SUMO - 2021 Natsu Basho (May 9th - May 23rd)

[Muppettoker]

What do you guys think about Hoshoryus potential?

His uncle casts a large shadow but he is young and I feel he just needs to pack on a bit more muscle to be extremely competitive with the top rankers. Already has two Ozeki scalps this basho.

 

[Spawned_Fighter]

kyokutaisei really falling off hard the last four days after a strong start

 

[Fork]

another good match for Hoshoryu on day 10. he's had a really impressive last few days.

 

[listrahtes]

Very dissapointed in the refs. As soon as they called for a mono i I thought they would fuck over Terunofuji and they did. I am not a fan of him but that was blatant obvious sumo politics. Sorry for Teru. That was his win.

My most anticipated bout was Wakatakakage vs Hoshoryu. Did not really live up to it but kind of showed what I thought that right now Waka is a little ahead of Hoshoryu. Imo Kiribayama is a little bit of a dark horse at least for me. Think he has the potential for upper echelon of Makuuchii.

And last, as much as I dislike Terutsuyoshi he is a technical marvel to watch. So precise in his angling and execution . Very impressive.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

What an astronomical fuck up by Asanoyama

 

[Stormtrooper85]

Very dissapointed in the refs. As soon as they called for a mono i I thought they would fuck over Terunofuji and they did. I am not a fan of him but that was blatant obvious sumo politics. Sorry for Teru. That was his win.

My most anticipated bout was Wakatakakage vs Hoshoryu. Did not really live up to it but kind of showed what I thought that right now Waka is a little ahead of Hoshoryu. Imo Kiribayama is a little bit of a dark horse at least for me. Think he has the potential for upper echelon of Makuuchii.

And last, as much as I dislike Terutsuyoshi he is a technical marvel to watch. So precise in his angling and execution . Very impressive.

They took the smallest opportunity to take that W away from Terunofuji and they know he usually struggles with Ohnosho as well. They really don't want him to win again

 

[Fork]

i actually think the call against Terunofuji was the right one, unfortunately. i think he was winning the match anyway and Myogiryu was on his way down, and i definitely don't think it was intentional, but it looked pretty clear to me that his fingers did get caught in Myogiryu's mage. sucks, and whether the rule should be changed or not is another issue, but i think it was the right decision. he looked really fucking pissed.

regarding Asanoyama, even with his disappointing performances, he had a lot going for him but it sucks to get it thrown away like that. still time for him to come back, but it seems like he may have to regain his Ozeki status with a 10-win performance in September. maybe this will light a fire under him?

as @listrahtes said, the Wakatakakage vs. Hoshoryu matchup was one i was really looking forward to and it clearly showed the strength difference between the two. looking forward to more matches between these two in the future, and i think as Hoshoryu builds more muscle the matchup will start to look really different.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

i actually think the call against Terunofuji was the right one, unfortunately. i think he was winning the match anyway and Myogiryu was on his way down, and i definitely don't think it was intentional, but it looked pretty clear to me that his fingers did get caught in Myogiryu's mage. sucks, and whether the rule should be changed or not is another issue, but i think it was the right decision. he looked really fucking pissed.

Do you think it was a case of his hand just slipped with the movement of Myogiryu's head and falling?

We see in Boxing and MMA a case of a fighter being hit and they move away from the strike and get hit in the back of the head but the person hitting isn't blamed because the head moved into the path of the punches?

See: Gane vs JDS ending for example

I know that isn't covered in the Sumo rules but what I looked at the replays that's what I figured happened.

 

[Fork]

also, the full English NHK broadcast is available but it's kind of awkward to get there. you'll need a VPN (if you're outside of Japan) and to sign up for NHK Plus (https://plus.nhk.jp/) which is a pain, but the full top division broadcast is there with the option for English commentary.

 

[Fork]

Do you think it was a case of his hand just slipped with the movement of Myogiryu's head and falling?

We see in Boxing and MMA a case of a fighter being hit and they move away from the strike and get hit in the back of the head but the person hitting isn't blamed because the head moved into the path of the punches?

See: Gane vs JDS ending for example

I know that isn't covered in the Sumo rules but what I looked at the replays that's what I figured happened.

yeah i think that's probably exactly what happened. he's grabbing the back of Myogiryu's neck to swing him down and as he is falling his hand slipped into his hair and got caught. maybe intention should be considered when making a decision like that one but even though it causes losses like this that feel unfair, i like the cut-and-dried nature of the rule that if you pull your opponent's hair during a match you lose.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

yeah i think that's probably exactly what happened. he's grabbing the back of Myogiryu's neck to swing him down and as he is falling his hand slipped into his hair and got caught. maybe intention should be considered when making a decision like that one but even though it causes losses like this that feel unfair, i like the cut-and-dried nature of the rule that if you pull your opponent's hair during a match you lose.

