day 3 report

[poza@gol.com (Tito Poza)]

In Makushita today, Hoshiandesu was handed his first loss by the youngster
Shiga, who (you may remember from last time) is the 18-year-old son of
Tamanoi oyakata.  Shiga had a 26 (I think)-bout rensho from hatsu-dohyo to
Makushita before suffering a losing record last time; he's now 2-0.

Before the Makunouchi bouts, it was announced that Kirinishiki has retired.
His highest rank was M2, and achieved kinboshi against Chiyonofuji and
Hokutoumi.  This year he had lost his sekitori status, and was hanging
around probably just to get a toshiyori kabu, which he did get.

Meeting Tomonohana today provided Kirishima with an opportunity--he can
still win with finesse, if not with power.  Both rikishi went for tsuppari
at the outset, then with neither having achieved any advantage Tomonohana
went for the belt; he got it with the right hand, but Kirishima leaned over
and arm-locked it.  Tomo yanked it away, and maneuvered a bit to no effect.
Kirishima suddenly yanked Tomo towards himself--for some reason Tomo
helped him, almost turning to Kirishima's side--and Kirishima was able to
reach the knot of Tomo's mawashi rather easily with his left hand.
Tomonohana had both arms around Kirishima's upper right arm, and he used
that for leverage as Kirishima tried to throw him--in such an advantageous
position, Kirishima should have been able to finish Tomo off easily, but
Tomo hung in there.  Finally Kirishima pushed in the other direction, using
kirikaeshi, and even then Tomonohana practically did a 360 degree turn
before falling, clinging to Kirishima's arm for dear life.

Takatoriki vs. Kotonishiki:  Takatoriki hit Koto and swept his feel to the
left, but Koto more stood and pushed than charged, so Taka lost that
gamble--if you go for henka and it doesn't work, your position has been
damaged.  Koto bore down on Taka, who fended Koto off well enough, getting
an arm under Koto's right arm and by moving it up, took it out of comission
long enough to bring the bout to a standstill.  They stayed for 10-15
seconds in a mutual beltless grip, when suddenly Koto yanked his arms up
and back, though the reason for it escaped my notice.  Taka moved in on
Koto, but Koto skillfully moved Taka's arm above his head, both rendering
it useless and enabling Koto to get around Taka's left side and get a
powerful right-hand belt grip.  Taka, knowing he was in trouble, turned the
rest of the way so that his back was to Koto's chest, and reached backwards
with his left leg to try to trip Koto up while simultaneously pushing him
over.  It was a nice (if desperate) try, but Taka didn't have the position
or the strength to do it.  Koto moved back a bit but stood his ground, and
after the move failed Taka was in a hopeless position, and Koto just pushed
him down to the dohyo in the center of the ring, winning by okuritaoshi.

Minatofuji vs. Wakanohana:  This went to a belt battle fairly quickly, not
surprisingly since both are basically belt men.  Each got an arm inside on
the left; after a little struggling Waka yanked Minatofuji around 180
degrees, but nothing much changed.  After a pause, Waka tried to slip the
right arm inside for the morozashi; (as the opposing rikishi often does in
that situation) Minatofuji started a charge right then.  As Waka was being
pushed back he reached back with his left foot, pivoted against the straw
ridge, and launched a right-handed throw.  The problem was, Minatofuji was
coming directly at Wakanohana, which gave him an advantage in resisting the
throw.  He braced himself with his right leg and stopped it.  Waka tried to
follow up immediately, using both arms to swing Minatofuji the other way,
but Minatofuji kept his balance beautifully; even bent over awkwardly at
the waist, he used Wakanohana's body as a brace both to keep himself from
falling and as pressure against Waka to push him out.  Waka, whose efforts
has stripped him of his balance, did his best to hang in there but finally
started falling.  Minatofuji did as well, almost at the same instant, but
Waka was closer to the edge and went out first.  It was close, but not
close enough to necessitate a mono-ii.  Minatofuji beats his second
straight ozeki and is now 3-0; Takanohana awaits tomorrow.

---Tito