Two-thirds of the basho have been completed. Aki is rounding into shape, so let's see how things are looking.
8 wins
●○○○○○○●○○ S1e Mitakeumi
○○○○○●●○○○ S1w Takakeisho
○○●●○○○○○○ M2w Asanoyama
○○○○○○○○●● M8e Okinoumi
○●○○○○○○○● M10w Meisei
Right, those five are the ones everyone expected to be on the top of this basho ten days ago. What is most insane is the five way tie, because if they all win out, we have a crazy playoff. And it's possible. Mitakeumi, Takakeisho, and Asanoyama have all already faced each other. Mitakeumi's two losses are to Takakeisho, and Takakeisho beat Asanoyama.
Okinoumi and Meisei have not faced each other, but almost certainly will. They also might get a shot at the higher ranked trio above them. But a tie and a playoff isn't out of the question.
7 wins
○●○●●○○□○○ M8w Takarafuji
○●○●○○○○●○ M14e Tsurugisho
Is it possible this is a stranger group than the one above? Takarafuji has been mostly known for being solid. Tsurugisho has mostly been known for being stuck in Juryo. On a double-digit win pace is not where anyone saw them being after 10 days. More importantly, these are both guys who needed a kachi-koshi, and they are one win away now.
6 wins
○○●○○●○●○● O1w Goeido
●□○○●○○●●○ K1e Abi
●○○○○○●○●● K1w Endo
○○○●○○●●●○ M11w Enho
○●●○○●○○○● M12e Shohozan
●○○○○○○●●● M15e Ishiura
○○●○●●●○○○ M16e Yutakayama
Welcome to the fighting through weird issues but coming out just ahead club! Goeido is kadoban and probably not 100% healthy as he goes for eight wins. Everyone else has been somewhat up and down, mostly by not being overwhelmingly positive as much as they should be.
5 wins
●●○●○●●○○○ O2e Tochinoshin
○●○●●○○○●● M3w Tomokaze
○○●●□○●□●● M4e Tamawashi
○●○●●●●○○○ M5w Ryuden
○○●○○○●■–– M6w Myogiryu
●○●○●●○●○○ M9w Kotoyuki
●○●●○●○○●○ M10e Sadanoumi
●○○●○●●○●○ M13e Kagayaki
○○●●●○●○●□ M13w Nishikigi
○○○●●●○●○● M15w Azumaryu
●●○○○●●●○○ M16w Tochiozan
The even group is a weird mix. Some (Tochinoshin, Tomokaze, Kagayaki, Nishikigi, and Azumaryu) are probably feeling okay, because they have a decent shot at kachi-koshi still, which would be massive. The rest are probably highly disappointed.
4 wins
○○○○●●●■–– Y1e Kakuryu
○●●●●●●○○○ M1e Hokutofuji
●●●○●○○●●○ M3e Daieisho
●●○○○●○●●● M7e Kotoshogiku
●●●○●○○●○● M7w Kotoeko
●●○●○○●●●○ M11e Onosho
Ugh. Kakuryu is at least injured. Everyone else has had some bad streaks, and only Hokutofuji might be getting over it. This has been a disappointing basho for everyone here, but it's worse for everyone.
3 wins
●○●●○●●○●● M6e Shimanoumi
●●●●●●○○○● M12w Daishoho
●●●○●○●●○● M17e Takagenji
All three of these rikishi look totally lost. At least Shimanoumi is ranked high enough to not be in danger of a trip to Juryo.
2 wins
●●●●●●○●○● M1w Aoiyama
●○●○●●●●●● M4w Shodai
●●○●●●○●●● M5e Chiyotairyu
○●●●●○●●●● M9e Terutsuyoshi
The "Well, maybe a drop down the Banzuke will lead to a big win total in Kyushu" group.
1 win
○●●●■––––– M2e Ichinojo
●●●○●●●●●■ M14w Toyonoshima
Both men went Kyujo, Ichinojo because his massive bulk fell on his elbow, and Toyonoshima because he has just been facing the end.
0 wins
●■–––––––– Y1w Hakuho
–––––––––– O1e Takayasu
These two men can deal with 0 wins and an injury because they get to keep their ranks for November. It would be a much better basho if either competes at 100%.
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