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Another sumo tournament has rolled around! We've had some fairly high-profile retirements, and unfortunately one of sumo's biggest issues throughout its history has reared its ugly head again as another scandal of violence in a stable has come out. The scandal is also probably being exacerbated by the violence having occurred in the stable of the previous tournament winner. As always though, let's start by looking at the rankings:
Maegashira: No wrestlers making their top-division debuts this time, but that doesn't mean that the bottom of the Maegashira ranks aren't full of talking points. One of the most exciting storylines this tournament will be former-Ozeki Asanoyama making his top-division return. He's been out of the sport's highest division for nearly two years, and as the wrestlers who was being eyed as the most likely next Yokozuna, it's great to see him back. I don't think he'll face much adversity at the rank he's at now, and he should be getting double-digit wins, and will probably be a good candidate for the championship. I'd expect him to speed through the lower ranks and be in sanyaku again very soon.
On the other hand, we also recently heard of the retirement of the mountain-of-a-man Ichinojo. In his statement he said that he was retiring because of his lower-back issues, and his health has certainly affected his career and held him back. But it's hard not to see the assault and drinking issues he's had as playing a role in this retirement as well. And that really tells the story of his career. Physically he was always dominant, but his injuries and health, and his mentality and lack of a killer instinct always held him back.
We're going to try to speed through these ranks, but not before touching on two wrestlers who had pretty fantastic debuts last tournament. Hokuseiho ended with an excellent 9-6 record in his first top-division tournament and as one of Hakuho's disciples anything less would probably have been a disappointment. His success, however, was overshadowed by the superb debut of Kazakh Kinbozan who ended March with an 11-4 record, a fighting spirit special prize, and a huge boost up the rankings. It'll be very interesting to see him ranked so high, but I don't think a winning record is out of reach for him. He showed a lot of power and aggression and none of the timidness that can hold newly promoted wrestlers back. It's also worth it to spare a thought for Midorifuji who looked like he was on track to a championship until he got put in against the big boys and lost his last five matches in a row. He's still one of my favorite wrestlers and a blast to watch, and I do think he can hang at this level (although I'm not expecting him to go on another undefeated streak this time).
Sanyaku: We saw some spark from Shodai in March and he had some strong performances and ended up with a good record. Is this the sign of the Ozeki-run Shodai's return? Could the days of Shodai being a pushover be behind us? I'm not holding my breath, but it would be nice! Unfortunately little Waka bro Wakatakakage will have to sit this tournament out with an injury. And Kotonowaka has looked really comfortable at Komosubi, and it would be nice to see him make a move for a big promotion.
Then we come to a really exciting set of Sekiwake. First up, big Waka bro Wakamotoharu is at a career high after an excellent 11-4 tournament at Komosubi. He's looked so solid, I'll be hoping for another good tournament from him, and he is definitely capable of another double-digit wins tournament. We all know that when Daieisho is on, he's on and he was pretty dominant in March. He'll be looking to bring that momentum into May and could be in a decent position to start looking for Ozeki promotion. The prodigal nephew Hoshoryu has looked really comfortable at Sekiwake and another double-digit winning tournament would be great for him as well. And finally, we have the March champion Kiribayama. He's aiming for Ozeki promotion and 10 wins or more should do it. But his stable has been caught up in a violence scandal, and it'll probably hard for him to focus on what he needs to do with that in the background.
It's also worth it to say here that violence and hazing in sumo stables has been an issue in the sport probably since it began. We've seen horrific examples in the recent past, including the Tokitsukaze Hazing Scandal in 2007 which left a teenage sumo wrestler dead. A violence scandal ended Yokozuna Harumafuji's career, and years later another hazing scandal at his Isegahama stable led to retirements and disciplinary action after younger wrestlers were essentially tortured. The issue is endemic in sumo and the sport should long ago have gotten its act together to remove the culture of abuse.
Ozeki: Moving along, lone Ozeki Takakeisho is returning this time, and it sounds like he's doing well in preparation for the tournament but his knee injury is still affecting him when he gets pushed backwards. He is kadoban and at risk of losing his Ozeki rank, but I would expect him to do well and to get his 8 wins without too much drama.
Yokozuna: Finally after three and a half tournaments on the sidelines Yokozuna Terunofuji is set to return this tournament. It'll be very interesting to see how he looks this time, and although I'm sure his body is nowhere near 100%, he's still tremendously strong and he's been smart about taking time off to allow his body to recover, at least to a degree. He'll want to reassert his dominance and come out on top.
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So there you go!
Viewing options: We’ve lost a lot of them lately! I’m actually not sure who’s still around and who’s not but we’ll try to get some links posted for the start of the tournament.
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 ask questions! I would recommend to head over to the Introduction to SUMO thread to get a basic (although very outdated) introduction to the sport, but I can't search for it to link to it right now, so....
Hakke-yoi!
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