Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr.
Notable Maneuvers
Uwatedashinage. Kirishima is living on the edge. Although he has won his first three matches, he has had to do things like awkwardly push Takanosho sideways as he was going backwards to win with a pulling overarm throw.
Match of the Day
02 Ozeki East Kotozakura versus 11 Maegashira #1 West Tobizaru
Kotozakura bottled Tobizaru up at the tachiai, except that you can't really bottle up the Flying Monkey. Tobizaru kept plugging away from a lower position against Kotozakura's wide base. This didn't move the Ozeki much, but it did get him moving up as Tobizaru got his arms pushing on Kotozakura's right. From there, Kotozakura went for the throw, and Tobizaru tried to stay in. Live and on replay it looked like Tobizaru managed it, but the gyoji gave the match to Kotozakura and there was no mono-ii.
Recap
The big news of the day is that former Ozeki Takakeisho has pulled out with his ongoing neck injury. That means he will not be able to immediately take back his Ozeki rank with 10 wins this basho. It also could mean more, as he quickly pulled out while looking in bad shape after going 5-10. Takakeisho is only 28, with 4 Emperor's Cups to his name and five years at Ozeki. But he looks done for, and his place in sumo's hierarchy has radically shifted recently.
That could be a nice warning to both current Ozeki, neither of whom had the pre-Ozeki career to match Takakeisho and looked bad on Day Three. Kotozakura won officially when he absolutely went down and out first. (The conspiracy theorists would note that his father and stable master is the head judge. Rational sumo fans would say these things happen, and that luck is usually involved in any yusho win.) Hoshoryu got out-powered by Atamifuji. Atamifuji is very powerful, but he was also 0-2 coming into the match. It was not a day to feel like the current Ozeki will dominate.
Despite Takakeisho's withdrawal, the chances of three Ozeki in November look quite high. Onosato probably needs 12 wins or better to get the big fish and promotion to sumo's second rank. He has three so far, and he is looking exceedingly strong. Oho had a nice tachiai against him on Day Three, and Onosato made it not matter in the least. By the combination of record, rank, and eye test, he is likely the yusho favorite. He is on the precipice of being the yusho favorite in every basho moving forward.
The full lineup of undefeated rikishi after three days is Kotozakura, Onosato, Kirishima, Shodai, Endo, and Sadanoumi. That's one Ozeki, one Sekiwake on an Ozeki run, two former Ozeki, and two solid veterans in lower Maegashira. As of two months ago, the biggest surprises might be Kirishima and Shodai. Neither quite looks to be in their prime form, but its a reminder that these are talented rikishi who have won yusho and know what they're doing out there.
They are also another reminder that things can change extremely quickly in sumo. One way to look at it is that there are six "seasons" each calendar year. Takakeisho's most recent yusho was just one year ago. Onosato is likely to make Ozeki even if he doesn't get 12 wins this basho, but he is not guaranteed anything. He has the chance to take it now, but he needs to run through the rest of Sanyaku to do it. There's one less member of that group on Day Three, on top of the Yokozuna being out. The gauntlet is still tough.
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