2025 Nagoya Basho: Day 8 results and analysis
Recapping all the top division action from Grand Sumo's 2025 Nagoya Basho (spoilers).
We have are now past the half-way point of this tournament and we have some very fun storylines playing out on the dohyo.
Onosato came into this thing as the favourite and he still is, but there’s a big pack of guys on similar and very close records who are putting pressure on our newest yokozuna.
Day 8 had some good matches and we’ve seemed to have gotten the slipperiness of the Nagoya dohyo under control (all hail the yobidashi).
Must see matches from this day were Kayo vs. Fujinokawa, Midorifuji vs. Tokihayate, Kotozakura vs. Oshoma and Wakatakakage vs. Kinbozan.
Scroll down for all the results, videos and analysis you need on this beautiful Sunday.
Bonus gif today is our man on the outside looking in.
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Nishikigi (4-4) def. Shishi (3-5) by yorikiri (frontal force out)
Kusano (7-1) def. Hidenoumi (0-6-2) by yorikiri
Kayo (1-7) def. Fujinokawa (5-3) by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)*
Churanoumi (4-4) def. Kotoeiho (3-5) by yorikiri
Kotoshoho (6-2) def. Shodai (4-4) by oshidashi (frontal push out)
Takanosho (5-3) def. Mitakeumi (6-2) by oshidashi
Midorifuji (5-3) def. Tokihayate (3-5) by uwatenage (over arm throw)*
Roga (4-4) def. Asakoryu (2-6) by kotenage (armlock throw)
Ichiyamamoto (7-1) def. Atamifuji (5-3) by shitatedashinage (pulling underarm throw)*
Tobizaru (3-5) def. Chiyoshoma (0-8) by oshidashi
Ura (6-2) def. Takerufuji (4-4) by hatakikomi (slap down)*
Hiradoumi (5-3) def. Gonoyama (5-3) by yorikiri
Meisei (3-5) def. Sadanoumi (2-6) by tsukidashi (frontal thrust out)
Tamawashi (7-1) def. Abi (4-4) by oshidashi
Aonishiki (6-2) def. Oho (2-6) by yorikiri
Takayasu (6-2) def. Wakamotoharu (2-6) by yorikiri
Kirishima (7-1) def. Onokatsu (2-6) by oshidashi*
Wakatakakage (3-5) def. Kinbozan (1-7) by utchari (backward pivot throw)*
Oshoma (2-6) def. Kotozakura (5-3) by yorikiri*
Hakuoho (4-4) def. Onosato (6-2) by oshidashi*
*Must see bouts!
Leaderboard
S1w Kirishima, M4w Tamawashi, M8w Ichiyamamoto, M14e Kusano: 7-1
Y1wYO Onosato, K1w Takayasu, M1w Aonishiki, M9e Ura, M15e Kotoshoho, M16w Mitakeumi: 6-2
Analysis
Oh boy, things have suddenly gotten a lot more interesting.
Hakuoho handed Onosato his second loss of the tournament and, as a result, our race for the cup has been blown wide open. Onosato drops to 6-2 into a pack of five other wrestlers. And he’s now behind a quartet of guys on 7-1. If Onosato wins his third yusho of the year, it won’t be a walk in the park like last time.
I think we got to this situation because Onosato over complicated things for himself last night. Here’s the bout, below:
When these two faced each other in the last tournament, Onosato nailed Hakuoho with a picture-perfect hatakikomi (slap down). His deployment of the slap down in that tournament was, in my opinion, a key component to his success. He showed a lot of commitment to that move and triggered it early to give himself lots of time and space to pull it off.
Here is that bout from May:
Recognizing what your opponent did the last time and deciding how to confront them the next time is sumo’s chess game. After being slapped down Hakuoho had to decide whether to plow forwards in this match, risking the same fate, or charge in with more caution and potentially risk getting run over by Onosato (if he decides to plow forwards himself).
Hakuoho wasn’t the only person running through these scenarios, though. Onosato also had to predict what Hakuoho’s approach would be and also whether he would try and repeat the slap down or do his more usual opening blitz.
I think Onosato chose a middle ground between these ideas and that’s where things went wrong for him.
Here’s the opening of their two most recent bouts:
You can see in the May approach that Onosato had his mind made up, from the tachiai, to go for the slap down. His hands were raised, to catch and stand up Hakuoho, before he would whip him down.
In July Onosato starts with hands low, looking to get his right arm inside. Hakuoho opened with a slightly more cautious move, too, with a hand out hoping to initiate a clinch and not just blast Onosato backwards.
This resulted in Onosato getting right arm inside, while blocking Hakuoho doing the same. I think Onosato was trying to open in a way where he could try his opening blitz, but leave the option open for the slap down. If he were going for just the blitz, I think he would have thrust his free hand right into Hakuoho’s chest.
After colliding, Onosato tried to push Hakuoho back from this position. However, Hakuoho stood his ground. The image below shows the extent of which Onosato was able to move him (with his less than maximum effort approach).
Hakuoho then stepped forwards to try and push Onosato back. As he did this, Onosato disengaged and went for the slap down. I think Onosato went for this because he decided Hakuoho was too strong to bully backwards from this position.
