Hatsu 2022 discussions (results)

[Seiyashi 4,072]

I think some threads are getting crossed here. The question is, have they fundamentally changed what a mage-pull is, or is it just a clarification of when you would lose via mage-pull - i.e. if the rikishi who would have otherwise lost via normal kimarite also performs a mage-pull in the process of trying to recover, does he lose to the normal kimarite or to hansoku? 

I didn't hear the original statement so I don't know which it actually is, but the report sounds like if you grab - i.e. closed fist - a mage it's an automatic hansoku and they just wait for the end of the bout to be sure, and they'll call it as a hansoku rather than whatever the rikishi would have lost to otherwise. That hasn't changed what we understand a mage-pull to be. The rikishis' remedy to that is just the old advice of, if you're going anywhere near the hair, never curl fingers.

But if they've actually changed that so that an open hand stuck near the hair through whatever combination of tape, friction, or bintsuke is now called a mage-pull, then yeah, I'm with you, that's not a change they needed to make.

[Benihana 1,916]

25 minutes ago, Gernobono said:

what ist accidental grabbing?

For example when ones hand slips and fingers get accidentally entangled in the hair. Happens on occasion.

14 minutes ago, Akinomaki said:

Any hatakikomi may involve touching the mage and most look like obnoxious shimpan could call that a hanasoku

That's what we have the video referee for. No grabbing move, no entaglement, no foul.

[RabidJohn 1,725]

No one said a word about Terunofuji quickly disentangling his fingers from Daieisho's mage as he went down...

I mean, it looked to have no effect on the outcome and was obviously accidental, but you can see it in the replay. 

They can talk all they like about changing the rules, but it looks like nothing has changed in practice.

Edited January 9, 2022 by RabidJohn

[rhyen 1,823]

11 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Hatsu basho has produced six straight first-time yusho winners since 2016. Will we see a seventh this year? 

That was the theme for Kisenosato’s sumo inside out. 

Kisenosato looked so smug for correctly predicting that most Hatsu Yushos winners would get it at the rank of ozeki.

the predictions were Meisei (courtesy of Hoshoryu’s engo shakegi), Abi, Takanosho & Ura (Kisenosato’s pick)

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV18m4y1D7T6

Edited January 9, 2022 by rhyen

[Seiyashi 4,072]

1 minute ago, rhyen said:

2 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Terunofuji always seems to get scares on shonichi; maybe everyone is hyped up about beating him to start a basho with.

Also, Satonofuji is back for the yumitorishiki! Seems to be a fixture despite Shohozan being technically around. Guess he qualifies again for being the tsukebito of a yokozuna.

Since when did Shohozan ever perform the yumitori ceremony?

Shohoryu, I meant. Thanks for the catch.

[rhyen 1,823]

 

[Seiyashi 4,072]

Was that a preview of Takanosho v Shodai? 

[Kashunowaka 300]

And we're off! 

[Tochinofuji 377]

Can someone remind me the name for the staggered stance that Wakamotoharu takes at the shikirisen? I recall it was once seen as a "sign of greatness" or some such thing, but can't remember where. 

And well done to Sadanoumi for executing a textbook judo uchimata-sukashi to counter Akua's kakenage attempt. Just beautiful. Interesting that it's effectively it's own kimarite of sorts in judo, but a more pedestrian-sounding  yoritaoshi here. 

[Eikokurai 3,437]

7 hours ago, Thorbjarn said:

Reminds me of a football tournament a few years back where the whole street me and my then-gf lived in started fireworks and motorcades because of a last minute winner while we still had a minute of the match left. 

Watching live football in Shanghai can try your patience if you’re at one of the bar streets. I watched WC 2018 in one place where the game was streaming at three different speeds in different bars around a square, and you could hear people cheering before anything had happened at ours. Similar in the Euro 2020 final where the bar next door was showing the Chinese TV broadcast with no delay but the bar I was in was using an English stream about a minute behind. It got pretty annoying.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Eikokurai

[Philioyamfugi 378]

Oho manhandled Kaisa, at 21 hes someone to watch. Starting to really like Abi's offensive sumo, Diasho is simular, both on the balls of their feet , extending and aggressive. Fun to watch. 

