How about a sumo thread?

[Anton Gramscescu]

Ok, hands up everyone who had Tsurugisho in the yusho race on day 13.

[Ray de Galles]

Is there any sumo on in Tokyo next week , actually?

[ursus arctos]

Tournament ends on Sunday, unfortunately.

[Anton Gramscescu]

A 4-man (or more) playoff could run into Monday morning...

[Wouter D]

Only three people left in the yusho race, given today's results and tomorrow's pairings. Enho picks up his kachi-koshi, while Tomokaze has his career-first make-koshi.

If Mitakeumi beats Goeido tomorrow, he will have a playoff with the winner of the Okinoumi-Takakeisho bout.

[Anton Gramscescu]

The amazing thing here is that Takakeisho barely practiced before this basho and yet he is now in touching distance of the yusho. A fully healthy Takakeisho would make mincemeat out of the field. Yokozuna before the end of 2020, I think.

[Wouter D]

Well, that was fun.

Both Darwin bouts were fantastic. I also enjoyed Kotoshogiku's response to being henka'd.

[ursus arctos]

Indeed it was.

Does Gramsci stand by his prediction?

I'm more inclined to see his promotion coming in 2021, though what happens with the current Yokozuna in the interim is of course key.

[Diable Rouge]

The amazing thing here is that Takakeisho barely practiced before this basho and yet he is now in touching distance of the yusho. A fully healthy Takakeisho would make mincemeat out of the field. Yokozuna before the end of 2020, I think.

We really need you back in "World", AG.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Indeed it was.

Does Gramsci stand by his prediction?

I'm more inclined to see his promotion coming in 2021, though what happens with the current Yokozuna in the interim is of course key.

2021, after Hakuho retires, might be likelier. But think about it: If the two Ys only show up 50% of the time for the next 7 bashos, seems to me there will be 3 or 4 of those yushos are going to go to a non-Y. With Takayasu and Goeido continuing to be deeply inconsistent, who else is going to win them other than Takakeisho? It's possible, anyway.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Also, Chiyonkuni won the Makushita yusho and that made me very happy.

Been doodling possible banzukes for November and it;s a mess. Going by my usual rule of thumb (simply: your +/- from the previous banzuke is how many spaces you will go up or down), there is almost no one who "deserves" to be M3 or M4 and about ten guys who deserve to be M15 or 16. Bottom end of the joi is going to be very weak. My guess is Aoiyama gets off relatively lightly despite a 5-10 record, and Onosho and Enho, who both finished 9-6 from the M11 spot, might end up getting some pretty spectactular promotions just to break the gridlock.

[ursus arctos]

Your penultimate post captures my thinking on Takakeisho's promotion. His injury continues to look rather gruesome.

[Anton Gramscescu]

It is a *spectacular* bruise. Didn't think it was that big a deal at the time.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Banzuke is out. Big surprise: they added two Komusubi slots, because there were so many people who "deserved" promotion but were blocked by the fact that Mitakaeumi can;t (yet) mover up from Sekiwake, and the other Sekiwake spot was taken by downgraded Ozeiki Tochinoshin. So this will make things a bit interesting. Chaos at the bottom of the table because there were really about 8 guys who deserved demotions but only four juryo in a position to move up. Enho is at M6w. More here

[Wouter D]

I'm quite pleased with that move. Without extra Komusubi slots, this would have been the second tournament in a row after which Hokutofuji couldn't get promoted despite a 9-6 record at Maegashira 1. That would have been very unjust.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Agreed. But this is what a pile-up looks like when you have consistently under-performing Ozeki blocking the Sekiwake positions.

Meanwhile, sounds like Ichinojo is kyujo, which means he will start 2020 somewhere around Juryo 9 or 10. Chyonokuni has been placed at Makushita 2, which pretty much means 4 wins is all it will take to get him back to the professional ranks.

[Wouter D]

Day 1 of the final basho of the year.

Kakuryu is out.

[ursus arctos]

Maybe the Yoks should just alternate at this point

[Anton Gramscescu]

Tochinoshin has everything going for him in this basho: no Kakuryu, three Ozeki each banged up in some way: hard to imagine more favourable circumstances for him to get 10. But he's just not looking good - think he will be lucky to get 8. Suspect next year he will be doing an ex-Ozeki double act with Kotoshogiku in the mid-Maegashiras.

[Wouter D]

And now Goeido is out.

Agree that Tochinoshin is unlikely to get his 10.

[Anton Gramscescu]

My main thought after day 4 is that this is probably the last time we see Kotoshogiku in the top division. He looks terrible, and at 35 his ability to bounce back will be very limited.. Also think Takayasu will be lucky to avoid demotion to Sekiwake, what with only having one arm and all..

[Wouter D]

Day 5 footage here. Noone in this tournament is unbeaten anymore.

There were two quite different weight mismatch bouts today. Ishiura seemed to just bounce off Chiyomaru's impressive belly, and the latter easily shoved the former out of the ring. Enho stayed out of Aoiyama's grip for most of the match; our Bulgarian friend almost hatakikomi'd our tiny friend, but Enho recovered and stayed in the fight long enough for Aoiyama to lose his balance.

Asanoyama looks in amazing form right now. Meisei is punching far above his rank; after an epic bout with Takayasu, he's at 4-1 from rank M2 having fought only sanyaku opposition so far. Tomorrow he gets to try adding a kinboshi to his record.

[Anton Gramscescu]

And Tochinoshin done for the basho. Twisted something in the win yesterday. With what will amount to a 2-13 record, he will start January down around M8 or so

But, holy crap ENHO IS JOINT LEADER NOT A DRILL ENHO YUSHO ON THE HORIZON.

[Wouter D]

Day 6, and all but Hakuho have at least two losses in this basho.

[Anton Gramscescu]

This basho is Hakuho v. Asanoyama and no one else is even showing up. Asanoyama is starting to look like the next ozeki, though