Takakeisho Determined to Return to Ozeki

[Gaijingai 1,532]

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/08/841025755b45-sumo-takakeisho-determined-to-regain-ozeki-ranking-in-september.html

[dingo 1,161]

Good to see that he's taking a fairly positive view regarding his situation, at least publicly. 

[Bunbukuchagama 690]

9 hours ago, dingo said:

Good to see that he's taking a fairly positive view regarding his situation, at least publicly. 

What did you expect him to say? "I know I have no chance but I still have to try just in case"? 

[ViscountessNivlac 24]

I guess part of me would like to think he could do it, but watching Takakeisho lose in the last days of the last basho felt like watching somebody die. It might be for the best if he were to hang up the mawashi.

[MrGrumpyGills 119]

I'm really wishing the best for him and will probably hope against hope that he'll make it, but I don't think it'll happen. This is going to be a very sad basho for me.

[dingo 1,161]

23 hours ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

What did you expect him to say? "I know I have no chance but I still have to try just in case"? 

I wouldn't be surprised if he said something like that on a more roundabout way. There's many different ways to put things, not everything has to be as blunt as you offered. 

[Gospodin 187]

On 30/08/2024 at 20:16, dingo said:

I wouldn't be surprised if he said something like that on a more roundabout way. There's many different ways to put things, not everything has to be as blunt as you offered. 

"If my body allows me to..., I will..."

[Yamanashi 3,730]

4 hours ago, Gospodin said:

"If my body allows me to..., I will..."

Fall comes with typhoons,

Rain and wind in Ashiya,

I will gambarize.

[RabidJohn 1,667]

14 hours ago, Gospodin said:

"If my body allows me to..., I will..."

That doesn't sound like Takakeisho, though. He's made a very successful career out of exceeding the bounds of what his body allows.

It's why he's a former ozeki with four yusho to his name, and why he's in the state he's in.

[Gurowake 3,924]

If he fails to return to Ozeki after this basho, he should sit out a year to drop to Sandanme and then come back.  He needs that division Yusho to get one in every division, and if we hadn't already heard it suggested he would retire if he fails, it would likely be a good idea without such motivation if his injuries were capable of healing with time off.  I have a feeling though that they really aren't, which is presumably why the retirement option is being considered despite his relatively young age.    

[Fashiritētā 169]

2 hours ago, Gurowake said:

If he fails to return to Ozeki after this basho, he should sit out a year to drop to Sandanme and then come back.  He needs that division Yusho to get one in every division, and if we hadn't already heard it suggested he would retire if he fails, it would likely be a good idea without such motivation if his injuries were capable of healing with time off.  I have a feeling though that they really aren't, which is presumably why the retirement option is being considered despite his relatively young age.    

I totally agree, said the same after last basho, hes still young enough to get back to Sanyaku if he chooses to take the year off, i think it should start this coming basho, i just cant see him winning 10 this time around.

[Bunbukuchagama 690]

2 hours ago, Fashiritētā said:

if he chooses to take the year off

Will his neck heal magically?

[Kaninoyama 1,694]

I think it was already reported, however accurately, that if he fails to return to Ozeki after this basho, he's going to pull a Goeido, call it quits, and go into the oyakata business. 

I'd be surprised if he did otherwise. 

 

Edited September 3 by Kaninoyama

[dingo 1,161]

A bit of topic but does anyone know who is the youngest rikishi to become oyakata? Takakeisho has just turned 28 and that seems fairly young to me. I tried googling but didn't find much. Most retirings seem to be in the 30s.

[Akinomaki 39,856]

Recently Chiyootori became a young elder - at 29 - what happened to the thread about his intai? http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/topic/41339-chiyootori-intai-split-from-kyushu-2021-discussion/

[RabidJohn 1,667]

Current rijicho Hakkaku retired from the dohyo at 28 years and 10 months.

It seems even younger considering average sekitori career longevity has increased quite a bit in the last 30-odd years. 

