward moving sumo from Shodai. He nailed the yori-kiri win in 3 seconds flat. True he had a 65lb (30kg) weight advantage over the rookie but Shodai rarely uses it for anything other than hanging in there and going the distance. Internet chatter is suggesting he's a bit pissed that Asanoyama just leap-frogged over him for the promotion. I dunno if I should believe something just because it's on the internet, I mean how much does internet chat cost these days? Not much, look at us for starters. But could he really be thinking that no-one would get promoted to Ozeki for year after year? He was shin-Sekiwake back in 2017, that's 21 basho ago and despite his terrific looking build for sumo he has made precisely one Ozeki run attempt. It would be good for sumo if he can go one rank further in these, his peak years, but he's more likely to go back to sleep by week two.

Yutakayama (M1) 0-3 vs Mitakeumi (S) 3-0
Another man likely to leap-frog Shodai for the champ chair is Mitakeumi. He looks bigger than before but he is coming out of that tachi-ai slower as well. He is probably past his tipping point of ideal strength to weight ratio. Getting beaten to the punch, he has been forced to give ground and re-group. After getting moved back every bout it's his sheer bulk keeping him in it this basho. Good for Mitakeumi then that Yutakayama has looked all bark and no bite this time round. Yutakayama's hand placement has been appallingly bad. There's no point in having all that size and strength if you don't direct it at a target. After Mitakeumi came back into the bout behind a decent hazu-oshi and put some pressure on him, Yutakayama crumpled to tsuki-otoshi in a very disappointing fashion. I hope for his sake he meant to do that. At least then Yutakayama isn't that bad and can come back strong tomorrow.

Takakeisho (O) 2-1 vs Endo (M1) 1-2
That was some ugly sumo the Ozeki was doing in there. It almost looks like he's trying to invent a new style of sumo. Again we see him launching himself with both legs to shoulder block the tackle dummy in front of him. All the better to double up your power I suppose. His arms are so short in comparison to most other rikishi that his thrusts don't have much extension on them, even if he had generated the power to blast them back. He seems a bit surprised when they are still standing in front of him after the enormous five inch heave he just performed.

All his opponents know that once they get Endo moving he has a hard time regaining a stable position, so the overstuffed Ozeki just kept rinsing and repeating. As long as he could keep Endo away from the mawashi he was still in it, until he runs out of breath that is. That's usually within ten seconds for Taka Tadpole.

Eventually Endo made the mistake of stepping too close to the edge and Takakeisho threw himself at Endo in yet another do or die effort to get a win. Endo was stepping on the tawara, Takakeisho was crashing to the sand with absolutely no control. O-sumo at it's finest. Or not. As he gasped for oxygen a mono-ii ruled that Takakeisho is indeed a sumo champion. Oshi-dashi and win number three.

Daieisho (K) 2-1 vs Asanoyama (O) 3-0
Mr Consistency, Daieisho has won 7,8 or 9 wins for ten straight basho. And for most of those he has been facing the top ranks, with much the same opponent list as the Ozeki and Yokozuna. That's impressive stuff for a mostly overlooked pusher thruster. He just needs that one magic ingredient to get an extra win per tournament and he would be discussed as an Ozeki candidate along with Shodai, Mitakeumi and of course Enho.

Daieisho is in danger of being sumo's next nearly man. A Wakanosato for the new era. Nearly there but not quite. And he nearly beat Asanoyama again, Daieisho had the shiny new Ozeki playing his violent game of shove and choke. Driving Asa backwards, Daieisho smashed him with a monster, dare I say, Takakeisho like heave to the ropes. But when Daieisho does it I don't want to laugh out loud. The youngster got a little over enthusiastic when he thought the win was his. Asanoyama side stepped the aggression and won with a socially distanced okuri-dashi as the Komusubi went by and went out. Another nearly bout that could have been converted into an impressive win. With one more magic ingredient Daieisho could be sumo's next Chiyotaikai.

Hakuho (Y) 3-0 vs Takanosho (M2) 1-2
Of all the rikishi that have benefited from the extended rest period, the 35 year old Yokozuna is at the top of the list. He's been treating us to his old school tachi-ai and doing it well. He has been so low at the tachi-ai that at times his knee has been only a few inches above the sand. Old Hakuho looks like Hakuho of old.

For his debut with the imperious one, Takanosho was made to wait down in the crouch as a full height Khan finally lifted his eyes off the ground and gazed right over the rookies head to some far off place. No young upstart, I do not know you, I do not acknowledge you.

Hakuho performed his classic tachi-ai yet again (it has become horribly rare of late) and his left hand swung to the outer mawashi. All was going well until Hakuho tried to dig his fingers in and discovered Tricki-nosho had tied that red silk tight enough to cut off the blood supply to his legs. Not even one finger got in. The inside right was blocked at first attempt and Hakuho could only force a grip-less hand in. Then the rookie pounced, driving for the rope straight ahead of him, no pausing, no deviation, carrying the Yokozuna along with him.

Hakuho just flipped a switch. He stopped trying to bully Takanosho and surfed the oncoming wave of rookie energy. With incredible balance and timing he got himself just enough space to step aside and skewer the torso tsuki-otoshi, like a matador. Down tumbles Takanosho, a look of anguish on his face. No kin-boshi for you junior.

Somewhere in the vastness of the steppes of Mongolia a golden eagle tilts it's head ground-ward. Something catches it's eye. Swooping down at tremendous speed, the air fluttering it's old splayed feathers, the predator caught up to the newly imported Mitsubushi L200 off road pick-up truck. And shat on the windshield.

Day 5 sees a Sumotalk representative apologize and explain why Japanese cars really are the best.

