2025 Natsu Basho: Day 10 results and analysis
I've got spoilers for ya.
Ten days gone and we are now into, what I like to call, the business end of the basho. We have our leaders and we’re running out of time for much of that to change.
This tournament has delivered a lot of great matches and today was no different.
Wakatakakage vs. Aonishiki lived up to expectations. Onosato vs. Ichiyamamoto was exciting, too (which is different from most of Onosato’s bouts this month). And Kirishima vs. Kotozakura was also a fun battle.
Scroll down for my breakdowns on those matches (and more!), full results from the top division and some great videos.
Bonus gif today is the man everyone fears, Thanosato (bonus point if you can spot a former ozeki in the background).
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Kotoshoho (4-1-6) def. Tochitaikai (3-7) by sukuinage (beltless arm throw) after torinaoshi (immediate rematch)*
Tokihayate (4-6) def. Shonannoumi (4-6) by kotenage (armlock throw)
Sadanoumi (7-4) def. Tamashoho (4-6) by oshidashi (frontal push out) after gyoji (referee) decision is overturned by mono-ii (judges’ review)
Atamifuji (7-3) def. Ryuden (4-6) by hatakikomi (slap down)
Takanosho (6-4) def. Asakoryu (7-3) by tsukidashi (frontal thrust out)
Shishi (2-8) def. Nishikigi (5-5) by tsukiotoshi (thrust down)
Onokatsu (6-4) def. Kayo (4-6) by yorikiri (frontal force out)
Roga (7-3) def. Kinbozan (6-4) by okuridashi*
Churanoumi (2-8) def. Endo (5-5) by oshidashi
Oshoma (7-3) def. Shodai (3-7) by okuridashi
Meisei (7-3) def. Tobizaru (4-6) by yorikiri
Midorifuji (1-9) def. Chiyoshoma (2-8) by tsukiotoshi*
Takerufuji (4-6) def. Tamawashi (3-7) by yorikiri
Abi (6-4) def. Wakamotoharu (4-6) by hikiotoshi (hand pull down)
Gonoyama (3-7) def. Oho (3-7) by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)
Hiradoumi (4-6) def. Takayasu (2-8) by tsukidashi*
Wakatakakage (8-2) def. Aonishiki (8-2) bykatasukashi (under shoulder swing down)*
Daieisho (7-3) def. Hakuoho (8-2) by tsukidashi*
Onosato (10-0) def. Ichiyamamoto (4-6) by oshitaoshi*
Kirishima (7-3) def. Kotozakura (6-4) by yorikiri*
Hoshoryu (8-2) def. Ura (2-8) by okuridashi*
*Must see bouts!
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Leaderboard
O1e Onosato: 10-0
Y1e Hoshoryu, K1w Wakatakakage, M7e Hakuoho, M9e Aonishiki: 8-2
S1e Daieisho, S1w Kirishima, six others: 7-3
Analysis
News flash! Onosato actually broke a sweat on Day 10. And it was Ichiyamamoto who was responsible for that. Ichiyamamoto was able to force Onosato into a second phase of action, before being pushed down and out. Given how dominant Onosato has been over the past ten days, that minor trouble Ichiyamamoto gave him seems notable.
Ichiyamamoto was able to get Onosato on his heels off the tachiai, thanks to a strong moroto tsuki (double handed thrust). Onosato was then able to grab Ichiyamamoto’s upper arm and turn him away. He pushed Ichiyamamoto back to the tawara (straw bales), but Ichiyamamoto showed some great resolve and balance to survive. Ichiyamamoto then performed an inashi (side-step) to get out of immediate danger. Onosato almost stumbled at that point, but was able to regain his footing quickly. Once he did that he put a hand in Ichiyamamoto’s throat and kept it there as he advanced and closed Ichiyamamoto down, shoving him off the ring and into the lap of the shimpan (judge).
