Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr.
Yusho Arasoi
9 Wins
38 Maegashira #15 East Atamifuji
8 Wins
22 Maegashira #7 East Takayasu
7 Wins
03 Ozeki #1 West Takakeisho
10 Maegashira #1 East Hokutofuji
20 Maegashira #6 East Onosho
29 Maegashira #10 West Endo
41 Maegashira #16 West Tsurugisho
Notable Maneuvers
Henka. We had two, actually. Kinbozan jumped out of Tsurugisho's way, then easily took him own. Later, Abi did his up and around move to get the back of Takanosho's mawashi for a rear push out.
Match of the Day
This was a truly weird one. Takakeisho went right after Ura, who the tried a jump backwards. That meant Takakeisho was nearly horizontal to shove out Ura, who was largely above the Ozeki. The gyoji called it for Takakeisho, although it's also important to remember he has to call it for someone. If there was an invisible force-field on the edge of the dohyo, Ura crossed it. Yet the rule is actually that someone is done for if they are in an "unrecoverable" position. Both men were unable to get upright inside the dohyo from where they were.
Mono-ii. Torinaoshi. In the second match, Ura went extremely low, to the point Takakeisho got the advantage of a henka without jumping. Easy slap-down win for the Ozeki in the end.
Recap
Atamifuji is your sole leader. His victory over Takayasu was impressive, if not a very interesting match. He simply bodied the veteran at the start, and then hit him hard enough to send him down and out. That win put Takayasu into the 2-loss group, which he alone inhabits with Tsurugisho's earlier loss. It also gave Atamifuji more space from other contenders. Atamifuji isn't just leading the yusho race, but doing it alone with every other rikishi seeming to fall behind him.
Since Atamifuji is in this position, we need to discuss Ryogoku. Not the Tokyo district that is the home of the Kokugikan. Ryogoku Kajinosuke, the last rikishi to win a Juryo yusho and then a Makuuchi yusho in the next basho. He did that in 1914, with a 7-0-1 in Juryo and a 9-0-1 in Makuuchi across the two tournaments held that year. So if Atamifuji does take the yusho, he will do something that hasn't happened since sumo was a very different sport. Perhaps that's the biggest reason to doubt Atamifuji's yusho chances.
On paper, his case isn't bad. He is a huge rikishi, 185 cm and 166 kg (6'1" and 366 lbs), that seems even bigger due to his broad chest and long arms. He is also an athletic and powerful recently turned 21 year old with notable lower-division success. He did have a terrible 4-11 debut Makuuchi basho last November, but that and his following injury withdrawal in Juryo are his two bad performances. He has a career 121-69-4 record, with his last two Juryo yusho being a 13-2 and an 11-4 Jun-Yusho. He certainly has a bright future and that future could be here now.
He will be getting his first taste of Sanyaku on Day Eleven. He'll see the Flying Monkey in a test of his skills. Tobizaru is 5-5, but always dangerous. Atamifuji beats the Komusubi, he likely gets a Sekiwake. Win there, and an Ozeki or two could be waiting. If he keeps winning and doesn't see more Sanyaku men, it will be because he's facing other surprise yusho contenders. Winning out is extremely unlikely and doing better than 3-2 may be an uphill climb.
Yet Atamifuji's real advantage at 9-1 is that it gets mathematically challenging for many rikishi to win the yusho. If he goes 3-2, the 10 rikishi on 6-4 only have a yusho shout if they can go undefeated. Even then, they'll be locked in a playoff. The five rikishi two losses back are also needing excellent closing stretches and a bit of luck. Takayasu is also able to keep the challenge up at 8-2 despite getting flattened on Day 10. No matter how all of those rikishi perform, everyone needs to watch Atamifuji now.
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