This IS the July 2020 Basho thread!! Spoilers!!

[kumoryu 95]

I was really hoping the four ex-ozeki would have a full round-robin against each other, but only four of the six matches will have happened this basho. So long as all four remain I aim to keep monitoring this. 

The results this time:

Takayasu 2-0

Terunofuji 1-1

Tochinoshin 1-1

Kotoshogiku 0-2

 

[Seiyashi 4,108]

I don't think they'll ever put Kotoshogiku against Terunofuji.

[since_94 650]

Yeah, Terutsuyoshi made everybody’s tickets for tomorrow worth a lot more, spectacle-wise. Gonna be a barn burner of a finish.

[Akinomaki 40,755]

Daieisho-Myogiryu as first kore-yore sanyaku bout looks like a gino-sho play-off - no way Terutsuyoshi gets it.

There are so many option for the shukun-sho that I rather think they give it Terunofuji unconditionally - he has at least a play-off guaranteed.

Both sekiwake deserve a sansho, especially with another win tomorrow, and extra so if one gets the yusho.

[kumoryu 95]

10 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

I don't think they'll ever put Kotoshogiku against Terunofuji.

Am I missing something? They've met on numerous occasions before....

[Akinomaki 40,755]

1 minute ago, kumoryu said:

12 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

I don't think they'll ever put Kotoshogiku against Terunofuji.

Am I missing something? They've met on numerous occasions before....

A thought because Terunofuji is the one generally blamed for causing Kotoshogiku to fail to return to ozeki - but of course they had bouts after that as well, as long as Terunofuji had the chance, before he started the great downfall

[Gooner 39]

I think Mitakeumi will win it all although I would love to see another kimedashi win of Terunofuji just like in Hatsu 2017. Probably Terunofujis most impressive win of his career.

Tokushoryu could not have drawn a tougher opponent in his battle for kachikoshi. He's 0-8 against Endo...

I'm glad to see Takayasu and Tochinoshin both have their first good tournament in about a year. They did not face eachother which is a bit weird considering they have had almost identical records all through the basho and are only one and a half rank apart.

Edited August 1, 2020 by Gooner

[Philioyamfugi 378]

1 hour ago, kumoryu said:

Am I missing something? They've met on numerous occasions before....

Was expecting a Kotoshugiku Ternunofuji match this time,  but Terurnofuji leaped frog over the Geek and may never fight him again (the way i interpret).

Lot of top experience for Terinofuji, I'm rooting for him !

Brilliant move by Terusuoshi  He's my favorite lil guy.

And Kagayaki wins in an oshi battle, rare. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Philioyamfugi

[Akinomaki 40,755]

After a private NSK ceremony last basho, with just Cup, flag and Prime Minister's Cup also from Hakkaku, the July basho will again have a bunch of awards, though not all we are used to - e.g. no mushrooms, no petrol, no NHK - neither cup nor interview, no Ozeki sake cup (they also had no kensho placed this basho). But all the Nagoya awards: Aichi governor, Nagoya city and 3 local media awards - and the Nara prefecture award for Natsu. http://www.sumo.or.jp/pdf/honbasho/kansen/torikumi/2007_15.pdf

Edited August 1, 2020 by Akinomaki

[lackmaker 438]

How common is it for all of junior sanyaku to finish with double digit win records?

[Seiyashi 4,108]

1 minute ago, lackmaker said:

How common is it for all of junior sanyaku to finish with double digit win records?

It's never happened. The one time there were 4 junior sanyaku with double-digit wins (Kyushu 1999), there were 3 komusubi and therefore 5 junior sanyaku. 

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Query.aspx?show_form=0&group_by=basho&form1_rank=s, k&form1_wins=10-15

Edited August 1, 2020 by Seiyashi

[Eikokurai 3,437]

Just because I’m weird and like to find patterns in the results (for no reason at all), East and West exchanged wins for the final 10 bouts in a row today.

Edited August 1, 2020 by Eikokurai

[ryafuji 815]

3 hours ago, Jakusotsu said:

Quite funny. Until day 9 Asanoyama was a shoo-in for becoming next yokozuna. Now he might not even be starting a tsuna-run.

I think that embarrassing loss has killed any tsuna run for now. 

[RabidJohn 1,853]

Well, I wished for a messy finish; all I need now is for Mitakeumi to make it really messy tomorrow! A makuuchi tomoe-sen would IMO be a near perfect way to finish, no matter who wins. Perfect would be Asanoyama coming through to yusho.

Yeah, the Asanoyama tsuna bandwagon has hit a bump in the road, but he's a shin-ozeki still coming into his prime. He's put up good ozeki numbers, like he should, and we can realistically expect no more. 

Terutsuyoshi doing exactly what a good heya-mate should do to help his junior's yusho chances. Easy to forget that rikishi operate in teams and are motivated by heya and ichimon affiliations, but it's also why heya-mates don't face each other in regulation bouts. I think less of it being a bad loss for Asanoyama than an outstanding example of ashitori at the highest level of ozumo. Props to Terutsuyoshi.