Day 3 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
I'm actually glad to see fans back in the venue this tournament. I know that attendance is sparse, and I already commented as to why the numbers are so low in my Day 1 comments, but it was just too weird to watch a hon-basho in March with no one in the seats. The reason I'm starting with this topic today is because largely empty stands is what attendance at sumo looked like 10 years ago without a pandemic. If you're new to the sport within the last five or six years, you wouldn't know that low attendance used to be an everyday occurrence for quite a few years, and the reason for such sparse attendance was simple: foreign rikishi were dominating sumo. You had Hakuho's historic 63 bout winning streak that was witnessed in person by hundreds of fans, and then for 10 straight years you had foreign rikishi not only winning the yusho but crowding the elite ranks of the banzuke.

The result was that sumo was lucky to get 1,000 paying fans per day at the tournaments outside of Tokyo, and then the basho held in the capital city maybe drew 3,000 on a good day. Sumo was reeling and they knew it, and there was only one solution that was going to allow them to save the sport from withering on the vine: artificially build back up the status of the Japanese rikishi.

The strategy was two-fold. Force Japanese rikishi back into the elite ranks of the banzuke and identify rikishi who could be elevated to rockstar status despite having accomplished nothing on the dohyo (think Endoh, Enho, etc). At the same time, foreign rikishi have been slowly disappearing from the banzuke, and they've lowered the bar of their sumo to accommodate the mediocre Japanese rikishi in order to create a faux semblance of parity.

It's really as simple as that, and as you analyze the sumo day in and day out, you can clearly see how yaocho has been used to achieve this agenda and how it's still so prevalent today.

In regards to yaocho, it's been a thing in sumo since its inception, and everyone knows it. It's just that Westerners have a hard time accepting it because they come into the sport as new fans with their brains already wired to view sumo as an actual combat sport where each participant tries his best to win each bout. Unfortunately, that has never been the case, and so each fan has to go through a process where they 1) acknowledge the fact that some bouts in sumo are fixed, and 2) decide to what extent they are going to consciously allow themselves to accept yaocho.

I wish I had time to do this more often, but the Kotoshoho - Wakatakakage bout yesterday was a prime example of the typical yaocho you see in sumo. I've taken the liberty of breaking the bout down on video and stopping the tape at key points to make comments:



A bout like this can be hard to detect for the novice fan, but if one understands the rudiments of sumo, it's easy to see when bouts are compromised. If you happen to understand the Japanese commentary, it's also interesting to note that the announcers completely skirt around the actual sumo taking place before their eyes. In the video above, the announcer starts off by saying that Kotoshoho gives up good position [to his opponent], or "katachi ga tsukurareta," but then the rest of bout is explained away as Kotoshoho having done good keiko prior to the basho.

Whatever.

Today began with M17 Kotoyuki welcoming J1 Meisei from the lower division, and Meisei just barrelled into Kotoyuki from the tachi-ai using a good shove attack from a slightly lower stance than his foe, and Meisei simply blasted Kotoyuki back and across in wham bam thank you ma'am fashion. At 3-0, we'll likely see Meisei back up here in September while Kotoyuki falls to a useless 0-3.

M15 Chiyomaru made first contact against M17 Terunofuji with a dual shove attempt, but it had zero effect on Fuji the Terrible who pushed up at Chiyomaru's extended left arm setting up the pathway to the inside, and once Fuji had forced the action chest to chest in the migi-yotsu position, he worked his way onto an outer grip with the left and then just bowled Chiyomaru over uwate-nage style as easy as you please. It really was textbook sumo in the way that the Mongolian exploited his foe's weak tachi-ai and then forced the bout to the belt. It's worth pointing out that you will never see one of the Japanese faux-zeki perform sumo like this because they simply aren't capable of it at that level of the banzuke.

M16 Nishikigi's job today against M15 Kotoshoho was to just stand in front of his foe and act as a practice dummy. I mean, I can't fault Kotoshoho for attacking with a straight-forward oshi attack, but if you know going in that the bout has been paid for, anyone can win straight forward. The bout lasted about 5 seconds with Nishikigi never looking to get to the inside or attempting any lateral movement as his opponent advanced. Furthermore, Nishikigi's methodic retreat is never due to actual contact from the rookie. They both clash with shoves then separate as Nishikigi hops back a half step. Took about three of these rotations for Kotoshoho to sill the dill. At the edge, Nishikigi flirted with the idea of a right kote-nage counter throw, but it only got as far as a gentle love tap against Shoho's right shoulder. Another bought and paid for bout for the Sadogatake rikishi (whose stable master was in the mukou-joumen chair today) as Kotoshoho moves to 3-0 while Nishikigi is 1-2. Before we move on, Kotoshoho is just 20 years of age, and so I can totally see the Sadogatake group wanting to make him the next Takakeisho.

M14 Wakatakakage's message to the Sadogatake-beya this basho has been clear: stuff a million yen in my pouch, and the bout is yours. Today against M16 Kotoeko, Wakatakakage dominated the tachi-ai getting the firm right inside position established, and unlike yesterday, he actually grabbed a left outer grip. Waka drove his foe back near the edge, but then just pulled the action back to the center of the ring, and Kotoeko was completely at his opponent's bidding during all of this. As Wakatakakage retreated to the center of the ring, he just kept backing up and out the other side giving Kotoeko the joke win. After the bout, both announcers were like, "Yeah, it was Wakatakakage who hit hard at the start and set the pace," but there was never any transition into how Kotoeko countered for the comeback win...because there wasn't anything he actually did to change the flow of the bout. It was complete yaocho. At least the announcers managed to compliment Kotoeko for being alert at the ring's edge, so I guess there is that, but this is yet another Sadogatake pay for play bout.

And that brings us to M14 Kotoshogiku who was paired against M13 Takayasu. The two former Ozeki clashed at the tachi-ai ending up in hidari-yotsu, and this was actually a really good chess match the first few seconds as Takayasu looked to work his way into a right outer while Kotoshogiku defended. Problem for Kotoshogiku was that Takayasu wanted the win today more than the cash, and so Takayasu lowered his head a bit and forced his way onto the right outer belt, and once obtained it was a straightforward yori-kiri from there. Isn't it interesting how much more comfortable Takayasu looks at his true level on the banzuke? Both rikishi end the day at 2-1.

