- Joined
- Nov 7, 2005
- Messages
- 19,876
- Reaction score
- 1,831
Better late than never! Another sumo tournament has rolled around, and this will be the last one of the year. It's been a wild year with a lot of movement, change at the top, younger guys coming up, and high-profile absences. Let's see how 2023 ends in the sumo world, and if there's one last big promotion in store! Let's start with a look at the rankings:
Makuuchi Debuts: After having no debuting wrestlers in September, we're now going to be looking at a bunch of new faces. Kitanowaka is just 22, but has spent a little under two years in Juryo and in 2023 worked his way up the ranks steadily to earn promotion to the top division. He's a stablemate of Hokutofuji and has some popular coaches, so hopefully that exciting style rubs off on him. Next up is Mongolian Roga who is also young and has spent a year in Juryo. He's been very consistent at the second-highest division, not having picked up a single losing tournament, and I think that consistency and slow rise up the ranks will be very helpful for him. Then comes Churanoumi who is no spring chicken. He's an elderly 30 years old, and first got his promotion to Juryo in 2018. He had a lot of promise early on in his career, and had a very good tournament in September, so hopefully he can carry that momentum into November and this big promotion reinvigorates him. Finally, there's Tohakuryu who has been in Juryo for a while and has seemed very inconsistent. He'll have very good tournaments, and then a rough one and drop way down the ranks. So, those are the new guys! @Nova44 follows Juryo more closely than I do and probably has a better insight into these wrestlers.
Maegashira: I'm getting this up late so I'll probably try to speed through the ranks! It's a shock to see Tamawashi ranked so low. He's been struggling and with a disastrous September tournament there's no where else he would end up. But he's been such a fixture of the top of the division and despite being the oldest top-division wrestler, he's been showing some amazing sumo in his later years. As an "iron man" he's never sat out (except for being forced to for COVID-19 protocol) and surely that's catching up with him. He should do fine at this rank, though! Jumping up, Atamifuji had a fantastic return to the top division in September, and nearly won the championship. No surprise, when he started going up the bigger names at the end of the tournament he started to struggle and lost in the playoff, but that's all great experience for him. Really looking forward to seeing how he does this time around. Gonoyama has also been very impressive as a young up-and-comer. He's leading the way for former Goeido's Takekuma stable, and doing a great job at that.
Sanyaku: Making his way back up to Komosubi, Hokutofuji finds himself in sanyaku for the first time since 2020. He's one of the most exciting wrestlers, and hopefully he can hang around at the top of the ranks for a while. July was a huge tournament for him, going 12-3, but he kept up the momentum and didn't implode in September, getting a winning record there too. Alongside him is Abi who is trying to make his way back up to Sekiwake. He can do it for sure, but he just seems very inconsistent to me, which has a lot to do with his "go for broke" style. But this is a very exciting pair of Komosubi.
For the Sekiwake, Kotonowaka did well to get a winning record in his debut at the rank in September. He's a young guy, he's been consistent in Sanyaku in the past year, and should be able to move up higher. Wakamotoharu has really had a phenomenal 2023. Even when he failed to get a big promotion, he still had excellent tournaments. I think he's an Ozeki for sure, and he seems so solid and it's just a matter of time. And finally, Daieisho is in the same category. He's Ozeki-level as well, and just needs to put the tournaments together to get the promotion.
Ozeki: For the current Ozeki, although he had a disappointing first tournament at the rank, Hoshoryu still got his 8 wins and in a debut tournament that's what you gotta do. Now is his time to start putting together double-digits and challenging for the yusho. No doubt he can do it with his skills and strength and killer instinct. Kirishima protected his rank with a winning tournament in September, but still didn't do amazing. He's also a very solid wrestler and can definitely do better than 9 wins. Hopefully he can settle in and also start getting double-digits. And to round the whole thing off, Yusho-winner Takakeisho will be looking to put together another excellent performance to make his case for Yokozona promotion. Personally, I don't think he's there yet, and his yusho came with just 11 wins which isn't stellar. If he completely dominates here will that secure the top spot for him? How about another 11 or 12-win championship? Beats me. But all of the Ozeki will be coming into November with something to prove.
Yokozuna: No surprise, but Terunofuji is sitting this one out again. Not much you can do about that, but it just puts into question when he'll come back and if he'll ever be able to compete at the level he could when he got the promotion again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
So there you go!
Viewing options: I can never remember who's around posting highlights and stuff these days, so hopefully we'll get some YouTube channels posted here early on! Kintamayama should be posting highlights on Rumble, Natto should be posting on Youtube as well but you'll want to get those while they're hot as he takes the videos down quickly.
And it's always great to have new people join the fun and start following the sport, but it's definitely not the easiest sport to understand when you first start watching. If you're new, feel free to ask questions! Also feel free to head over to the Introduction to SUMO thread to get a basic (although very outdated) introduction to the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
(as usual I'll just @ everyone that has posted about sumo or posted in sumo threads, hopefully it works)
@EL CORINTHIAN @shincheckin @rmongler @JkMMA @PurpleStorm @Asurah @Sano @Okajima @RJ Green @winterbike @LC Shepard @Bluesbreaker @s_o_c_a_r @Slick_36 @Muppettoker @Oshime2 @DatCutman @catchwrestle @rodgerdodger @Sapp @Apollo33 @MoreKane @BoxingMMA @ChickenBrother @what-wut @Adjaar @TheRuthlessOne @elreece @Tone C @Nameless King @GSP_37 @Kaybee @Fluffernutter @Stormtrooper85 @Jin Akutsu @AZ103 @Sumomike @listrahtes @BananaManPoo @Emporio Alnino @pv3Hpv3p @Jose Beehive @Nova44 @Sticko @650lb Sumo @Fox by the Sea @Paolo Delutis @JacJeanFinger @Fork @Dadbod Dorado @moonwolf @MoreKane @DonkeyKong @Chokez @PBAC @Rob Battisti @Vogg @Macaque @don't ask @Smokes
