Match of the day is definitely Aonishiki vs Kirishima for the lead. I like em both but was cheering for Aonishiki.
Kirishima had a great plan: pin Aonishiki's left, which Aonishiki loves to establish and use. See panel 1 below.
But Aonishiki just says: thanks for giving me that great underarm grip! He instantly uses it to lift up Kirishima's right side. See panel 2 below. Aonishiki also seems to be pulling down with his own right, because it looks like Kirishima was trying to establish his own underarm grip on that side. Kirishima is terribly off-balance but the match isn't decided yet, and with a bit of luck Kirishima could in theory recover.
Kirishima pulls his own left hand loose, which is aided by Aonishiki's whipping his own right hand over Kirishima's head, and planting that hand on Kirishima's back. See panel 3 below. At this point the match is decided. Kirishima is off-balance and pointed out of the ring, Aonishiki is well-balanced and has two hands on Kirishima's back. The only question is: how hard is Kirishima going to land?
Kirishima wisely decides to avoid injury, so he kicks up his legs as shown in panel 4 and executes a forward roll as shown in panel 5. His only other options were to land hard on his face or shoulder, or to try catching himself with his left hand potentially twisting or breaking his arm. Good instinct by Kirishima. Excellent win by Aonishiki.
Kinbozan and Chiyoshoma end up in a stalemate and despite Chiyo's loose belt Kinbo hefts him off his feet for one throw attempt, and on the second one Chiyo looks for a slap down but just ends up with an arm draped on Kinbo's face before he's thrown on his butt.
Lots of slapping without much effect between Tobizaru and Daiseizan. Eventually the Monkey shoves him out.
Off the line Wakamotoharu tries a hand in the face of Asakoryu but largely misses and Asa pressures forward before abruptly reversing direction to get the tsukiotoshi throw down.
Nishikifuji's powerful nodowa is effective off the tachiai which he uses to find an overhand belt grip far on the back of Fujiseiun's mawashi. He blocks Fuji's hands from the belt and gets a big throw that sends Fuji spinning on the clay.
Abi stands Shodai up and drives him back with hands on the throat. Shodai manages to finally break the grip but stumbles away unsteadily and falls backwards and off the ring.
Oshoma starts with throat thrusts and then slaps Asanoyama past, bringing him to the bales and trying to finish with pressure under the chin. Asa recovers but only briefly before finding himself back on the ropes but manages to parry Osho past and they both get awkward sideways belt grips teetering on the edge and Asa uses his rear left hand to flip Osho before hitting the deck himself. Didn't expect that action out of Asa, well fought.
Some slaps between Ura and Fujiryoga before Fuji finds Ura's center mass with both hands and sends him somersaulting backwards off the dohyo.
Daieisho and Takanosho with a slap battle. Taka is parried and stumbles, then Daiei does the same when he tries to finish and there's a moment of pause where they stare at each other from across the ring before Taka comes crashing back in where they thrust some more before a final parry forces Taka to teeter sideways over the ropes. No one seemed to have much control in this one.
Some prematch jitters as the gyoji backs Fujinokawa off the line and he stands up to reset, followed by a false start against Churanoumi. Fuji comes in hard and looks for those double unders and finds an inside left belt, but Chura breaks his grip and pulls him forward and off balance, using it to shove him to the bales. Fuji survives long enough to have a bit of a slap down but crashes to the clay before Chura steps out. Really great to watch his speed and agility even while he's losing.
Yoshinofuji looking for an inside right belt off the lines but can't quite lock the grip. Kotoeiho decides to try a throw using Yoshi's right arm as leverage but Yoshi slips the grip in the middle of it, leaving him in position to shove Koto out before he can recover position.
Takayasu with a small slap to Kotoshoho's face off the tachiai and they're both high. Koto parries a thrust putting Papa at a 90 degree offset and he goes to spin the remaining 270 but Koto takes up a rear position and walks him all the way across the ring and out.
And now the main event: the final 4 matches between the current basho leaders.
Shishi and Kotozakura jockey for position off the lines and the ozeki uses a slap down to find a right underhook and then Shishi's belt, which he uses to pull him down. Shishi never found a position here.
Kirishima blocks Aonishiki from his dangerous left hand inside grip and backs him to the straw but Aoni clamps hard on his right overhook and transfers the momentum to a huge right hand slap down that flips Kiri entirely. Amazing read on the situation and great ability to react and recover by Aoni. He has some of the best wrestling instincts I think we've seen in a long time.
