The new Baruto

[Stelios 30]

So with a 9-6 in Kyushu '09, what do people reckon he will need to get ozeki rank for Natsu? A repeat of the 12-3 ? Or will it require a 13-2 or a yusho?

I think it's not only the 9-6 basho, but also the 4-11 last May. And before that he was completely unstable. Probably he now needs 12 wins, with one of them over Hakuho, or 13 wins regardless.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Stelios

[Takamizawa 0]

Ya but his knee was really bad for that 4-11 tournament and it showed.

[Stelios 30]

So with a 9-6 in Kyushu '09, what do people reckon he will need to get ozeki rank for Natsu? A repeat of the 12-3 ? Or will it require a 13-2 or a yusho?

I think it's not only the 9-6 basho, but also the 4-11 last May. And before that he was completely unstable. Probably he now needs 12 wins, with one of them over Hakuho, or 13 wins regardless.

Haven't seen much injury consideration the last few years, since rikishi are not allowed without penalty to stay out a few basho to heal properly. Kotooshu for example will never manage to have the needed surgery and therefore will never become a yokozuna (well, first he needs to straighten up mentally, but that's another issue). Regarding Baruto, even if someone had shot him on the knee, this would still have counted negatively. (Going kyujo...)

[ryafuji 814]

I don't think that 4-11 will be taken into consideration; it's performances over the last three basho that count.

[pisipepu 0]

Another day and Baruto still firmly on the track. Todays match must have been quite intimitating for future opponents (except Hakuho of course) as Baruto was able to counter every move that opponent had to offer and literally crushed the "little guy" at the end :)

Edited March 19, 2010 by pisipepu

[Gernobono 466]

Nother day and Baruto still firmly on the track. Todays match must have been quite intimitating for future opponents (except Hakuho of course) as Baruto was able to counter every move that opponent had to offer and literally crushed the "little guy" at the end :)

tosay the only thing that saved him was the difference in height.....because is that much taller than toyonoshima he wass able to reach for the back of the mawashi and win by leaning on toyonoshima......not a "lucky" win, but still one that had nothing to do with "technique" in my eyes

[Kotobaru 0]

Who compared Baruto with elephant? He proved today that he is relative of kangaroos.

[pisipepu 0]

Nother day and Baruto still firmly on the track. Todays match must have been quite intimitating for future opponents (except Hakuho of course) as Baruto was able to counter every move that opponent had to offer and literally crushed the "little guy" at the end :)

tosay the only thing that saved him was the difference in height.....because is that much taller than toyonoshima he wass able to reach for the back of the mawashi and win by leaning on toyonoshima......not a "lucky" win, but still one that had nothing to do with "technique" in my eyes

True, his technic can not be even compared to several others, but being big and slow, he uses whatever tools he has and today in my eyes he used them well.

[Iginishiki 0]

Quite well said, IMHO - Baruto *is* big and strong and uses these assets the way he can - either as a tsuridashi crane, or simply wearing out or outmuscling his opponents. In a sense, he seems to me to be an antithesis of Mainoumi, but then again, they also completely differ in size :) Either way, I'm fine with Baruto's doing so far and I'm rather curious to see what evolves of him - a full fledged Ozeki or a regular sanyaku rikishi.

Kind regards,

Iginishiki

[Barang 0]

I suppose that result of tomorrow match against Kakuryu decided quite much about for his Ozeki-run.

[Kintamayama 45,111]

The worst tachiai in sumo history, with eyes closed, a perfect henka, and yet , Baruto perseveres.

New Baruto rocks and rules!

[Kotobaru 0]

The worst tachiai in sumo history, with eyes closed, a perfect henka, and yet , Baruto perseveres.

New Baruto rocks and rules!

At some point of basho Baruto gets overconfident with his result and loses his concentration to details, then being old-Baruto with rude techniques and simplistic tactics. Last Basho it was against Toyonoshima and it was the same today. He can't win everybody with the same thrusts to throat as he did in previous matches. But good is to see the intensity ;-)

[Barang 0]

Baruto perseveres.

I did not notice that Baruto

[Lynx 0]

Baruto perseveres.

I did not notice that Baruto

[Barang 0]

"Easy" matches for Baruto are almost over. Next one is Kaio then he certainly has three more Ozekis and Great Khan. Who might be two other opponents?

[Kotobaru 0]

"Easy" matches for Baruto are almost over. Next one is Kaio then he certainly has three more Ozekis and Great Khan. Who might be two other opponents?

One can easily be Tokitenku if he continues to be in Yusho race and the other should be Kotoshogiku. If Toki does start losing than anybody else.

[Bealzbob 0]

Still doing brilliantly although he has yet to beat anyone with a winning record. Tomorrow the real basho starts :) I have total confidence in him.

[HenryK 38]

At 9-0, I guess it's time to trace this cat in serious. Is this finally his Ozeki promotino basho?

Btw, I have Baruto down as future Yokozuna, if he does not injure himself. His sumo will never be particularly beautiful, but it's very effective.

