Sumo!

[Tamura]

January basho will definitely be interesting, as there's a possibility of one or even two promotions to yokozuna which always get the fans interested especially if there's a Japanese candidate. There has only been one Japanese yokuzuna in the last 20 years and that was Kisenosato who retired in 2019. The Sumo Association have announced both Kotozakura and Hoshoryu are both in contention. The specific criteria required are a bit vague, but the de facto standard is two consecutive tournament wins (or an equally strong performance, which is even more vague but most recent promotion Terunofuji was promoted after winning one tournament then being runner-up in the next tournament with a 14-1 record). So if Kotozakura wins again he'll almost certainly be promoted, or possibly if he doesn't win but puts in a very strong showing. Whereas you'd imagine Hoshoryu needs to win, since it's doubtful he'd be promoted without a tournament win. The fans will definitely be rooting for Kotozakura, since Hoshoryu is Mongolian and the nephew of somewhat controversial former yokozuna Ashashoryu. 

[neil]

2 hours ago, Tamura said:

Hoshoryu is Mongolian and the nephew of somewhat controversial former yokozuna Ashashoryu

Oh I didn't know that...I just had youtube suggest a video about Ashashoryu to me about him being the "bad boy" of sumo

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/dec/04/london-to-host-only-second-professional-sumo-wrestling-contest-outside-of-japan-royal-albert-hall

Mark it in your diaries sumo fans. Next October at the Royal Albert Hall. 

 

[neil]

Since the November tournamount I've gotten way into sumo. Been following the "sumo food"/Futagoyama stable on youtube a lot, fascinating stuff there. Excited for the Jan tournamount starting next weekend, keen to see how Kotozakura does and it seems like Terunofuji may be back.

[neil]

Not going to spoiler block...but so far this basho is pretty wild!

The long injured yokozuna Terunofuji is back and so far has looked...mid...currently sitting at 2-2 and has not looked convincing in the wins he has gotten. He looks very much like someone who needs to retire, it will be interesting to see if the wins start to pick up as he should be facing lower ranked wrestlers. If he picks up more loses it is likely he'll bow out the rest of the tournament to preserve the yokozuna image.

The winner of the last tournament and much hyped as "the next yokozuna", ozeki Kotozakura has thus far had a HORRIBLE time. He is 1-3 and looks dreadful - slow, awkward, and nothing like the convincing sumo he showed in November. Is the pressure of promotion getting to him or is it some sort of injury?

However, the other ozeki Hoshoryu is looking incredible right now. He is 4-0 and has demonstrated a variety of techniques thus far and seems to be showing no signs of pressure. If Hoshoryu continues this form and wins the tournament it will be interesting to see what happens, the JSA clearly wants the next yokozuna to be Japanese, and if Hoshoryu wins this basho he'd have a reasonable case to be promoted having been runner-up in the November basho.

There's also been some good fights at the lower ranks. If you're curious in seeing highlight for all keep an eye on the NHK youtube channel, they post highlights normally the day AFTER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHuVvZb_c - english commentary, normally about 25-30 mins.

If you want to keep up but on a lighter way and more immediately then DonDonSumo posts their top 5 matches, which normally includes the top fighters, very quickly with some added explanations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC1PI0ROzOY

 

[Tamura]

1 hour ago, neil said:

If you're curious in seeing highlight for all keep an eye on the NHK youtube channel, they post highlights normally the day AFTER

Or if you want to watch sooner, the earliest opportunity is 4:30pm UK time when it's on live here, or if you have an internet connected Freeview TV just select channel 286.
 

1 hour ago, neil said:

If Hoshoryu continues this form and wins the tournament it will be interesting to see what happens, the JSA clearly wants the next yokozuna to be Japanese, and if Hoshoryu wins this basho he'd have a reasonable case to be promoted having been runner-up in the November basho.

As Hoshoryu has been told by the JSA he's in contention for yokozuna promotion that's pretty much set in stone now, he'll have been told exactly what he needs. It's possible they've told him a strong runner-up showing will be in enough, but I'm not so sure on that. Back in 2020 Takakeisho, the long-touted next Japanese yokozuna before his retirement, went runner-up in September with a 12-3 record then won the November tournament with a 13-2 record, but still got passed over for promotion. So unless they are lowering the standard a bit due to ongoing events (Terunofuji's retirement, which might not be this tournament but surely can't be far away) I'm guessing he'll need a tournament win, as two back-to-back runner-ups isn't ideal.
 

