on any given Sunday....

[poza@gol.com (Tito Poza)]

In this basho, there aren't going to be quite so many noteworthy Makushita
bouts involving foreigners, since Sentoryu fell far in the rankings due to
his injury and Sunahama, Yamato and Daiki are in Juryo.  The only foreign
rikishi in the top 10 Makushita ranks is Nampu, Mak. 4W, who won his bout
against Kusunosato.

In Juryo, Yamato won his leadoff bout against shin-Juryo Saigo with lots of
pushing and shoving.  Then Sunahama had his first bout as a sekitori, and
to my total lack of surprise, the announcers failed to say anything about
the marijuana allegations.  Not that they should, unsubstantiated as it
was, but it seemed strange not to even mention it in terms of the stress he
must be under because of it.  Anyway, after being given a scare, he got a
good belt grip and ran his opponent Dairyu across the dohyo and out.  Daiki
made it a Hawaiian sweep by pushing Chiyotaikai out after he'd been pushed
to the edge; he got the momentum from pushing forward at the edge and kept
it going until Chiyotaikai was out.

It was strange seeing Takamisugi in a Juryo bout.  Must've been strange for
him, too, as, Koto used his bulk to push Taka back at the tachiai, and
Takamisugi is always in trouble once he loses his momentum.  Koto continued
on and Taka was out in a second or two.

In Makunouchi action, Konishiki faced Kitakachidoki, who's a fairly
straight-ahead kind of rikishi.  But you really don't want to go straight
ahead against Konish, who demonstrated it by winning in his now-usual
style: get the double armlock and plow ahead.  Kitakachidoki didn't try
anything fancy, though he sure should've.

Kyokudozan vs. Akinoshima: Today was Kyoku's 1000th time on the dohyo, and
has never missed a day (third longest streak among active rikishi, after
Terao and Toyonoumi, who has 1002).  This was Akinoshima's first bout in 4
months.  Kyoku appeared to get the better of the tachiai, as he moved
forward quickly, reached his right hand in deep, and grabbed the knot at
the back of Akinoshima's mawashi.  Akinoshima countered by using Kyoku's
momentum against him with a throw from his left side, locking Kyoku's arm
as he did so, and before you knew it, he'd spun Kyoku around to where
Kyoku's back was to the edge, and then just shoved Kyoku out.  Looked like
Aki knew what he was doing all along... Very nice comeback from the injury
by Akinoshima.  If he's fully recovered and on his game, he could really
feast on these lower maegashira.

Kotonowaka vs. Musoyama:  Even though Moose has a 6-4 lifetime lead against
Koto, Koto has won 3 of their last 4 bouts.  Koto tends to be a problem for
rikishi who rely strictly on oshi, as he's pretty resistant to it (most of
the time, anyway).  It didn't look like either one had any advantage at the
tachiai.  Koto stalled Moose's momentum and trapped his left forearm to his
(Koto's) body, and they jostled and bided their time.  (Even though his
position was only a little better, I got the feeling that Moose was in
trouble, as he's not as good at yotsu-zumo as is Koto.)  Koto started a
charge that sent Moose to the edge; Moose stopped Koto and moved forward a
step, then Koto twisted Moose to the right, more (apparently) to get Moose
off balance than as a real throw attempt.  Moose kept his footing, but Koto
was able to improve his already favorable position and take a step forward.
Then came the _real_ throw, and Moose tried and failed to keep his feet as
he went toppling over.  Great yotsu-zumo from Kotonowaka; granted, it is
Moose's weak point, but it was still an impressive win.  Looking at the
replay, it struck me that Moose never even tried a tsuppari attack--just
went straight for the belt.  Maybe he figured he'd better start out trying
to get a good belt position, rather than failing at oshi/tsuki and having
Koto get any grip he wanted.  Didn't work, whatever he was trying.

Takanonami vs. Mitoizumi:  Takanonami went out pushing against Mito, and
stopped Mito before Mito could make any headway.  But one thing that being
stopped meant was that Taka was not very close to Mito, which was made
painfully clear as when Taka thrusted again, he was a little too far from
Mito's body, and just as Taka's body was closest to Mito at the end of the
thrust, Mito reached out and got both hands on the back of Taka's neck and
pulled him forward.  Taka was extended far out enough that he was totally
defenseless, and he plunged straight to the dohyo for the loss.  Nasty
start for the ozeki.  I found it interesting that, as Musoyama did,
Takanonami abandoned his usual tactics, going for the pushing attack
against Mitoizumi.

Musashimaru wasted no time with the much-heralded Tosanoumi, pushing him to
the edge right away, Tosanoumi getting turned around near the edge.
Musashi pushed again, and getting his body close to Tosanoumi's, plowed him
out.  Not an unexpected result...

Akebono went for the old reliable tsuki/oshi today, and as they say, Kenko
could run, but he couldn't hide.  Ake turned when Kenko turned, and had him
out in a few seconds.  Exactly what we expect to see from Ake.

Takanohana vs. Kotoinazuma:  A 33-year-old shin-komusubi against a
23-year-old yokuzuna in his prime... what chance does Koto have, really?
Taka came out with arms extended--looking to push, surprisingly, rather
than his usual open-armed, come-and-get-me stance--which apparently fit in
perfectly with Koto's strategy, which was to jump aside to the left.  Taka
hadn't overcommitted, and recovered quickly, but Koto did manage to reach
around and get a good left-handed outside grip.  Taka moved aggressively
towards Kotoinazuma, who had no momentum due to his step-aside, and was
preparing to yori Koto out when Koto suddenly jumped to his left, pivoting
as he did so, and threw a possibly surprised Takanohana.  Taka's balance is
good enough that he didn't just fall over--he fought it, but Koto had the
good position and was very aggressive, and though Taka tried a
counter-throw, he was in between grips and just didn't have the wherewithal
to make it go anywhere.  Kotoinazuma finished off the yokozuna, going down
shortly after he did so.  After a few seconds' pause, zabutons started to
fly, though the crowd didn't seem overly enthusiastic.  A magnificent throw
by Kotoinazuma, in what may end up being the biggest single bout he ever
wins.  One thing that struck me about this bout was that Taka was never in
control, which he almost always is, and it certainly shows how important
control of the bout is.

Ironically, Koto's first victory against a yokozuna comes on his first day
in sanyaku, and so he is deprived of a kinboshi.  I'll bet that doesn't
make him any less happy, though.

Well, this changes the complexion of the yusho race, at least to the extent
that any first-day loss can.  Akebono now has a head start, and will now
have to lose 3 by day 14 to be completely out of the race, at least insofar
as Taka is concerned.  A big, big loss for Takanohana.

Day 2 joi-jin bouts:  Mitoizumi-Musashimaru, Minatoruji-Takanonami,
Wakanohana-Terao, Kenko-Takanohana, and Akebono-Takatoriki.

---Tito