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Time for the first sumo tournament of the Reiwa era. We're back in Tokyo and there is at least one notable absence to start off a new era for sumo, and one notable debuting wrestler.
Let's take a look at the rankings:
Debuting Wrestlers: Finally, making his debut at M14 we have fan-favorite Enho taking his first steps into the top division. It won't be easy for him, but he's a talented, fun, small wrestler and will get the support of the crowd. Joining him and making his debut in the top division is Shimanoumi. He's coming off of two Juryo championships in a row so he'll be bringing a lot of momentum heading into the tournament.
Demoted Ozeki: Jumping way up to the top ranks, Georgian champion Tochinoshin just missed out on saving his Ozeki rank in March, ending with a 7-8 record and getting demoted. He'll have a chance to regain his rank with 10 or more wins this time, and I really hope he does. His injuries are really holding him back and I think it will be extremely difficult for him to get his rank back, but damnit he deserves to.
Mountain of a Man: Joining Tochinoshin at Sekiwake this tournament will be Ichinojo, the big man. Since he burst onto the scene way back in 2014 he's lacked any real killer instinct and struggled to live up to his potential. Finally in March he showed some really good sumo and ended with a 14-1 record, coming in second place and picking up a Shukun-sho special prize. I really hope that was a turning point for him and he comes into this tournament with a sense of urgency and not complacency.
New Ozeki: Making his debut as an Ozeki this tournament will be Takakeisho. He's been consistently impressive, and hopefully he puts in a good performance here. Traditionally it's not rare for a new Ozeki to struggle in his first tournament at the rank, so Takakeisho will have to be mentally ready for this new rank.
Old Ozeki: Takayasu and Goeido both did pretty well in March, with Takayasu struggling at the end of the tournament but Goeido staying pretty strong and ending with a 12-3 record in his home tournament. They haven't necessarily been putting up much of a fight in the yusho race, and Takayasu still has yet to win a tournament, so hopefully they'll be looking to start the new era off with a bang.
Yokozuna: It was recently announced that Hakuho will sit out this tournament, which I'm sure he wouldn't have done if it weren't absolutely necessary. Hakuho has a real sense of history and the importance of the symbolic meaning of actions and I'm sure he would at least have wanted to compete on the first day of sumo in the new Reiwa era.
The responsibilities of the Yokozuna for the first tournament of a new imperial era will have to fall on Kakuryu. Although he has been dealing with his own issues since becoming a Yokozuna, Kakuryu has reportedly been looking pretty strong in training, so here's hoping he'll be able to put on a good performance and at least be in yusho contention all the way to the end.
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That's it!
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 great blog at tachiai.org with news and information.
For a slightly more updated and longer viewing guide, I'll include a post I made in the January thread with more options:
because it's taking place in Japan, it's not too convenient to watch live from the US (top division matches will start at like 2AM EST), but here are the options for watching the sport live:
NHK, the channel that broadcasts sumo in japan, has a global version NHK World which should be streaming at least the opening day on their website, maybe here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/sumolive/
Mbovo on twitch broadcasts live every day of the tournament here:
japanese streaming site Abema TV streams sumo live every day (starting with the lowest ranks really early in the day, all the way up to the top division) here: https://abema.tv/channels/world-sports/slots/8W8CNEEd69AjxT
Abema TV's stream isn't the same as the NHK broadcast, and they have their own commentators and graphics, and it's all in japanese.
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options for watching later:
]Kintamayama on youtube uploads highlights from the top division, which will probably get posted in this thread every day.
Robert Mensing (and others) on youtube upload the NHK highlights of each day's top division matches with english commentary. they don't include every top division match, but the English commentary is very useful.
it's pretty easy to find the day's matches on youtube these days, and there are a lot of choices.
NHK, the channel that broadcasts sumo in japan, has a global version NHK World which should be streaming at least the opening day on their website, maybe here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/sumolive/
Mbovo on twitch broadcasts live every day of the tournament here:
japanese streaming site Abema TV streams sumo live every day (starting with the lowest ranks really early in the day, all the way up to the top division) here: https://abema.tv/channels/world-sports/slots/8W8CNEEd69AjxT
Abema TV's stream isn't the same as the NHK broadcast, and they have their own commentators and graphics, and it's all in japanese.
---------------------------------
options for watching later:
]Kintamayama on youtube uploads highlights from the top division, which will probably get posted in this thread every day.
Robert Mensing (and others) on youtube upload the NHK highlights of each day's top division matches with english commentary. they don't include every top division match, but the English commentary is very useful.
it's pretty easy to find the day's matches on youtube these days, and there are a lot of choices.
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 probably outdated at this point) overview of the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
(as usual I'll just @ everyone that has posted in recent sumo threads)
@babycart @EL CORINTHIAN @shincheckin @rmongler @JkMMA @PurpleStorm @Asurah @Sano @josh from md @Okajima @RJ Green @winterbike @LC Shepard @Bluesbreaker @hyu244 @s_o_c_a_r @Slick_36 @Senshi @Muppettoker @argy-bargy @Edison Carasio @ChainFlow @Oshime2 @DatCutman @catchwrestle @rodgerdodger @cw1234 @Sapp @Apollo33 @MoreKane
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