Kyushu 2021 discussion

[Katooshu 3,079]

That was one of the biggest hair pulls I've seen. Usually someone accidentally gets a finger or two caught in the mage mid technique, but 'Jo had a whole handful and was holding on for a good couple of seconds.

Teru-Takayasu and Takakeisho-Hoshoryu tomorrow - not bad! 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Katooshu

[Hankegami 412]

Hair pulling aside, I noticed that Takakeisho tried a leg kick (kekaishi, I presume?). I never saw him doing anything different from pushing and thrusting, but it's also true I saw very few bashos so far. Is it part of his known repertoire, or is it a novelty for him?

[Katooshu 3,079]

He's never won by kekaeshi and I don't recall him using it.

I must admit I don't like that technique. It gets called a foot sweep, but it's often just a full force kick to the shin. Gives me the vibes that intentional headbutts and elbows do. 

It makes me wonder - would a proper, wound up muay thai kick to the leg be legal in sumo, because foot sweep and all that?

Edited November 21, 2021 by Katooshu

[RabidJohn 1,628]

I've heard him speak in yusho interviews often enough, but Magaki was surprisingly soft spoken, almost to the point of inaudibility at times, as co-commentator today.

That henka into a katasukashi by Ura against Chiyotairyu is the most dynamic I've seen him at the tachi-ai this basho. I know there are those who won't like it because it was a henka, but for me it was a lovely move.

I also loved Tobizaru's brilliant kekaeshi against Tamawashi in the bout that followed.

Mitakeumi has set up his disappointing week 2 just about perfectly...

I don't have any issues with the hansoku call on Ichinojo's bout with Takakeisho; he clearly had a handful of mage in his grip. But the way it was called, especially after that meaningless and lengthy stalemate, plays right into the hands of the conspiracy theorists.

[Akinomaki 39,479]

1 hour ago, Faustonowaka said:

Just wondering: if the gyoji had noticed the hairpull in the beginning of the bout, I suppose he could have immediately stopped the match and declare Takakeisho the winner? Has such a thing ever happened before? I was under the impression they only call hansoku when a bout is allready over and when the hansoku directly lead to your opponent falling down or out

The gyoji can't stop the bout for a hair-pull and the shimpan won't, it always gets revised afterwards. A mawashi falling off would stop the bout immediately and in danger of that, the bout gets paused and the gyoji has to fix the problem.

[Thorbjarn 214]

26 minutes ago, RabidJohn said:

Mitakeumi has set up his disappointing week 2 just about perfectly...

That's true, but he will also have the tough opponents in the second week. He's beating most of the opponents he is supposed to for now. 

[Amamaniac 2,078]

Another question (at the risk of aggravating the mods), what would have happened Takakeisho had ended up winning the bout at the end?  Would the judges still have called a monoii (assuming they had spotted the hair pull earlier), or would they have simply let the call stand, and not waste precious time?

Without a monoii, however, the video review team would probably be obliged to rule on the actual technique rather than rule it as hansoku...

I guess my real question is: Has anyone seen a case where a hair pull occurs early in a bout, and the wrestler who had his hair pulled ends up winning, but a monoii gets called anyway to make sure that the culprit knows that he can't get away with the essential transgression?

[Tigerboy1966 1,368]

2 hours ago, Hankegami said:

I noticed that Takakeisho tried a leg kick (kekaishi, I presume?).

I think the technical term for that leg kick was "desperation".

[Amamaniac 2,078]

One thing that the hansoku bout revealed is that Takakeisho hasn't as yet developed his belt game.  When Ichinojo got a grip on the Takakeisho's mawashi, he more or less neutralised the Ozeki's attack.  Who else do we know that is big and has a long reach (token extra clue: is Mongolian)?

When the inevitable time comes, Terunofuji doesn't necessarily need to get a belt grip on Takakeisho to win, ... but if he does, the odds of winning will definitely be in his favour.

[Rocks 1,801]

6 hours ago, Jakusotsu said:

Could we just fast-forward to the end of the hairpull discussion please?

It will be over soon. Don't pull your hair out. 

[Yamanashi 3,669]

13 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

To be fair, though, everyone recognises that Kisenosato had the devil's own luck with injury (compounded with his/his shisho's stubbornness) and he might well have been good for at least a couple more, if not beating Kaio's yusho haul, had he not been injured. Plus, winning your shin-yokozuna basho is a pretty spectacular achievement as well. So it's not much of a contest here.