Takerufuji moves well off the tachiai but Onosato meets him in the middle to absorb the power and uses an inside right grip to simply take Takeru back and out. Some days you get the bear...
Hoshoryu waits for Atamifuji to go down so he can't work his odd zombie arms touch down, then he grabs an inside right grip. Atami fights back and gets an overhand right on the rear of the belt he uses to work the yokozuna back to the ropes. Hosho looks for a throw the whole time but Atami's pressure doesn't give him the chance and he gets the crush out.
3 out of 4 going in today with 10-2 had losses and only 1 of 3 with 9-2 came up with a win, making the field still tight with 4 wrestlers at 10 wins and Aonishiki standing alone on top with 11.
Tomorrow Aonishiki faces Takerufuji, Atamifuji and Shishi go head to head, and Kirishima meets the Mongolian yokozuna. Can Aoni hang on two more days or will we have some crazy 4 way playoff on the final day?
Hoshoryu waits for Atamifuji to go down so he can't work his odd zombie arms touch down, then he grabs an inside right grip. Atami fights back and gets an overhand right on the rear of the belt he uses to work the yokozuna back to the ropes. Hosho looks for a throw the whole time but Atami's pressure doesn't give him the chance and he gets the crush out.
"Atamifuji's mawashi is loose" remarks Dondon and we can see that H's belt grip is rendered useless by the loose belt (conscious or not). Hoshoryu could have pulled it above A's shoulders if he insisted.
Won't the referees demand a rematch in a case like this?
Won’t the referees demand a rematch in a case like this?
No, the tightness of the mawashi is a strategic move by the wrestlers. If a wrestler knows the opponent is primarily a grappler he might go for a looser style to lessen the belt leverage. The only illegal thing that happens with the belt tightness is if it's so loose that the bottom comes undone and the wrestler exposes himself. However, when the belt knot comes untied at the back there's usually a stoppage so the gyoji can retie it before this happens. In all my time watching sumo I've never seen a disqualification due to the mawashi falling off.
Amazing read on the situation and great ability to react and recover by Aoni. He has some of the best wrestling instincts I think we've seen in a long time.
Some slaps between Ura and Fujiryoga before Fuji finds Ura’s center mass with both hands and sends him somersaulting backwards off the dohyo.
awww I was hoping Ura could pull something off these last couple matches.
I feel Fujiryoga deserves more attention: https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=12945
This is only his 3rd tourney in Makuuchi; his first tourney he went 7-8 and barely stayed in Makuuchi. But last tourney he went 10-5 and seems headed to match that result. I look forward to seeing what he does in the future.
Wakamotoharu tries a hand in the face of Asakoryu
Nice throw by Asakoryu.
Shishi never found a position here.
Shishi was definitely outclassed, but it looks like his plan was: establish a belt grip and try to deny Kotozakura a good grip on his own belt. When that failed he wasn't able to get anything else going, though.
Hoshoryu waits for Atamifuji to go down so he can’t work his odd zombie arms touch down
I noticed that! everyone oughta do that, lel.
Hosho looks for a throw the whole time but Atami’s pressure doesn’t give him the chance
I think part of the problem was Atamifuji was wearing his mawashi loose, and to make matters worse Hoshoryu only got a partial grip. That, combined with Atamifuji's enormous bulk, gave Hoshoryu a lot of problems with Atamifuji.
Hoshoryu began trying to trip/throw Atamifuji in the center and only managed to spin him around 180 degrees. Then Atamifuji belly-bumped him a couple times to get him to the edge. Hoshoryu tried one last throw/trip, and that's when Atamifuji forced him out.
Tomorrow Aonishiki faces Takerufuji,
They only fought once before and Aonishiki won that time, but it was way back in March 2025 before their current injuries and a whole lot of experience. FWIW this is Takerufuji's first tourney back in Makuuchi after a spell in Juryo for injury, and I suspect he'd love to come back a winner. Or at least a spoiler.
Atamifuji and Shishi go head to head,
Shishi's got a chance. Atamifuji's whole strategy is: "be big and shove people out" and Shishi's like: "been there, done that, grown beyond." LET'S GO SHISHI!!!
and Kirishima meets the Mongolian yokozuna.
That should be a great match. Kirishima wants to stay in contention and Hoshoryu wants to avoid make-koshi. Or, one of them could henka. Prediction: they both henka, and then stand there a second like: "let's just keep going and pretend this didn't happen!"
