Kenji
HeilmanKenji
Heilman
Day 13
Comments
Yokozuna Asashoryu got back on track after two days to forget with a
dominant display against Ozeki Musoyama. The Yokozuna managed a quick harite
(face slap) at the tachi-ai and secured a deadly right hand inside belt grip.
After a couple of twirls in the centre of the dohyo, Asashoryu forced the
probably dizzy Ozeki to the tawara and waited patiently until Musoyama realised
there was nothing he could do but step out. Asashoryu is now 11-2, while
Musoyama is out of it with an 8-5 record. It was nice to see Asashoryu doing
this kind of dignified Yokozuna sumo for a change (at the edge, I mean, not the
spinning around bit). Too often he unnecessarily chucks his opponent into the
fifth row and then glares after him with righteous satisfaction. He looked more
like the great Yokozuna Takanohana today. Although many of Asashoryu's fans cite
this aggressive approach as essential to his sumo, I feel he can overdo it a bit
when he's already won bouts. I sincerely hope, however, that he keeps his
aggression just as it is during the bouts.
The heavyweight bout of the
day involved two Ozeki - Chiyotaikai and Kaio. Chiyotaikai has had an awful run
against Kaio in the last few basho and it was the same old story today as he
came barging in at the tachi-ai, forcing Kaio back. Kaio then grabbed
Chiyotaikai's right arm and looked to be going for his trademark kotenage. Using
Chiyotaikai's momentum, Kaio sidestepped his opponent at the tawara and let
Chiyotaikai (9-4) dive into the front row of spectators. Kaio (10-3) now looks
in a strong position to make a challenge for the yusho (please...anyone except
Miyabiyama...please!!!) but a quick look at the expression on Kaio's face as he
gave Chiyotaikai an Olympic diving lesson said it all; he HATES his own sumo
this basho. He wants to be a Yokozuna and he knows a man of his size, experience
and talent should be winning most days easily by yorikiri, with the occasional
nage thrown in to please the glory hunter fans who are there for theatrics. I've
seen that look on his face almost every day, and in a way, I think it's a good
thing because at least it shows that he still cares, even after years of being
stuck at Sekiwake and then Ozeki. I would love to see him win the yusho, but I
can already picture his speech on senshuraku if he does: "I'm not happy with my
sumo and I've been lucky." Good luck to him anyway...I've always liked
him.
Sekiwake Wakanosato was matched up against in-form M4 Shimotori.
Wakanosato reminds me a lot of Kaio...stuck at Sekiwake for ages as Kaio was
despite clearly having the talent to make it to Ozeki. They even have similar
builds and styles. He had a day to forget today, though, as Shimotori broke the
Sekiwake's right hand inside grip after a solid tachi-ai from both men with his
own outside left hand grip and forced his opponent to the edge for an easy
yorikiri win. Shimotori now stands at an impressive 9-4, while Wakanosato is
still waiting for his kachi-koshi at 7-6.
The stakes were high in the
bout between Sekiwake Tochiazuma and Komusubi Kotomitsuki. Tochiazuma just
needed to win today to confirm his return to the Ozeki rank, while Kotomitsuki
was desperate to avoid his make-koshi on home soil. Roared on by the Nagoya
crowd, the Komusubi did well to absorb a powerful charge from Tochiazuma. There
followed a brief lull where the two rikishi appeared to play jan-ken
(scissors-paper-stone) and tickle each other for fifteen seconds or so in the
centre of the dohyo, and then Tochiazuma messed up big time by trying one of
those ill-advised pull downs he often seems to favour. Kotomitsuki (6-7) saw his
chance and used his lower crouch (and therefore lower centre of gravity) to
drive the Ozeki hopeful out. What was Tochiazuma doing? How many times has he
done that before and got hammered for it? I hope he's finally learned his lesson
here. At 9-4, he needs just one win out of the two remaining bouts.
In
other bouts today, the highlight was a marvelous display of technical sumo from
the superb M8 Hakuho against M2 Kokkai. Hakuho (10-3) came in with a great
tachi-ai, secured a powerful left hand outside belt grip and threw the bigger
man down with the inevitable uwatenage. His use of legwork and body positioning
to give his attacks greater power has been a joy to watch. This man is here to
stay, folks! Kokkai now stands at 7-6.
