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The first sumo tournament of 2018 is here and will be starting tomorrow.
A lot happened in 2017, particularly in the final tournament of the year, and this will be a big tournament for a lot of guys looking to start 2018 off on the right foot. I'd say the sport as a whole is really looking to bounce back from a pretty rough year. The landscape at the top of the ranks has changed quite a bit, so let's take a look:
Tournament Topics:
- Two debuting wrestlers - There will be two wrestlers making their debuts in the top division this tournament. Ryuden had been working his way up the ranks, getting to Juryo in 2012 when it looks like he picked up a big injury and was sidelined for most of 2013 and 14, dropping way down. He worked his way back up, but with an 8-7 record in November I'd expect him to struggle in the top division. He's joined by Abi, who is coming off two impressive performances, going 10-5 (winning the Juryo yusho) in September and 11-4 in November.
- Return of a fan favorite - Although Ura is still out trying to recover and will be in a much lower division when he does return, a fellow fan favorite Ishiura is back in the top division. He'll be looking to get his mojo back as he had a fantastic debut in the top division but struggled a bit when others figured out his style.
- Former Ozeki at M10 - There were questions about whether or not Terunofuji would compete this tournament, but his stablemaster is saying that he's getting better and better as the tournament approaches, and he'll be competing on day 1. I wouldn't be surprised if once again he looks weak out there and maybe withdraws midway through, but the competition will be easier for him and it would be great if he could start building up his strength again.
- Knocking on the sanyaku door - Hokutofuji has been doing great in the upper Maegashira ranks and from M1 East he's in a great position to potentially break into the sanyaku ranks. He's gotten kinboshi in the last three tournaments and with the state of the Yokozuna ranks he'll have a real chance to get at least one here.
- Sanyaku debut - Hokutofuji will be hoping to follow Takakeisho who is doing just that, making his debut as a Komosubi after a great tournament at M1. It's a big promotion and the pressure of the new rank could lead to a poor performance, but he should see the unsteadiness in the top ranks as a great opportunity to aim for a higher position on the banzuke.
- A good year for an Ozeki run - Mitakeumi has been looking comfortable at Sekiwake, going either 8-7 or 9-6 in his three tournaments at the rank and he'll probably be seeing this as a time to try to turn up the heat and go for a double-digit win to start building an Ozeki run.
- Not a good time to be an Ozeki - Both of the current Ozeki must be under a great deal of pressure, and both are struggling to give the kind of performances that are expected of them. Takayasu looked great in his promotion run, but once he got the promotion has struggled a lot and been forced to withdraw twice. It would be great to see him turn things around and put in a strong performance here. Goeido has seemed like such a hot and cold (mostly cold) wrestler to me. He's had a couple of great tournaments as an Ozeki, but the rest have been really lackluster. The Ozeki rank has seemed pretty weak for a while now, and something needs to change and it'll have to be from these two.
- And then there were three... - With the retirement of Harumafuji the attention will now turn towards Kisenosato and Kakuryu. They've obviously also been struggling a lot with injuries and have both withdrawn from the last four tournaments. They're both planning on competing this time but we'll have to see how long they last. There will be increased scrutiny on them as well, probably more so on Kakuryu who really, really needs a good tournament here. Anything less than 10-5 will put him in real danger.
- Record tournament for the top dog - This will be Hakuho's 63rd tournament as a Yokozuna which ties him with Kitanoumi for tournaments at the sport's top rank. 2017 was a bit of a weird year for Hakuho, with him withdrawing from two tournaments and having some weird performances. He isn't the unstoppable force that he once was, but he's still head and shoulders above everyone else and he'll want to start 2018 off with a championship.
So there you go!
Stay tuned to Kintamayama's YouTube Channel for daily highlights of the top division, and 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!
(I'll just @ everyone that posted in recent sumo threads)
@JkMMA @PurpleStorm @Asurah @Sano @josh from md @Okajima @RJ Green @winterbike