Can Aoni hang on two more days or will we have some crazy 4 way playoff on the final day?
That push from Fujiryoga on Ura. Ura had both feet off the ground and was flying backwards towards the tawara. Looked like he got him with a Rasengan or some DBZ shit.
11 Comments
Sergio@piefed.social · 5 pts · 22d
AAAH! TOO MUCH HYPE!!!
Match of the day is definitely Aonishiki vs Kirishima for the lead. I like em both but was cheering for Aonishiki.
Kirishima had a great plan: pin Aonishiki's left, which Aonishiki loves to establish and use. See panel 1 below.
But Aonishiki just says: thanks for giving me that great underarm grip! He instantly uses it to lift up Kirishima's right side. See panel 2 below. Aonishiki also seems to be pulling down with his own right, because it looks like Kirishima was trying to establish his own underarm grip on that side. Kirishima is terribly off-balance but the match isn't decided yet, and with a bit of luck Kirishima could in theory recover.
Kirishima pulls his own left hand loose, which is aided by Aonishiki's whipping his own right hand over Kirishima's head, and planting that hand on Kirishima's back. See panel 3 below. At this point the match is decided. Kirishima is off-balance and pointed out of the ring, Aonishiki is well-balanced and has two hands on Kirishima's back. The only question is: how hard is Kirishima going to land?
Kirishima wisely decides to avoid injury, so he kicks up his legs as shown in panel 4 and executes a forward roll as shown in panel 5. His only other options were to land hard on his face or shoulder, or to try catching himself with his left hand potentially twisting or breaking his arm. Good instinct by Kirishima. Excellent win by Aonishiki.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 22d
Kinbozan and Chiyoshoma end up in a stalemate and despite Chiyo's loose belt Kinbo hefts him off his feet for one throw attempt, and on the second one Chiyo looks for a slap down but just ends up with an arm draped on Kinbo's face before he's thrown on his butt.
Lots of slapping without much effect between Tobizaru and Daiseizan. Eventually the Monkey shoves him out.
Off the line Wakamotoharu tries a hand in the face of Asakoryu but largely misses and Asa pressures forward before abruptly reversing direction to get the tsukiotoshi throw down.
Nishikifuji's powerful nodowa is effective off the tachiai which he uses to find an overhand belt grip far on the back of Fujiseiun's mawashi. He blocks Fuji's hands from the belt and gets a big throw that sends Fuji spinning on the clay.
Abi stands Shodai up and drives him back with hands on the throat. Shodai manages to finally break the grip but stumbles away unsteadily and falls backwards and off the ring.
Oshoma starts with throat thrusts and then slaps Asanoyama past, bringing him to the bales and trying to finish with pressure under the chin. Asa recovers but only briefly before finding himself back on the ropes but manages to parry Osho past and they both get awkward sideways belt grips teetering on the edge and Asa uses his rear left hand to flip Osho before hitting the deck himself. Didn't expect that action out of Asa, well fought.
Some slaps between Ura and Fujiryoga before Fuji finds Ura's center mass with both hands and sends him somersaulting backwards off the dohyo.
Daieisho and Takanosho with a slap battle. Taka is parried and stumbles, then Daiei does the same when he tries to finish and there's a moment of pause where they stare at each other from across the ring before Taka comes crashing back in where they thrust some more before a final parry forces Taka to teeter sideways over the ropes. No one seemed to have much control in this one.
Some prematch jitters as the gyoji backs Fujinokawa off the line and he stands up to reset, followed by a false start against Churanoumi. Fuji comes in hard and looks for those double unders and finds an inside left belt, but Chura breaks his grip and pulls him forward and off balance, using it to shove him to the bales. Fuji survives long enough to have a bit of a slap down but crashes to the clay before Chura steps out. Really great to watch his speed and agility even while he's losing.
Yoshinofuji looking for an inside right belt off the lines but can't quite lock the grip. Kotoeiho decides to try a throw using Yoshi's right arm as leverage but Yoshi slips the grip in the middle of it, leaving him in position to shove Koto out before he can recover position.
Takayasu with a small slap to Kotoshoho's face off the tachiai and they're both high. Koto parries a thrust putting Papa at a 90 degree offset and he goes to spin the remaining 270 but Koto takes up a rear position and walks him all the way across the ring and out.
And now the main event: the final 4 matches between the current basho leaders.
Shishi and Kotozakura jockey for position off the lines and the ozeki uses a slap down to find a right underhook and then Shishi's belt, which he uses to pull him down. Shishi never found a position here.