In the final bout of the day involving a Sadogatake dude, M12 Shohozan offered a medium face slap M13 Kotonowaka's way with the right, but then he just kept moving forward even though Kotonowaka slipped left. This wasn't a henka at the tachi-ai against Shohozan, so to just move forward blindly like that made no sense...if his intent was to win. It wasn't of course, and so he kept his right side and backside fully exposed to Kotonowaka so the youngster could grab the back of the belt briefly and then use a high forearm with the right to push Shohozan across. What a puff bout of sumo here as Kotonowaka is financed to a 3-0 start and has this kid ever had to shower after one of his "wins"? Shohozan falls to 0-3 but is richer for it.


M11 Shimanoumi and M12 Sadanoumi clashed chest to chest coming away in the migi-yotsu position where Shimanoumi had his fingers on an outer belt grip with the left but couldn't clinch it as the Sadamight moved his can back and out of harms way. A stalemate ensued from here with Shimanoumi still reaching for the left outer while Sadanoumi just dug in knowing he is the better rikishi. About 10 seconds in, Shimanoumi went for a maki-kae, but it was too slow allowing Sadanoumi to rush in, grab the left outer grip, and then escort Shimanoumi back and out yori-kiri style before the latter could counter with a pull. Good bout of sumo here as Sadanoumi moves to 2-1 while Shimanoumi falls to 0-3.

Before we move on, the obvious highlight of the first half bouts was Takamisakari sitting ringside as the judge who signals when the action is to begin after the next shiko/salt rep, and just like clockwork, every eight seconds or so he'd raise both eyebrows three inches high and close his eyes. He even did this while bouts were going on in the ring, but trust me, he didn't miss much.

Moving right along, M10 Myogiryu showed M11 Tochinoshin a sneak attack by skirting left at the tachi-ai, grabbing a left outer grip, and then swinging Shin around and out before he could get established. They said that Tochinoshin's inability to dig in was due to his injured knee, and that's possible I suppose because Tochinoshin didn't make much of an effort after the henka. He falls to 1-2 while Myogiryu oils his way to 3-0.

One drawback to having so few fans in the stands is that the NHK Announcers are pretending they're calling the action in a library. I don't know if I'm watching sumo or listening to one of those apps that don't work that supposedly help you fall asleep faster.

Up next was M9 Tamawashi vs. M10 Kaisei, and Kaisei surprised me going for a tsuppari attack from the tachi-ai instead of trying to get to the inside. Kaisei looked to be bullying Tamawashi back in fine form, but the Brasilian wasn't really using his lower body. Still, Tamawashi seemed content to absorb the blows and then just move around the ring. In the end, Tamawashi went for an easy peasy pull near the edge of the ring that felled Kaisei to the dirt with both palms hitting down first and not much else. My fat gut tells me that Kaisei owed one to Tamawashi because this bout reminded me of the Williams Sisters facing off against each other in a grand slam final. They went through the motions, but they weren't looking to kill each other. Regardless of that, Tamawashi moves to 3-0 while Kaisei sits at 1-2.

M8 Chiyotairyu caught M9 Ikioi with his feet aligned at the tachi-ai, and I'm glad that he just steamrolled Ikioi back and out. I see rikishi align their feet all the time in sumo these days, and Takakeisho is the number one culprit. Unfortunately, his opponents go easy on him and don't make them pay, but this is exactly what should happen to a rikishi if he aligns his feet at any time during the bout, especially at the tachi-ai. My mancrush on Chiyotairyu continues as he moves to 2-1 while Ikioi falls to the opposite 1-2.

M8 Ishiura henka'd to his left against M7 Terutsuyoshi grabbing a cheap outer grip in the process, but he was too slow in dispatching his opponent, and so Terutsuyoshi countered with a right arm to the inside that was so deep it actually gave him the advantage. Instead of using it, though, he abandoned the position, brought the right arm up over the top, and uselessly grabbed the back of Ishiura's belt. That was basically the "do me now" sign, and Ishiura did. As Ishiura drove Terutsuyoshi back, the latter just put his hands high at the back of Ishiura's head in complete surrender mode. Not sure of the politics here, but this bout was fixed as Ishiura picks up his first win at 1-2 while Terutsuyoshi falls to 2-1.

In another fixed bout, M6 Ryuden had the clear path the left inside against M7 Tokushoryu, but he applied no pressure as Tokushoryu slowly put both hands at the top of Ryuden's head before going for a pull. Ryuden touched down with both palms but no other part of his body, and when that happens, you know it's yaocho. This was a silly way to start the second half bouts as Tokushoryu bought his first win while Ryuden settles for 1-2.

Ooftah. M6 Enho charged right into M5 Abi's extended right forearm, and this clothes lined Enho off balance from the start allowing Abi to just continue moving forward and shoving the compromised Enho back and down hard. In bouts like this that aren't arranged, you can see when Enho goes into full protective mode, and it's only a matter of time before this dude is severely injured. Got his ass kicked today as both rikishi end the day at 1-2, and have you ever seen a rikishi whose wins and losses are in such contrast??

Instead of coming with both hands forward as if to shove, M4 Aoiyama just motioned both hands downward against M5 Hokutofuji, and I knew the outcome of the bout at that point. Despite Aoiyama's lethargy, Hokutofuji didn't blow him off the starting lines, and so Aoiyama just eased his way backwards as he pretended to fire a few shoves. Eventually, Hokutofuji caught up and mounted an attack, and once that happened Aoiyama just turned a bit and stepped out of the dohyo. Hokutofuji was heading back to his side of the dohyo before Aoiyama actually touched out, and it was just another element of this obviously fixed bout. Hokutofuji moves to 2-1 while Aoiyama falls to 1-2.

