2026 Haru Basho: Day 3 results and analysis
Recapping all the top division action from Grand Sumo's 2026 Haru Basho (spoilers).
Hey all, welcome in.
Last night was fantastic. There were a couple of matches that got me out of my seat! Scroll down to watch those and check out my analysis.
The bonus gif today includes some of our big names, with Hoshoryu looking a little like he’s falling asleep.
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Fujiryoga (2-1) def. Kotoeiho (1-2) by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)
Kinbozan (2-1) def. Asasuiryu (1-2) by hatakikomi (slap down)
Asahakuryu (2-1) def. Nishikifuji (2-1) by oshidashi (frontal push out)
Chiyoshoma (2-1) def. Mitakeumi (2-1) by uwatenage (over arm throw)
Tobizaru (1-2) def. Asanoyama (1-2) by isamiashi (forward step out) after mono-ii (judges’ review) upholds gyoji (referee) decision*
Fujiseun (2-1) def. Asakoryu (2-1) by yorikiri (frontal force out)
Roga (2-1) def. Oshoumi (0-3) by shitatenage (underarm throw)*
Gonoyama (3-0) def. Shishi (1-2) by oshidashi*
Shodai (2-1) def. Tamawashi (0-3) by oshidashi
Ura (3-0) def. Tokihayate (1-2) by tsukiotoshi (thrust down)*
Kotoshoho (3-0) def. Ichiyamamoto (2-1) by hatakikomi*
Oshoma (2-1) def. Abi (0-3) by fusen (default)
Oho (1-2) def. Daieisho (0-3) by oshidashi
Takanosho (3-0) def. Hiradoumi (2-1) by hatakikomi
Takayasu (3-0) def. Wakamotoharu (0-3) by tsukiotoshi*
Kirishima (2-1) def. Atamifuji (1-2) by sukuinage (beltless arm throw)*
Kotozakura (3-0) def. Churanoumi (1-2) by sukuinage*
Aonishiki (2-1) def. Wakatakakage (1-2) by oshidashi
Fujinokawa (1-2) def. Onosato (0-3) by hikiotoshi (hand pull down)*
Hoshoryu (3-0) def. Yoshinofuji (1-2) by kubinage (headlock throw)*
*Must see bouts!
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Too early!
Analysis
Onosato is 0-3 for the first time in his career.
The 75th yokozuna was beaten by Fujinokawa last night in their first ever meeting. I love me some Fury-nokawa and he looked great in this bout. But this is our clearest sign yet that something is just not right with Onosato. He’s looking extremely tentative on the dohyo, suggesting that his injured shoulder might be worse now than it was in January (where he still managed to go 10-5).
A one hundred percent healthy Onosato likely blows through Fujinokawa, despite the diminutive Fujinokawa having more dog in him than half the division combined. In this bout, though, the giant could barely move the little guy back.
Fujinokawa’s ferocity certainly contributed to this. That, plus Onosato’s condition, conspired to prevent Onosato being able to get a firm hold on Fujinokawa. Onosato was still trying to reach his right hand towards the belt, on the inside, when Fujinokawa performed a perfect inashi (side-step) to send the yokozuna sailing through thin air and then being met by the hard ground.
Fujinokawa fought with the character we expect from him and his technique was on point, but it’s sad to see Onosato so physically hampered. It’s also clear that his injury is distracting him. He’s lacked a lot of focus over these past three nights and he has made lots of mistakes, all of which have led to losses.
I think he needs to pull out of this tournament tonight to both recover physically and regroup mentally.
Fujinokawa earned his first kinboshi for this win. He’s 1-2 now.
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Hoshoryu is 3-0 after defeating Yoshinofuji. I don’t think he needs to worry about Onosato at all at this point, even if the Big O stays in the tournament.
Hoshoryu showed that he didn’t want to go chest-to-chest with Yoshinofuji. This was obvious from how he approached the tachiai. He stepped to the side, looking for a deep outside grip. He was likely hoping to land a quick pulling throw. Yoshinofuji, smartly, circled away from Hoshoryu’s grasping hand, though. That gave him a moro-zashi (double inside position). See that below:
This position was trouble for Hoshoryu. However, Yoshinofuji made a big mistake here to gift Hoshoryu the match. In this position Yoshinofuji should have dropped his hands down and gotten both on the belt. It would have been easy to march Hoshoryu back with that hold and it would have also eliminated the threat of a throw. However, Yoshinofuji decided to go for a deep inside grip instead (below).
I suspect he was hoping to spin Hoshoryu around and then push his back for an okuridashi (rear push out). If that was his plan it was flawed, though. Hoshoryu’s arm around Yoshinofuji’s head (a position Yoshinofuji gave him) allowed Hoshoryu the opportunity to go for his throws.
