SUMO - 2018 Hatsu Basho (Jan. 14th - 28th)

[winterbike]

Tochinoshin is one strong motherfucker, goddamn. Ichinojo had been on fire this yusho so far too.

And the sound of Takayasu's hit was frightening. That would have killed some people.

 

[Asurah]

Tochinoshin just needs to win tomorrow, and I think he will. Make it happen.

Hopefully with the sanyaku falling apart these new guys like Abi and Ryuden stay healthy, they have looked very promising. Abi in particular has been a lot of fun to watch.

 

[Asurah]

Enho's bout, nice shitatenage

 

[Fork]

wow, one more win for tochinoshin and it's all his. he should have a great chance against shohozan as well.

things have really fallen apart for kakuryu.

today on hattorizakura watch:

 

[Okajima]

I think most of us are on this bandwagon!

 

[Okajima]

And that’s a fuckin’ wrap!

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I love tournaments where you can't just assume a yokozuna will win it. Been loving Tochinoshin's run!

 

[Asurah]

Waiting on kinta's video to watch the rest (he didn't say he couldn't upload today did he?) but awesome to see Tochinoshin take it. Well deserved yusho.

 

[Okajima]

Waiting on kinta's video to watch the rest (he didn't say he couldn't upload today did he?) but awesome to see Tochinoshin take it. Well deserved yusho.

He said he was traveling and wouldn’t be uploading the rest.

 

[Fork]

wow, really amazing to see tochinoshin win the tournament. especially in a time when injuries are pretty much ubiquitous it's great to see that a guy who sat out for three tournaments after getting injured and worked his way back up is able to compete like this.

from a Reuters article on his win: "This is something I never imagined when I dropped from makuuchi,“ Tochinoshin said. ”There were many times I felt like quitting.

"But I settled down, got out of the hospital and even though I had dropped way down the rankings, my attitude changed dramatically. I wanted to give it one more shot.”

from a google translate of a n Sports article: A great achievement of the disciple is seen on the television of the association office. At that moment, I cried a crying cry.

victory fish:

the welcome at his stable:

 

[Fork]

i assume @Asurah has found a video, but since there's no kintamayama today i'll link a couple of the alternatives:

here's the nhk world digest (not all of the matches, but english commentary):


nattosumo's highlight video (all matches):

 

[Fork]

day 15 highlights:

 

[Fork]

in closing...

The Good:

• Tochinoshin winning was amazing, and really fantastic for him. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next tournament with Hakuho back.
• Debuting Abi and Ryuden both had great tournaments as top division rookies, going 10-5. I was a bit more impressed with Abi, but they both had great performances for which they were awarded special prizes.
• Ichinojo showed up for this tournament and didn't look as lethargic and apathetic as he usually does.
  
• Takayasu, despite picking up some early losses in the first week, finished really well. Especially after two tournaments where he had to withdraw midway, this was a really good tournament for him.

The Bad:

• Kakuryu falling apart when the championship was in his grasp was really unfortunate. The talk before the tournament was that he would need a 10-5 record to hold off pressure to retire, and while he did that I think the final five days of the tournament will keep those questions hanging around. This was looking like a great return tournament for him, but when he started falling apart it all came crashing down.
• Takakeisho and Hokutofuji can both be forgiven for poor records considering they were at career high ranks, but I expected them to perform better here. They weren't competing against anyone new and had gotten double-digit wins in the previous tournament so at least getting kachikoshi should have been doable. That being said, I still think they're some of the next crop of sanyaku regulars.

The Ugly:

• It's pretty much the same story every tournament these days, but the injuries are really getting out of control. No idea what the sumo kyokai can do in response to the situation, but the sport is really being hampered by injuries. Missing two of the Yokozuna was no fun, and seeing a promising young wrestler like Onosho pick up an injury during the tournament was really unfortunate.
  
• Terunofuji's situation sort of warrants its own entry in this category although it obviously falls under the umbrella of how injuries are affecting the sport. I don't know who's idea it was for him to try to reenter the tournament midway through (I wouldn't be surprised if it was his) but his stablemaster shouldn't have allowed it. Considering that he sat out 8 days it's sort of a different story, but I don't think I've ever seen someone get 0 wins. The injuries, the diabetes, it's all looking really bad for a guy who looked like easily the next Yokozuna and was one of the strongest guys in sumo alongside Tochinoshin. I hope he sits out for a few tournaments until he's really fit to return, because competing like this he'll be falling down the ranks anyway and not getting any healthier.

thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread and watched the tournament! can't wait for the next one.

 

[Fork]

from an old favorite youtube channel MyJetSetLife:


georgia contracting a case of tochinoshin fever, and tochinoshin's family including his daughter that he hasn't seen in person yet:


tochinoshin's yusho interview on sunday sports, worth it for the look at his first match in sumo (about 8:25 in):


a blast from the past, the first georgian in sumo, kokkai talking about tochinoshin:

 

[s_o_c_a_r]

regarding Terunofuji:
i think it was one of the first bashos of 2016 where he still looked like the next big thing but picked up an injury and didn't take enough time to recover.
he dropped out but immediately entered the next basho where you could see that he's not fully healed.
this is where it all started to go downhill and what where seeing now all dates back to that.

it's either retire or a really long time off and restart from the bottom for him.

Osunaarashi's case is similar i think, talented guy but constant injurys will shorten his career.

interesting article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2017/11/01/sumo/sumo-needs-tackle-cause-rising-injuries/

"One of the problems with determining the level and extent of injury in sumo is getting accurate information. Athletes are under no obligation to provide it and the old ‘tape it up and keep going’ attitude is still prevalent."

 

[Fork]

regarding Terunofuji:
i think it was one of the first bashos of 2016 where he still looked like the next big thing but picked up an injury and didn't take enough time to recover.
he dropped out but immediately entered the next basho where you could see that he's not fully healed.
this is where it all started to go downhill and what where seeing now all dates back to that.

it's either retire or a really long time off and restart from the bottom for him.

Osunaarashi's case is similar i think, talented guy but constant injurys will shorten his career.

interesting article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2017/11/01/sumo/sumo-needs-tackle-cause-rising-injuries/

"One of the problems with determining the level and extent of injury in sumo is getting accurate information. Athletes are under no obligation to provide it and the old ‘tape it up and keep going’ attitude is still prevalent."

yeah, terunofuji had a couple of good tournaments where it looked like he was coming back and then must have reinjured himself.

that's a great article too. changing the jungyo system seems like an obvious step to take to me, but i don't live in one of the jungyo stops and i can see how it can help the sport to take it on the road to those places. i didn't know about the kosho system though, and that also seems like something that should be considered.