M3 Kiribayama shaded left at the tachi-ai not wanted to face the full onslaught of M4 Kagayaki's oshi charge, and it was a smart move as he threw Kagayaki off of his game enough to where the two traded slaps for a bit before hooking up in hidari-yotsu, a position that favors the Mongolian. To make matters worse for Kagayaki, Kiribayama had a frontal right grip to the outside, and so Kagayaki was had at this point for all intents and purposes. He did go for a lame maki-kae with the right hand, but that was all the momentum shift that Kiribayama needed to rush his foe back and across yori-kiri style. Pretty good bout here, and you can tell so easily when they are real. Kiribayama picks up his first win at 1-2 while Kagayaki suffers his first loss at 2-1.

Moving to the sanyaku, Komusubi Daieisho musta owed M3 Takarafuji a win because despite winning the tachi-ai with a nice oshi attack, Daieisho let up after a weak tsuki attempt from Fuji with the right arm. Once that contact was made, Daieisho just faced the perimeter of the dohyo and hopped on out as Takarafuji gave him a light push from behind drawing the okuri-dashi kimari-te. No harm no foul in this one as Takarafuji arranges his first win at 1-2. Daieisho falls to 2-1 with the loss.

The mukiryoku sumo would continue as M2 Onosho easily neutralized Sekiwake Mitakeumi's charge pushing the Suckiwake upright before assuming moro-zashi, and from here Onosho had all the momentum, but after forcing Mitakeumi back to the edge, Onosho locked his knees straight as two boards and just leaned forward as Mitakeumi went for a weak kubi-nage with the right hand spilling Onosho down and out in perfect yaocho fashion. This bout reminded me of the Kisenosato - Terunofuji affair a few years ago when Kisenosato was awarded the rank of Yokozuna. Just like that bout, Onosho did all the work here and dominated the entire way including setting up his own demise at the end. Hopefully, none of you thought this thing was real as Mitakeumi moves to 3-0 while Onosho falls to 0-3.

Across the aisle, Suckiwake Shodai looked to take charge against M2 Takanosho moving forward at the tachi-ai but forgetting he actually needed to do something like push at his opponent to have any effect. Shodai's ineptness allowed Takanosho to easily move to his right and just swipe Shodai off balance and out of the ring altogether as he pushed him out okuri-dashi style. What an awful display of sumo from Shodai who falls to 2-1 while Takanosho actually earns a victory in the division moving to 1-2.

Asanoyama was unable to get anything going from the tachi-ai against M1 Yutakayama, but it wasn't as if Yutakayama was trying to do anything either. He certainly wasn't shoving into his opponent, and as Yutakayama shaded to his right, he had both hands "pressed" into his his opponent where the palms are touching but the fingers are extended straight up and away from the body. Think Takekaze and the way he'd always use his hands, and this was Yutakayama here in an obvious move not to inflict any damage against the faux-zeki. From this position, Asanoyama eventually worked his right arm to the inside and sent Yutakayama packing with as little force. At the edge, Yutakayama actually flinched on a left shoulder slap / tsuki-otoshi move that likely would have worked, but he pulled back quickly letting Asanoyama win. When they caught up with Yutakayama in the back halls, he said his feet slipped out from under him leading to the loss. Oh, I see. He slipped!! Asanoyama's 3-0 record is a joke while Yutakayama gets paid extra for falling to 0-3.

Komusubi Okinoumi was non-committal with his hands at the tachi-ai allowing Takakeisho to charge forward at the tachi-ai, but he wasn't able to budge Okinoumi with his push attack, and so as Okinoumi showed some resistance, Takakeisho perfectly aligned his feet across his starting line as he is wont to do--pretty much every bout. From that position, it doesn't take much to fell one of these guys, so when Okinoumi offered a stiff right paw into Takakeisho's neck (yes, we've confirmed he does have a neck!), the faux-zeki was knocked backwards hard onto his widdle bum. The funny thing is...I don't think Okinoumi was trying to win this thing. He just employed an offensive tactic that caught Takakeisho with his feet aligned, and the result is there for everyone to see. First and foremost, an Ozeki should never be defeated like that. Never. But, we know that Takakeisho is not an Ozeki as he falls to 2-1. As for Okinoumi, he improves to the same mark.

In the day's final bout, Yokozuna Hakuho came with a nice right kachi-age that knocked M1 Endoh upright, and then the Yokozuna head butt Endoh in the jaw before getting the right arm kinda to the inside that he used to drive Endoh back and across in mere seconds. Hakuho actually used gaburi footwork in a very unorthodox bout, and it was strange enough that Hakuho knocked Endoh down before jumping off the dohyo himself and running more than halfway up the hana-michi. Hakuho is so bored with things that he often does quirky acts at the end of his bouts, and going for a morning jog like this is just another example. Hakuho is a ho-hum 3-0 while Endoh falls to 1-2.

Gary's back atcha tomorrow.

Day 2 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, and the scent of retirement hangs heavy in the air. A waft of greasy chamomile with viral notes above the stink of sweat and money. Sokokurai and the glass floor breaking 5'6” (168cm) Toyonoshima bowed out in March and this month the dependable Tochiohzan declined to trade moro-zashi down in Juryo and became Kiyomigata oyakata.

But the most acutely felt intai for Sumotalk is the departure of the most splendiferous Harvye Hodja. Sumo talking takes an early kick in the mawashi this July basho. I suspect things will be very different on this site from now on. Let's try a little bit of sumo.

Terunofuji (M17) 1-0 vs Kotoeko (M16) 1-0
Kotoeko was unlikely to achieve anything going chest to chest so he resorted to playing spin for the win. Terunofuji's knees held up really well to the three full circles Kotoeko was turning, he's not quite ready to dance the flamenco but they looked as sturdy as anytime since the 2017 career crippling injury. A steady yori-kiri for the big man when he eventually managed to stop all the helicopter stuff.

