Day Ten. Which means that the closing kick of the basho is finally here. With five days to go, and all of the top rikishi squaring off, let's take a look at the yusho race and how each rikishi is standing for Haru.
10 wins
○○○○○○○○○○ Y1e Hakuho
No one should be shocked that Hakuho is leading the yusho race undefeated. His less than dominant performances might give some hop to those behind him, because he has shown vulnerabilities.
9 wins
○○○○○○○●○○ M4w Ichinojo
○○○●○○○○○○ M7e Aoiyama
These two face each other on Day Eleven, so one will have two losses after that. But one will have just one loss, and whoever that is will be facing the Sanyaku exclusively, most likely.
8 wins
●○○○○○○○○● Y1w Kakuryu
○○●○○○○○○● O1e Takayasu
○○○○○●○○●○ O1w Goeido
○○●○●○○○○○ S1e Takakeisho
○○○○○●○●○○ M8w Kotoshogiku
This is a formidable group to be just off the pace. Also, it features a handful of opponents for Hakuho over the last five days. A Yokozuna, Two Ozeki, and a Former Ozeki are all guys who have been here before. And the fifth guy is looking to secure an Ozeki promotion, with three wins probably guaranteeing it. That is especially true if he beats Hakuho or an Ozeki from here on out, since he just put Kakuryu down to a loss. Every match this group is in is must watch.
7 wins
○○●○●○●○○○ M8e Asanoyama
○○○●○○●○●○ M11e Ryuden
○●○●●○○○○○ M12w Yoshikaze
This is an odd group. Asanoyama might be shooting up to the Sanyaku, as he is matching his talent level with some consistency in strategy and effort. Ryuden is at the right spot on the Banzuke to take care of his opponents due to solid fundamentals and appropriate technique. Yoshikaze turned 37 and seems to have taken his straight ahead sumo to new levels of recklessness with a view of going to retire in the short term. Or something.
6 wins
○●●○○○●○○● O2e Tochinoshin
●○○○○●○●●○ M5e Chiyotairyu
●○○●●●○○○○ M11w Meisei
●○●●○○○○●○ M13w Kagayaki
○○○○●●○●○● M15e Ishiura
●○○○○●○○●● M15w Kotoeko
○○●●○○●○●○ M17e Chiyoshoma
At 6-4, these are all rikishi who are on pace for a kachi-koshi, but still have some work. A winning record will be most important for Tochinoshin, who has to get to 8 wins to maintain his Ozeki rank. Chiyotairyu has an outside shot at Komosubi if he gets a big enough win total (and others have enough losses.) Everyone else is in a spot where eight wins is most important for keeping a Makuuchi place for May.
5 wins
●○○●●○●○●○ M2e Daieisho
●●○●●○○○○● M6e Okinoumi
●●○●○○●○○● M10e Shohozan
○●○●○●○●○● M13e Tomokaze
The .500 group is a very mixed bag. Daieisho will get his first shot at the titled Sanyaku ranks if he makes it to 8 wins. Okinoumi and Shohozan turned rocky starts into solid performances. Tomokaze has literally no streaks in his Makuuchi debut, which would predict an 8-7 record.
4 wins
○●●●○○○●●● S1w Tamawashi
○●○○●●●●●○ K1e Mitakeumi
●○○●●●○●●○ M2w Myogiryu
○○●○●○●●●● M5w Onosho
●●○○○●●○●● M7w Takarafuji
●●○○●○●●○● M16e Daishoho
All of these men are looking at winning out or being close to it to have successful bashos. That will probably be hardest for Tamawashi, Mitakeumi, and Onosho, who all came in with high hopes and who all came down to earth in the last five days.
3 wins
●●○●○●●●○● K1w Hokutofuji
●●●●○●○●○● M1w Endo
●●●○●○●●●○ M6w Abi
●●●○●○○●●● M9e Sadanoumi
●○●●○●●●○● M10w Yago
○●●○●●●●●○ M14w Toyonoshima
○○●○●●●●●● M16w Yutakayama
Here are a group of men who are hoping to salvage something from this basho, but just to get the barest of winning records involves winning out. Hokutofuji and Endo have at least seen the worst part of their schedules. Abi has had flashes, while Sadanoumi is usually solid. Yago, Toyonoshima, and Yutakayama probably wish it could be over with already.
2 wins
●●●●●●●○○● M3e Nishikigi
○●●●●●●●●○ M4e Tochiozan
●●●○●●●○●● M14e Terutsuyoshi
Among the two win group, there are two very different fates. Nishikigi and Tochiozan will fall down the Banzuke to slightly better positioning. Terutsuyoshi will absolutely go back down to Juryo where he will have to figure out adjustments not just to come back up to Makuuchi but try and stay,
1 win
●●●●●●●○●● M1e Kaisei
●●●●●●●●●○ M3w Shodai
○●●●●●●●●● M9w Ikioi
A very sad grouping at 1 win. Kaisei looks like he's at about 85% at best, and he has had to face the toughest competition as a Maegashira 1. Shodai has been unable to do much of anything until he got to Nishikigi on Day Ten, and he will probably be glad to fall and see different competition in May. Ikioi is not just obviously hurt, but can barely stand at the end of his matches due to ankle and calf issues on his right leg.
0 wins
–––––––––– M12e Chiyonokuni
We still want to give best wishes to Chiyonokuni, who is recovering from knee surgery during this basho.
Comments