M10 Asasekiryu continued his
impressive run by using his noggin against the woefully predictable M4 Dejima.
Asasekiryu (10-3) allowed the former Ozeki to do the only thing he can do -
charge straight forward -and got a left hand outside to help him use Dejima's
momentum against him by guiding him around the dohyo and towards the exit. I was
shaking my head in disbelief as David Shapiro (the editor of Sumo World and
guest commentator today on the NHK English broadcast) sang Dejima's praises
before the bout, and said that he had done well in the previous day's loss to
M14 Toyazakura, where in fact he had been made to look totally useless. I'm
sorry...Dejima is a one-trick pony. I know he's had injuries, but even when he
was charging up to Ozeki, he was easily handled by the better rikishi of the
time. But let's not dig all that up again! Dejima is still looking for a
kachi-koshi at 7-6.
Talking about poor former Ozeki, M7 Miyabiyama went
for the kill today against M15 Futenoh (9-4), who never really looked in it
against Miyabiyama's devastating thrusts to the neck. Yeah...he comes out to
play with the rikishi lower down the ranks, but he was a total chicken yesterday
against Chiyotaikai. Maybe someone told him so last night. There was no doubt he
deserved to win today, though, and he's still, very worryingly, in the yusho
hunt with two days to go. Let's see if he can make it a henka hat-trick for the
basho tomorrow against Tochiazuma! He's the unlikely co-leader at
11-2.
M14 Toyozakura, who I have to say looks far more impressive than
his blustering, salt throwing brother in Juryo (Kitazakura), absolutely
massacred circus entertainer M7 Takamisakari (6-7) with an explosive tachi-ai
and unstoppable thrusts to the neck. Takamisakari could do nothing about this
and Toyozakura (10-3) looks to be waltzing to the kanto-sho. Maybe even the
yusho!!!
And finally, M17 Tokitenku (4-9) finally showed some of the
promise he so obviously has with a display of excellent leg technique. He pulled
off a nice uchigake (inside leg trip) against M12 Kinkaiyama (4-9). Maybe the
pressure has come off him a bit now he has a make-koshi.
It's looking
good for tomorrow with Ozeki Chiyotaikai up against Yokozuna Asashoryu and Ozeki
Kaio against Ozeki Musoyama. Miyabiyama will have his work cut out against a
hungry Tochiazuma. Kaio looks to me to be the only one with a realistic chance
of taking the yusho from Asashoryu...but you never know in sumo. Hakuho and
Asasekiryu are still in there at 10-3, and are fighting each other tomorrow.
Wouldn't it be good if...?That's it for me...thanks for reading. Any comments (especially from
Miyabiyama fans!) can be sent to me at fantasyfootychampion@yahoo.co.uk
Simon Siddall reporting
Day 11
Comments
It all
came crashing down for Asashoryu today as he lost in spectacular fashion - he
even did a cartwheel. The win for Tochiazuma was a deserved one - the Sekiwake
came in low at the tachi-ai and forced the shellshocked Yokozuna to the edge,
then changed the direction of his devastating thrust attack, giving Asashoryu no
chance to respond. Tochiazuma's astounding run of form continues...isn't he
supposed to be injured? Not only does he now look a certainty to achieve the ten
wins he requires to return to the Ozeki rank, he also looks a genuine contender
for the yusho, particularly when you consider that he has already fought all the
ozeki apart from Kaio, while Asashoryu has to beat all of them over the last
four days. The Yokozuna also needs to get past the ever dangerous Sekiwake
Wakanosato tomorrow. You'd still put your life savings on him for the yusho,
though. Possibly.
Shin Sekiwake Hokutoriki continued living his nightmare
as he appeared to slip at the tachi-ai and allowed Ozeki Chiyotaikai to record
an easy oshitaoshi win. If there was ever any need for proof that sumo is a
confidence game, then Hokutoriki provides it. All right, he was a bit unlucky
today, but he's looked woeful this basho, and I wager that's because his head
dropped sometime in the first week and his mind's already on the Aki
Basho.
