Asanoyama: Asashio Memorial, Netflix Buzz, and a Tough Early Draw
East Maegashira 1 Asanoyama got the early Kyushu draw he expected to be hard: first-meeting ozeki Aonishiki on Day 1 and yokozuna Hoshoryu — a 0-5 series — on Day 2, his first yokozuna bout in 16 tournaments. Told the pairings mid-interview via the Kyokai's X post, he asked reporters who his Day 1 foe was, then let out a loud "ooh" when Hoshoryu landed on Day 2. "Getting worked up doesn't help," he said. "I want to stay calm and fired up."
November 6 was also the third anniversary of the death of his late stablemaster, former ozeki Asashio (Nagaoka Suehiro). "The old master should be cheering from heaven," Asanoyama said. "The only way to repay him is to win and raise my rank." A kachi-koshi would put a first sanyaku return since Summer 2024 within reach; he last earned a kinboshi by beating Kakuryu in Autumn 2019 and said another "would be nice."
Takasago-beya's Netflix documentary "Dohyo-giwa" (On the Edge of the Dohyo) began global streaming on the 1st and includes his injury struggles. "I feel the response," he said. "If me winning makes more people want to do sumo, that's ideal."