Edited September 4 by RabidJohn

[Asashosakari 18,808]

9 hours ago, dingo said:

A bit of topic but does anyone know who is the youngest rikishi to become oyakata? Takakeisho has just turned 28 and that seems fairly young to me. I tried googling but didn't find much. Most retirings seem to be in the 30s.

I was about to start researching that when my chosen method of querying the DB triggered a distinct feeling of "Haven't I done exactly this before?", and sure enough...

Chiyootori is indeed the only under-30 addition since I made that list six years ago, although Kotoyuki came close by retiring 12 days after his 30th birthday. Other recent young intai rikishi who were kabu-eligible but didn't get one were Yutakayama (at 29), Terutsuyoshi (also at 29), and Ichinojo (a few weeks after turning 30).

Edited September 4 by Asashosakari

[Gurowake 3,924]

22 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

he's going to pull a Goeido

Goeido didn't even try to get back the next time at Sekiwake, and he was at a much more reasonable age (33) to retire, even if there's plenty older than that in Makuuchi.  Retiring soon after demotion was much more common in the past; we've just had a bunch of short-term Ozeki who don't feel as though they were really defined by that rank, and thus continuing to fight on from lower sanyaku or maegashira makes sense.  It doesn't make sense as much for Takakeisho though from that perspective - it's just that he's gotten to that point at a younger age than most since he managed to get to Ozeki so young.  (Don't ask me why Kotoshogiku gave it another couple years after demotion; at least I'm recognizing when my narrative doesn't fully work.)

[Sakura 1,472]

4 hours ago, Gurowake said:

 (Don't ask me why Kotoshogiku gave it another couple years after demotion; at least I'm recognizing when my narrative doesn't fully work.)

I always felt like he wanted to end with more wins than Kisenosato.

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,249]

Takakeisho already has tons of injuries, he’s been stunned on the dohyo with his neck thing similar to ishiura, he reset a dislocated shoulder after a match once, and he had a massive pec rupture similar to kisenosato at heya practice. He’s young but he’s gonna age real fast with all the damage he’s done.

[Yamanashi 3,730]

36 minutes ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

Takakeisho already has tons of injuries, he’s been stunned on the dohyo with his neck thing similar to ishiura, he reset a dislocated shoulder after a match once, and he had a massive pec rupture similar to kisenosato at heya practice. He’s young but he’s gonna age real fast with all the damage he’s done.

"It's not the years ... it's the mileage."

- Indiana Jones

 

Certainly true of the Angry Hamster.

[Churaumi 728]

He'll also (likely) be retiring young enough to have some good luck recuperating when he isn't at least nominally preparing for basho every couple months. He'll be better off than if he hangs on past his mid-30s, when things start slowing down.

[Yarimotsu 522]

6 hours ago, Churaumi said:

He'll also (likely) be retiring young enough to have some good luck recuperating when he isn't at least nominally preparing for basho every couple months. He'll be better off than if he hangs on past his mid-30s, when things start slowing down.

It's hard to imagine what kind of figure takakeisho could cut without the pressures of sumo. 

I want to wish him well in the ring, to a degree, and I know his passion for the sport still drives him. I know how that feels. But at this point I think the main reaction to his retirement would be a feeling of relief.

[Kaninoyama 1,694]

1 hour ago, Yarimotsu said:

It's hard to imagine what kind of figure takakeisho could cut without the pressures of sumo. 

I want to wish him well in the ring, to a degree, and I know his passion for the sport still drives him. I know how that feels. But at this point I think the main reaction to his retirement would be a feeling of relief.

Contrary to his severe facial expressions on the dohyo, off the dohyo he comes off as an affable fellow with a good sense of humor. What I really wonder about is whether he's going to go on the Gagamaru diet after he hangs up the mawashi, and what he'd look like if he did. 

[RabidJohn 1,667]

6 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

What I really wonder about is whether he's going to go on the Gagamaru diet after he hangs up the mawashi, and what he'd look like if he did. 

Something like Fat Bastard at the end of Goldmember I should imagine. 

Edit: No longer being able to embed images is no fun!