1 hour ago, neil said:

If you want to keep up but on a lighter way and more immediately then DonDonSumo posts their top 5 matches, which normally includes the top fighters, very quickly with some added explanations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC1PI0ROzOY

Today's is worth watching for Ura's match alone, where he nails an tsutaezori. Only the fifth one ever in the makuuchi division, and Ura is responsible for three of them!

Edited January 15, 2025 by Tamura

[neil]

Terunofuji has withdrawn from the basho!

https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202501160000130.html

[neil]

On 1/15/2025 at 2:33 PM, neil said:

He looks very much like someone who needs to retire

Terunofuji has indeed retired as of today!!

[neil]

Very fun tournament thus far, with a lot of great sumo (day 9 in particular was really good), and some interesting developments.

Kotozakura continues to have a mare, changing out his mawashi to get some better luck, which seemed to help him get 2 wins, but lost yesterday so now 3-6. Awful.

Hoshoryu has stumbled in the last few days, he looked incredible, but has wrecked up 3 loses against opponents he really should've won against.

Looks like we'll have no yokozuna coming out of this tournament.

Other surprising results, Kinbozan sits atop the leaderboard with an undefeated 9-0, while he has had an easier schedule he is starting to face tougher competition and had an incredible fight with Takerufuji yesterday.

[Tamura]

Day 12 has left things looking wide open. Kinbozan (10-2) is currently one win ahead of Hoshoryu, Oho, Kirishima and Takerufufi (all 9-3). Hoshoryu convincingly beat Kinbozan today, and may still be in with a chance of yokozuna promotion (assuming the JSA think a 12-3 tournament win is sufficient). Hoshoryu faces fellow ozeki Onosato (8-4) tomorrow. Kinbozan will be hoping to rebound with a win tomorrow to avoid being swallowed up by the chasing pack, but he's facing ozeki Kotozakura (5-7) whose nightmare tournament never seems to improve as he was absolutely humbled by Takerufuji today. I'm not sure why most ozeki seem to struggle to look great two tournaments in a row. If you pay attention to the occasional post-match interviews pretty much all rikishi tend to stick to the standard script of "show my style of sumo" and "just taking things one day at a time", if the latter really applies you wouldn't expect the pressure of potential yokozuna promotion to weigh so heavily on them. 

[neil]

On 1/23/2025 at 4:12 PM, Tamura said:

Kotozakura (5-7) whose nightmare tournament never seems to improve as he was absolutely humbled by Takerufuji today. I'm not sure why most ozeki seem to struggle to look great two tournaments in a row

He has to be injured. He looks so weak, slow tachiai compared to November, and then so easily pushed back. I wonder if his left leg is fucked.

Final day coming up and going to be a good one. Kinbozan (12-2) still at the top and if he wins today the cup is his, but is up against Oho (11-3). If Oho wins and Hoshoryu wins then we'll get a very rare 3-way playoff!

As far as the yokozuna stuff is concerned, even if Hoshoryu ends up winning it I feel like I'd rather see how the next tournament goes before they promote him. I'd rather have a solid yokozuna than quickly filling the empty slot and having them hand out kinboshi endlessly. Hoshoryu's losses to lower ranked wrestlers in this tournament are really quite insane.

[BigJag]

On 11/26/2024 at 5:11 PM, neil said:

Oh I didn't know that...I just had youtube suggest a video about Ashashoryu to me about him being the "bad boy" of sumo

Just watched that Bad Boy video. It was interesting. Reached the top level and had a charisma that's not usually a part of Sumo. What's the significance of the cushion throwing?

[Tamura]

9 minutes ago, BigJag said:

What's the significance of the cushion throwing?

Happens when a rank and file rikishi (anyone in the maegashira ranks) defeats a yokozuna. And has been known to happen on other occasions like big tournament wins or people clinching yokozuna promotion (since I haven't watched the video in question, figured I'd better cover all the bases),

Edited January 26, 2025 by Tamura

[BigJag]

Cheers for that. I watched  this video for dessert.

It's incredible to watch his technique propel him to victory. Going to find out how far it carried him.

[Tamura]

Although on further reflection the cushions might get thrown whenever a yokozuna loses to a non-yokozuna, not just to a rank and filer. With sole yokozuna Terunofuji either being absent or dominant for the past two years, I've forgotten what happened on the rare occasions he lost to a komosubi, sekiwake or ozeki. It's only rank and filers that get kinboshi (gold stars) for defeating yokozuna, which may have caused a little confusion in my thinking.