Ozeki Musoyama extended his winning streak as he impressively
overcame Mongolian M1 Kyokutenho's superior right hand belt grip to execute a
lovely shitatenage at the edge. Let's not forget that the Ozeki is kadoban (yet
again) this basho and has had to come out fighting to keep his rank. If only he
could show such technique and poise when his rank is not in danger.
Kaio
was in control from start to finish against Sekiwake Wakanosato, who paid dearly
for coming in slightly too high at the tachi-ai. The Ozeki looked a bit sharper
than usual, and it was nice to see it because he's been shocking in some of his
earlier bouts, notably against M4 Shimotori on the ninth day, when he suffered
an unforgivable lapse in concentration to turn certain victory into defeat.
Today Kaio got a right hand belt grip, lost it momentarily, but regained it and
never looked in real danger throughout. Wakanosato's stubborn refusal to give in
merely delayed the inevitable. Kaio eventually won by uwatenage.
In other
bouts today, local boy Komusubi Kotomitsuki kept himself in the kachi-koshi hunt
with a sloppy win over M5 Takekaze, who's been distinctly average throughout, if
the truth be told. Mind you, apart from his win over Kaio on the opening day, so
has Kotomitsuki. M2 Kokkai returned to winning ways with a nice yorikiri, and he
only briefly looked in danger against M1 Iwakiyama.
Kyokushuzan was made
to look a total muppet by Kotoryu in the battle of the third Maegashiras.
Kotoryu beat him by tsuridashi, a technique no one wants to lose by. And that
includes me, by the way. If my memory serves me correctly, Kotoryu beat the
hapless Mongolian by the same technique the last time they met, basically
meaning that Kotoryu clearly doesn't like Kyokushuzan very much. Going from the
quality of the Kyokushuzan's sumo this basho, I'd be inclined to agree with
Kotoryu. Kyokushuzan has spent the entire basho going backwards or sideways, and
he does a reasonable impersonation of a zombie at the tachi-ai, complete with
forward-extended arms. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that revenge might be on
someone's mind if or when these two meet again.
M7 Miyabiyama, fresh from
his crushing defeat to Yokozuna Asashoryu yesterday, 'bounced' back to
record...another crushing defeat to the impressive M8 Hakuho. Hakuho ignored
Miyabiyama's thrusts at the tachi-ai to secure a left hand belt grip, and used
the big man's inferior balance against him by pulling him down via the back of
the head. It was nice to watch this shitatedashinage, as all basho I've been
forced to endure Miyabiyama lumbering, prodding and blubbering (a new transitive
verb I've just made up) his way to an improbable 9-0 before finally being
matched against someone with ability. He's up against Chiyotaikai tomorrow, and
that should be a laugh as well. 9-6 on senshuraku, anyone? Hakuho has looked in
fine fettle, and I hope he can build on his impressive performances in this and
the previous basho to make it into sanyaku. It looks inevitable to me. Twelve
wins would do it, I'm sure. He's up for a sansho as well, possibly the
gino-sho.
There was a cracking match-up between bit-between-teeth M14
Toyozakura and the ever dangerous M10 Hayateumi. Pacey and aggressive sumo from
both contenders made for an exciting bout, with Hayateumi finally prevailing by
oshitaoshi despite a hefty slap at the tachi-ai from Toyozakura.
M10
Asasekiryu pulled off another henka against out-of-sorts M13 Takanowaka.
Takanowaka recovered well but balked when it mattered and fell eventually to a
textbook kotenage from the Mongolian.
M17 Tokitenku delivered a
pansy-like harite (slap to the face) at the tachi-ai against M15 Wakatoba and
was ultimately fortunate that his opponent has a bad shoulder. Tokitenku
prevailed with an unconvincing yorikiri to go to 4-7. Both he and Takanowaka now
look likely to record losing records in the next couple of days...but you never
know.
