Re: (Spoiler ? and long!) Results and comments on the first day of the Osaka Tournament

[ianf@etl.go.jp (Ian Frank)]

An excellent job on the kachinuki-sen commentary, Vasile. I, too,
watched this on TV (not a lot else to do, with the weather we've been
having...), but the notes I scribbled down for the Sumo ML look a
little paltry in comparison...

Still, here are a few thoughts:

> The audience was 12,600, and "manin-onrei" banners were hanging from
> the ceiling, although I could spot more than a few empty seats.

I thought this was a little strange, too. Maybe the Sumo Kyoukai
wanted to dress things up for the TV cameras... I think the sumo
itself was a good enough advertisement, though. I've never seen one of
these tournaments before, but I was impressed by level of sumo and the
level of excitement it generated in the crowd.

> On TV we had of course a Japanese comentator,
> together with Oguruma-oyakata (former Kotokaze-ozeki) and a lady
> playing the role of the beginner who knows nothing and asks a lot.

And she really did this well: pretending to know absolutely nothing
and asking questions all the time.  She had a special penchant for
attempting to talk right through the tachiai. The Japanese commentator
kept having to say `They're about to start, how about watching the
sumo...?'

Vasile gave a far more detailed run-down of the matches than I could
remember, so here are some more general observations.

Kyokushuzan has a new trick. From a yotsu-zumo position where the
opponent only has one hand on his belt, he ducks quickly back and down
and squeezes up under the armpit of the arm holding his belt. This is
what he used on the first day to completely bamboozle Tamakasuga, who
one moment had Kyokushuzan in front of him, and the next found himself
in a classic bear-hug from behind. Even Tamakasuga's arms were still
stretched out in front of him, giving the impression that he hadn't
had time to notice that Kyokushuzan was now somewhere else. It was
comical to watch, for both me and the crowd, who laughed as
Kyokushuzan slowly shuffled the unfortunate Tamakasuga out...

Kyokushuzan used this trick again in the match-up of the tournament,
which we were treated to on both days, with Takanonami. Of all the
sanyaku, Takanonami's style is the most defensive. This suits
Kyokushuzan very well because it gives him a chance to work his
tricks, and Kyokushuzan knows it (Takanonami remains the only sanyaku
that Kyokushuzan has beaten in hon-basho). The shikiri-sen was sheer
theatre and the crowd loved it. Kyokushuuzan rose from sonkyo very,
very slowly each time, always staring at Takanonami. This eventually
led to a jikan-mae matta by Kyokushauzan. Takanonami let himself get
pushed back and then gave Kyokushuzan a dismissive shove back. Both
rikishi were then worked up enough for a jikan-mae tachiai --- which
the announcer said was the first he could remember in one of these
tournaments. Kyokushuzan must have tried his armpit trick four or five
times, but Takanonami was always just up to it, turning round just
penough each time. At one point it looked as though we might see
harimanage executed twice in one day (by the same rikishi!), until
Takanonami found a more straightforward way to win. The second day
match-up followed a similar pattern: theatrical shikiri-sen producing
a long bout and repeated attempts by Kyokushuzan to get round
Takanonami's side, this time successfully allowing him to grab
Takanonami's leg. Excellent sumo and excellent entertainment.

Akebono must have drawn some relief from actually winning something.
He looked reasonably good, certainly didn't seem to be troubled by his
knee, and weathered the pace of three bouts in reasonably quick
succession much better than during the last playoffs...

Musashimaru was the pick of the bunch in terms of consistency, though,
looking strong in all his bouts, and reaching the finals on both days. 
Unfortunately, this consistency also extended to losing the final, on
both days...

Musoyama, despite beating Takanohana (who didn't really seem too
concerned about the tournament), showed very little to suggest that
he's coming out of his trough. He really dosen't seem to have much
besides his initial tachiai at the moment...

Tochiazuma again flattered to deceive. He seems to make a speciality
of losing oh-so-closely. Currently, his problem seems to be that he's
really rather good at every style of sumo, but hasn't yet found his
own real preference. Until he hones some techniques that he can then
aim towards using during his bouts, he'll probably keep losing
(closely..) to opponents who impose their own style.

OK, I've gone on long enough. All in all, I have to say I enjoyed each
of these days more than most hon-basho days: you get more matches with
makuuchi rikishi (39 instead of 20), the possibility of intra-heya
matches, and the chance to see some rikishi more than once. Oh yes,
and you get to see the pictures from the rikishi's family albums :)

	- Ian.