The better question would probably be, "Would you rather be Kaio or Wakanohana"? Same era, same number of makuuchi championships, one made it to yokozuna but the other didn't, but their legacies and overall assessment are very different. In fact, Wakanohana is pretty much the poster boy for "would have been remembered as a great ozeki if not for promotion", although that is probably shaded a little by his father and brother. I think I would still prefer to be Wakanohana, but it's a lot more borderline and not as clear cut as Kaio v Kisenosato.

True, true, but I would counter that he was a special case because of his brother You-Know-Who-hana.  I contend his career would have been very different if he had been some random guy named Wakanoyama from the same heya.

[Jakusotsu 5,721]

On 20/11/2021 at 18:34, hakutorizakura said:

And Chiyonokuni is back in his honey badger mode!

More like a pooping baboon during his pre-bout routine.

[Tigerboy1966 1,368]

13 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Kisenosato had the devil's own luck with injury

"Devil's own luck" means inexplicably good luck. Kisenosato had the DOL with injury until his yokozuna promotion. Then it went all Faustian.

[hakutorizakura 581]

TKO got lucky there. Fast, aggressive Ichinojo is scary Ichinojo, but tough luck for him today.

On the hairy business between the gyoji and MIB, some knowledgeable person on the internet says so:

[hakutorizakura 581]

8 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

The gyoji can't stop the bout for a hair-pull and the shimpan won't, it always gets revised afterwards. A mawashi falling off would stop the bout immediately and in danger of that, the bout gets paused and the gyoji has to fix the problem.

This goes in the same spirit as the story of the implementation of safety helmets only decades after crotch guard in a certain sport. What's under the belly is more important then what's above the neck 

[Eikokurai 3,433]

Terunofuji faces his old nemesis Takayasu today. Though the Yokozuna won when they met in September, Takayasu has a great record against him.

[Kaninoyama 1,649]

5 minutes ago, Eikokurai said:

Terunofuji faces his old nemesis Takayasu today. Though the Yokozuna won when they met in September, Takayasu has a great record against him.

This basho, Terunofuji has somehow seemed both vulnerable and invincible at the same time. Today will be another test. 

[Yangnomazuma 77]

4 hours ago, hakutorizakura said:

TKO got lucky there. Fast, aggressive Ichinojo is scary Ichinojo, but tough luck for him today.

On the hairy business between the gyoji and MIB, some knowledgeable person on the internet says so:

Although I know who you mean with "TKO" much like the various "Taka" and "WTK" that litter the board, is it REALLY that difficult to use people's actual shikona?  Clarity is cool....

[Reonito 1,295]

9 hours ago, Amamaniac said:

One thing that the hansoku bout revealed is that Takakeisho hasn't as yet developed his belt game.

Not sure we were in need of more evidence of this 

[Gurowake 3,872]

2 hours ago, Yangnomazuma said:

Although I know who you mean with "TKO" much like the various "Taka" and "WTK" that litter the board, is it REALLY that difficult to use people's actual shikona?  Clarity is cool....

I don't have any problem typing out Takakeisho or Wakatakakage, but given that they are very long words and not often used, they are a bit of chore to get through.  For those who are slower typers especially, I can understand the habit.

[Katooshu 3,079]

Kinbozan (Kazakh newcomer from Nihon University) vs Kiryuko (former Tokitzukaze oyakata's very capable son)

4-0 vs 4-0 sandamne contender battle

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Katooshu

[yohcun 393]

What's with Oshoryu sporting twin black eyes?

[Katooshu 3,079]

I saw him with the right eye shiner the other day, bruised and swollen around the eyelid rather than below the eye as seen there. The way it looked, I wonder if he'd gotten poked hard in the eye. There was also nothing visibly wrong with his left eye at the time.

Sporting the full works now though!

Edited November 22, 2021 by Katooshu

[WAKATAKE 2,610]

Since we are into day 9 now, Will Pierre be able to do his promotions/demotions discussion?

[jsolo 106]

November Kyushu Sumo Links and Statistics Blog--Day 8: results, standings, match articles, kimarite statistics, time of match statistics, Kachi-koshi/Make-koshi, Top Rank Performance, maegashira v san'yakus, photos, videos, and more. Today there is a link to a Jonokuchi match that went 4 minutes. Lots of action in the match too. Pretty cool. Enjoy

November Kyushu Basho Links and Statistics Blog--Day 8