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Another sumo tournament has snuck up on me and has already started so this thread will be very brief. Here's the banzuke for this tournament in Nagoya:
Tournament Topics:
- No debuting Makuuchi wrestlers - For the first time since 2015 there are no wrestlers making their debut in the top division. Several are returning from Juryo, but no new blood this time.
- Lots of fan favorites in the mid-upper Maegashira ranks - Thanks to some great performances there are a lot of popular wrestlers in the upper half of the Maegashira ranks. Ishiura is at a career high of M8, Ura has been doing spectacularly and is way up at M4, and M3 has both Endo and Ikioi. I would expect Ishiura and Ura to struggle, being smaller guys and at career high ranks, but they can pull off some upsets for sure.
- Another demotion for Kotoshogiku - Being demoted again from Sekiwake to Komosubi, I'm still wondering how much longer Kotoshogiku will compete. He can get a winning record and get back up to Sekiwake or at least to East Komosubi, but I'm guessing he wants more.
- Sekiwake debut for Mitakeumi - After a string of winning tournaments Mitakeumi is making his debut as a Sekiwake. He's obviously very talented and although I don't think he'll be getting double-digit wins to start an Ozeki run yet, it will come.
- Ozeki debut for Takayasu - He's been in fantastic form lately, and Takayasu certainly deserved the promotion to Ozeki. Often wrestlers will struggle in their first Ozeki tournament, but even though he's just been promoted Takayasu may be the best Ozeki.
- Three challenging Yokozuna - Kakuryu and Kisenosato both had to pull out of the last tournament, and will be looking to bounce back. Hopefully their injuries have been healed and aren't much of a factor. Harumafuji had a decent tournament, but wasn't really able to challenge for the Yusho in the final days. He hasn't really been in the Yusho race for a few tournaments, so it would obviously be great to see him in the mix on the final day.
- HakuGOAT - After a year without a tournament, Hakuho showed his quality with another tournament win without a loss. It would be great to see him do it again, and coming into the tournament everyone will be chasing him.
So there you go!
Stay tuned to Kintamayama's YouTube Channel for daily highlights of the top division, and the taka sumo YouTube Channel for possible daily posts of the NHK digest of the top day's action (in Japanese). Also check out Robert Mensing's YouTube Channel for English versions of the NHK digest episodes (although I don't think they include all of the top division matches). Or go straight to the source, on NHK World's Sumo website. There's also a good blog at tachiai.org with news and information.
And as usual, for anyone who'll be watching the sport for the first time, please feel free to ask any questions you might have here and someone will try to answer them. Also be sure to check out my Introduction to SUMO thread for a brief (although quite outdated at this point) overview of the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
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