Day 7: Kinbozan Throws Hiradoumi at the Edge to Stay in the Lead; Sakaigawa Goes Easy on His Pupil, Waves Off Retirement Talk
West Maegashira 7 Kinbozan, 29 (Kise), beat East Maegashira 5 Hiradoumi, 26 (Sakaigawa), with a come-from-behind shitatenage at the edge to stay among the leaders at 6-1; Hiradoumi had gotten his right in and driven him back, and is now 2-5 (Nikkan Sports). Calling the bout on NHK was Hiradoumi's own stablemaster, Sakaigawa (ex-komusubi Ryogoku), known for blunt critiques of his pupils: 'If his pull had been a bit stronger, he wouldn't have been thrown. His left uwate was slightly deep.' Before the bout he had praised Hiradoumi's effort in training. Fans online noted he was gentler than expected: 'I thought he'd get scolded more' (Nikkan Sports).
Sakaigawa, 64, reaches the mandatory retirement age of 65 next July. When the announcer brought it up, he laughed it off: 'Don't talk about me. Pay attention to the rikishi working hard on the dohyo,' which drew admiring comments online (Nikkan Sports). A Jiji Press photo shows the throw.
Sources: Yahoo! Japan Sports (Nikkan Sports) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (Nikkan Sports / Sakaigawa) · Yahoo! Japan Sports (Jiji Press photo)