How about a sumo thread?

[Anton Gramscescu]

Enho has so far won eight times, by a diferent technique every time, and I'm wondering what the record is for different kimarite in a single tournament. He's tied for top spot with Ishiura and Chiyomaru in the juryo yusho race (sucks for Chiyomaru that Ishiura and Enho cannot fight each other because they are from the same heya). My man Nishigiki is clinging to Juryo status by his fingernails, still needs to win 3 of the last 4 to be sure of staying on the right side of the sekitori line.

Kakuryu has bowed to the inevitable and retired after missing 5 consecutive bashos.

Tochinoshin has looked really slow on the tachiai. He could well fall out of the top division this year.

Takayasu at 9-2 has a one-bout lead on Teru, Asano and Tobizaru. Additionally, Teru is two wins away from regaining his Ozeki rank which he lost three and a half years ago. My money is he wil get those two but not win the basho - I think Asanoyama might actually be the favourite here given Terunofuji's crap knees and occasional mental lapses and Takayasu's habit of choking in the stretch.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/sumofollower/status/1373889652504018944

[ursus arctos]

Dunno if anyone else is watching, but the Daiesho and Teronofuji bouts from today are worth one's time.
14:52 and 23:42 in these highlights

Alternative angles in this recommended review of unusual techniques

[ursus arctos]

Takakeisho's yokozuna bid looks to be dead in the water after he loses his first two matches and is clearly less than 100 percent fit

[ursus arctos]

Ooof

https://twitter.com/sumofollower/status/1346307563332247552

[Anton Gramscescu]

Kakuryuu got his citizenship papers, meaning he is finally eligible to become an oyakata. Raises the likelihood that January will be his final basho.

[ursus arctos]

The knee was never going to withstand a second bout within five minutes but his resurgence is incredibly good news for the competition.

We won't have a clear view of what the banzuke looks like until the distortions created by the Olympics are behind us (something that applies to a troubling aspects of Japanese life)

[Anton Gramscescu]

Brilliant finish. Terunofuji wins, but Takakeisho bounces back in the playoff match. Cue the giant macaron.

With Kakuryuu and Hakuho almost certain to be out of sumo before the end of 2021, we've got a whole new banzuke coming into play. 2021 sure seems likely to add at least one Ozeki (Terunofuji) and maybe two (Hokutofuji? not impossible). And, who knows: maybe Takakeisho becomes Yokozuna #73.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Watch the first bout here, a juryo bout between Ura and Azumaryuu. It contains the exact sumo equivalent of a Cruyff turn and is just freaking awesome.

This basho is picture perfect: Musubi-no-Ichiban on senshuraku is 12-2 Terunofuji vs. 13-1 Takakeisho. A keisho win gives him the yusho and starts a Yokozuna run. A fuji win brings us to an immediate playoff. Can hardly wait.

Chiyonokuni has nine wins, which means he is back to his spiritual home in the middle maegashira ranks. Kotoshoho is making good, steady progress. Enho has been a horror show.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Not sure if there is a technical term for it, but "flying henka" seems like the best description. He's done that before and won. Mainoumi - the 1990s rikishi Enho pretty clearly models himself on - used it sometimes, too.

[ursus arctos]

WTF was Enho trying to do against Kaisei?

[Anton Gramscescu]

Also, Little Miss Sumo has developed a new shitlist of rikishi. Since Natto Sumo's highlights now include a lot more of the warmups, we get to see more of the per-match stretching, face-washing, etc. Most people scriub their face with a handtowel, then various other bits of their bodies - as it should be. But LMS has now noted that several of them (most notably Kotonowaka) actually do armpits first, then face. She has decided she is never cheering for these people. Matter of principle.

[Anton Gramscescu]

After two days.

1) Chiyonokuni is back, baby! Weak knees and bum shoulder, but still very fleet-footed.
2) Enho is just done. Nothing is working.
3) Terunofuji is on track for a yusho. He absolutely clocked Asanoyama today. And i could not be happier.
4) Takayasu seems to have shaved his back. This is traumatic for me: when I first started watching and was trying to keep all the rikishi straight, knowing that Takayasu was the dude with the hairy back was one of my touchstones.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Ok so here's an interesting dilemma. I would put good money on Terunofuji getting the necessary number of wins to regain an Ozeki spot. But he won't have beaten any yokozunas along the way. Do they promote him or no?

[ursus arctos]

Another Nokozuna basho, as Hakuho follows Kakuryu into kyūjōland

[Anton Gramscescu]

#13 was new to me, and #15 I thought was done by each rikishi's attendants.

Tachiai blog's preview show is is out, making a solid case for why this is going to be an awesome basho. https://tachiai.org/2020/11/02/tachi...odcast-part-1/

[ursus arctos]

I enjoyed this and learned some things

[Anton Gramscescu]

The first two or three days of all the COVID bashos have been a mess because of the ban on inter-heya practice. But they settle down and get better as they go along. This one was great and Shodai's win (and promotion to Ozeki) was hugely deserved. Terunofuji proved his yusho was not a fluke. Asanoyama proved he can consistently win 10 matches. Lots of newcomers to like (Wakatakakage and Tobizaru among others). Chiyonokuni's juryo yusho means he's back in Makuuchi. The only sad part of this basho really was that it is almost certainly Kotoshogiku's last.

[ursus arctos]

It's weird, isn't it?

I am in the same place but can't explain it either

[Wouter D]

I seem to have fallen out of love. There is a basho going on, but somehow I cannot be arsed. I blame the NHL playoffs, and general stress.

I'll make an effort to get back on the highlights.

[ursus arctos]

This looks like one of those bashos where the winner has four or five losses.

The absence of the yokozuna really effects how invested I am getting (as does the Tour being on)

[Anton Gramscescu]

And again today, as did Mitakaeumi. Asanoyama is off, Terunofuji doesn't look quite up to San'yaku competition, Enho is getting repeatedly pasted. I assume Kotoshogiku is kyujp.

[ursus arctos]

Yes, they look to have sold all of the boxes this time. I'm not sure if that is due to higher demand or less restrictive regulations.

Shodai certainly looked good today.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Day 1 in the books. Kokugikan looks a lot more crowded this time. Haven't seen anything specific in the news, but looks to me that while boxes are still max 1 person, every box is now full (no distancing). Overall, sumo was kind of boring (last couple of bashos have taken 2-3 days to get going because of the lack of practcing across heyas), but the Endo-Asanopyama fight was awesome. Terunofuji looked a little bit lost trying to deal with a newly-healthy Takakeisho. Enho looked terrible.

My pick for this basho is Shodai. Now that his tachiai is not desperately slow, he looks consistently good. Also, have a feeling Mitakaeumi will make double-digits this tournament, which means both of them will conceivably be in a position to make Ozeki in November.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Nokozuna confirmed. Abi obviously not there. Ishiura is also kyujo for reasons unknown. So that's the fist two demotions to juryo settled.