The only thing that prevented Terunofuji from becoming a Yokozuna was horrific injury. The only thing that sent Terunofuji down to the unpaid toilet cleaning ranks was that same injury. The only thing that can prevent his most glorious return to the Ozeki rank is the chronic, shambolic condition that the injury left him in. Only now it comes with added diabetes and a painkiller breakfast before training. My heart dreams he will make it. My head laughs at my heart.

Kotoshoho (M15) 1-0 vs Wakatakakage (M14) 0-1
There is no more H.H. patented Rookie-O-Tron to ticker tape the newcomers through but the 20 year old Kotoshoho would probably have got the green light. He wears his weight well and there is room on his frame for more. The youngsters showed us a spirited bout of sumo that was fun to watch. Kotoshoho took it at the edge with tsuki-otoshi, but only just.

Sadanoumi (M12) 1-0 vs Kotonowaka (M13) 1-0
Last basho I described Kotoshoho and Kotonowaka as Sadogatake's two punch combo. Yesterday Mike “Both Barrels” Wesemann called Sadogatake “one of the dirtiest stables out there”. So it looks like the Heya's continued numerical dominance of the top division is assured then. So that's nice.

Young Koto-Anokin-Skywaka crushed the sad and feeble foe before him using the immense power of the force-out. Yori-kiri.

Takayasu (M13) 0-1 vs Shohozan (M12) 0-1
Oh my gosh, what a fall from grace for poor Takayasu! From that special Oz-wake rank to facing demotion down to Juryo in one winless basho. He's only 30 years old but serious injuries to arm and leg, along with back trouble, have laid him low. M13 low.

A tactical battle for position between the shikirisen (starting lines) played out as we saw two evenly matched rikishi battle for dominance, earning an encouraging ripple of applause from the fake Nagoya crowd. Eventually Takayasu found the key to victory that was waiting patiently for him, shitate-dashi-nage. Hold on. This is Shohozan we're talking about here. The 36 year old washed up and ready for a hair cut Shohozan. Another win like this and I'm liable to give up all hope for the now 1-1 Takayasu.

Kaisei (M10) 0-1 vs Tochinoshin (M11) 1-0
M11 Tochinoshin looks ready to turn things around. He's got a swagger to him and those legs of his are looking much stronger. However his returning confidence got the better of him today as he slammed straight into the immovable bulkocity of Kaisei. Locked into a chest to chest trial of lifting strength versus moving load, the ex-Ozeki was grunted and heaved back and out. Even the 18 people in the arena managed to make some noise for that one. And the best foreign yori-kiri award goes to... Kaisei. For his artistic impression of one seriously big effing dude.

Shimanoumi (M11) 0-1 vs Myogiryu (M10) 1-0
Amidst all the pre-basho talk of ring rust and who has fellow sekitori to practice with at the Heya, it is Shimanoumi who looks to have had the worst physical preparation to me. The guy looks shrunken. The reduced mass around his thighs is the most telling, and his skin is looking loose and baggy. For the second time this basho he offered little resistance as Myogiryu slid him across the sand to the edge and heaved him out oshi-dashi. There are winners and losers in every chaotic situation and it looks like Shimanoumi has already picked a side.

Tamawashi (M9) 1-0 vs Chiyotairyu (M8) 1-0
It's a surprise to me but Kokonoe's big cannonball has a non-fusen (withdrawal) lead 10-7 over the Mongolian Masher. Quite how this happened is a mystery to science as Chiyotairyu hasn't made kachi-koshi past M3, ever. And Tamawashi is, well he's still Tamawashi. Isn't he?

Well, for a while longer yes he is, but yesterday his legs staggered a bit after his victory and today he fell hard (where are all those old age crash-mats when you need them?) after turning an oncoming cannonball with a backwards dragging kote-nage. Father time claims all, but at M9 he's still got enough for this bunch.

Enho (M6) 0-1 vs Tokushoryu (M7) 0-1
This one is THE visual comedy match-up of the day. Tiny pixie preparing himself to savage the round mound of Juryo bound Tokushoryu. A bolt upright Toku was rammed backwards with a right mae-mitsu as though he was facing the unformed fetus of Takanohana himself. Yori-kiri.

Terutsuyoshi (M7) 1-0 vs Ryuden (M6) 1-0
Yesterday saw Ryuden demonstrate how he can control and grind out the little'uns. And badly injured little'un Terutsuyoshi could only perform a henka for the win over big boy Tokushoryu. What could possibly go wrong?

How about another dazzling, winning henka? Terutsuyoshi may well answer that age old question of how many wins can a rikishi get using only evasion. Two so far.

Kagayaki (M4) 1-0 vs Hokutofuji (M5) 1-0
Of all the sumo stables Takadagawa Beya has been the hardest hit by the Wuhan WMD. The Oyakata, old kinboshi collector Akinoshima himself, was hospitalized with the virus, fortunately he recovered. Lower ranked Shobushi did not. Perhaps this will gambarize the Takadagawa dynamic duo of Ryuden and Kagayaki into action. Kagayaki certainly had it all his own way against Aoiyama on day 1. And the steely gazed tough guy routine was back again today. An easy Hataki-komi didn't take much time or much set-up as Hokutofuji tipped over to the side without much argument. Perhaps there is going to be a feel good story for Takadagawa this time out. Also was anyone else thinking Hokutofuji's pre-bout power-up routine was getting a bit overly theatrical?

Abi (M5) 0-1 vs Aoiyama (M4) 0-1
Big Danny had to chase Abi around three quarters of the tawara before he got the bulky shove that would finish it. It wasn't a tactical mawari-komu from Abi either, he was running for his life.