First an over arm throw:
And then the vicious headlock throw:
Hoshoryu switched to the kubinage after he felt too much resistance on his uwate (over arm hold). The fact Hoshoryu switched up, and didn’t over-commit to a move that was going to fail, showed that Hoshoryu is pretty locked in at the moment.
Aonishiki picked up his second win last night to go 2-1. Wakatakakage tried to stand Aonishiki up with thrusts to the chest (since the scouting report on Aonishiki is well known at this point). Aonishiki showed a nice adjustment to this ploy, though. He decided to slap Wakatakakage silly. He swiped across Wakatakakage’s arms to take them off his chest and landed a massive slap right to the cheek. That slap forced Wakatakakage back and then made the push out easy for the ozeki.
If Aonishiki was aiming that slap for Wakatakakage’s face, that’s very interesting. It could be a sign that Aonishiki, in the superior/evil black mawashi, is willing to show us his mean streak. That slap might also be payback for the henka Wakatakakage hit him with in the last tournament. However, there is also a chance that Aonishiki threw that slap with full force not knowing, or really caring, where it landed.
Kirishima rebounded from his disappointing loss to Churanoumi with a thunderous takedown of Atamifuji. This was one of the best matches I’ve seen this year.
Kirishima prefers the hidari-yotsu (left arm inside position). Atamifuji prefers the migi-yotsu (right arm inside position). When you have opposing preferences like this the tachiai is all important, with both men fighting to get their preferred hand on the inside.
Below you can see Atamifuji won that battle:
Kirishima showed he’s no push-over, though, even when forced to fight in the opposite of his preferred stance. He defended Atamifuji’s first charge, circled back to the centre and then defended again with his heels on the straw. He was then able to drag himself back to centre, again, and then drag Atamifuji perilously close to the opposite boundary.
After all that moving around, they stalled in the centre like this:
This is when Kirishima decided to go for a high risk, high reward move; the makki-kae (switch from outside to inside position). And it paid off.
Kirishima let go of his outside grip and forced his left arm to the inside position. That gave him his trusty hidari-yotsu. He then, immediately, underhooked and triggered a throw from that very familiar stance.
This was an incredible finish and how Kirishima flowed from makki-kae into the throw was like poetry in motion. I have railed against Kirishima in the past for going for this makki-kae at the wrong time and against the wrong opposition. He’s lost a couple to Aonishiki and Kotozakura, recently, by doing that. However, against a less nuanced grappler like Atamifuji, it came off beautifully.
Right after Kirishima’s emphatic throw, Kotozakura went ahead and upped him with an even grander slam on Churanoumi. Kotozakura, again, used fancy footwork to get around the ring. But when he decided the time for running was over, he snatched up a big underarm position and flipped Churanoumi over like a pancake (or should that be an okonomiyaki?).
Kotozakura is now 3-0 to start the tournament.
Ura is also in that 3-0 club. He was his typical frenetic ball of energy against Tokihayate. All that activity eventually caused Tokihayate to overload and hit the deck.
Takayasu, Takanosho, Kotoshosho and Gonoyama are at 3-0, too.
Tobizaru did not add to his trample tally today. He did show his toughness, and the power in his pear-shaped physique, though. Asanoyama had him dead to rights on the tawara (straw bales), but he somehow managed to rotate Asanoyama to force the step out.
Abi failed to appear last night. He had a lot of athletic tape on his lower back during days one and two. It appears that back is bothering him too much, though, and he’s decided to sit out. He might need to try and come back and win a couple next week, though, to avoid going down to juryo.
Tonight we’ve got Hoshoryu vs. Fujinokawa. I can’t wait for that one.
If Onosato comes out tonight, he’ll face Yoshinofuji. That seems like a good bout for him to skip, considering Onosato is 0-2 against his old college rival.
Aonishiki will have Churanoumi. They are 1-1 against each other. Churanoumi beat Aonishiki in the Ukrainian’s debut makuuchi tournament.
Kotozakura meets Takayasu in an early ‘someone’s O has got to go’ match. We’ve also got Kirishima vs. Wakatakakage.
Keeping count!
Henka counter: 2*
*Chiyoshoma did the dirty on Mitakeumi last night.
Tobi trample counter (rows): 1
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With the Onosato prediction dead at this point, how about rooting for Takayasu to take his first basho? He has looked spectacular. Him vs Hoshoryu is always fun, and it would be especially epic with title stakes on the line.
I loved Kirishima's win over Atamifuji! And followed by Kotozakura's win, amazing! The strength it need to flip those big men over against all momentum is so impressive.