[BroadMeadow 34]

What a joy it is to watch Terunofuji's sumo. Before his fall to injuries he was an explosion of fury and force. He seemed so angry I wasn't sure what he was more irritated at: his opponent, or the mere fact of being there. I loved hating him.

What is yokozuna sumo? Multiple yokozuna demurred to answer in NHK's recent Hakuho retirement video. Hakuho- even to the end- was a blast to watch. The way he got himself into and out of trouble was incredible. But his talent was so singular you knew it couldn't be matched. You couldn't characterize Hakuho's as "yokozuna sumo" because he seemed to transcend the rank itself.

Some might call Terunofuji's sumo passive, or patient. For me it is controlled. He seems to be controlling everything by being controlled. He is not imposing his will on the match. The match comes to him, and he responds to it. His opponent is charging, working, grabbing, straining against a mountain that absorbs all the effort and turns it whichever way he wishes. His two bad knees have made him twice the rikishi. His strength has been brought low and he is the better for it. He can no longer rely of the fury of brute force. But he can now take his opponent's strength and make it his own.

I am pretty sure I will never see a greater wrestler than Hakuho. But I am not sure I will ever see a better yokozuna than Terunofuji.

[Octofuji 350]

Takarafuji had little to offer against Abi today despite coming into the bout with a winning record against him.

I wouldn't really have expected Takarafuji to try anything out of the ordinary. But in general it seems surprisingly hard for yotsu-inclined wrestlers to get in and under the slaps and grab Abi's belt. Instead it looks like Abi very much dictates the style of his matches.

[Tigerboy1966 1,417]

5 hours ago, Tochinofuji said:

And well done to Sadanoumi for executing a textbook judo uchimata-sukashi to counter Akua's kakenage attempt.

And he pulled it off against a judo guy!

[Kotomiyama 165]

2022 starts with a wonderful sotogake from Hoshoryu. I expect him to be a sanyaku mainstay by the end of the year.

[jsolo 106]

January (Hatsu) 2022 Basho--DAY 1 Links and Statistics Blog--videos, photos, match articles, quotes, results and standings, kimarite statistics, time of match statistics, top rank performance, Maegashira v san'yaku, Rookie performances and more.

Enjoy

[Jakusotsu 5,876]

Is that some kind of bad inside joke of Morita and Pradhan, calling the shin-yu-maku "shiny new maku"?

[I am the Yokozuna 188]

新入幕

shin-nyu-maku

so you need to hear/pronounce double n

[Seiyashi 4,072]

A surprisingly light-footed bout from Mitakeumi today. It didn't look like sumo at all, but it seems to have worked to disorient Ichinojo.

Mitakeumi's sumo seems to have stepped up a notch. It's a good sign that Mitakeumi's bouts are looking this effortless....? 

[rokudenashi 298]

Atamifuji's day trip up to jūryō went about as well as it possibly could, with a complete steamrolling of Yago. He is so exciting to watch right now.

[Benihana 1,916]

Oh no! I hope it's only a minor concussion for Ura. Looked bad how Shodai landed on Ura's right leg.

[Akinomaki 40,098]

That doesn't look good for Ura, he couldn't bow and had to be helped stepping down from the dohyo

Edited January 10, 2022 by Akinomaki

[Akinomaki 40,098]

Ura shown in the wheelchair now - looks like kyujo

[Seiyashi 4,072]

2 minutes ago, Benihana said:

Oh no! I hope it's only a minor concussion for Ura. Looked bad how Shodai landed on Ura's right leg.

I don't think it's a concussion at all. The slow mo seemed to show a lot more strain being put on Ura's right leg prior to the taoshi, even before he took that awkward spill off the dohyo and had Shodai land on top of him. Kyujo incoming.

EDIT: even in the wheelchair he's favouring his right leg (not placing his foot on the footrest), which is not a good sign.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Seiyashi

[Kaninoyama 1,713]

On the NHK broadcast Ura confirmed he hit his head, not a leg injury.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Kaninoyama