Onosato took a deep breath after that one. I’m clutching at straws here, but that was a lot harder work for him than most of his matches have been lately. I think we’ve got to credit Ichiyamamoto for that. He’s really developed in the past twelve months, so much so that I’m not using the ‘budget Abi’ nicknames for him anymore. He’s a talented wrestler in his own right. He’s added some muscle to his thrusts and more spring to his step and he can be a tough out for anyone.
Also, kudos to Ichiyamamoto for how sweet and apologetic he looked after his false start in this match.
Hoshoryu didn’t have any trouble with Ura on Day 10. He missed his opening slap down attempt, but was too quick with his follow up thrusts for Ura to take advantage of that. Hoshoryu stayed over top of Ura, pushing him down until getting the win. Ura seemed to bend a little awkwardly on his knee as he went down. Hopefully all the hardware he has there was able to prevent any kind of injury. That loss drops Ura to 2-8, sealing his make-koshi (losing record). This was also Ura’s 400th ever makuuchi bout.
Hoshoryu is up to 8-2. He’s hit his stride in this tournament and seems to be flowing with a lot of confidence. If Onosato slips up, that’s a big if, Hoshoryu might able to make things interesting in the final weekend.
Day 10 gave us two prospect versus veteran match-ups with big implications for the basho. Aonishiki and Hakuoho had been on 8-1 records and were looking like the best outside shots to spring a surprise on Onosato. Both of them are just 21 years-old. Aonishiki is only in his second top division tournament. Hakuoho has slightly more experience than that. Even so, both of them doing so well in May has been a very welcome surprise and a sign that there is no shortage of talented young rikishi in the division.
Day 10 wasn’t their day, though. Wakatakakage, who is also fighting for a chance to upset Onosato, beat Aonishiki to tie him with an 8-2 record. This was a really fun bout and I like this match-up a lot. Aonishiki reminds me a lot of Wakatakakage. They have similar stature and fight with similar energy (aggression meets courage, for the most part). Both men use hard pushing/thrusting to open up their grappling games. Wakatakakage likes to transition to a migi-yotsu (right arm inside, left arm outside grip). Aonishiki doesn’t have a go-to grappling move, he’s more spontaneous and creative. He does love the mae-mitsu (front of belt grip), though.
In this bout, which was their first ever meeting, Wakatakakage focused on defending Aonishiki’s thrusts, using his left hand to catch and divert Aonishiki’s left elbow. That prevented the Ukrainian from landing a big blow that could knock Wakatakakage backwards. Wakatakakage then put his head right in Aonishiki’s face and closed distance to try and secure his migi-yotsu.
He was able to het his right arm on the inside position and came very close to grabbing Aonishiki’s belt with his left hand on the outside position. Aonishiki did a good job of scooting his hips back to prevent that. Aonishiki also used his long arms to keep Wakatakakage out of range.
Wakatakakage knew he couldn’t get a hold of the belt at this point, so he abandoned his plan of trying to force Aonishiki out. He quickly decided to go for the katasukashi (under shoulder swing down).
The first step of that was to put his left hand on top of Aonishiki’s bicep (above). Then he pushed down (below) and shot himself to his right, towards where he had the underhook on Aonishiki’s left arm.
By moving to the side, and back, and having both hands on Aonishiki’s one shoulder, Wakatakakage was able to drive Aonishiki down for the win.
Aonishiki tried to fully extend to nudge Wakatakakage out, but Wakatakakage—an experienced ring marshal—knew exactly how much space he had left to work with.
This was a really fascinating match. The key difference was Wakatakakage’s experience. He sensed the katasukashi was there and committed to it immediately. Often you see younger wrestlers caught in two-minds about what they are going to do next and then fail to execute on whatever route they decide.
The katasukashi was there for Wakatakakage because of how leaned over Aonishiki was to defend against the migi-yotsu. Putting his hips back and pushing out with arms was great to get Wakatakakage off his belt, but unfortunately it played right into one of Wakatakakage’s favourite finishers.
I’m really interested to see the next match between these two. Wakatakakage will almost certainly try to repeat what happened in this bout. Will Aonishiki fall into the trap again, though? Or will he find a different way to react if Wakatakakage comes close to securing a grip?