Takanosho (M2) 0-1 vs Mitakeumi (S) 1-0
It's expected that Takanosho will receive the customary boot repeatedly applied to his ass in this, his career high ranking. Well if it's going to happen anyway at least he's going down fighting. He launched himself at the Ozeki in waiting and drove impressively to the edge. It was all Mitakeumi could do to get a leg propped against the tawara to stop himself being destroyed. Once that was done Mitakeumi very quickly (and I don't think he had a hope in hell of forcing the young bully back to the center) jolted Takanosho to make a bit of space and then jumped aside to let the pressuring M2 boy fall flat on his face, hataki-komi. Experience at the top level and a bit of Aminishiki style sneakiness won it. But all Takanosho needed to take a win off the mega-Sekiwake was a belt grip. Maybe next time.

Takakeisho (O) 1-0 vs Onosho (M2) 0-1
Sumotalk's favorite overstuffed Ozeki is a bit heavier than Onosho and it showed here as he was able to move forward against the M2, taking him to the ring edge. The giddy days of Takakeisho overpowering such guys are fading away into a distant, nostalgia laden memory as the now 23 year old went into reverse and won with an arms length hataki-komi, sending Onosho sprawling to the clay. The fans can breath easy, kachi-koshi is assured.

Endo (M1) 1-0 vs Asanoyama (O) 1-0
Our new Ozeki (grumbles on a postcard to...) overwhelmed and over-bulked Endo. Asa blocked the favored right shallow grip leaving Endo to try an arm pull and a quick snatch at the outer fold of silk. He missed and all the while Asanoyama was rumbling forward, pressuring, taking his own pair of outer grips and winning from the hips, yori-kiri. Endo has never been able to stand his ground against this type of offense. At 29 now the faded poster boy has still not made it to Sekiwake. This year of turmoil must surely be his best chance. Gambare pretty one, gambare.

Hakuho (Y) 1-0 vs Yutakayama (M1) 0-1
With the burden of the Yokozuna rank now resting solely on his, not quite so wide as before, shoulders, team player Hakuho decided to put on a sumo clinic. An oh-so-easy uwate-nage (throw) from migi-yotsu (right hand inside). The M1 didn't really put up much resistance as he was flung to the sand as fast as he has ever been. It's probably for the best, he was finished from the start and even his great grandma knew it. Poor Yutakayama has never taken a kinboshi from the Hak and on todays performance he probably never will. He just looked happy to be leaving in one piece.

Daieisho (K) 1-0 vs Kakuryu (Y) 0-1
And so the basho takes an early kick in the mawashi as the Yokozuna has withdrawn from the entire tournament. Michinoku Oyakata, the former 80's beefcake Kirishima, announced it was from hurting his elbow after throwing himself on it yesterday against Endo. OK he didn't say it quite like that, but you get the gist. He also mentioned that Kakuryu had injured himself a week ago during training. Which does suggest Kakuryu might have wanted to sit down anyway and the elbow gives him the excuse to do so. It would also go some way to explain that awful tumbling leg kick. This is the 15th time he has withdrawn as Yokozuna but tellingly he has only failed to show up for the opening day 4 times. The SA can't be quite as mad when he has performed at least this part of his duty, to just show up. Advance ticket sales my friend.

I don't know what will happen for day 3. It might be Mike, it might be blank. Either way there is likely to be a few days missed and some shortened reports. It was at this time of trouble and struggle that one H. Hodja Esquire would ask humbly for some assistance...

Day 1 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Welcome to the 2020 Tokyo basho. Behind the scenes, we were all secretly hoping that this one would be canceled as well, but like any other business during the Covid hype, the Sumo Association has to stay as viable as possible and bring in what revenue they can. It was a smart move not to go to Nagoya, and I highly doubt they're going to Fukuoka in November. They can still charge NHK the same rate as always for broadcast rights, and they're allowing up to 25% capacity in the venue, so there's that ticket revenue as well, but sumo is likely not at the forefront of most people's minds.

The day before the basho, I read a headline where none of the days are sold out, and that doesn't surprise me because the Japanese people are as protective as they come, and trust me, the product sumo is putting on the dohyo these days is not worth the risk of catching Covid in the minds of the Japanese, especially when sumo's biggest fan base (old people) are the most susceptible to the virus.

Speaking of Covid, we are doing our part to follow proper social distancing rules, and so I will of course be dutifully wearing my mask during the basho. In keeping with the 25% rule, I've also asked the other fellas to only give 25% effort, and I commit to that as well, so it should be one helluva basho from our end. Harvye has also decided to call it quits, and I can't blame him. We're all crammed into this box about 18 feet wide, and there just isn't room for the four of us to maintain the required six feet, and so Harvye has officially retired and applied for his oyakata stock. Just between you and me, I think the real reason for Harvye's retirement is that secret crush he always had on Tochiohzan.

As for the Day 1 broadcast itself, the obvious theme was how the venue has been transformed to limit the spread of Covid where ever possible. We've already mentioned the fans being spread out, and then all rikishi are wearing masks in the back halls, and then they have to apply hand sanitizer before entering the arena.

Even Ota Announcer and Kitanofuji were part of the fun broadcasting from the booth with a piece of short Plexiglas separating them. Like that's going to do any good. You sit in a booth with a dude for two hours, you're going to breathe each other's air droplets eventually. I mean, if Kitanofuji breaks wind, you think that Plexiglas is going to filter out the smell from Ota??

But I digress. I'm not here for social commentary, so I'll leave that to inane Facebook posts. We're here to talk theater, so let's get right to it.

It was so good to see M17 Terunofuji back in the division, and against M17 Kotoyuki, there was no way Fuji the Terrible was not going to win this bout if his intent was to win. Fortunately it was, and he was extremely patient giving up a few chances to actually grab Yuki and pull him in close opting to stay in front of him and methodically push him back and across. At the edge, Kotoyuki actually tried to evade laterally, but Terunofuji caught him with an easy tsuki making it official. We'll see what Terunofuji's MO is moving forward in terms moving up the banzuke. I mean, this dude is ten times the man of either of those fake Ozeki on the board.