Here’s how it looked as he put his hand down on the back of Hakuoho’s neck:
Let’s compare that to the successful slap down he had in May:
The big difference here is how much space Onosato has between he and Hakuoho. On the successful hatakikomi he had lots of space to pull Hakuoho down through. In the failed attempt Hakuoho is much closer and will collide with Onosato as he tries to pull him down.
See below how deep into Onosato Hakuoho was last night as Onosato tried and failed to slap him down.
From here Hakuoho would put his right hand on Onosato’s ribs and push him over the line for his first career kinboshi.
In this match Onosato’s slap down was triggered far too late to be effective and it looked rushed and panicked. This is very reminiscent of Onosato’s early tournaments in makuuchi.
I think the effectiveness of Onosato’s hatakikomi is a good barometer for how composed and focused Onosato is in a given tournament. In May he was locked in and he committed to this move early against Hakuoho, Takeurufji, Daieisho and Ura and got wins over them all. In this tournament this is the second example of Onosato not being completely focused (the first was his accidental step out against Oho).
Onosato is still the best wrestler competing this month, but if he’s a little less locked in than usual (now he’s not chasing a yokozuna promotion) then that gives everyone else a rare opportunity to get past him for the cup.
Kirishima seems best positioned to benefit from Onosato’s missteps. He’s 7-1 after another confident and commanding appearance on the dohyo. He overwhelmed Onokatsu and again dictated when and where the thrusting and grappling battles would take place. Onokatsu put in a spirited attempt, but Kirishima’s evasiveness and then raw strength were too much for him.
Joining Kirishima on 7-1 were Ichiyamamoto, Tamawashi and Kusano. Neither of them seem that likely to beat Onosato to the cup, but either could spring a surprise.
Ichiyamamoto used yotsu-zumo (belt grabbing) against Atamifuji. This is the second time he’s gotten a win over a yotsu guy using his less favorite form of sumo. In this match he landed the pulling underarm throw for just the second time in his career.
Ichiyamamoto has looked good so far this tournament, but his lack of consistency could skupper him once things get harder next week.
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Tamawashi continued to show he is king of the thrusters last night. He was too sturdy for Abi’s push-me-pull-you trick and was then able to launch Abi off the dohyo with his long, strong pushes. He’s undefeated against fellow oshi-zumo (pushing/thrusting) guys this tournament.
Tamawashi could be a surprise yusho contender this month, but he’s still got some big names to face this tournament (and they are mostly yotsu-zumo players).
Kusano was given a little bit of trouble on Day 8 by Hidenoumi (who was returning from an injury absence). Kusano went moro-zashi (double inside position), but wasn’t very snug in the position. This gave Hidenoumi lots of room to wiggle around and threaten with throws before Kusano could eventually bundle him out.
Kusano has an impressive record on paper this month, but—with the exception of Churanoumi—all of his opponents so far had been in juryo sometime in the past twelve months.
Behind those leaders there are few characters who might have the experience and talent to mount a serious challenge to Onosato and Kirishima down the stretch.
Takayasu has looked very good this month. He got to 6-2 with a win over Wakamotoharu last night. He got that win despite Wakamotoharu locking up his favorite hidari-yotsu (left arm inside, right arm outside grip).
Aonishiki is lurking around at 6-2 as well. He beat Oho, grandson of legendary Japanese-Ukrainian yokozuna Taiho, in their second ever meeting (he won the previous bout, too). Aonishiki and Oho exchanged hard tsuppari (rapid palm strikes) until Aonishiki slapped on his commanding mae-mitsu (front grip) on the mawashi. Once he had that, he used his forearms of steel to force Oho out.
Wakatakakage is 4-4, so he’s likely out of the running for the cup — unless a lot breaks in his favor. Even so, he scored one of the most impressive wins on the day. Kinbozan seemed to have him dead to rights at one point, but Wakatakakage dug his heels in and powered himself off the boundary and back into the middle of the ring. When Kinbozan pushed him back a second time, Wakatakakage triggered perhaps the most exhilarating and terrifying move in sumo; the utchari.
Thankfully for Wakatakakage this high risk, high reward move ended with just Kinbozan taking a hard fall. Often utchari winners end up falling off the dohyo and onto the concrete below, with their arms pinned to their sides.
Tomorrow’s biggest bout is Onosato vs. Takayasu, a rematch from the March basho play-off where Onosato claimed his third yusho (and Takayasu was condemned to his umpteenth runners-up finish). If Takayasu gets the win there, Onosato will need to work very hard to get back into title contention.
Kirishima will try and keep the pressure on Onosato when he faces Hakuoho. Kirishima is 1-0 against the youngster.
Tomorrow also serves up Aonishiki vs. Wakamotoharu, Tamawashi vs. Onokatsu, Ichiyamamoto vs. Gonoyama and Kusano vs. Takanosho.
It’s gonna be good.
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That Wakatakakage match was WILD.
It's so nice to see Kirishma doing his thing. I hope the slip-up against Aonishiki doesn't cost him - he's exceedingly well-placed for a Yusho here, but having 2 in hand over Onosato would be a LOT more comfortable than one. Sumo is better when Kiri is good and fit. Aonishiki continues to impress. Kusano is another who might make waves down the line if he can hold up against the better rishiki. Obviously Onosato is a cheat code when he's on, but it's nice to see a few different guys capable of taking the fight to the upper echelon.