Massively impressed with Shodai and Mitakeumi already this basho, no matter what happens on senshuraku. They've put up good ozeki numbers as well, so we shall just have to wait and see what they do next. Mitakeumi has teased me far too often, so I'm investing no expectation. I have to admit, however, that we can't currently refer to Shodai as NTNO.

I quite enjoyed the Kagayaki-Kotonowaka bout. I've no doubt a fully healthy Kotonowaka would have blitzed it, but Kagayaki has shown previously that he's not totally helpless on the belt. He did exactly what he needed to do, putting all the pressure on his aite's new Geek-esque knee. 

What a great basho!

[Nantonoyama 252]

9 minutes ago, ryafuji said:

I think that embarrassing loss has killed any tsuna run for now. 

He is still in the yusho race, and I cannot see the NSK not promoting him if he goes Y-Y (even D-Y may be enough)

[Seiyashi 4,108]

1 minute ago, Nantonoyama said:

He is still in the yusho race, and I cannot see the NSK not promoting him if he goes Y-Y (even D-Y may be enough)

Even D-D is enough, if he at least 13-2s next time. But he has to not drop his bout against Shodai tomorrow for that to happen, and that's not a certainty at this point. He may or may not be mentally rattled after consecutive losses, and Shodai is coming down off a confidence high and playing for his own yusho chances too.

[Tigerboy1966 1,472]

I think fans have been getting over-excited over Asanoyama as a potential yokozuna. I would just like to see him stack up rock solid ozeki performances for the next year or so instead of dropping in and out of kadoban like most recent holders of the rank. It took Harumafuji 23 basho to get from ozeki to yokozuna, and for Musashimaru it took 32 and neither of those lads did too badly as yokozuna. Ozeki are the icing on the sumo cake and the yokozuna is the cherry on top: one is essential, the other is desirable.

[hakutorizakura 643]

In the case of a 3-way playoff, how do they decide who go first? Rank-based or just drawing lots?

[Seiyashi 4,108]

1 minute ago, Tigerboy1966 said:

I think fans have been getting over-excited over Asanoyama as a potential yokozuna. I would just like to see him stack up rock solid ozeki performances for the next year or so instead of dropping in and out of kadoban like most recent holders of the rank. It took Harumafuji 23 basho to get from ozeki to yokozuna, and for Musashimaru it took 32 and neither of those lads did too badly as yokozuna. Ozeki are the icing on the sumo cake and the yokozuna is the cherry on top: one is essential, the other is desirable.

I agree fans have been getting over-excited, perhaps due to his shin-ozeki record (the last shin-ozeki to get double figures was Terunofuji, by the way), and while it's still mathematically possible for Asanoyama to be yokozuna by Kyushu, I don't think he can beat Shodai tomorrow. He already seemed a bit rattled before losing to Terutsuyoshi, and I think Shodai will have the edge on him mentally tomorrow, and at best Asanoyama has to start next basho on his rope run. 

That being said, Asanoyama has shown a wonderful capacity to learn and grow - his sumo this basho was miles away from his sumo during his first yusho - and I think he has it in him to reach yokozuna early next year. If the fans were getting excited because of the quality of his sumo, I think it's justified.

Harumafuji and Musashimaru were gatekept pretty hard by Hakuho and Takanohana though. It's still an achievement that either of them even made yokozuna considering their primary opposition. With both Hakuho and Kakuryu out of this tournament, both handing in on-and-off performances, and with at least one of them likely to retire soon, I rate Asanoyama's chances more like Akebono's - he'll either make it quite soon, or very shortly after they both retire, considering he's proven himself capable of dominating almost the entire field.

[lackmaker 438]

But Shodai is hardly Mr. Reliable. No way of knowing which version will turn up most days.

[Seiyashi 4,108]

2 minutes ago, lackmaker said:

But Shodai is hardly Mr. Reliable. No way of knowing which version will turn up most days.

He used to be, but the version the past few tournaments have been anything but unreliable. If anything, it's Mitakeumi that's more deserving of Mr Unreliable than Shodai nowadays.

[Genjurooo 6]

If he wins tomorrow will Takagenji still fall out of Juryo? 

I don't see the top Makushita dudes doing so well.

[Seiyashi 4,108]

Just now, Genjurooo said:

If he wins tomorrow will Takagenji still fall out of Juryo? 

I don't see the top Makushita dudes doing so well.

Good chance to be saved by his rank, since Hoshoryu also dropped one rank with the same result in his debut juryo tournament. But if he loses, it's almost certainly to Makushita with him, since his bout was deliberately set up as an exchange bout.

[lackmaker 438]

19 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

He used to be, but the version the past few tournaments have been anything but unreliable. If anything, it's Mitakeumi that's more deserving of Mr Unreliable than Shodai nowadays.

Just hope he's on it from the get go or he could be fighting a rearguard action.

[ryafuji 815]

39 minutes ago, hakutorizakura said:

In the case of a 3-way playoff, how do they decide who go first? Rank-based or just drawing lots?

The latter.