The Sumo Thread - HAKKEYOI!!!

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FUCK YEAH AONISHIKI, THE WHITE MAN IS BACK BAYBEE. I don't want to go crazy with hopium, but I believe he could actually be Yokozuna before 2026 is over (barring injury). That level of technique and constant improvement spells R-O-P-E.
He's a very fun extreme where Onosato is raw power, Hoshoryu is power and technique and Aonishiki is full technique. Or maybe full Uchimuso.
 
While I agree with you and having loads of fun cheering him on every match, I keep thinking that the wheels have to fall off eventually. He has proven me wrong thus far, I hope he continues to do so.
 
I don't know much about sumo but I'm surprise such large size/weight differences are tolerated.
He makes his opponent look like a little child.
That's when sumo switches to being skill based as opposed to a pure power game. The little guys can win and if they are up in the top division they are the best of the best regardless of size.

That and so.e of the small guys are bigger than you think. Ura is considered tiny, but he's still over 300 lbs
 
That and so.e of the small guys are bigger than you think. Ura is considered tiny, but he's still over 300 lbs

Wakatakakage is another one. He's only a couple of inches taller than me but outweighs me by well over 100lbs despite looking fairly normal compared to the bigger rikishi.

Even the "small" guys are built like brick shithouses. I'd compare it to professional rugby players in some ways. Even the smallest guy on the team is big compared to a regular person in or around the same height.
 
Wakatakakage is another one. He's only a couple of inches taller than me but outweighs me by well over 100lbs despite looking fairly normal compared to the bigger rikishi.

Even the "small" guys are built like brick shithouses. I'd compare it to professional rugby players in some ways. Even the smallest guy on the team is big compared to a regular person in or around the same height.
I was going to mention the Waka brothers. They look like a couple of muscular relatively average guys but they're both 6' / 300lbs guys.
 
You know it's a crazy tournament when Shishi is outperforming both Yokozuna. Holy shit.

I've only just gotten around to watching the last two tournaments and it's been so wild. Onosato's shoulder is clearly fucked. Surely he can't keep it up longer before dropping out.

Still desperately rooting for Wakatakakage to do well this tournament. Been a shame seeing him slip down in form recently but I'm hopeful he ends the basho on a good note.
 
If you don't mind a few minutes of delay after a match (and some annoying commercials), the official Grand Sumo app (pic attached, I hope) posts them.

There is also the Abema TV app, where you can watch it live. A lot of sumo fans have this app, since the Ryogoku Kokugikan does not have big screens fans can watch for instant replays or mono-ii discussions (such as the first Ura-Onosato bout on day 3). Everybody in the stadium pulled out their phone to watch the slo-mo on that match.

I'll post pictures if I can get it to work. I know I am supposed to post them as thumbnails, but I don't know how to do that. Sorry!

View attachment 8421780View attachment 8421781
I watch DonDonSumo's daily top 10 matches.

https://www.youtube.com/@dondonsumo2/videos

Each video is broken down by division. He deletes them after the basho to avoid drawing youtube strikes.
 
This has the possibility to be a crazy end to the basho, but I'll be rooting for Aonishiki hopefully things go smoothly, but the chaos is tempting....
In the most fun version of the future, Atamifuji and Aonishiki both drop their matches and the four in the chase group all win, forcing a 6-Way playoff.

Very low odds of happening, of course, but would be great to watch.
 
Well, that's it, then. I don't think Aonishiki will make yokozuna off this, but if he wins in March, he will be forcing the association's hand.

It looks like Terunofuji's coaching has finally sharpened Atamifuji's skills. There were reports of Isegahama's new master really getting up Atamifuji's ass about his sumo, but it apparently had a positive effect.

Just an FYI, anything before Ozeki doesn't count for a Yokozuna run. He has to win 2 as an Ozeki for the JSA to begin deliberations. Sometimes they can promote from 1 win and 1 "yokozuna level performance". A yokozuna performance would be going jun-yusho with a high win count, like Hoshoryu did with 13. Should be said Hoshoryu was promoted when there were 0 yokozuna. Now there are 2, it's entireley likely the JSA will demand 2 wins from Aonishiki to take it. He's halfway there.
 
Yeah the Yokozuna run starts now! I'm still waiting for the wheels to fall off to no sign of that yet. On the NHK it was reported that his master had said Aonishiki had not slept for the last five days, so he was clearly feeling the pressure. There is a bit of an interesting rock, paper, scissors developing between the two Yokozuna and the Ozeki. Aonishiki can beat Hoshoryo but not Onosato. Hoshoryo can beat Onosato but not Aonishiki and Onosato can beat Aonishiki not Hoshoryo. That last one falls apart a bit but its still there! what fun.
 
Holy shit Aonishiki is a beast. It's the first time a debuting ozeki has won the tournament since Hakuho did it in May 2006.

Some random facts coming out of this tournament:
  • Yoshinofuji beat both yokozuna back-to-back during the tournament, making this the first time in six years that a maegashira competitor has taken out two yokozuna in consecutive days.
  • Despite this rare occurrence, Atamifuji then did the exact same thing later in the tournament. It'd also be the first time he ever achieved a kinboshi which he achieved twice in this one tournament.
  • Despite withdrawing late in the tournament, Hakunofuji became one of three wrestlers to achieve four kinboshi in consecutive tournaments since 1926.
  • As mentioned above, Aonishiki's win means this is the first time in 20 years that a newly ranked ozeki has won the cup since Hakuho did it in May 2006.
  • Winning consecutive tournaments as both a newly ranked sekiwake and ozeki means he's the first person to make this achievement in nearly 90 years when former yokozuna Futabayama achieved it in 1937.
  • If he does manage to reach the rank of yokozuna, Aonishiki would be the first ever European yokozuna in history and the first non Japanese/Mongolian wrestler to be promoted to yokozuna since 1999.
And some news I forgot to mention between tournaments:
  • Asanoyama's return to the top division this January meant he was the first wrestler to drop from the top division to sandanme division and then return to the top division on two separate occasions (through both suspension and injury).
  • Following the mandatory retirement of stablemaster Takamisugi, the Tokiwayama stable (that current wrestler Takanosho wrestles under) has today transferred to former ozeki and now stablemaster Takakeisho (now known as Minatogawa, and renaming the stable to the Minatogawa stable).
 
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