Hakuoho’s loss to Daieisho was less technical. Hakuoho is a yotsu-zumo (belt grappling) practitioner and Daieisho is an oshi-zumo (pushing/thrusting) practitioner. Hakuoho assumed he would be strong enough to push through Daieisho’s tachiai and get on his belt. He was not.
Daieisho was able to nail Hakuoho with a few sets of very hard thrusts. Hakuoho, who was meeting Daieisho for the first time, has never felt this kind of force during live competition. He seemed caught between wanting to deflect them or trying to withstand the hit and reach down for the belt. He failed to do either of those things and that resulted in Daieisho being able to keep finding his chest and throat with his hands
Those losses dropped Aonishiki and Hakuoho down to 8-2. They are tied with Wakatakakage and Hoshoryu.
Kirishima and Kotozakura had an exciting bout on Day 10. Kirishima came into this one with half his face missing due to the cheek slide he did across the clay in his win over Takerufuji yesterday.
Kirishima showed some great defensive yotsu-sumo in this bout. He used ottsuke (forearm blocking) and then a makikae (switch from overarm to underarm position) to make sure Kotozakura never got comfortable in the clinch.
Kirishima used the makikae to give him a moro-zashi (double underarm) position. That forced Kotozakura to back off. Kirishima was able to make use of that space to again block Kotozakura from getting a strong inside position. Kotozakura got frustrated at not being able to get a sashite (underarm grip with a belt grab) and tried to do a kotenage (armlock throw) on Kirishima’s left arm, where he had the outside position. He was too square to Kirishima when he tried that, though. When Kotozakura neglected his left side, Kirishima was able to get his right hand on his chest and force him out for the big win.
If Kotozakura had stayed patient and kept working for the sashite he would have had a much better chance of winning this match. Kirishima deserves a lot of credit for how active and dogged his defense was and how quickly he seized on a chance to attack when Kotozakura made his mistake.
Kirishima is now 7-3. Kotozakura is 6-4. Kirishima is in good shape for a kachi-koshi (winning record). Kotozakura is a little further off. Both men still have Onosato and Hoshoryu to face this tournament.
There are a number of wrestlers on 7-3 right now. Roga is there and having a great tournament. He just came up from juryo (second division) where he went 11-4 in March. He had been demoted after an injury hit January tournament.
Roga beat Kinbozan and showed off some great mobility. He straw surfed after a strong start from Kinbozan and was able to drag Kinbozan out of position and score the nice okuridashi (rear push out).
Midorifuji got his first win on Day 10. He used a henka to beat Chiyoshoma. I don’t think anyone can begrudge him for doing that with an 0-9 record.
Day 11 has some very big match-ups.
We’ve got Onosato vs. Wakatakakage and that might be for all the marbles. If Onosato beats Wakatakakage he pretty much eliminates Wakatakakage as a challenger for the cup. He would be 11-0 and Wakatakakage would be 8-3 with four days left. These two are 2-2, but Onosato has won the last two meetings.
We also have Hoshoryu vs. Hakuoho. One of them will drop to 8-3 after that and also be pretty much eliminated from title contention. The winner will be at 9-2. If Onosato wins, that person would still need Onosato to lose another bout and then beat him themselves to get the cup.
Hoshoryu and Hakuoho have met once before. That was the final day of the 2023 Nagoya tournament. That was Hakuoho’s debut makuuchi (top division) tournament. Hakuoho had a chance of getting into a play-off match with Hokutofuji for the yusho if he could have beaten Hoshoryu. However, Hoshoryu was able to drag Hakuoho down (by his injured shoulder) to get the win and earn the play-off spot opposite Hokutofuji.
Hoshoryu then beat Hokutofuji for his first yusho. He was promoted to ozeki after that tournament, too.
Other big matches tonight include Aonishiki vs. Kotozakura (0-0), Daieisho vs. Takerufuji (1-0) and Ichiyamamoto vs. Kirishima (3-3).
Can’t wait!
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Takakeisho!
Ichiyamamoto getting that respect🙂