2026 Haru Basho: Day 14 results and analysis
Recapping all the top division action from Grand Sumo's 2026 Haru Basho (spoilers).
Hi all,
I hope you are having wonderful weekends, wherever you are in the world.
Last night saw our penultimate matches in the 2026 haru basho. The cup was on the line. too! Did Kirishima snatch it? Or do we have to wait until tomorrow to see if he, or possibly Hoshoryu or Kotoshoho, lifts the cup?
Scroll down to see what happened in Osaka last night and read my thoughts all about it.
Our bonus gif today is Papayasu throwing some salt around.
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Asakoryu (9-5) def. Kinbozan (8-6) by oshidashi (frontal push out)
Kotoeiho (9-5) def. Shishi (6-8) by yorikiri (frontal crush out)
Oshoumi (4-10) def. Daiseizan (7-7) y tsukiotoshi (thrust down)
Asahakuryu (10-4) def. Gonoyama (9-5) by uwatedashinage (pulling over arm throw)*
Roga (5-6) def. Fujiryoga (6-8) by uwatenage (over arm throw)*
Chiyoshoma (9-5) def. Tokihayate (5-9) by kirikaeshi (twisting backward knee trip)
Tobizaru (6-8) def. Tamawashi (4-10) by tsukiotoshi*
Mitakeumi (8-6) def. Ura (5-9) by sukuinage (beltless arm throw)
Nishikifuji (8-6) def. Shodai (7-7) by oshidashi
Oshoma (5-9) def. Fujiseun (9-5) by hatakikomi (slap down)
Abi (4-5-5) def. Asanoyama (8-6) by uwatenage*
Fujinokawa (7-7) def. Hiradoumi (6-8) by sukuinage*
Hakunofuji (4-6-4) def. Churanoumi (4-10) by yorikiri
Daieisho (7-7) def. Wakatakakage (8-6) by fusen (default)
Oho (7-7) def. Yoshinofuji (6-8) by tsukiotoshi*
Wakamotoharu (3-11) def. Takanosho (9-5) by hikiotoshi (hand pull down)
Atamifuji (9-5) def. Kotoshoho (10-4) by oshidashi*
Ichiyamamoto (8-6) def. Takayasu (6-8) by uwatenage*
Aonishiki (7-7) def. Kirishima (12-2) by shitatenage (underarm throw)*
Kotozakura (9-5) def. Hoshoryu (10-4) by sotogake (outside leg trip)*
*Must see bouts!
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Leaderboard
S1e Kirishima: 12-2
Y1e Hoshoryu, M5w Kotoshoho: 10-4
Analysis
We have a winner.
A very exciting spring tournament ended anti-climatically, with Kirishima both losing and winning last night. The former, and soon-to-be, ozeki lost his bout with Aonishiki. However, prior to that Kotoshoho lost to Atamifuji. And, after Kirishima’s loss, Hoshoryu lost to Kotozakura. All those losses meant that Kirishima dropped to a 12-2 record, while Hoshoryu and Kotoshoho landed on 10-4 records (making it impossible for them to catch up).
Kirishima likely wouldn’t have wanted to win the tournament like this, but he still seemed emotional as he left for the back once Hoshoryu fell under the massive weight of Kotozakura.
The pivotal matches last night were somewhat disappointing, also.
Kirishima’s approach to the Aonishiki match was rather puzzling. Kirishima won this tournament due to highly intelligent wrestling. However, in this bout Kirishima decided not to force Aonishiki upright. We saw Aonishiki’s yokozuna campaign fall apart this month after opponent after opponent stood him up and exploited his weakness from that position.
In this bout Kirishima came into the tachiai reaching for a mae-mitsu (shallow grip). That’s one of his favourite moves. However, against Aonishiki it’s a recipe for allowing Aonishiki to hang out in his favourite leaned over pose (where he is so formidable). Aonishiki ensured he got this position by doing a bit of a stutter step off the tachiai, making sure he didn’t go too far forwards and allowing him plenty of space to lean through.
Kirishima must have hoped he would have been able to pull Aonishiki up and have him chest-to-chest with his mae-mitsu. But I think he really should have opened with thrusts to the chest on Aonishiki and then gone to the belt once Aonishiki was leaning back.
Instead, what happened was Kirishima tried to pull Aonishiki down with a wide outside grip, but Aonishiki was too strong in his squat down position. As Kirishima tried to rotate, he lost his footing and touched down.
The loss didn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. But it was a little disappointing to see Kirishima fight so poorly here. Perhaps he was over-confident, due to Aonishiki’s recent struggles?
For Aonishiki, this was a big win. He’s now 7-7 and will have a chance to finish this tournament with a winning record.
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The match that handed Kirishima the belt was also a little strange.
