2025 Nagoya Basho: Day 4 results and analysis

Spoilerinos.

Oh lordy. What a day on the dohyo. Chaos, controversy, we’ve got it all.

Must see matches for this day are Onosato vs. Oho and Hoshoryu vs. Abi, since the best storyline in the sport right now is the rivalry between these two young yokozuna.

There were lots of great bouts on this day and some of them had wild finishes. Among those are Gonoyama vs. Takerufuji, Kotoshoho vs. Fujinokawa, Sadanoumi vs. Chiyoshoma and Tobizaru vs. Meisei.

Head on down to see the full results from a very dramatic Day 4. There’s also lots of videos and my analysis.

Bonus gif is the Big O.

GO-NO-SATO!

SPOILERS BELOW

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Results

• Mitakeumi (4-0) def. Shishi (2-2) by oshidashi (frontal push out)

• Kotoeiho (2-2) def. Hidenoumi (0-4) by uwatenage (over arm throw)

• Kusano (3-1) def. Kayo (0-4) by yorikiri (frontal force out)

• Fujinokawa (2-2) def. Kotoshoho (3-1) by hatakikomi (slap down) after torinaoshi (immediate rematch)*

• Shodai (3-1) def. Midorifuji (2-2) by oshidashi

• Churanoumi (2-2) def. Asakoryu (2-2) by oshidashi

• Atamifuji (2-2) def. Tokihayate (1-3) by yorikiri

• Takanosho (2-2) def. Roga (2-2) by yorikiri

• Sadanoumi (1-3) def. Chiyoshoma (0-4) by tottari (armbar throw)*

• Ichiyamamoto (4-0) def. Ura (3-1) by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)*

• Gonoyama (3-1) def. Takerufuji (2-2) by hikkake (arm grabbing force out) after mono-ii (judges’ review) reversed gyoji (referee) decision*

• Tobizaru (2-2) def. Meisei (1-3) by hatakikomi*

• Tamawashi (4-0) def. Hakuoho (2-2) by oshidashi

• Hiradoumi (1-3) def. Kinbozan (1-3) by yorikiri

• Takayasu (3-1) def. Onokatsu (1-3) by yorikiri

• Kirishima (4-0) def. Oshoma (0-4) by yorikiri*

• Aonishiki (3-1) def. Wakatakakage (2-2) by oshidashi*

• Kotozakura (2-2) def. Wakamotoharu (1-3) by yorikiri*

• Abi (3-1) def. Hoshoryu (1-3) by oshidashi after mono-ii reversed gyoji decision*

• Oho (1-3) def. Onosato (3-1) by oshidashi*

  *Must see bouts!

Leaderboard

Too early!

Analysis

Hoshoryu continues to struggle in Nagoya. This had been a happy hunting ground for him in the past. He won his first ever yusho here. This month, though, the hot and humid Nagoya is feeling like hell for the 74th yokozuna.

Abi added to Hoshoryu’s problems last night, as he is want to do. The Troll King out foxed the anxious yokozuna and scored a push out, but not without a bit of drama at the end.

After getting lit up by tsuppari (rapid palm strikes), Hoshoryu tried to save the bout with a last ditch hikkake (arm grabbing force out). That’s a move that saved his skin a few times in his yusho winning January tournament. It seemed pretty obvious that Hoshoryu’s foot touched down as he was trying to pull Abi out, yet the ref still pointed the gunbai (fan) in Hoshoryu’s direction. Thankfully there was a mono-ii to reverse the decision and give Abi his fifth kinboshi (and second against Hoshoryu).

Abi was really smart in this bout. The last time he fought Hoshoryu he pushed him back and then pulled him down. See that below:

I think Abi thought that Hoshoryu thought he would do the same thing again. So Abi decided to keep the pressure going forwards this time, to catch him off guard. And the result was Hoshoryu being caught leaning back to prevent himself getting pulled down, but presenting his chest for Abi’s fight-winning strikes.

After watching that from ringside, Onosato must have been imagining his hands lifting the cup. However, when he got a chance to build a potentially unassailable three win lead over Hoshoryu, he fluffed his lines. Oho was the beneficiary of this.

