SUMO - 2017 Kyushu Basho (Nov. 12th - Nov. 26th)

[winterbike]

I find it hilarious how awkward everyone was. ''Don't move and stay silent, it'll go away by itself''.

 

[Fork]

I find it hilarious how awkward everyone was. ''Don't move and stay silent, it'll go away by itself''.

the poor yobidashi who was going up to clap the woodblocks after the match.

saw this on /r/sumo earlier with the title "Leaked footage of Hakuho's day 12 dohyo iri":


former Musoyama, now Fujishima Oyakata said:

"The tachiai was perfect. Yoshikaze received the initial attack and maybe that's what threw Hakuhou off. Still, both parties had their hands down firmly, the hakkeyoi from the gyoji resonated loud and clear, so the tachiai was perfect. The fact that Hakuhou thought on his own that a matta was needed doesn't make it right. Standing there refusing to mount the dohyo and acknowledge the loss - Hakuhou acted like a spoiled brat. Yoshikaze got a quick morozashi and at this point Hakuhou started to demand a matta and even if he did think that, there was nothing he could do about it at that point. The shimpan should not have kept quiet and should have asked him to quickly mount the dohyo. There is a terrible after- taste to all this. Naturally, he should be summoned to the judging department and receive a stern reprimand."

obviously it's most likely that hakuho simply made a mistake and reacted poorly, but a suggestion from someone on sumoforum.net was also that hakuho was intentionally trying to matta yoshikaze and give him a slap to get some intimidation in before the match started, which seems very possible to me too.

 

[Fork]

and down in juryo, Osunaarashi back to his old ways with a big elbow:

 

[RJ Green]

WAR SANDSTORM!!!

 

[josh from md]

Day 12- If you celebrate, Enjoy your feast day.

 

[Fork]

Day 12- If you celebrate, Enjoy your feast day.

asanoyama going for the chest to chest power sumo against tochinoshin. he lost the battle against the master, but he still looked pretty good.

great match between chiyonokuni and yoshikaze too.

 

[Fork]

day 13:

 

[Asurah]

Sucks to see Takayasu injured again. The upper ranks are a mess right now.

Takarafuji vs Hakuho was fun, Hakuho made that face he does when he isn't pleased with himself. It would've been great had Takarafuji finished what he had and gave us a 3 way tie going into the final 2 days.

Onosho might get his kachikoshi but it seems clear he wasn't prepared for this basho, it took him a week to find his footing. He should get back to sekitori training.

 

[Fork]

haven't watched it yet, but anyone interested in watching the full day 13 broadcast (in japanese), it's being uploaded at youtube channel MISELET:


the channel is also uploading a lot of juryo and lower division matches/broadcasts (full juryo broadcast, etc...).

 

[Fork]

Sucks to see Takayasu injured again. The upper ranks are a mess right now.

Takarafuji vs Hakuho was fun, Hakuho made that face he does when he isn't pleased with himself. It would've been great had Takarafuji finished what he had and gave us a 3 way tie going into the final 2 days.

Onosho might get his kachikoshi but it seems clear he wasn't prepared for this basho, it took him a week to find his footing. He should get back to sekitori training.

yeah, two close calls in one match for hakuho. classic hakuho wry smile too.

and yeah, onosho was definitely not well prepared for this tournament. looking at his record, his first week was awful but once he got in the swing of things again he started doing much better. of course the opposition was much easier for him the second week but i think he could have done better against the top guys early on too.

hokutofuji having a great tournament too.

 

[josh from md]

Day 14- Hakuho... that's all.

 

[winterbike]

Hadn't it been for the matta snafu, Hakuho would have been zensho-yusho. He's a wrecking machine right now, goddamn.

 

[Okajima]

Hakuho really is the GOAT. Too bad he fucked up with that matta BS, He should be going for zensho. Still an absolute beast.

 

[Asurah]

Came down to the final day but Aminishiki gets his kachikoshi as well as the fighting spirit prize, great to see. Onosho got his kachikoshi as well.

 

[josh from md]

Final day- Now we wait for harumafuji news. Interested in what everyone else is thinking

 

[Fork]

finally got the chance to catch up.

my thoughts on the tournament:

The Good:

• 11-4 Guys including Hokutofuji, Takakeisho, and Okinoumi all did really well this tournament, going 11-4, with Hokutofuji staying in the yusho race at least until day 14. Tamawashi also went 11-4 but it's more expected from him, the other three really performed above expectations.

• Ichinojo hasn't looked this good in a while, but he had a solid performance. Still work to be done for him, but this was a good tournament.

• Aminishiki getting an 8-7 in his return to the top division in a year and a half was fantastic. When you see how so many wrestlers are affected by their injuries it's amazing what Aminishiki can do at his age and with his knees in the shape they're in.

• Onosho also barely squeaking by with an 8-7 was fantastic, but for different reasons. It really looked like he would have a disastrous tournament after the first week, but he fought back really well.

The Bad:

• Decimated upper ranks really looked bad this tournament. Three Yokozuna, one Ozeki, and one Sekiwake absent on the final day is obviously a bad state of affairs. It doesn't seem like anything is getting better in this regard anytime soon either.

The Ugly:

• From Harumafuji's bizarre scandal to Hakuho's matta there was all kinds of unusual stuff going on on the dohyo and off this tournament. Hafumaruji's assault scandal at first seemed like a pretty open and shut case, and then evolved into talk of bizarre behavior on the part of the former Takanohana, and inconsistencies in the accounts of what took place. Then there was Chiyoshoma's shove which at this point just seems like a minor footnote in this basho. Finally Hakuho's mid-match matta and actions afterwards were really surprising and like nothing I've ever seen in the sport.

 

[Okajima]

Fucking sad.

 

[Fork]

Fucking sad.

yeah, it sucks.

thought about making a whole thread on it, but haven't yet.

tachiai.org has a great article on the issue (full article in the link):
Don't Pin the Blame on Alcohol

On the third day of the Kyushu basho, when the news hit us that Harumafuji had beaten up Takanoiwa, I – like many sumo fans around the world – was shocked to the core.

There are not many rikishi at the top of the sport whose perceived character is so far away from “violent drunkard” as Harumafuji’s was. This man was known for helping old ladies with their baggage, for being nice to children, for making himself available to fans. He was known for his habit of embracing his opponents after a yori-kiri, to prevent them from injuring themselves falling off the dohyo, and for being generous with his advice to young wrestlers as well as tough opponents. And he was also known for his responsibility to his rank, as demonstrated when he persisted in the Aki basho despite injuries and serial losses, because he was the sole Yokozuna in attendance.

How does one reconcile this image with that of a violent rampage in a bar? Many of us assumed that it was the alcohol. It’s not unheard of for people with good self-control to become violent under the influence. In one of my comments, I compared Harumafuji to Hercules: Hercules, who was a strong but gentle person, was struck by madness and killed his wife and kids. When the madness left him, he had to face what his own hands had wrought.

This was a fine picture to paint, but it left us with the puzzle of why the Yokozuna did nothing once the hangover was gone. Where was that famous sense of responsibility? How could he proceed in doing Yokozuna dohyo-iri while he knew that he committed an act of violence that was no less severe than the one that caused Asashoryu to retire? Was Harumafuji really such a cynical hypocrite?

i definitely think some of the blame can be pinned on alcohol, but the issue of using violence to correct misbehavior has come up over and over again in sumo, and highlighting that culture is important rather than focusing on the alcohol and harumafuji as an individual.