Fujinokawa is becoming one of my favorite rikishi, that dude has such an entertaining style! Ura has been fighting smart and I'm happy to see it. I do fully expect to see a few loses from him in this second half but that don't matter none. He'll always be THAT guy!
We have seen some who should be at the top right at the bottom and some who we weren’t expecting are in power positions.
I am feeling sorry for Wakakakatage as I understand it he needs 11 wins to get in with the Ozeki chance and somehow it’s just not happening for him and in fact for the first time in a long while his brother is out performing him 😟
Aonishiki is not performing at all really and all those unusual and unexpected moves he was using in July seem to have completely disappeared
We are seeing wonderful performances from Shodai and Takanosho and they are upsetting the general positioning of everyone as I feel they may have been underestimated by other Rikishi who might have thought it would be a slam dunk win then got a short sharp lesson in experience
I always love watching Ura he’s funny as well athletic in his movements and the audience love it when he does his little acrobatic moves, he’s really performing well let’s hope he can keep it up ?
Hakuoho is a reminder to me of Hakuho aggressive and dangerous if you turn away for a second he will obliterate you.
Kusano and Kotoshoho have really not shown up to the games this week ?
So this leaves Onosato he’s one behind Hoshoryu but it’s still early and he could pull it off so we won’t right him off yet, he’s had fairly easy strikes past couple days!
Hoshoryu in contrast has had a brilliant week, but he cannot be complacent just because gonayamo has not won a match yet really means nothing on the day ! At least we are now seeing a Yokozuna taking his position seriously, and this basho absolutely matters if we don’t see a good number of wins of him this could well be the adios he doesn’t want to face !!
So now what does this leave, it’s been hard watching Mitakeumi he looks so sad and obviously he’s struggling 3-4 he’s not himself right now, I am sure everyone thought this was a good idea but I am not so sure?
AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
ATAMIFUJI
He is just not on the game, everyone is screaming and shouting for him but he’s just not winning I am hoping he will get to at least 8 for his kachi but at the moment I am struggling to see it right now !
So looking forward to today [ Sunday] let’s see what week two brings ?
I too have noticed that Kusano is not the threat he was in July. So many of these youngsters are white-hot when they first enter the top ranks, but it usually only takes one or two tournaments for the veterans up there to figure them out. Kusano isn't going to dominate them the way he has the kids in juryo and below.
I completely agree, Aonishiki seems to have turned to the established moves brigade and so far he’s just not recognising the pit fall of slaps and hits, what happened to the out of the box thinking, moves that we hadn’t seen in years? He seems to have abandoned them.
Shodai and Takanosho [ previously a nosho ] pardon the pun have Shodai up and so has Takanosho showed up, I think it’s a strong possibility one of them might whip the cup from under the noses of the others, even Tamawashi is showing up, right there 3 extremely strong but silent combatants digging in
Abi not doing anything at all.
Wakatakakage is on 5 but his brother is ahead and that been a long time coming, we know waka needs at least 11, come on waka !!!
Onosato one behind Hoshoryu, ok so Hoshoryu did win over Gonoyama who stands at 0-8 now which is disastrous for him.
Hoshoryu can’t rest on his laurels he needs to secure at least 12 to keep his position and I think he knows he’s on a thin ledge !
Hakuoho is right behind them chasing them down, he’s made no secret of his desire to emanate his hero Hakuho and get to the top, he’s ruthless and very aggressive.
Mitakeumi won today and yesterday, but he is suffering through a great loss, and frankly despite what was said, I don’t think he’s in the right head space for this .
Which now leaves Atamifuji, I have no idea what’s going on? He seems to lunge from one disaster bout to another right now!!
If we want to see a perfect bout where it all went wrong look at Midorifuji today , all that slapping and pushing, his combatant easily picking him off.
My wife and I were simply drop-jawed by that throw Fujinokawa engineered while literally right on the ropes. By all the laws of probability and, I think, physics too, he should have been out in the next second, yet somehow turned it completely around with that spectacular throw. Simply breathtaking!
I'm trying to recall the last time we saw Takanosho, Ura and Shodai just one victory behind the leader heading into Week 2, and I'm pretty sure it's never. Although I remember Takanosho ending as runner-up not too long ago, and Shodai is an ex-ozeki, regretfully I expect all three of them to drop back when they start taking on upper-rankers in coming days. Still, all three should get their kachi-koshi, and good for them. It's fun to see Shodai happily smashing his way through the lower Maegashiras. I think it will do his morale some good. Before that match with Midorfuji I was yelling at the TV, "Don't be fancy, Shodai! Just pick him up and throw him out!" and that's pretty much what he did.
Sadly, with two yokozunas and one ozeki still in front of him, Wakatakakage's chances of getting 11 wins and making ozeki are getting harder to see. Still, I don't see him doing bad enough to get dropped back to maegashira, so if he stays consistent over the next couple tourneys he should get a few more shots at it. He's still young and I do think he'll eventually make it.
Takanosho got himself into a couple of title races last year. And yeah, you're right, he finished runner-up to Terunofuji in one of them. He's a bit like Abi in that, when things go well, he can get on a good run (in spite of his pretty one dimensional style).
Fujinokawa is becoming one of my favorite rikishi, that dude has such an entertaining style! Ura has been fighting smart and I'm happy to see it. I do fully expect to see a few loses from him in this second half but that don't matter none. He'll always be THAT guy!
