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Another sumo tournament has come around. For the final tournament of 2018 we're in Fukuoka, so it'll be great to see how the sumo year ends. Let's take a look at the banzuke:
There aren't any wrestlers making their debuts in the top division this tournament, but there are three guys returning to Makuuchi, in Meisei, Arawashi, and Daiamami. Meisei was only up for one tournament in July, and Daiamami spent five tournaments in the top division, so I'm not expecting too much from them. Arawashi stuck around in the top division for years though, and was able to have some good tournaments near the top of the division and picked up a few kinboshi, so hopefully he can come back with a good tournament here.
Endo has fallen pretty far down the banzuke unfortunately. He had a pretty bad tournament in September (3-12) and he'll have to try to work his way back up to the upper ranks from M12. Speaking of falling down the ranks, Kotoshogiku is also slowly dropping further and further from his former Ozeki rank. I really don't know how much longer he'll continue, but I'll always be rooting for him to get a winning record.
Skipping way up to the Sanyaku ranks, Ichinojo has been putting in some mixed performances with great matches followed by listless ones. He's hanging on to his Sekiwake rank though, with three straight 8-7 tournaments at the rank. I like Ichinojo and I'd love to see him firing on all cylinders and puck up 10 wins or so, but I'd be surprised. Alongside him is Mitakeumi who, despite faltering slightly last tournament with a 9-6 record, could maybe still get Ozeki promotion in this tournament. He probably lost his chance with the 9 wins in July, but with 12 wins and a yusho in July, if he could get 12-11 wins this time he could make a decent case for Ozeki promotion.
It was nice to see a pretty good tournament for the Ozeki in September as well. Tochinoshin is obviously still dealing with an injury, but getting a winning record was vitally important last tournament and he was able to pull it off. Hopefully he's more healthy this time. Takayasu and Goeido also did quite well, picking up 11 and 12 wins respectively, and if they can keep that up (again, I'd be surprised) it should make for a fun yusho race.
For the Yokozuna, we really only have to deal with Kisenosato who had a successful return in September. I was pretty skeptical about his return and wasn't expecting him to hit the double-digit wins target, but he was able to put in some good, gutsy performances and fight through the injury that's obviously still affecting him. This will be another huge tournament for Kisenosato's future.
Fellow Yokozuna Kakuryu and Hakuho are both sitting out this tournament (at least on day 1), with Kakuryu having reinjured himself in training, and Hakuho recovering from surgery.
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Stay tuned to Kintamayama's YouTube Channel for daily highlights of the top division, and check out Robert Mensing's YouTube Channel for English versions of the NHK digest episodes (although I don't think they include all of the top division matches). Or go straight to the source, on NHK World's Sumo website. There's also a great blog at tachiai.org with news and information.
And as usual, for anyone who'll be watching the sport for the first time, please feel free to ask any questions you might have here and someone will try to answer them. Also be sure to check out my Introduction to SUMO thread for a brief (although quite outdated at this point) overview of the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
(as usual I'll just @ everyone that has posted in recent sumo threads)
@JkMMA @PurpleStorm @Asurah @Sano @josh from md @Okajima @RJ Green @winterbike @LC Shepard @Bluesbreaker @hyu244 @s_o_c_a_r @Slick_36 @Senshi @Muppettoker @argy-bargy @Edison Carasio @ChainFlow @Oshime2 @DatCutman @catchwrestle
