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Another sumo tournament has come around. We've had an interesting start to the year and some big promotions coming into this tournament, so there will be tons of eyes on the top of the ranks. Here's the banzuke:
Debuting Wrestlers: Only one wrestler will be making his debut this tournament as Kotokuzan makes his way up from Juryo. He's coming up off of two double-digit winning records in Juryo, but still jumping up pretty high from Juryo 4. It took him a while to break into the second division but he blew through it pretty quickly, which would make me think he'll be pretty unsteady in his first top division tournament. He trains with the Waka brothers at Arashio -beya though, so he'll have good training partners.
Maegashira: Pretty far down the ranks, Tochinoshin will be doing everything he can to finally get a winning record. The last time he had more wins than losses was November 2020, and so far down the rankings a losing record here could mean a drop to Juryo and potentially retirement. As always, we just have to hope that he can fight through the injuries and show some of his old strength. Kotoshoho is back up after a year in Juryo and coming off of a Yusho-winning tournament. He looked like he had a lot of promise in the top division before, and he's still very young so I'd expect him to do quite well here. Higher up, Wakamotoharu has moved quite a ways up the ranks, and will be competing at M9. I'm very curious to see how he does in the mid-Maegashira ranks. M7 looks like an interesting rank, with Okinoumi dropping way down to the rank but still being a pretty dangerous guy when he's on, and Takayasu coming back after sitting out January for COVID precautions. It's also great to see Ishiura in the upper-half of the division as well and hopefully he can build on the great tournament he had in January. The upper Maegashira ranks also look pretty packed with dangerous wrestlers, and hopefully Ura can keep his momentum going and pick up another 8 wins.
Komosubi and Sekiwake: Making his debut in the Sanyaku ranks, there will be a lot of eyes on Hoshoryu to see how he handles this promotion. His fast, powerful, and aggressive style is really entertaining and while it might be hard for him to get 8 wins, he'll be getting great experience and I'm confident that he'll be a Sanyaku mainstay soon. Takanosho will be disappointed with his January tournament and looking to regain his Sekiwake rank.
Another wrestler that will be attracting a lot of attention will be Abi making his Sekiwake debut. He had competed at Komosubi years ago, but after a fantastic January he's been catapulted up the ranks and now at Sekiwake. His aggressive, high-risk tsuppari style is also very entertaining, and he thrusts a lot from the balls of his feet which gives him tremendous power but can be a liability if he can't keep his feet under him. And Wakatakakage has also been given a big promotion. He has one tournament at Komosubi which was pretty rough for him, so it will be interesting to see his second tournament in the Sanyaku ranks. Being Sekiwake Wakatakage also doesn't make the commentators' jobs any easier.
Ozeki: It'll be a very important tournament for all three Ozeki. Making his debut at the rank will be Mitakeumi who was finally able to break through with his excellent championship tournament in January. Traditionally a wrestler's first tournament as an Ozeki has not been great, but Mitakeumi has competed against all of these top guys for a while and has been looking great so hopefully he'll be in the Yusho race again. His counterparts Takakeisho and Shodai will both be competing as kadoban Ozeki and at risk of losing their ranks if they get losing records. Frankly, January was a nightmare for both. Takakeisho picked up an injury so hopefully that won't affect him this time, but Shodai just looked poor. They can both do better, but Shodai hasn't looked like he has what it takes to compete as an Ozeki for a while.
Yokozuna: Finally, Terunofuji will be looking to bounce back from a slightly disappointing January tournament where he wasn't able to win the championship. His rise up the division in 2021 was phenomenal, but his first tournament this year actually had him looking a bit injured again. Hopefully his old injuries aren't going to be too much of a hindrance and while it would still be hard to pick against him winning the tournament, he will have some strong challengers this time.
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And that's it!
Viewing Options: Youtube channels like Kintamayama and NattoSumo are great for daily highlights.
There are also Twitch channels streaming full broadcasts live every day, and while catching sumo live isn't always that easy from the West, their channels are great places to go for VODs. Mbovosumo got copyright struck last tournament but I believe will be up again this time, and Karla_sumoist I believe streams the Abemo broadcasts from the lowest divisions to the top.
And it's always great to have new people join the fun and start following the sport, but it's definitely not the easiest sport to understand when you first start watching. If you're new, feel free to head over to the Introduction to SUMO thread to get a basic, although probably outdated, introduction to the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
(as usual I'll just @ everyone that has posted about sumo or posted in sumo threads, hopefully it works this time)
@EL CORINTHIAN @shincheckin @rmongler @JkMMA @PurpleStorm @Asurah @Sano @Okajima @RJ Green @winterbike @LC Shepard @Bluesbreaker @s_o_c_a_r @Slick_36 @Muppettoker @Oshime2 @DatCutman @catchwrestle @rodgerdodger @Sapp @Apollo33 @MoreKane @BoxingMMA @ChickenBrother @what-wut @Adjaar @TheRuthlessOne @elreece @Tone C @Nameless King @GSP_37 @Kaybee @Fluffernutter @Stormtrooper85 @Jin Akutsu @AZ103 @Sumomike @listrahtes @BananaManPoo @Emporio Alnino @pv3Hpv3p @Jose Beehive @Nova44 @Sticko @650lb Sumo @Fox by the Sea @Paolo Delutis @JacJeanFinger @Fork @Dadbod Dorado @moonwolf @MoreKane
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