Hawks Legend Nobuhiro Matsuda Spotted Ringside on Day 4; Local Star Kayo Yamamoto Seen on Day 3
Former SoftBank Hawks and Giants star Nobuhiro Matsuda, 43, watched Day 4 from the front row near the east hanamichi and kept turning up on the NHK broadcast, Nikkan Sports, Daily Sports and ABEMA TIMES report. Wearing a light blue denim jacket, he applauded when yokozuna Onosato won; he is a known sumo fan who has attended Kyushu before and has been an NHK guest commentator. Fans on social media wrote 'Atsuo is here!' (his nickname), 'Matsuda's just casually sitting there lol' and 'Long time no see,' and one wondered whether his watch's yellow band was a Hawks nod. ABEMA says he was watching during Oho's yorikiri win over Shishi; Oho is 3-1 and Shishi 0-4.
On Day 3, Fukuoka-based TV personality Kayo Yamamoto was spotted in the front row by the west hanamichi during Aonishiki's yorikiri win over Ura, THE ANSWER and ENCOUNT report. Before the basho she visited Takadagawa stable's morning practice through a connection with Kagayaki and posted that the stablemaster's talk on coaching was 'truly inspiring.' Viewers wrote 'Great seat' and 'Maybe only locals know who she is? (lol).'
Sources: Yahoo! Japan Sports (Nikkan Sports) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (Daily Sports) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (ABEMA TIMES) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (THE ANSWER) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (ENCOUNT)