Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 18, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted January 18, 2021 24 minutes ago, Carbomb said: Is this basho on Eurosport? Might try and catch the rest. EDIT: Oh, wow - I just decided to Google to see what happened with Tatsuhikari, and found out he died in 2011  Seems I was wrong - he never got past Maegashira. Yeah mate, as expected, the young death rate is pretty high unfortunately. No idea if it’s on Eurosport, I can sort you with a link via DM if you want one. It’s becoming incredibly difficult to watch these days over here. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 18, 2021 Paid Members Posted January 18, 2021 18 minutes ago, Kaz Hayashi said: Yeah mate, as expected, the young death rate is pretty high unfortunately. No idea if it’s on Eurosport, I can sort you with a link via DM if you want one. It’s becoming incredibly difficult to watch these days over here. Hey man, that's great. For the moment, will hold off - but please let me know when the next one begins, would like to catch it from the ground floor. Thanks muchly! Quote
Tamura Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/?p=result&mode=all&key=all&keyword=sumo&type=tvEpisode& Why bother with illicit streams and suchlike when NHK World does a daily show with all the makuuchi bouts with English commentary? Sometimes that search returns 0 results, if it does refreshing the page fixes it (unless it's between basho, as each show is only available for 14 days). Edited January 22, 2021 by Tamura Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 21, 2021 Paid Members Posted January 21, 2021 58 minutes ago, Tamura said: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/?p=result&mode=all&key=all&keyword=sumo&type=tvEpisode& Why bother with illicit streams and suchlike when NHK World does a daily show with all the makuuchi bouts with English commentary? Nice! Thanks for that, man. Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 23, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted January 23, 2021 On 1/21/2021 at 7:10 PM, Tamura said: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/?p=result&mode=all&key=all&keyword=sumo&type=tvEpisode& Why bother with illicit streams and suchlike when NHK World does a daily show with all the makuuchi bouts with English commentary? Sometimes that search returns 0 results, if it does refreshing the page fixes it (unless it's between basho, as each show is only available for 14 days). Fair point, I watch via consoles, so it’s not an option unfortunately. ... Quick update heading in to tomorrow, day 15 and the final of this months basho tournament. It’s been a hell of a week, with some incredible results and still everything to play for. The good: Daieisho finishes day 14 with a record of 12-2. He’s been a joy to watch and the no question he needs to be promoted in rank regardless of the outcome on day 15. He is currently ranked 1 in the general pool of Maegashira rikishi, so he has a lot to play for. Shodai the Ozeki finishes day 14 with 11-3. If he wins on day 15 and Daieisho loses, then the 2 will go head to head in a play off to determine the overall winner of this basho. Shodai seems a bit nervous. He has his eyes on a Yokozuna spot. Asanoyama the Ozeki has had a brilliant basho too. He’s on 10-4 after day 14. Reaching double numbers definitely catches the attention of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council. So with both Ozeki having a great Basho, some serious decisions need to be considered after tomorrow’s bouts. Terunofuji the Sekiwake is also on 10-4, so there’s a natural progression to Ozeki if the spot indeed becomes available. Takayasu the Komusubi is on 9-5. If he wins tomorrow, there could be consideration of a promotion for him too. The interesting: After a very dominant week 1, Akiseyama dropped off the map with several losses, but he’s not willing to throw it all away and has bounced back somewhat. He’s joined by Takayasu, Takarafuji, Ichinojo & Hoshoryu on 9-5 heading in to the final. All looking for a double figure conclusion to this basho. The bad: Kotoshoho who was ranked 3rd in the general pool of Maegashira rikishi, has had an absolute disaster. He enters the final day on 3-11. Nightmare. Tokushoryu, Ryuden and Tochinoshin all finish day 14 on 4-10, which is pretty poor to say the least. More was expected from them considering their ranks. Sadanoumi is on 5-9 and he’s ranked 17th. He needs to be concerned as he’s a prime candidate to be demoted in division, considering his rank and performance. So yeah, a lot could happen based on the outcomes of tomorrow and March is going to be a very, very interesting Basho, we’ll have to wait and see what changes of the guard occur. Until then, day 15 will be a beast. I’ll pop back in with results and final standings after the event and before we upload a pod. Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 24, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted January 24, 2021 He wasn’t messing around. The Hatsu Basho 2021 winner is... Daieisho, with a fantastic 13-2 record. He steamrolled Okinoumi today. Based on this, there was no need for a play off. In fact, Asanoyama defeated Shodai, so Shodai simply wasn’t up for challenging today. The final standings, (courtesy of Natto’s graphic): I also want to point out that Terunofuji & Midorifuji were both awarded Gino-sho technique awards today. Those awards are pretty scarce and you only see a couple handed out each year on average, let alone 2 in the same basho. The award is a cash prize of ¥2 million (approx £14k) each. What’s even more impressive is that they both belong to the same Heya (Isegahama stable). Great work indeed. I’ll piss off for now unless folks want to chat about matches, and if anyone has an interest I’ll happily do this again for the March Basho. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 25, 2021 Paid Members Posted January 25, 2021 I'm definitely here for this. Looking forward to the March Basho. Thanks for starting this thread and providing all the breakdowns. Thinking that each basho should get its own thread, always good to have trackable, individuated content. Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 25, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted January 25, 2021 10 hours ago, Carbomb said: I'm definitely here for this. Looking forward to the March Basho. Thanks for starting this thread and providing all the breakdowns. Thinking that each basho should get its own thread, always good to have trackable, individuated content. Cool, yeah that makes sense. This month we were figuring out the best way cover it on the pod, we had day 1, day 8 and day 15 as the main shows, with a 1 min upload of results every day. In March there will be 3 of us chatting on the main 3 days (1, 8, 15) but also taking part in a fantasy league. So a lot of my harping on will cover my stable. The league is dead easy, it’s an existing one online that runs each basho and there was 40+ players this month, possibly more).   You choose 5 sumos from 5 tiers (so you can’t only pick the top 5 ranked fighters, so a maximum of:   1 from Yoko - Ozeki   1 from Sekiwake - Komusubi   2 from Maegashira (rank 1 -8)   2 from the Maegashira (rank 9+) Once you pick them, that’s your team, no subbing to do, no messing around, the game provides points automatically etc and the league table is updated after each fight day has ended. So aye, piece of piss & a bit of a laugh. We’re sorting a trophy & medals for out little gathering of people taking part in the game, anyone who plays can take part in our sub league with no extra effort (just let me know). So yeah, if anyone else fancies it, I’ll post a link to the game, you can set a stable up and can chat results in March thread. I highly doubt many/from ukff will give a shit, fair enough really, but the option is there.  Quote
Paid Members BigJag Posted January 25, 2021 Paid Members Posted January 25, 2021 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/?p=result&mode=all&key=all&keyword=sumo&type=tvEpisode& Looking forward to catching up on the events. Will be good to prepare for the upcoming Bashos. Quote
Paid Members waters44 Posted January 28, 2021 Paid Members Posted January 28, 2021 Thank you @Kaz Hayashi for these posts it’s been really interesting! I got really invested by the end of the tournament, hopefully NHK show the next one too Ive never watched sumo before but man I was surprised how brutal it can be. Some of the falls the wrestlers take off the ring are crazy, there must have been some serious injuries over the years! A couple of quick questions if you don’t mind - what are the bits of paper given to the winner by the referee after the bouts? Also you mentioned the technique awards, what was that all about? Was that based on the one match or the tournament as a whole? Finally have you got any idea what the wrestlers earn for these fights? Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted January 28, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, waters44 said: Thank you @Kaz Hayashi for these posts it’s been really interesting! I got really invested by the end of the tournament, hopefully NHK show the next one too Ive never watched sumo before but man I was surprised how brutal it can be. Some of the falls the wrestlers take off the ring are crazy, there must have been some serious injuries over the years! A couple of quick questions if you don’t mind - what are the bits of paper given to the winner by the referee after the bouts? Also you mentioned the technique awards, what was that all about? Was that based on the one match or the tournament as a whole? Finally have you got any idea what the wrestlers earn for these fights? Yeah no worries. Wrestlers are on salaries based on rank.   They get a monthly salary of: Yokozuna - ¥3 million (approx $26,500) Ozeki - ¥2.5 million (approx $22,000) Sekiwake/Komusubi - ¥1.8 million (approx $16,000) Maegashira- ¥1.4 million (approx $12,500) They get a bonus at every Basho, and the bonus is larger based on performance. More wins = more bonus. Also If a Maegashira beats a Yokozuna = another bonus. They get an additional ¥10 million if they are the overall winner of a basho. The envelopes are sponsorship payments. So all of those flags that appear right at the start of each day, well they are sponsors. Each sponsor pays approx ¥70k to display their flag and that money is divided between the association, and the winners of the big fights. Proper prizefighting style. ¥60k goes to the winner (contents of the envelope handed out after winning the match). 1/2 of that is put in to that sumo’s retirement fund pot. So when the winner of a big fight at the end of each day is handed a fat stack... well you can multiply that ¥60k by the amount of envelopes. Big coin, just look at his happy chops...  Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted March 15, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted March 15, 2021 Here we go, we’re back (if you’re interested). It’s March, so it’s time for the Haru Basho. Main news heading in to day 1, is that the Yokozuna, Hakuho, has returned and is competing. Several others have also returned from a spell of absence from injuries and Covid, including the November Basho winner, the Ozeki, Takakeisho. He had a horrid time in January, he lost loads before dropping out mid-tournament. Many blamed it on a injury and his weight gain since November. Well, he’s back and apparently 37lbs lighter. We’ll see what difference that makes. However, the other Yokozuna, Kakuryu (who has missed several tournaments for mixed reasons) has not returned this Basho. It’s believed he has given another injury based excuse for not competing, but is apparently eager to return next tournament. We’ll have to see how the Yokozuna deliberation council respond to that, but it’s not great. Anyway, day 1 results (March 14th) are in spoiler tags. Remember, new matches occur every day for 2 weeks. We are running a pod, covering results, but were also playing Kachi-Clash. It’s a similar concept to basic Fantasy Football. You must create a stable of 5 sumos, 1 from each category (categories are based on rankings so you can only choose 1 Yokozuna/Ozeki for example). Once you have a team of 5, you gain points for their performances each day. You can’t make subs and you must stick with your choices once the game starts on Day 1. There’s 3 members on my pod, discussing the tournament and playing the game, we’ve all picked different sumo wrestlers in each category, so we’ll all face off against each other. Anyway, I’ll post links in the MMA Pod thread. But yeah, very interesting results on day 1, including a few shocks. Spoiler  Quote
Paid Members waters44 Posted March 21, 2021 Paid Members Posted March 21, 2021 (edited) I’m only on day four so this post may be completely redundant already but I’m loving this months tournament! I was really gutted to see the Yokozuna have to pull out due to injury as he looked great in his first few bouts The big surprise so far is Daeisho’s (not sure on spelling!) performance, who has gone from running through pretty much everyone last tournament to being 0-4 so far in this one. I know one defeat was against the Yokozuna, and another was a little unlucky but still 0-4 isn’t great Also good to see an upset where a lower rank took out an Ozeki I’m still very new to this but I really love it! If you had said to me 6 months ago I’d prefer sumo to MMA I would have laughed but here we are Edited March 21, 2021 by waters44 Quote
Tamura Posted March 21, 2021 Posted March 21, 2021 6 hours ago, waters44 said: The big surprise so far is Daeisho’s (not sure on spelling!) performance, who has gone from running through pretty much everyone last tournament to being 0-4 so far in this one. I know one defeat was against the Yokozuna, and another was a little unlucky but still 0-4 isn’t great That happens quite a lot. One basho someone seems unbeatable, next time round they look awful. Anway I'm up to day 7 at NHK World pace, in spoiler tags since the person I'm quoting probably isn't yet. Spoiler Onosho has been disappointing so far. He became out of my favourites a couple of basho ago he got a big win and swaggered back to his side of the dohyo with a smirk on his face, which is kind of unusual as they don't go in for celebratory gestures that much. He did get his only win on the clay (the other was a fusensho win over Hakuho) over Terunofuji, which was surprising as Terunofuji is looking strong this basho and that's his only loss so far. Hopefully he'll have a better second week and he's been fighting all the higher ranks so far. Speaking of Terunofuji he absolutely humbled Kiribayama. Not the first time I've seen him do that double armlock lift, and there's not much you can do once you're up there. He's looking good for ozeki promotion so far, and a good chance of winning the basho. Except for Asanoyama the ozeki have been underwhelming so far, you'd think with Hakuho out injured for this basho and the next one (and "Sicknote" Kakuryu out injured again) they might have been thinking it's a good time for a push to yokozuna (for the unaware there's no explicit written rules about when an ozeki will be promoted to yokozuna, but two tournament wins in a row while an ozeki is the general benchmark).   Quote
Paid Members Kaz Hayashi Posted March 29, 2021 Author Paid Members Posted March 29, 2021 And that was that. I really liked the Haru, and thought it was more enjoyable than the Hatsu. The rest in spoilers... Spoiler Week 2 was a whirlwind as expected. Deserved winner in Terunofuji, he looks up for it, and one of the only top flight rikishi who doesn’t seem to be mentally rumbled by results that don’t go his was. He has the rare ability to simply look pissed off after a loss and can turn that in to a strength, unlike Takayasu, who seemed to have a lot on his mind, including becoming a Dad.  The rise, fall & rise of Terunofuji would make a great movie. Wakatakakage put on a fantastic performance and although we won’t see much movement at the top end, other than Terunofuji becoming Ozeki, I think Wakataka will be in contention for Komusubi in July, but don’t see much changing May.  Aoiyama had a great Basho. Granted he performed well against the bottom half of the division, you can’t know a man for finishing 11-4 and finishing top 3. Great effort.  Really happy to see Takakeisho back in form and making it to final 4. I hope he and Terunofuji rule the roost going forward. They’re my personal favourites to potentially step up to Yoko territory in the future (as it stands) especially as both Yoko will be formally retired by the summer. One has announced retirement and the other is out for May and is planning to be involved with the Olympics, so is expected to retire too (no real shock). Shodai needs to perform well in May to avoid demotion from Ozeki. He has it in him, he just needs to turn up with his head on. We had a 4 man team on the pod covering the results and the outcome of our Kachi Clash game.  https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/LZYmd21KgsUfz8kW6  So on the back of that, we’ll be back in May and for any of you who are interested, it would be cool to hear from you. We’re pleased there’s been so much interest. Also, we really encourage you all to pick a 5 person stable as part of the Kachi Clash game. Get involved... It’s really simple, free, straight forward and a laugh. Anyway, really fun Basho. Quote
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