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Finally, sumo's coming back. After the March tournament was held without spectators and the May tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus crisis, I wasn't sure if the July tournament would actually be held. Although I'm sure there will still be many precautions being taken, I'm surprised by the decision to hold the July tournament with spectators (although fewer than normal). The tournament was delayed slightly and will be held in Tokyo instead of the traditional host-city of Nagoya. I'm glad to see sumo back, but especially following the death of Shobushi in May I hope they're not rushing things.
Let's take a look at the rankings:
Debuting Wrestler: There will be one wrestler making his debut in the top division under these strange circumstances. Kotoshoho is a 20 year-old wrestler coming off of winning the Juryo yusho (back in March). The lower top division ranks are full of his stablemates (all the Koto- boys) so I'm sure he'll be getting a lot of instruction from them.
Long Time Coming: He's been fighting his way back up for a long time, dealing with nearly career-ending injuries and health issues, but finally Terunofuji is coming back to the top division. The former Ozeki has been struggling for years and is certainly not physically at the same level as when he was at his peak, but he's starting to look quite strong again and is coming off a good run of tournaments. I really, really hope he does well here.
Fan Favorites: The middle of the division on the East side has several of the sports favorite smaller wrestlers. Ishiura, Terutsuyoshi, and Enho are all lined up back-to-back in the middle of the division. I think Enho is in the best position to pick up a winning record here, having dropped down while the other two are coming up.
Moving On Up: Two exciting names to see near the top of the Maegashira ranks are Kiribayama and Takanosho. They're both relatively new to the division (3 and 4 tournaments in respectively) and they're some young guys moving up the ranks. Takanosho especially is coming off of a fantastic 12-3 second-place tournament in March.
Sanyaku...: I'm actually not feeling particularly excited by the Komosubi and Sekiwake wrestlers this tournament. Mitakeumi and Shodai have both had good streaks, and Mitakeumi is more likely to start up an Ozeki run here, but they've both fallen short and sort of failed to meet expectations. That's a bit unfair on Shodai as I think making it back to Sekiwake is overachieving for him and when he's on he's fantastic, but I don't think he'll be able to maintain the rank. This is the rank where Mitakeumi belongs, but he needs to put some great performances together if he wants to move up.
Contrasting Ozeki: The two Ozeki will be coming into the tournament in two very different contexts. Asanoyama is making his debut at the rank and will be trying to just get comfortable at the rank. He's very talented and is physically very well-built for sumo, but debuting tournaments at the rank are often a struggle. Conversely, Takakeisho has been unable to find consistency after picking up a bad injury and will be coming into the tournament kadoban and in danger of losing his rank.
Yokozuna: For the top dogs it will be the same as always: trying to mitigate their injuries and put in a good performance. I think the time off may have been good for allowing them to recuperate a bit and both Kakuryu and Hakuho actually had quite good tournaments in March. Here's hoping for a final day clash between the two.
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So there you go!
A lot of the YouTube channels that upload highlights have either retired or gotten copyright strikes, but NattoSumo should be uploading on his second channel Here. It also looks like Ndeso Japan is uploading NHK World digest episodes with highlights of the top division (not every match) in English.
For a slightly more updated and live viewing guide, I'll include a post I made a couple years ago with more options (don't know why this is two spoilers, but whatever):
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.
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)
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