M16 Nishikigi made no effort to defeat the lowly M16 Kotoeko giving up a ridiculously easy moro-zashi to one of the weakest guys in the division, and this was a silly yori-kiri with no force in play as Nishikigi just backed out of his own volition not even looking to counter.



The Sadogatake-beya is one of the dirtiest stables out there in terms of buying bouts not to mention a few yusho for the likes of Kotoshogiku and Kotooshu, so when rookie Kotoshoho stepped up on the ring, I was pretty sure of the outcome. M15 Chiyomaru did all the work here pushing up high exposing his entire body as he backed up and to his left, and Kotoshoho actually had trouble keeping up because he stumbled forward putting a hand to the dirt across the edge as Chiyomaru backed up and out too fast for him. Fake sumo all the way here as Kotoshoho buys his first win.

In a very similar bout, M14 Kotoshogiku was dangerously exposed at the tachi-ai, but instead of rushing forward and inside, M14 Wakatakakage just backed up with his hands up high as it to pull, but it never came. Like the bout before, Kotoshogiku was having trouble keeping up with his opponent's backwards momentum, and at the edge, Wakatakakage had the perfect chance to move left and fire a counter tsuki that would have worked, but he of course refrained giving Kotoshogiku the fake win.

If you're scoring at home...and I am in multiple ways (clears throat), that's one real bout and three yaocho so far.

M13 Takayasu's footwork was horrible at the tachi-ai against M13 Kotonowaka, but the latter is so hapless all he could do his stand there too upright with his arms lamely extended. From this point, there's no way a veteran like Takayasu can't instinctively assume the advantageous position, and so he moved in getting the left arm in so deep that he was able to lift Kotonowaka completely upright...the exact goal in a bout of yotsu-zumo. The right outer was there for the taking, but Takayasu refrained, and I knew at his point who was going win. Despite no attacking position, Kotonowaka applied pressure with a right kote-nage, which was ironic because dude's countering without his opponent actually attacking. Takayasu instinctively grabbed the right outer and had Kotonowaka dead to rights, but at the edge, Takayasu literally let go of the outer grip and just dove out of the ring landing on his back.

First, Kotonowaka was in no position and made no move that would have sent a heavy guy like Takayasu onto his back, and second, that little slap into mid-air as Kotonowaka tried to keep up with his opponent's dive was another clear indicator of this fake ending. I mean, a rikishi ends up on his back like that as the result of an uwate-nage, not the complete inaction that was saw from Kotonowaka. Obvious and insulting stuff.

M12 Shohozan came out of the gate hot against M12 Sadanoumi, and he had his opponent upright and on his heels, but Shohozan suddenly just stopped his charge and waited for his gal to make the next pass. That move came in the form of the weakest left swipe to the back of Shohozan's right shoulder, but Shohozan just stumbled over to the edge and made no effort to square back up. He actually had to wait a bit for Sadanoumi to catch up, and when he finally arrived, Shohozan grabbed his right arm in ushiro-motare fashion but did nothing with it. It was an awkward ending, but Sadanoumi finally "worked" Shohozan across the straw. I thought this one had potential to be real after Shohozan's tachi-ai, but he completely gave up after that.

M11 Tochinoshin came with a right kachi-age against M11 Shimanoumi as he next tried to reach for an outer over the top with the left, and it was actually an improper move that enabled Shimanoumi to grab the upper hand in the form of a left outer grip and right inside, but as advantageous as that position was, Shimanoumi can't beat Tochinoshin in a straight up bout. The Georgian was able to work his right arm into the good inside position, and then he executed a good inside belt throw to completely throw Shimanoumi out of position and into the defensive. If Shimanoumi couldn't beat Shin after that start, he wasn't going to beat him with Tochinoshin now maintaining a left outer, and the Ozeki used that left outer perfectly to force Shimanoumi upright and back with little argument in the end. Bad start but perfect finish for Shin here.

M10 Kaisei had a clear path to get the right arm inside of M10 Myogiryu at the tachi-ai, and not only did he not take it but he pulled both arms back and high keeping them in no man's land. Myogiryu flirted with his own right and to the inside, but you could see he didn't want to go chest to chest with Kaisei, and so both rikishi separated themselves a bit putting hands against the tops of shoulders. Kaisei never made a single effort to move forward or get anything to the inside, and so Myogiryu was finally able to get a nice left inside and use that to body the listless Kaisei upright and send him across the straw. What a great example of mukiryoku sumo start to finish from Kaisei as he let Myogiryu win here.

M9 Tamawashi dominated early against M9 Ikioi coming with his usual tsuppari, but he was purposefully not using the lower body allowing Ikioi to hang around. Problem was that Ikioi could get nothing going as Tamawashi drifted harmlessly this way and that. After a few seconds, Tamawashi backed himself up and put his hands high as if to give Ikioi an opening, but as Ikioi moved forward, he just wasn't in attack mode, and so he fumbled forward as Tamawashi easily dragged him down to the dirt. This was a perfect example of a Mongolian rikishi giving his foe a chance but not rewarding him in the end with obvious yaocho. Hey, as long as it looks like there's parity...

It was kinda nice to see M8 Chiyotairyu just come out and kick M8 Ishiura's ass. Chiyotairyu caught him with two hands to the body pushing Ishiura back with ease, and then just as Ishiura looked to dig in, Chiyotairyu shifted gears and scored with a perfectly timed hataki-komi. I'm just happy to see a bout that wasn't fake here.

M7 Terutsuyoshi henka'd to his right going for a kote-nage as M7 Tokushoryu just continued to move forward. Tokushoryu made zero effort to put on the brakes or try and square up, and this was a useless bout that I think was prearranged in favor of Terutsuyoshi from the start. What a joke that Terutsuyoshi is actually one of the two yusho rikishi this calendar year so far.

For the record, M6 Ryuden is the best Japanese rikishi on the banzuke these days, and he was paired against M6 Enho. Either Ryuden wanted the Day 1 win or Enho's camp offered no money because this was a lopsided affair that saw Ryuden grab the easy right outer grip and then just used that to keep Enho in close, spin him around, and then trip him over with some force across the straw. Simply put, Enho got his ass kicked here in a bout typical of one where Enho doesn't buy it.