Hoshoryu went for Kotozakura’s belt right off the tachiai. He tried to get an outside grip on his right side. But he left his left side undefended. That allowed Kotozakura to get his favourite migi-yotsu (right arm inside position) right away. Kotozakura then peeled his left arm out from the inside position and got a firm outside grip.
Hoshoryu matched the grip. But at this stage he probably realized he’d made a big mistake in settling for matching migi-yotsu. Kotozakura is a master at the position and he’s also enormous. There was no contest when both men tried to move the other around, Kotozakura was easily able to march Hoshoryu back.
Hoshoryu desperately tried to angle off to give himself an opportunity to throw, but he couldn’t get that due to how strong Kotozakura’s grips on his belt were. As Hoshoryu dug harder for the throw, Kotozakura was able to carefully manage his body position and make sure he was able to fall on top of the yokozuna.
Kotozakura’s teammate Kotoshoho found Atamifuji very hard to deal with last night. His shot of forcing Kirishima to a potential play-off fell apart when he got around Atamifuji, but couldn’t convert on the okuridashi (rear push out). After Atamifuji turned back to face Kotoshoho he was able to clinch and use his superior yotsu-zumo (belt grappling) to take over.
Kachi-koshi (winning records) and make-koshi (losing records) were flying off the shelves last night, with a number of wrestlers sealing their fates in one direction or another.
Ichiyamamoto got his eighth win last night and, in the process, condemned Takayasu to his eighth loss. Takayasu’s collapse this week has been hard to watch. Last night he was easily dumped over by the man from Hokkaido.
Oho handed Yoshinofuji his make-koshi last night and locked up a 7-7 record for himself. The good version of Oho turned up to this fight. He also looked mean in pushing Yoshinofuji down with a little extra oomph than needed (might be worth keeping an eye on this match-up going forwards).
Fujinokawa dropped Hiradoumi to 6-8 last night. Watch below and notice how much Fujinokawa leans over his mark before the tachiai. It felt so provocative. Hiradoumi responded to this by smashing him with a head butt (Hiradoumi is terribly for leading with his forehead).
Fujinokawa was able to keep his wherewithal, though, and then sling Battle Pug Jr. over for the win. Fujinokawa looked a little foggy afterwards.
Wakatakakage didn’t come out for his bout today. It looked like he hurt his elbow in the previous day’s win over Abi.
Tonight’s main event is Hoshoryu vs. Aonishiki. Aonishiki needs to win that to avoid a losing record (and his ozeki ranking being under threat at the May tournament). Aonishiki is 5-0 against Hoshoryu. Is this the match where Hoshoryu finally figures out how to beat the Ukrainian.
Kirishima’s last bout of the tournament is with Kotozakura. Neither man needs to win this one, but both would surely love to end the basho on a positive note. Kirishima is 16-8 against Kotozakura.
Our Darwin matches tonight are Fujinokawa vs. Oho and Daieisho vs. Shodai.
The juryo championship will be settled tomorrow. Wakanosho and Dewanoryu are currently tied on 11-3 records. Kazuma is behind them on 10-4. Kazuma has Ryuden. Wakanosho has Hatsuyama and Dewanoryu has Takerufuji (who needs a win for his kachi-koshi).
Keeping count!
Henka counter: 10*
Tobi trample counter (rows): 5
Ura flips: 2
Gyoji bumps: 3
* We got three henka last night! Asakoryu side-stepped Kinbozan, but then had to work hard to push him out. Oshoumi teleported out of the way of juryo call-up Daiseizan. And Abi showed why he’s the henka-master. He stepped off against Asanoyama and then threw him down belly-first.
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Kirishima is like: "If I had a nickel everytime I won a yusho because Kotozakura eliminated my rival, I'll have two nickels but strange it happened twice."
I dunno, I was also puzzled by Kirishima letting Aonishki go low, but this could be the perfect ending. Kiri takes the cup. Ao, though humbled, still has a chance to get a K and redeem himself.
I think Kirishima owes both Kotozakura and Horshoryu a beer. There was no dive taken in their bout, but I think I saw a smile on Horsh's face, knowing that his frenemy Kiri would get the cup. Frankly, I hope Ao wins tomorrow and gets his K, but put up a fight, Horsh!
Agree that Papa Yasu crashed and burned this second week. Hope he's not hurt.
Am rooting for Takerufuji to get his K down in juryo and climbs back into the top ranks. NHK channel doesn't cover juryo, Tim, so I'm depending on you for news.
Was afraid my boy Wakatakakage would pull out. He was holding that arm bad yesterday. Tim, any news on how bad?
Also, I love the count-keeping at the end of your posts. How many degrees does Ura have to roll to count as a flip?