Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr.
Yusho Arasoi
8 Wins
01 Yokozuna East Terunofuji
20 Maegashira #6 East Meisei
36 Maegashira #14 East Asanoyama
7 Wins
03 Sekiwake #1 East Kiribayama
06 Sekiwake #2 West Wakamotoharu
27 Maegashira #9 West Hiradoumi
30 Maegashira #11 East Hokuseiho
Notable Maneuvers
Kirikaeshi. Hoshoryu sure thought he was going to throw over Wakamotoharu, but then the Arashio man stuck his right leg between's Hoshoryu's legs for a twisting backwards knee trio.
Match of the Day
01 Yokozuna East Terunofuji versus 20 Maegashira #6 East Meisei
Meisei may have shown how to beat Terunofuji, although replicating what he did may be difficult. Terunofuji got a grip with his left hand, but Meisei kept moving to his right to make Terunofuji keep shuffling sideways. This showed Terunofuji's knees are still bothering him. On the other hand, it takes remarkable athleticism to move around a man that big and it got Terunofuji moving backwards more than anything. That was still enough to get Terunofuji out for the first kinboshi in ages.
Recap
Terunofuji's position atop the leaderboard as the sole undefeated rikishi lasted for exactly a day. He was defeated by Meisei after Asanoyama won earlier in the day, so those rikishi are once again in a three-way tie for the yusho. Their fates are intertwined for the rest of Natsu, but they are also tied to the men sitting at 7-2.
On Day Ten, Terunofuji will see Komusubi Kotonowaka. Kotonowaka is a talented rikishi, but he's underwater for Natsu and wants to fight Terunofuji's style of match. This isn't easy for Terunofuji, but he'll be favorited even beyond being the Yokozuna. Every other leader is seeing someone else in the yusho race. Meisei gets 7-2 Hokuseiho. Asanoyama must deal with the young, scrappy, and also 7-2 Hiradoumi. Kiribayama will see Wakamotoharu in a matchup of 7-2 Sekiwake.
So after Day Ten, everything will be different once again. The one-loss rikishi can all hold their place, although that would drop two two-loss rikishi down a notch. Or Meisei and Asanoyama will lose and create a giant two-loss jumble. Terunofuji will also likely pick up his form, although he is not guaranteed to just go back to winning ways. Day Ten could completely upend the yusho race once more. The results tomorrow will certainly make a huge difference.
And that was setup by the events of Day Nine. Not only was Meisei's upset of Terunofuji crucial, but Asanoyama had to survive Ryuden's pretzeling sumo. Hokuseiho also stayed in the thick of the race by taking on Onosho essentially from the side. Hiradoumi remained on two losses by out-gunning Hokutofuji. Wakamotoharu had his nifty leg trip to win against Hoshoryu. Kiribayama had to deflect Daieisho's best thrusting attack.
The yusho race will bend and shift each day with this large a group still in play. That is doubly true when the majority of Sanyaku is still in theoretical contention. Don't forget Takakeisho, Hoshoryu, and Daieisho are on six wins and more than happy to play spoiler for any fellow Sanyaku wrestlers. No one is going to have an easy match, and half the matches are going to impact the yusho race. This basho still has plenty of twists and turns left.
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