M5 Abi came forward with his usual tsuppari against M5 Hokutofuji, but they were eerily in control I noticed. Instead of moving forward, Abi opted to back up despite being in full control, and with Hokutofuji just hoping to keep his feet, Abi went for a nice pull that nearly send Hokutofuji down. Hokutofuji was clearly on the ropes and compromised at this point, but instead of rushing forward and finishing his foe off, Abi just stayed put and waited for Hokutofuji to recover. When he finally did, Hokutofuji landed one nice tsuki with the left, but Abi came forward again this time attempting to read and time a swipe from Hokutofuji, and when a weak effort came, Abi dove forward to the dirt with both feet high in the air. C'mon...with such little pressure from Hokutofuji the entire way, how does Abi end up like that if this bout wasn't thrown. It obviously was, so let's move on.

M4 Kagayaki had his hands dangerously high at the tachi-ai against M4 Aoiyama, but fortunately for him, Aoiyama wasn't looking to win this one. The two traded shoves in the center of the ring with Aoiyama shading back little by little. Finally Kagayaki rushed in and got the right arm inside, and that allowed him to force Aoiyama closer to the edge, but Aoiyama made zero effort to dig in or counter, so it was a methodic yaocho win for Kagayaki.

Komusubi Daieisho and M3 Kiribayama engaged in a really good tsuppari affair from the start where both rikishi connected on good shoves and looked to set up a good bout of sumo, but the longer it wore on, the more Kiribayama seemed to run out of gas (I'm being really generous with that commentary). In the end, Kiribayama showed little resistance as Daieisho pummeled him back and across.

M3 Takarafuji uselessly kept his elbows bent from the tachi-ai not doing anything against Sekiwake Mitakeumi. As for the Suckiwake's part, he really wasn't doing anything either, and this was one of those bouts that goes for about six seconds, and you can't even describe what either guy is doing. With Hokutofuji clearly not looking to win the bout, Mitakeumi finally got the right arm inside, and Hokutofuji just gave up walking back and across. Nessen this wasn't as Mitakeumi picks up the early freebie.

M2 Onosho obliterated Sekiwake Shodai from the tachi-ai catching him hard in the torso and standing him straight up giving Onosho the right inside, but you could just see Onosho relent in the attack from there as Shodai managed a meager left outer, so with Onosho calling off the dogs, Shodai was able to sorta shift laterally and drag Onosho near the edge. Onosho instinctively looked to trip Shodai up, but he let up again and then just dove to the dirt across the straw giving Shodai the weakest uwate-nage win you'd care to see. Good call from the NHK producer in the truck to only show one token replay here and then move right along.

Asanoyama garnered the majority of the pre-basho hype thanks to his charitable rise to the Ozeki ranks, and he was paired today against M2 Takanosho. Takanosho actually won the tachi-ai coming with a nice tsuppari attack, but it didn't move Asanoyama back, and so Asanoyama was able to finally latch onto a left outer grip, and from there he just swung Takanosho over and out in mere seconds. I've never been a Takanosho guy, but he was not looking to win this bout. He went out of the ring far too easily, and with sumo fighting for survival, I didn't expect any other result.

And that brings us to the other fraud-zeki, Takakeisho, who was paired against M1 Yutakayama. Takakeisho came forward hard at the tachi-ai managing to move Yutakayama back a half step, but his feet were aligned and there was no real force behind the move. Yutakayama easily recovered and moved forward with a few effective tsuppari clearly showing who was the superior rikishi, but as expected, he was waiting for the next move to come from Takakeisho instead of trying to bully his foe back and out. Said move was a weak swipe to the shoulder with the left arm, and Yutakayama played along just stumbling over to the edge of the ring and squaring up just in time for Takakeisho to shove him out in the end. Look, Takakeisho showed fair moves coming forward at the tachi-ai, and then the shove out at the end looked good, but those were just the bookends. He's such an inferior rikishi to Yutakayama (and most everyone else on the banzuke), and Yutakayama coulda kicked his ass right and proper had he wanted to.

In the Yokozuna ranks, Kakuryu was paired against crowd favorite M1 Endoh, and those was one of those bouts where you just come away rolling your eyes. Kakuryu actually secured the right outer grip from the tachi-ai, and coulda had his way with Endoh, but he spun briefly to the right and went for a fake leg trip totally whiffing and just falling on his butt in the middle of the ring. At least they properly ruled this koshi-kudake, which is defined as "inadvertent collapse to the dohyo," but this one was clearly NOT inadvertent. Just a cheesy bout all the way around, the whole problem with sumo these days is these are the kinds of bouts that define the yusho race in the end, not solid contests where guys win with sound, forward-moving sumo.  For Kakuryu's part, he promptly withdrew from the basho citing a right elbow injury.  But hey, if the pay's the same...

I was almost afraid to watch the final bout of the day that featured Yokozuna Hakuho against Komusubi Okinoumi, but Hakuho is the most unpredictable rikishi in the sport. Staying up high, Hakuho came forward high at the tachi-ai getting the left arm to the inside, and instead of grabbing the right outer grip and completely stifling his opponent, he agreed to dance around a time or two before flinging Okinoumi down easily to the dirt. The sumo was intentionally not pretty, but Hakuho easily disbanded Okinoumi in four or five seconds.

In terms of the sumo content, it looks as if the Association has picked up right where it left off, but they have no other choice. We've already seen how the fans will not show up if the foreign rikishi are allowed to dominate. Remember, we went 10 years without a Japanese rikishi yusho, and the last half of that stretch was full of yaocho as they built Japanese rikishi back up in an effort to get the fans to come back. They've sold their soul, and there is no going back from here.

I've asked Gary to ignore his symptoms and check in tomorrow.