Kirishima blocks Aonishiki from his dangerous left hand inside grip and backs him to the straw but Aoni clamps hard on his right overhook and transfers the momentum to a huge right hand slap down that flips Kiri entirely. Amazing read on the situation and great ability to react and recover by Aoni. He has some of the best wrestling instincts I think we've seen in a long time.
Takerufuji moves well off the tachiai but Onosato meets him in the middle to absorb the power and uses an inside right grip to simply take Takeru back and out. Some days you get the bear...
Hoshoryu waits for Atamifuji to go down so he can't work his odd zombie arms touch down, then he grabs an inside right grip. Atami fights back and gets an overhand right on the rear of the belt he uses to work the yokozuna back to the ropes. Hosho looks for a throw the whole time but Atami's pressure doesn't give him the chance and he gets the crush out.
3 out of 4 going in today with 10-2 had losses and only 1 of 3 with 9-2 came up with a win, making the field still tight with 4 wrestlers at 10 wins and Aonishiki standing alone on top with 11.
Tomorrow Aonishiki faces Takerufuji, Atamifuji and Shishi go head to head, and Kirishima meets the Mongolian yokozuna. Can Aoni hang on two more days or will we have some crazy 4 way playoff on the final day?
merde@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 22d
"Atamifuji's mawashi is loose" remarks Dondon and we can see that H's belt grip is rendered useless by the loose belt (conscious or not). Hoshoryu could have pulled it above A's shoulders if he insisted.
Won't the referees demand a rematch in a case like this?
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 22d
No, the tightness of the mawashi is a strategic move by the wrestlers. If a wrestler knows the opponent is primarily a grappler he might go for a looser style to lessen the belt leverage. The only illegal thing that happens with the belt tightness is if it's so loose that the bottom comes undone and the wrestler exposes himself. However, when the belt knot comes untied at the back there's usually a stoppage so the gyoji can retie it before this happens. In all my time watching sumo I've never seen a disqualification due to the mawashi falling off.
merde@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 22d
spot on
Sergio@piefed.social · 4 pts · 22d
awww I was hoping Ura could pull something off these last couple matches.
I feel Fujiryoga deserves more attention: https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=12945
This is only his 3rd tourney in Makuuchi; his first tourney he went 7-8 and barely stayed in Makuuchi. But last tourney he went 10-5 and seems headed to match that result. I look forward to seeing what he does in the future.
Nice throw by Asakoryu.
Shishi was definitely outclassed, but it looks like his plan was: establish a belt grip and try to deny Kotozakura a good grip on his own belt. When that failed he wasn't able to get anything else going, though.
Sergio@piefed.social · 3 pts · 22d
I noticed that! everyone oughta do that, lel.
I think part of the problem was Atamifuji was wearing his mawashi loose, and to make matters worse Hoshoryu only got a partial grip. That, combined with Atamifuji's enormous bulk, gave Hoshoryu a lot of problems with Atamifuji.
Hoshoryu began trying to trip/throw Atamifuji in the center and only managed to spin him around 180 degrees. Then Atamifuji belly-bumped him a couple times to get him to the edge. Hoshoryu tried one last throw/trip, and that's when Atamifuji forced him out.
They only fought once before and Aonishiki won that time, but it was way back in March 2025 before their current injuries and a whole lot of experience. FWIW this is Takerufuji's first tourney back in Makuuchi after a spell in Juryo for injury, and I suspect he'd love to come back a winner. Or at least a spoiler.
Shishi's got a chance. Atamifuji's whole strategy is: "be big and shove people out" and Shishi's like: "been there, done that, grown beyond." LET'S GO SHISHI!!!
That should be a great match. Kirishima wants to stay in contention and Hoshoryu wants to avoid make-koshi. Or, one of them could henka. Prediction: they both henka, and then stand there a second like: "let's just keep going and pretend this didn't happen!"
I dunno but I'm feeling the HYPE!!!
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 22d
Welp, Hosho just pulled out citing a hamstring injury, so I guess Kiri gets a day of rest before the final.
Sergio@piefed.social · 2 pts · 21d
ooohhh... noooo... I have more respect for Onosato, who stays in it and faces the risk of make-koshi...
not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 22d
That push from Fujiryoga on Ura. Ura had both feet off the ground and was flying backwards towards the tawara. Looked like he got him with a Rasengan or some DBZ shit.
not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 22d
Asanoyama's balance, dancing along the tawara, was pretty amazing.