SUMO - 2017 Kyushu Basho (Nov. 12th - Nov. 26th)

[Fork]

a little comedy out of a stupid situation:

 

[josh from md]

Day 5-

 

[Asurah]

Hakuho is out in full destroyer mode, going to be even tougher than usual to beat him.

Terunofuji finally dropped out, hopefully he takes his time coming back. He is far too talented for the performances he has had the last 2 years or so.

Kisenosato seems healthy but he's not wrestling well at all, great comeback against Shohozan but he needs to step it up big.

Aminishiki though! 5-0 and always looking slick.

 

[Fork]

interestingly it looks like Hakuho (who was there at the time) and Asashoryu (i assume he wasn't) are coming out and saying the story of Harumafuji hitting Takanoiwa with a beer bottle is untrue, with Asashoryu going on to criticize the fake news media and failing NHK, which is to be expected considering his history.

NHK Article (in japanese)

From an interview with Yokozuna Hakuho: "It is a fact that there was a fist fight. I was there and witnessed it. I am really full of sorrow and want to apologize to the Sumo community and the world. It is reported by mass media that Takanoiwa was hit by a beer bottle, but this is not true. Before the fight, Harumafuji was holding a beer bottle, but it slipped from his hand, and after that I got between them and escorted him out of the room."

there's a lot of confusion about what exactly happened here and all kinds of conspiracy theories.

 

[Fork]

great win for aminishiki on day 5. it's really good to see him doing so well.

arawashi's kotenage was fantastic as well.

and hakuho going for the early start against tochiozan was surprising. the beat down that followed was not surprising though. and for anyone that missed it, the only time i've seen a jikan-mae (early start) where the wrestlers begin the match before the referee prompts them to start was hakuho against tokitenku (rip) in 2013:


and shohozan did great against kisenosato too, but it was an amazing throw at the edge from the yokozuna too.

 

[Fork]

day 6:


pretty much every time chiyotairyu pushed forward with force he pushed goeido back. great tachiai and pushing attack, but he halts his own progress by pulling and stepping back all the time. at least he was still able to get the win, but i think he makes it harder for himself.

 

[Asurah]

Maybe skipping sekitori training wasn't a good idea for Onosho, looking at a makekoshi if he doesn't get it together quickly.

 

[josh from md]

Day 7- So Takanoiwa could actually compete from what I'm reading on r/sumo(https://www.reddit.com/r/Sumo/comments/7dltbw/takanoiwa_never_had_a_fractured_skull_doctor/) This is getting weird

 

[josh from md]

Day 8

 

[Asurah]

Kisenosato should probably sit out at this point and finish healing up, it's clear the left side still bothers him. Frustrating to see a guy as consistent as he was get immediately injured after promotion.

 

[josh from md]

Kisenosato should probably sit out at this point and finish healing up, it's clear the left side still bothers him. Frustrating to see a guy as consistent as he was get immediately injured after promotion.

I really think he wants to "show up" for Japan. He looks awful right now and if he continues this trend of showing up and looking bad, his run won't be long. Heal up properly and come back stronger. I have zero hope for Kakuryu, I think he's done for. With what has been going on this basho, everything seems a little weird to me. Hakuho is obviously upset with his post match shoving. I have a lot of thoughts on the tournament and the rikishi but I'll wait until it's over and gather my thoughts.

 

[RJ Green]

+1 for Kakaryu being done

Kisenosato is not looking like a Yokozuna. At all. I'm not familiar enough with the culture to know if it's worse to sit a Basho out, or struggle bus through the whole thing?

But this is like, what, the third basho where he's been too hurt to be effective?

 

[Asurah]

Yeah, I get wanting to show up and display his fighting spirit and stuff but I think the Japanese rather have a successful Yokozuna, it's been so long since the last one.

And yeah I can't see Kakuryu lasting much longer. This is already the 2nd or 3rd entire basho he has missed and he was turning in poor performances before that.

 

[Fork]

yeah, i also don't see much of a future as a yokozuna for kakuryu.

and i agree with what everyone's said about kisenosato. i think he has a bit more leeway because of his consistency before being promoted to yokozuna, and obviously because he's japanese. in terms of short-lived, injury-plagued yokozuna careers, the obvious precedent was set by Wakanohana. he was a yokozuna for 11 tournaments, didn't win a single one, and sat out completely or withdrew from 6 of them. the climate is much different now, there's much less japanese representation at the top, and i think the powers that be in sumo will go to long lengths to keep a similar situation from happening again.

 

[Asurah]

Bit of a dirty attitude from Chiyoshoma. That shove was really unnecessary.

I thought Onosho snuck in a hair pull, he definitely clenched his hand up in the hair.

Kisenosato really needs to sit out. He got the belt and had one of his best positions but still couldn't finish Takarafuji. It's not going to get any better this basho, take the time off and come back better in 2018. It seems to be an unpopular opinion but I think he's Yokozuna quality when healthy.

 

[Fork]

day 10:

 

[Fork]

Bit of a dirty attitude from Chiyoshoma. That shove was really unnecessary.

just caught up and finally watched day 9, and yeah that was a weird one.

this kind of poor behavior always reminds me of the disrespect shown by Roho against Chiyotaikai:


although in Roho's case he also smashed a glass bathroom door and hit two cameramen backstage, and chiyoshoma is the senior wrestler. still a bad attitude from chiyoshoma though, and surprising to me.

 

[Asurah]

This month keeps getting weirder. Hakuho gives up in a match (normally he would have fought until the matta was actually called) and then engages in a long staredown with the authority. In the end he still refuses to acknowledge the match even though he was clearly wrong about a matta.

 

[Fork]

that was crazy.

day 11:


for the english commentary, check jason's video on the match:


i haven't watched the full day yet and haven't tried to find media reports about the incident to avoid spoilers for the day, so i'll comment more later when i have, but that was one of the strangest things i've ever seen in sumo.

 

[Asurah]

Just watched a less chopped up and edited one, it's even weirder. Really not sure what Hakuho was expecting there, maybe he's acting out due to the other stuff going on.