SUMO - 2018 Hatsu Basho (Jan. 14th - 28th)

[Asurah]

Sigh, Kisenosato. He's going to have a hard time surviving 2018 like this. Hakuho still looks off his game as well but obviously he's in a far better position than Kisenosato. Kakuryu surprisingly is the lone Yokozuna that looks on point so far.

Good to see Tochinoshin looking pretty healthy, I see him as an Ozeki level guy if he can avoid strings of injuries.

And yeah, with Terunofuji I'm kind of more worried that he's dropping out for something other than injuries. That can't be a good sign

 

[Fork]

day 4:


wow, the match between abi and ryuden was amazing. great balance and awareness from abi.

and yeah, it's great to see tochinoshin doing well. he debuted in the top division pretty much right when i started watching sumo and was obviously one of the first guys i could recognize by looking at him so i've been rooting for him for a long time. and i definitely agree that with his strength and experience he can compete at an ozeki level.

hakuho isn't looking great but his situation is a lot better than kisenosato's. he just looks incredibly weak and his left arm seems pretty useless. you could see in one of the replays against kotoshogiku that although he had the left hand inside grip on kotoshogiku's mawashi it was doing pretty much nothing, forcing him to try to shift too much of his weight forward and allowing himself to be thrown easily.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Hokutofuji!!!

 

[Asurah]

day 4:


wow, the match between abi and ryuden was amazing. great balance and awareness from abi.

and yeah, it's great to see tochinoshin doing well. he debuted in the top division pretty much right when i started watching sumo and was obviously one of the first guys i could recognize by looking at him so i've been rooting for him for a long time. and i definitely agree that with his strength and experience he can compete at an ozeki level.

hakuho isn't looking great but his situation is a lot better than kisenosato's. he just looks incredibly weak and his left arm seems pretty useless. you could see in one of the replays against kotoshogiku that although he had the left hand inside grip on kotoshogiku's mawashi it was doing pretty much nothing, forcing him to try to shift too much of his weight forward and allowing himself to be thrown easily.

Abi match was great. One of the best matches so far this basho.

I would like Kisenosato to take time off but he just doesn't seem like the type to do it and there's a lot more pressure on him to be present compared to a Kakuryu.

 

[Fork]

Abi match was great. One of the best matches so far this basho.

I would like Kisenosato to take time off but he just doesn't seem like the type to do it and there's a lot more pressure on him to be present compared to a Kakuryu.

yeah, it's an odd situation for kisenosato where as a japanese yokozuna he probably has more leniency than kakuryu, but at the same time has more pressure for the same reason. i think his consistency before his injury also gives him more leniency for the moment, and with his mentality he probably puts a lot more pressure on himself to keep competing.

it really sucks for kisenosato that he picked up that shoulder injury at pretty much the precise moment his career was peaking.

 

[hyu244]

Day 5:

Will we see retirement from Kise soon? It seems likely.

 

[Asurah]

Tochinoshin yusho, I can feel it

 

[Fork]

Day 5:

Will we see retirement from Kise soon? It seems likely.

kisenosato is out of the tournament:
Yokozuna Kisenosato Withdraws From Hatsu

i don't know how much longer he'll be able to avoid retirement, but withdrawing from five tournaments in a row is terrible and it doesn't look like anything is going to change. maybe if he had sat out a couple of tournaments or gotten surgery or something back when he was first injured he would have been able to recover, but at this point i don't think it'll happen.

Tochinoshin yusho, I can feel it

that tochinoshin vs. goeido match was so great. gotta love that kind of power vs. power fight, and such a great example of what sumo can be. in the replays you can see goeido doing a great job of fighting off tochinoshin's grip and keeping his mawashi away from tochinoshin, but once tochinoshin is able to get his right hand inside while having his left hand outside grip it shifts completely in his favor. there aren't many in sumo (if any) who can compete with tochinoshin in a power vs. power battle.

let's go.

 

[Okajima]

Rooting for Tochinoshin myself.

Some friends and I were there on Tues and chucked a handful of zabuton cushions. Great fun.

That said it was pretty obvious Kisenosato and Hakuho were not at 100%.

 

[josh from md]

Day 6- Tochinoshin! Oonusho!

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Just finished day 4. Yoshikaze, Hakuho's kryptonite!

Mitakeumi has been very good. Does anyone see him becoming a Yokozuna, one day?

 

[Fork]

tochinoshin is definitely looking great so far. can't wait to see him against an in-form kakuryu.

Mitakeumi has been very good. Does anyone see him becoming a Yokozuna, one day?

mitakeumi has also been looking good this tournament. i don't know if he can make it to yokozuna, but he's young and comfortable at the top of the division and he's definitely in a good position to get some more big promotions.

 

[Asurah]

Yeah, Yokozuna is too hard to call. I think Mitakeumi has a good shot at Ozeki by the end of the year if he can keep his recent performances going though, especially with all the recent drop outs in the top ranks.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

tochinoshin is definitely looking great so far. can't wait to see him against an in-form kakuryu.

mitakeumi has also been looking good this tournament. i don't know if he can make it to yokozuna, but he's young and comfortable at the top of the division and he's definitely in a good position to get some more big promotions.

Yeah, Yokozuna is too hard to call. I think Mitakeumi has a good shot at Ozeki by the end of the year if he can keep his recent performances going though, especially with all the recent drop outs in the top ranks.

Out of the current crop, who do you fellas see making it to Yokozuna? Takayasu? Surely Goeido is too old now.

 

[hyu244]

Day 7

Kakuryu showing why he's only lost to Tochinoshin once in 22 bouts.

 

[Asurah]

Out of the current crop, who do you fellas see making it to Yokozuna? Takayasu? Surely Goeido is too old now.

Tbh nobody really stands out as being someone I'd be confident in saying they will likely be Yokozuna. Plenty of guys I see as likely being ozeki soon but nobody really stands out as being the next step. Terunofuji I see as having the ability but with his injuries and health problems it probably won't happen.

 

[Asurah]

Bummer with Tochinoshin but he's still in it. Kakuryu is maybe the new poster boy for taking the time to heal up? He has looked the steadiest he has since at least his last yusho in 2016.

 

[Fork]

Out of the current crop, who do you fellas see making it to Yokozuna? Takayasu? Surely Goeido is too old now.

yeah, it's hard to say who i see making it to yokozuna. the young guys i see that have a lot of potential are Onosho, Mitakeumi, Takakeisho, Hokutofuji, and Asanoyama. Takayasu had a great run to ozeki, but since there he hasn't looked great. Goeido also had a couple of great tournaments but in general has been really underwhelming.

like @Asurah said, if he was healthy i think Terunofuji is easily the next yokozuna but i think that ship has sailed.

 

[Fork]

too bad tochinoshin lost on day 7, but there's still plenty of time left and as good as he's looking i'd still expect kakuryu to pick up a loss or two somewhere along the way.

 

[Asurah]

Ouch