I like that if you pull hair, you lose. It's a good rule but intention matters. I recall I believe Chris Sumo talking about how judges come to a decision during Mono-ii (it was after the asanoyama vs tochinoshin ring out that gave Asa a win he probably shouldn't have gotten). Somebody backstage watches the replay and tells them what he saw. Which is just bad.
They should have an ipad and they should watch it themselves to take these things into account

 

[Fork]

I like that if you pull hair, you lose. It's a good rule but intention matters. I recall I believe Chris Sumo talking about how judges come to a decision during Mono-ii (it was after the asanoyama vs tochinoshin ring out that gave Asa a win he probably shouldn't have gotten). Somebody backstage watches the replay and tells them what he saw. Which is just bad.
They should have an ipad and they should watch it themselves to take these things into account

yeah, i actually also think things like the TMO (television match official) in rugby who has a similar role is a good thing. i think a lot of things get missed in sports in general when there isn't an option to have someone check the replay. sumo has also been using video replays to judge matches for a long-ass time, since the 60's (they show the replay room and talk about the Taiho match that led to them using replays on this NHK World video). i think there are two shimpan in the video room backstage and at least one of them is also a pretty senior judge so at least in terms of experience and stature, they're at the same level as the ringside judges.

i like the idea of having some technology for the ringside judges to view a replay together as well, though.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Terutsuyoshi's dashinage looked unreal. I'm not sure how much the head movement helped the throw.

Rematch of chiyoo vs shohozan was unnecessary so was the monoii for terunofuji vs myogiryu (I mean the gyoji should've given it to myogiryu in the first place). There was nothing to argue about.

Ura using Williams-Mir armlock to injure enho still highlightens the bad moment of May basho. It was 100% legal but you wouldn't do that to your friend. A similar move was planned to use by onokuni in attempt to break itai's arm as a punishment for infamous slap strike that knocked yokozuna down.

I'm rooting for small rikishis. Hope to see midorifuji back.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

 

[listrahtes]

Would have never thought they would treat their star like that. You have to give it to the JSA, they really put down the hammer on everyone.
Thought he would be banned for one more tournament and thats it.

Does anyone know if and when Hakuho will come back? Would love to see him match up with Terunofuji before he retires.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

Would have never thought they would treat their star like that. You have to give it to the JSA, they really put down the hammer on everyone.
Thought he would be banned for one more tournament and thats it.

Does anyone know if and when Hakuho will come back? Would love to see him match up with Terunofuji before he retires.

Hakuho is planning to return in July. Whether his body allows it is unsure.


They're sending a message through Asanoyama. You are not above severe punishment no matter who you are

 

[Fork]

really severe punishment for Asanoyama but they need to show they're taking COVID seriously, and having him lie about it when first asked really gave them no choice.

Takakeisho staring down Ichinojo was hilarious. guessing it was for the harite in the match, or maybe the matta or he felt Ichinojo pulled him down when he was already out, but it was pretty funny. happened earlier in the tournament in Chiyotairyu's match against... Kotoeko i think. no idea what that was about either. i think Ichinojo was doing really well against Takakeisho too and just threw it away by pulling, although to be fair he nearly pulled him down.

Shodai should get his 8th win in the next few days, but this was another unconvincing win for him.

on the other hand, Terunofuji bounced back well and dominated Onosho by denying the double-inside grip.

 

[Stormtrooper85]

I cannot figure out Tokushoryu, last January when he won the Basho he looked like an unstoppable force but then he slowly fell to Juyro and now he looks like he does Sumo on roller skates. There wasn't even a happy medium there. Even beating Ishiura today dude plummeted face first off the Dohyo.

It's such a weird sight

 

[Fork]

I cannot figure out Tokushoryu, last January when he won the Basho he looked like an unstoppable force but then he slowly fell to Juyro and now he looks like he does Sumo on roller skates. There wasn't even a happy medium there. Even beating Ishiura today dude plummeted face first off the Dohyo.

It's such a weird sight

man, his January tournament was such a great moment in sumo and this post made me want to go back and watch his matches. the stoicism in sumo is all well and good, but seeing the emotion on his face really illustrates how many years of blood, sweat, and tears, struggling to make it into the top division in the first place and then to stay there, culminated in that championship:


i think ultimately he was completely "in the zone" that tournament and competing at a really high level, and he had a lot of really strong matches with his day 15 win over Takakeisho probably being the best sumo he's ever done in his career. but i think a lot of his wins also came at the edge while moving backwards, and i think he naturally gets in those situations a lot and it's just tough to consistently win those matches.

jeez, what a great moment though.

 

[listrahtes]

Tobizaru and his new fetish of running into the crowd and Takakeisho going into flying hamster mode <Lmaoo>.

A funny day in the basho.