Two rikishi were injured today - M9 Aminishiki was unlucky to twist
his knee - it could be worse, I don't know yet - and Komusubi Tamanoshima's leg
came off worst in a scrap against 170kg of M2 Kotonowaka. A few of the rikishi,
including Asashoryu himself, have apparently complained that the air
conditioning is on too high in the arena and is drying the clay on the dohyo,
causing it to become treacherous. There were certainly a few slips today, not
all, thankfully, resulting in injuries. It will be interesting to see if the
Kyokai say or do anything about this issue. I'm not holding my breath.
A
quick word on two of my favourites in Juryo. The Bulgarian Kotooshu (real name
Mahlyanov Kaloyan Stefanov) showed how not to fight like the Yokozuna I'm
betting he'll become one day by jumping to one side and then repeatedly trying
to pull down Ushiomaru. He succeeded eventually, and although they called it
uwatenage, for me it was the dreaded hatakikomi. Still, he's looked impressive
on other days, despite the fact that he's 203cm tall (that's six foot eight
inches to all you decadent Western readers), which is generally considered a
disadvantage in sumo...high centre of gravity and all that. Mind you, Akebono
and Takanonami always did OK. And this boy's only 21. Watch this
space!
Hagiwara, a feisty eighteen year old from Ibaraki, lived up to the
hype today with a highly impressive yorikiri win. He looked totally in control.
He's another definite sanyaku, possible Ozeki or Yokozuna. I'd bet on him before
Chiyotaikai or Kaio, put it that way.
Well, to sum up, there was no doubt
about today's top story. Tochiazuma (I've supported him for eight years, by the
way!) beat the seemingly invincible Yokozuna Asashoryu. And he beat him
convincingly. It makes me wonder once again how Asashoryu would have stood up
over a basho to the great rikishi of the last generation - Kotonishiki,
Takanohana, Akebono, Wakanohana, Akinoshima and so on at their peaks. I know
he'd hold his own, but I think it might be bit early to be comparing him with
Taiho or Chiyonofuji. Or Takanohana, for that matter. He's certainly the most
agile rikishi I've ever seen, but I'd like to see him tested more often, as he
was by Tochiazuma. Mind you, before the bout today I thought that to stand a
chance of beating Asashoryu, any rikishi would need six arms, four legs, one of
those Romulon disruptor ray guns from Star Trek and an electrified mawashi
(belt). Just goes to show how wrong I was.
I'll be
back again to cover for Kenji on Friday (day 13), if Mike lets me, that is!
Simon Siddall reporting
Day 5
Comments
The
jobansen, or first five days, is in the books and quite frankly today was a
yawner. It was more of the same- Sho shows he's king fish while the Ozeki rank
flounders in mediocrity.
Asashoryu (5-0) had no problem securing
his uncanny morozashi today against Kotoryu (2-3), who gave a good effort but
was completely overmatched. It was an easy yorikiri win for Sho, now 48-2 in
2004.
Chiyotaikai might as well be seated in a recliner doling out
his tsuppari this basho because that's about as effective as he's been with it.
With the exception of his win yesterday against Kotonowaka, it has been all
upper body and no lower body. There's a saying, "ashi de tsupparu", or tsupparu
with your legs. The power is generated there. Chiyotaikai today fired off
multiple tsuppari at light speed with next-to-nothing impact on Kotomitsuki.
Luckily, his pulling game was again enough to slap down Kotomitsuki (2-3) for
the win. Taikai is 4-1 with one quality win.
Musoyama, looking
about as enthused as a sloth, had a cake walk with Kyokushuzan (1-4) to pick up
his second win against three losses. Shu met Muso with both hands, then....do we
really need to go on?
Kaio (3-2) was stood up by bulky Iwakiyama (3-2)
but managed to slap him down for the win. It was not a pretty win. Color man
Kitanofuji put it beautifully when he said, "Can't anything be done with Kaio?".
I love that guy.
Hokutoriki (0-5) lost again and looks absolutely
horrible. It's Asasekiryu all over again, except that Hoku looks worse than Seki
did when he followed up his 13-2 with a 3-12.
Am I sounding
negative today? Well, let me end on a positive note because I'm a positive guy.