Edited March 22, 2010 by HenryK

[Kuroyama 715]

Let's not forget that we're talking about a man who, as long as he was healthy, could simply coast to sekiwake with a goofy grin on his face. More importantly (since many sekitori make it to sanyaku at least once in their careers) he is able to stay there.

Now that he's gotten serious, I think the sky's the limit for him. And he's still improving.

[pisipepu 0]

tough fight today and even tougher one tomorrow. I quess there is no chance Hakuho will take him easy, as he might have done last basho. So while Barutos performance so far has been very impressive (seems his thumb is not bothering him too much in last few days), win tomorrow woul be nothing short of small miracle. Fingers crossed ;)

[lkhamaa 0]

Next Yokozuna is not Baruto, but Harumafuji

[tympsa 0]

As there is sometimes talk about wether Baruto is ready to be ozeki or wether his sumo quality is up to oz level, i did some meaningless number-crunching. Starting from his last KK-after-MK (64 bouts) winning percentages are

Baruto - 75%

Yokozunas -

Hakuho 92,2%

Asashoryu 80%

Ozekis

Harumafuij 64%

Kotoshu 68,8%

Kaio 54,7%

Kotomitsuki 56,1%

Chiotaikai 29,3%

(with last 2 i didnt count bouts not fought due injury)

Of course we all know recent numbers, but to just once more to rub it in, seems to me that at least last 4-5 tournaments he has been more ozeki than other ozekis... ;)

This stat is great. It tells pretty much who is the shoe in for ozeki. Could be nice if it included everyone's before ozeki stats.

If anyone is up to doing more number noodling, I would love to see winning percentages of pre- and post Ozeki status. HF, for example, had significant numbers before his promotion, and his % now (post-promo) will be quite different.

I would love to see these numbers too . But being very suspicious person , more interesting for me is : how much ( if any ) "help" ozeki candidates get from others. My understanding from sumo top men is - they are pro athletes and very competitive of course, but they are also colleagues. If your colleague at work needs help of favor( like couple of extra wins to get promotion or save his rank and salary ) and you can easily give it to him without harming your own interest, would you do it ? Especially if you know that favor will be returned if you need it desperately . After all sumo is not only their sport and passion, it is also their work and their income .

Without knowing exact numbers I can still guess that every ozeki gets less wins after promotion than he got during his ozeki-run. Are they worse now, I mean younger ozekis ? Kaio and Mickey of course are not so good any more because of age and injuries . But Osh and ex-Ama ? Are they satisfied with ozeki rank, settled down and not trying so hard any more ? Or did they just get some extra wins from fellow rikishis during their ozeki runs and they dont get it any more ? And does Bart get some help during his ozeki-campaign ? His numbers are very-very good and sometimes he even wins matches he usually loses ... I wonder if this new and improved Baruto lasts after he gets promotion ? Remains to be seen

[pisipepu 0]

I would be very-very surprised if they would not help eachother every now and then. But of course, You have to be consistently on certain level to expect favours. Even Don King couldnt arrange ozrun for Aran for example, there is no way he can collect so many favours (In jonokuchi...)

So we are talking maybe 1-2 maches every other basho among sanyaku mainstay rikishi "influenced" by such agreements and certainly there are situations where those favours are not handed. Todays mach with Kotoshu might have been actually "with favour" - Kotooshu has nothing to lose and all know that they are friends with Baruto...

[Senpai 0]

I would be very-very surprised if they would not help eachother every now and then. But of course, You have to be consistently on certain level to expect favours. Even Don King couldnt arrange ozrun for Aran for example, there is no way he can collect so many favours (In jonokuchi...)

So we are talking maybe 1-2 maches every other basho among sanyaku mainstay rikishi "influenced" by such agreements and certainly there are situations where those favours are not handed. Todays mach with Kotoshu might have been actually "with favour" - Kotooshu has nothing to lose and all know that they are friends with Baruto...

Who are those all that know that Osh and Bart are friends or even so good buddies that Osh would throw a bout for him?

[pisipepu 0]

I would be very-very surprised if they would not help eachother every now and then. But of course, You have to be consistently on certain level to expect favours. Even Don King couldnt arrange ozrun for Aran for example, there is no way he can collect so many favours (In jonokuchi...)

So we are talking maybe 1-2 maches every other basho among sanyaku mainstay rikishi "influenced" by such agreements and certainly there are situations where those favours are not handed. Todays mach with Kotoshu might have been actually "with favour" - Kotooshu has nothing to lose and all know that they are friends with Baruto...

Who are those all that know that Osh and Bart are friends or even so good buddies that Osh would throw a bout for him?

Hmm, i remember reading about it some time ago but as i can not provide You source, i take it back. Maybe they are not friends. But there is still good possibility that as colleagues and proffessionals thay might occasionally do this. We have numerous examples from other "proffessional" fields of sport (mostly when they get caught - F1, football, boxing etc) so it is not so unreasonable to think that such things may happen also in sumo.