The Sumo Thread - HAKKEYOI!!!

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Oof upset victory for Hakuoho over Onosato on Day 8, putting Onosato out of the leadership contention unless the four other leaders all drop a round.Kotozakura losing to Oshomo also slightly surprising tonight!
 
The July tournament is now over and the winner is M15 Kotoshoho (13-2) who won it on Day 15 against runner-up Aonishiki (11-4).

This was a really fun tournament overall. A surprise winner, two surprising runner-ups in Aonishiki and Kusano (which meant there would be a first-time winner going into Day 15), and a lot of surprising defeats to the sanyaku ranked rikishi. Some notes:
  • Kotoshoho, the winner of the tournament with a record of 12-3, has not had a double-digit record since November 2023 (his Juryo championship win), and has not had a top division double-digit record since January 2023.
  • Aonishiki has recorded his third consecutive 11-4 record in the top division and at M1 he will likely get a promotion to sanyaku for the next tournament.
  • Kusano also finished with a 11-4 record in his debut tournament. Fujinokawa, another top division debutant, finished his tournament with a 10-5 record.
  • Yokozuna Hoshoryu, after conceding three straight losses, pulled out of the tournament on Day 5 after citing a bone crack in his left big toe. It's apparently the first time in modern history for a Yokozuna to twice pull out of his first three tournaments at the top rank.
  • Yokozuna Onosato, finishing with a record of 11-4, recorded the most gold star losses by a Yokozuna on their debut tournament.
  • Ozeki Kotozakura finished the tournament with his third consecutive 8-7 record.
  • Tamawashi, finishing with a record of 11-4, became the oldest rikishi to beat a Yokozuna at 40 years old by defeating Onosato. He also became the oldest rikishi to receive a special prize (the Outstanding Performance prize).
  • Sekiwake Wakatakakage, who finished with a record of 10-5, has a chance to be promoted to Ozeki rank if he can get 11 wins in September.
  • Former Ozeki Asanoyama, who suffered an ACL injury last July and was demoted to the fourth division of Sumo when he returned earlier this year, has now been promoted to Juryo for the September tournament. He plans to be the first rikishi in history to twice be demoted to the fourth division and return to the top division.
  • Daieisho and Endo, who both missed the July tournament, have been out injured since the start of July and will likely be out for two months.
  • Takerufuji, who pulled out of the tournament on Day 13, suffered a bicep tear six days prior and has been ruled out for two months.
  • Ura also pulled out towards the end of the tournament with a knee injury but managed to get his eight wins prior to dropping out.
  • Amuru, a former Russian rikishi who competed in the top division during 2015-2016 and retired in 2018, was arrested this month along with another man under suspicion of robbery and sexual assault on a woman in a Tokyo karaoke bar.
 
Oh hey there's a sumo thread on here. Nice!

Aki basho underway. Hōshōryū is back from that smashed toe injury, and so far entirely dominant at 7-0. We're at Day 8 (halfway point), so will he give it up today and join the pack or go 8-0 as we go into the second half? Fun times.
 
Benzo Samurai said:
Holy shit! Based Sumo thread!

Where do you guys watch it? Just the NHK YouTube channel?
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I think most people watch via people restreaming abema tv. Midnightsumo on twitch streams the whole day and then starts replaying from the beginning of the day as soon as each days matches end. He has some reddit tier takes but the chat is very friendly. Also shout out to Sumo Spiffy's Bar & Grill on youtube fantastic channel.
 
22 Rimfire said:
Oh hey there's a sumo thread on here. Nice!

Aki basho underway. Hōshōryū is back from that smashed toe injury, and so far entirely dominant at 7-0. We're at Day 8 (halfway point), so will he give it up today and join the pack or go 8-0 as we go into the second half? Fun times.
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He's looking pretty dominant so far from how things are going. Nobody seems to have been a huge threat to him in the dojo so far. Hopefully we get another undefeated yusho sometime soon.

Also, Wakatakakage is currently 5-3 and needs 11 wins to reach Ozeki rank. I'm having a hard time believing he'll manage to get by with only one more loss available to him.

And Abi hasn't won a single match yet despite being M1 rank. 0-8. Damn.
 
A 15-0 Hoshoryu just to show everyone he deserves that rope would be incredible kino. I feel like Onosato and maybe Aonishiki are his only *real* threats here. I trust. It will happen.
I really was hoping for Wakatakakage as Ozeki but that's dead for now. Barring injury I'm sure he'll make it one day.

Benzo Samurai said:
Holy shit! Based Sumo thread!

Where do you guys watch it? Just the NHK YouTube channel?
Click to expand...
I watch NHK Highlights with a group of friends, but the best alternative if you can't watch live is Nattosumo (NHK has been trying hard to kill him, DM if you want info on how to watch that). He also posts Juryo and Makushita divisions. Extremely helpful for those who can't watch live.

+1 on the Spiffy recommendation, great channel for those who like STATS. He's very reddit about Ryuden but he's fantastic besides that.
 
Benzo Samurai said:
Where do you guys watch it? Just the NHK YouTube channel?
Click to expand...
The NHK Highlights on Youtube for me, but they do have a day's delay and they don't post on weekends sadly. I don't mind the fan-made versions but I'm so used to the commentators now that's it feels strange to watch it without it.