Fujinokawa gives everything in every bout. You have to love a guy like that.
Totally agree. Win or lose, Ura never fails to be exciting, and that good-natured grin of his makes it impossible not to like him.
Hi all, well we have had a brilliant week of Sumo
We have seen some who should be at the top right at the bottom and some who we weren’t expecting are in power positions.
I am feeling sorry for Wakakakatage as I understand it he needs 11 wins to get in with the Ozeki chance and somehow it’s just not happening for him and in fact for the first time in a long while his brother is out performing him 😟
Aonishiki is not performing at all really and all those unusual and unexpected moves he was using in July seem to have completely disappeared
We are seeing wonderful performances from Shodai and Takanosho and they are upsetting the general positioning of everyone as I feel they may have been underestimated by other Rikishi who might have thought it would be a slam dunk win then got a short sharp lesson in experience
I always love watching Ura he’s funny as well athletic in his movements and the audience love it when he does his little acrobatic moves, he’s really performing well let’s hope he can keep it up ?
Hakuoho is a reminder to me of Hakuho aggressive and dangerous if you turn away for a second he will obliterate you.
Kusano and Kotoshoho have really not shown up to the games this week ?
So this leaves Onosato he’s one behind Hoshoryu but it’s still early and he could pull it off so we won’t right him off yet, he’s had fairly easy strikes past couple days!
Hoshoryu in contrast has had a brilliant week, but he cannot be complacent just because gonayamo has not won a match yet really means nothing on the day ! At least we are now seeing a Yokozuna taking his position seriously, and this basho absolutely matters if we don’t see a good number of wins of him this could well be the adios he doesn’t want to face !!
So now what does this leave, it’s been hard watching Mitakeumi he looks so sad and obviously he’s struggling 3-4 he’s not himself right now, I am sure everyone thought this was a good idea but I am not so sure?
AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
ATAMIFUJI
He is just not on the game, everyone is screaming and shouting for him but he’s just not winning I am hoping he will get to at least 8 for his kachi but at the moment I am struggling to see it right now !
So looking forward to today [ Sunday] let’s see what week two brings ?
I too have noticed that Kusano is not the threat he was in July. So many of these youngsters are white-hot when they first enter the top ranks, but it usually only takes one or two tournaments for the veterans up there to figure them out. Kusano isn't going to dominate them the way he has the kids in juryo and below.
I completely agree, Aonishiki seems to have turned to the established moves brigade and so far he’s just not recognising the pit fall of slaps and hits, what happened to the out of the box thinking, moves that we hadn’t seen in years? He seems to have abandoned them.
Shodai and Takanosho [ previously a nosho ] pardon the pun have Shodai up and so has Takanosho showed up, I think it’s a strong possibility one of them might whip the cup from under the noses of the others, even Tamawashi is showing up, right there 3 extremely strong but silent combatants digging in
Abi not doing anything at all.
Wakatakakage is on 5 but his brother is ahead and that been a long time coming, we know waka needs at least 11, come on waka !!!
Onosato one behind Hoshoryu, ok so Hoshoryu did win over Gonoyama who stands at 0-8 now which is disastrous for him.
Hoshoryu can’t rest on his laurels he needs to secure at least 12 to keep his position and I think he knows he’s on a thin ledge !
Hakuoho is right behind them chasing them down, he’s made no secret of his desire to emanate his hero Hakuho and get to the top, he’s ruthless and very aggressive.
Mitakeumi won today and yesterday, but he is suffering through a great loss, and frankly despite what was said, I don’t think he’s in the right head space for this .
Which now leaves Atamifuji, I have no idea what’s going on? He seems to lunge from one disaster bout to another right now!!
If we want to see a perfect bout where it all went wrong look at Midorifuji today , all that slapping and pushing, his combatant easily picking him off.
My wife and I were simply drop-jawed by that throw Fujinokawa engineered while literally right on the ropes. By all the laws of probability and, I think, physics too, he should have been out in the next second, yet somehow turned it completely around with that spectacular throw. Simply breathtaking!
I'm trying to recall the last time we saw Takanosho, Ura and Shodai just one victory behind the leader heading into Week 2, and I'm pretty sure it's never. Although I remember Takanosho ending as runner-up not too long ago, and Shodai is an ex-ozeki, regretfully I expect all three of them to drop back when they start taking on upper-rankers in coming days. Still, all three should get their kachi-koshi, and good for them. It's fun to see Shodai happily smashing his way through the lower Maegashiras. I think it will do his morale some good. Before that match with Midorfuji I was yelling at the TV, "Don't be fancy, Shodai! Just pick him up and throw him out!" and that's pretty much what he did.
Sadly, with two yokozunas and one ozeki still in front of him, Wakatakakage's chances of getting 11 wins and making ozeki are getting harder to see. Still, I don't see him doing bad enough to get dropped back to maegashira, so if he stays consistent over the next couple tourneys he should get a few more shots at it. He's still young and I do think he'll eventually make it.
Takanosho got himself into a couple of title races last year. And yeah, you're right, he finished runner-up to Terunofuji in one of them. He's a bit like Abi in that, when things go well, he can get on a good run (in spite of his pretty one dimensional style).