Oho did well to stand up to Onosato’s pressure off the tachiai and push him back with thrusts, but the bout ended because Onosato accidentally stepped out of bounds. The first thing every sumo wrestler learns is to keep your feet low to the ground, skimming instead of stepping to avoid this happening.

Onosato looked furious with himself after this one. It will be interesting to watch his feet tomorrow to see if he’s more disciplined with his foot skimming.

Onosato’s loss meant that Kirishima is now the highest ranked wrestler with the best record (4-0). He looked great against Oshoma, forcing the side-step artist into a grueling yotsu (belt grabbing) duel.

Kirishima went with an outside grip with his left hand off the tachiai, which is not his preferred grip. His advantage over Oshoma in this aspect of the game is so great, though, that he was able to control the clinch from there and get the force out once he was happy with his positioning.

The best thing Kirishima did in this bout was a little hip wiggle to break Oshoma’s inside grip on his belt. Once Oshoma’s grip was broken, Kirishima trapped Oshoma’s arm and then surged forwards for the force out.

I’ve isolated that wiggle below.

Ichiyamamoto is 4-0, too. He beat Ura on Day 4. He used his reach to keep Ura on the outside until the Peach Prince eventually ran out of room.

Aonishiki is 3-1 after taking an impressive win over Wakatakakage. Wakatakakage beat him in May, but was overwhelmed by the Blue Whirlwind’s thrusts in this one. Aonishiki has managed to start 3-1 after facing both yokozuna the ozeki and now a sekiwake in the first week of this tournament. He’s the real deal, folks.

Kotozakura got a good win on Day 4. He used highly technical yotsu techniques to beat Wakamotoharu. This match has to be catnip for Kotozakura fans. He looked sturdy, engaged and powerful to a point it reminded me of his best performances from last year.

In this bout Kotozakura took the left arm inside position off the tachiai. When you take an inside position, you generally concede the matching inside position to your opponent. However, after taking that position for himself, Kotozakura then used ottsuke (forearm blocking) to prevent Wakamotoharu matching him. This was smart, considering that Wakamotoharu’s sumo is incredibly dependent on the hidari-yotsu (left arm inside, right arm outside grip).

Kotozakura went left arm inside, despite his favoured grip being the reverse position (migi-yotsu).

These two spent some time battling over Wakamotoharu’s left arm.

After a scramble, where Wakamotoharu almost slipped (like he did against Hoshoryu on the previous day), Wakamotoharu was able to lock on a strong migi-yotsu.

When he’s at his best, Kotozakura is the finest defensive wrestler in the sport. He responded to that grip, by quickly raising Wakamotoharu’s left inside arm to get him off his belt.

From this point on, Kotozakura’s game-plan looked pretty clear. With the arm raised, he wanted to do a makki-kae (switch from outside to inside position) with his left arm and then go moro-zashi (double inside position). He figured that, from moro-zashi, he would be too big and strong for Wakamotoharu to handle.

Wakamotoharu defended the first makki-kae, but not the second. When Kotozakura compeleted the move he was able to quickly rush Wakamotoharu out for the win. Here’s the makki-kae to moro-zashi transition in isolation (hopefully NHK don’t ding me for these little gifs — these have to be fair use):

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We had some very chaotic bouts on Day 4. Unfortunately there’s no official video of Tobizaru vs. Meisei (which Tobizaru won after outlasting Meisei and getting him with a slap down) or Sadanoumi vs. Chiyoshoma (where a fired up Sadanoumi launches Chiyoshoma off the ring after taking stiff tsuppari to the face).

Here’s Kotoshoho vs. Fujinokawa and Takerufuji vs. Gonoyama for your viewing pleasure, though.

Day 5 has Hoshoryu vs. Oho on the docket. If Hoshoryu loses that one we might see him bow out of the basho due to ‘injury’. Oho is 6-4 against him and has won three of the last four. Hoshoryu won the last meeting, though.

Onosato will get Abi. They’ve fought seven times before and Onosato’s won four of those meetings. That record is one of the poorer head-to-head records Onosato has across the sport.

Kotozakura will meet Onokatsu for the first time tonight. Kotozakura seems to be rounding into form, so he might be too much for his fellow yotsu-zumo practitioner.

Kirishima’s undefeated start will be tested by Aonishiki. This is their first meeting ever. I can’t wait for that one.

I’ll let you know how these go tomorrow!

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