In the most anticipated bout of the day, Kokkai (4-1) overcame the upstart
Tochiazuma (4-1) in an impressive display of tenacity. Azuma began the bout with
his vintage upward pressure to turn the Georgian sideways. Just when you though
the former Ozeki would have his way, Kokkai straightened up (forward) and put
himself in an equally low position with Tochiazuma. He then did not allow
Tochiazuma to get any leverage, and pushed Azuma out. Yes, this guy is coming
around fast and he is strong indeed, but if the Japanese announcers use the word
"horsepower" one more time to characterize Kokkai, I'm going to throw an apple
at the screen.
Okay, I thought I'd end positive but it's not in the cards
today. Maybe it's because I have to leave for Japan in 17 hours but still have a
full day of work to contend with along with packing, mowing the lawn, cleaning
the house, paying the bills, yada, yada, yada. Folks, that flight can't come
soon enough. I'm off to the land of the rising sun and a country home with no
flush toilets. There will be no computer for the next ten days. I'll check back
in at the end of the basho!
Day 3
Comments
No one
is exactly grabbing the spotlight in this early going. Meanwhile, Asashoryu hums
along a cut above the field as usual. Today he made sure Kyokutenho (0-3) didn't
serve him the same tsuridashi fate that resulted in Sho's second loss last
basho. Although Tenho did get in on the left to secure advantageous positioning,
the yokozuna's speed shone through again as he produced a lightening quick
maki-kae to get inside on both sides. Game over. Sho pushes Tenho out to go
3-0.
Kokkai (2-1) made it two in a row against struggling Muso
"Kadoban" Yama (1-2). The rikishi clashed like two bulls at the onset but
Kokkai's lower angle and sheer determination prevailed. Musoyama evaded all he
could at ring's edge, but all that did was result in Kokkai landing on top of
him in the second row. Kokkai's ability to not fall forward 'ala Tosanoumi is a
huge asset. Musoyama is 1-2.
Kaio (2-1) dropped Hokutoriki (0-3)
like a bad habit. In a complete turnaround from May, Hokutoriki has thus far
generated nothing but ill-advised pulls and no "de-ashi", or lower body forward
momentum, whatsoever. Today was more the latter, which resulted in an easy slap
down win for Kaio.
The good news for Chiyotaikai (2-1) is that he
did not resort to a pull-down tactic today. The bad news is that he got schooled
at his own game by the surging Iwakiyama, who has defeated two Ozeki in three
days. Speaking of no de-ashi, Taikai got stopped dead in his tracks at the
tachiai and never recovered. Iwakiyama was quicker with his thrusts and more
stable in the lower body. This combination resulted in a lopsided
oshidashi.
If I'm raising my eyebrows at all this basho, it is in
regards to what Tochiazuma has shown. He passed his first real test today in
defeating fellow Sekiwake Wakanosato (1-2). It was a long struggle at the belt,
which Azuma stated later that he did not want to do. Nonetheless when he finally
shook loose of Waka's right outside grip, Azuma seized the opportunity in
textbook fashion by immediately going on the attack while Waka had no leverage.
Bum shoulder and all, Tochiazuma is an impressive 3-0 thus
far.
Kotomitsuki went 2-1 by beating the Kyokushuzan (1-2) of old.
That is, the one that greets you with two hands and then back pedals. See Mike,
you knew that fluke good sumo from last basho wouldn't
last.
Tamanoshima (1-2) posted his first win despite being on the
receiving end of a blistering harite (slap to face) at the tachiai by Kotoryu
(1-2). Undaunted, Tama drew an ill-advised pull and used it to guide Koto right
out.
Let's see, looking down the ranks it looks like the
undefeateds are Miyabiyama (yes, Miyabiyama who usually is 0-3 at this point in
bashos), Hakuho (get used to this folks) and Toyozakura way down at M14. I'm
guessing the only one with staying power here is the young Mongolian.
Day 1
Comments
It seems like
yesterday we just parted ways at the close of the Natsu basho but now the
weather and the action is heating up in Nagoya. Mike is in Japan and I will be
joining him in a few days as we plan to talk sumo in person for the first time
in seven years. It should be just like old times, except that back then we were
free of wives and the five kids we now have between us. Nonetheless, it looks to
be an interesting enough basho to talk shop so let's get right down to the
action.
