Kyushu Basho, Day 0

[poza@gol.com (Tito Poza and Shari Custer-Poza)]

Well, since tomorrow is Day 1, then today must be Day 0, right?  Hmmmm....

Even if the yusho race is getting a little ho-hum these days, there's still
plenty to look forward to in the upcoming basho.  To me, the biggest point
of interest will be Tosanoumi's performance.  At maegashira 1 he will, of
course, play against all the top-rankers, and how he performs will be a
good indicator of his future progress.  While if he gets 5 wins or less it
doesn't necessarily mean he has no future, if he gets 8 or more, it will be
a strong indication that he will be a sanyaku regular and ozeki candidate,
since he should only get better in the next year.  My guess is that he will
win 6, perhaps 7.  I don't think he'll get either yokozuna, but could snag
an ozeki or two.  Takanonami and Wakanohana have been looking rather
vulnerable these days, and even Musashimaru fell from his string of
12-or-more last basho.

Who else is interesting... Kaio needs double digits to continue a possible
ozeki run... Kotoinazuma will almost certainly get thrashed; he'll be lucky
to come away with 5 wins... it'll be Mitoizumi's first shot at the joi-jin
in more than a year; he won't do well either, but it'll be entertaining to
see him up there with the biggies again.  Funny to see him at M2 after
being on the brink of Juryo demotion most of the year; he's been at M13 or
lower in 4 of the last 6 basho.  A healthy Akinoshima (if he is) should
clean up at M7; it was only 3 basho ago that he was on the brink of ozeki
promotion.  Then again, you never know with him.  It's also nice to see
Terao going up against the top-rankers, but his last two turns against them
yielded scores of 5-10, so anything more would be a surprise.

There's a page in the Japanese monthly "Sumo" which deals with records and
landmarks, and I thought I'd share a few here.  Possibilities for this
basho:

   If Takanohana wins the yusho, it would be his 12th, tying him with
Futabayama for 5th on the all-time list.  (And he's only 23!)  And it would
be his 4th straight, which hasn't been done since Chiyonofuji did it 7
years ago.
   If Taka gets zensho yusho, it would give him 83 wins for this calendar
year, a new record (Kitanoumi had 82 in 1978).  It would also be the second
time he got renzoku zensho yusho; he would be only the second person (after
Taiho) to accomplish that.
   If Taka wins 13 or more, it would be his 8th consecutive basho with 13
wins or more, which only Taiho and Kitanoumi have ever done.
   If Taka wins 12 or more, it would be his second consecutive year of 80
or more wins, which has been done only by Kitanoumi.
   There are lots of others which aren't so significant, but I will mention
this one for my friend in Seattle: completing this basho will give Terao
945 consecutive Makunouchi appearances, tying him for 5th on the all-time
list.  (It will take him another year to advance to 4th on the list.)
Terao is also tops among active rikishi with 1226 consecutive dohyo
appearances, from hatsu-dohyo.  So, here's to his health!

And lastly, here are tomorrow's day 1 bouts:

Oginohana (0-0) Aogiyama
Kirishima (6-1) Daishoho
Oginishiki (3-4) Kiraiho
Asanosho (3-0) Kasugafuji
Tomonohana (3-1) Hamanoshima
Kitakachidoki (0-4) Konishiki
Kotobeppu (1-4) Asanowaka
Asahiyutaka (0-1) Higonoumi
Kyokudozan (4-9) Akinoshima
Misugisato (5-6) Mainoumi
Naminohana (2-1) Minatofuji
Daishi (0-2) Wakashoyo
Terao (5-16) Kotonishiki
Kotonowaka (4-6) Musoyama
Kaio (7-3) Takatoriki
Takanonami (3-5) Mitoizumi
Tochinowaka (8-14) Wakanohana
Musashimaru (0-0) Tosanoumi
Kenko (1-5) Akebono
Takanohana (5-1) Kotoinazuma

Looks like an interesting day; for me the highlights will be
Musashi-Tosanoumi, Terao-Kotonishiki, and Kotonowaka-Moose.