Tamashoho's Abused Towel said:
A 15-0 Hoshoryu just to show everyone he deserves that rope would be incredible kino. I feel like Onosato and maybe Aonishiki are his only *real* threats here.
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It's so fun to watch Aonishiki with how dominant he is for his rookie year. He's been reminding me of Tochinoshin.

Tamashoho's Abused Towel said:
I really was hoping for Wakatakakage as Ozeki but that's dead for now. Barring injury I'm sure he'll make it one day.
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He lost his fifth bout on Day 10 sadly so no Ozeki rank for him this tournament. Like you said, I'm sure he'll bounce back.

Officer Barbrady said:
And Abi hasn't won a single match yet despite being M1 rank. 0-8. Damn.
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Finally, a win. 1-9. Let's go Abi!
 
Hoshoryu is chasing Onosato into the final day, and he'll have to win twice tomorrow to secure a victory. Nobody else is close enough to catch either of them now.

Onosato's match today was cancelled because his opponent dropped out with injury. So he's going into tomorrow well rested. Hoshoryu henka'd (technically hatakikomi) his opponent to win today, which must havebeen attempted so he could also go into tomorrow relatively rested.
 
Onosato is the September yusho winner!

As @22 Rimfire mentioned, he and Hoshoryu went into Day 15 with Onosato leading with one win needed to take the title. However, Hoshoryu quickly beat him leading to a deciding final match with both at 13-2, and creating the first Yokozuna playoff since 2009.

They faced off and Onosato beat Hoshoryu but it went to a judge's decision. However, they were happy with the review and Onosato clinched his 5th championship. It's his third championship this year and his first championship as Yokozuna.

Some other notes:
  • Aonishiki finished the tournament with a 11-4 record, including a win over Yokozuna Hoshoryu. It's his fourth consecutive 10+ record finish.
  • Wakatakakage finished with a record of 6-9, and misses out on his Ozeki promotion.
  • Shishi managed to finish the tournament with a surprising 10-5 record at M18 rank.
  • The worst result came for Gonoyama who won only a single match and finished the basho with a 1-14 record at rank M3.
 
While I mourn how quiet this thread is, it's better than the Um, Akshually autism that is the /xs/ off-basho sumo threads. They are full of people who will pull stats from decades back just to disprove a throwaway comment that the poster won't care to defend because it was just for fun anyway. Positivity and energy is really nice when it comes to sumo commentary from the peanut gallery. Almost makes me wish someone new was streaming the next basho with a void of chat to occupy unmolested by miserable cunts.
Anyway, banzuke has been announced for the Nov tourney, no great surprises imo: Aonishiki makes Sekiwake East because of course he fucking does. Hosh continues to infest the evil western yokozuna spot from whence he will menace allcomers. I'm glad Takayasu holds his spot, although I continue to expect he is on his way out due to age sadly.
 
I was going to make the trip over to England to see the Sumo at Royal Albert Hall but the tickets pretty much sold out instantly and the only option left was £6000+ corporate boxes.

I'll probably just end up making a trip to Japan in the next couple of years to see it live.
 
trent said:
I was going to make the trip over to England to see the Sumo at Royal Albert Hall but the tickets pretty much sold out instantly and the only option left was £6000+ corporate boxes.

I'll probably just end up making a trip to Japan in the next couple of years to see it live.
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If you already follow Sumo, the London tournament would probably have been a disappointment. It was very much 'demonstration sumo' rather than real competition. No real stakes, no wrestlers willing to risk any injury lest it impacts their ability to compete in the real tournament, and what appeared to be pre-ordained winners for each match (this was particularly obvious in one match where one of the wrestlers slipped, causing them to lose the match probably against the plan, and the glare he gave his opponent over it was very telling).

There's good torrents up of the BBC coverage if you're interested - Search 'Grand Sumo London' on BTDig and sort by age. The MVGroup releases are good but someone also put together a full pack.
 
I had some hopes for a fun event but I thought it would be 'tour style' sumo they do between tournaments in Japan. After the first day when I knew we where getting no real matches I didn't bother to watch the rest except for some clips here and their on social media. I think it was still a worth event more people interested in Sumo is a good thing. But on the other hand if the newbies thought that's what actual sumo matches are like, might have them loss interest hmm....
 
November basho is on. Day 5, the two leaders are Onosato and Fujinokawa both at 5 and 0. There's a huge trailing pack at 4-1 consisting of Hoshoryu, Aonishiki, Takayasu, Atamifuji, Yoshinofuji, Tokiyohayate, Nishikifuji, Ryuden, Daiseizan, and Asakoryu.

So it's looking so far like Onosato's basho to take as he will. I guess time will tell. Tempted to check out until day 8 then back in at the end again, but that always means you might miss some drama :stress:
 
If anyone still reads this thread, this Basho has been amazing. I hope Aonishiki and Hosh can pull it off tomorrow.

Edit:
Onosato is out tomorrow. Free win for Hoshoryu

Edit:
Banger picture:

202511220001693-w1300_4.jpg
 
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