Asashoryu held off a formidable challenge from Komusubi
Tamanoshima to pick up where he left off in May. He is trying to yusho for the
fourth consecutive basho, a feat not accomplished since 1996, and join Taiho,
Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji and Takanohana as the only rikishi to do it since sumo
went to 6 basho a year in 1958. Sho's record thus far in 2004 is 44-2; to say he
is heavily favored in Nagoya is an understatement.
Speaking of
picking up where one left off, Kaio was dominated at the tachiai and easily
pushed out by the other Komusubi, Kotomitsuki. Once again, Kaio looks horrible
on day one. Sound familiar? He is apparently healthier than he has been in quite
a while, which makes you want to shake him even more. But this is typical ho-hum
Kaio; he'll pick it up in the next few days and come up just short in the yusho
hunt in two weeks.
Chiyotaikai came out, in his words, "in a new
wine red belt to signify my fire this basho". Then he promptly proceeded to pull
down M1 Kyokutenho when he couldn't drive him back. Taikai, now with a career
14-1 record against Tenho, has scored pull down wins in their last 7 consecutive
bouts. Were we talking about something sounding familiar?
As long
as everyone else is staying in character, let's turn now to Musoyama who greets
the basho in kadoban status for the 5th time. Musoyama's middle name is Kadoban.
And he now has to go 8-6 the rest of the way because he was not able to budge
the heavy Iwakiyama today. The M1 behemoth stood ground, twisted the barely
Ozeki down and looks to duplicate the success of his 10-5 mark in
May.
Tochiazuma stepped onto the dohyo for the first time since
January and finds himself demoted from the Ozeki rank he held for 15 basho. He
is still not 100% in recovering from a fractured shoulder, but apparently well
enough to completely dismantle M3 Kotoryu with no trouble at all. Pushed him
right out helped by a strong right thrust to the throat. He showed no first day
jitters. It's early but judging by day 1 it looks promising for Azuma to get his
10 and reclaim Ozeki.
Our second of three Sekiwake this basho,
veteran Wakanosato, was blindsided and completely dominated by joi newcomer
Kokkai. Wow. Waka, who usually dishes out the punishment, bounced off the
Georgian, ate three thrusts and found himself greeting a ring side judge in a
matter of seconds. Did I say wow? Kokkai has posted 7 straight kachikoshi since
becoming a Sekitori. Conventional wisdom says that streak stops this basho, but
hold your horses based on today. And guess what? It's Kokkai-Asashoryu tomorrow,
baby.
Our third Sekiwake, rookie Hokutoriki of 13-2 "just missed
it" fame in May, is back down to earth in July. M2 Kotonowaka, a veteran of 82
basho in Makuuchi, wasn't fazed by this frenzy Hoku has created. Mr. Ippun
calmly grabbed the now phenom's right paw that was aimed at his throat, grabbed
the belt with his other hand and threw Hoku down with an uwatenage. Another day
at the office for Kotonowaka. Another flash in the pan in Hokutoriki?
In
other bouts of interest, M8 Hakuho turned the tables on M7 Takamisakari with a
beautifully executed uchari that the official scorer deemed a tsukiotoshi, much
to the dismay of the Sakari antics-hungry crowd who all wanted to see his
sideshow again. This Hakuho kid is good, folks.
M10 Asasekiryu, middle
name "Night & Day", who posted a 13-2 in March and a 3-12 in May (see flash
in pan comment), did what bullfighters do well. Get out of the way of the
charging Tosanoumi at the last minute. If M11 Tosa doesn't straighten up soon,
he'll charge right out the Makuuchi.
M17 Tokitenku, the rookie
everyone's watching, fell victim to M16 Toki's push-pull antics to lose his
Makuuchi debut. No need to be discouraged. This kid will be standing pretty in
14 days.
All eyes on musubi-no-chiban for day 2. The Mongolian
bully versus the Georgian horse. It's going to be a barnburner.
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