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Time for the final sumo tournament of 2019. Japan has just had the high of a hosting a successful Rugby World Cup, but also had to deal with a deadly typhoon. It’s been an odd year for sumo, with the top dogs struggling with injuries we’ve seen a few first and second-time yusho winners and a lot of lower ranked guys making big moves. The Yokozuna have one tournament win each in 2019 and they’ll probably both be looking to end the year on a high note. Let’s take a look at the banzuke rankings:
Debuting Wrestler: The commentator’s nightmare Wakatakakage is finally making his debut in the top division. He’s been in Juryo for a year and a half slowly working his way up the rankings. He broke into the second division pretty quickly but I think his slow development through the division should be helpful, and hopefully he’s able to start off a similar career in the top division with a winning record here. He’s a University junior of yusho-winner Mitakeumi, so hopefully his senior’s success will inspire him.
Mr. Popularity Rides Again: All the ladies want him, all the men want to be him… Enho is coming off some good tournaments and subsequently has moved pretty far up in the ranks. Finding himself at M6 he’ll probably be matching up with the top Maegashira guys and maybe a lower Sanyaku or two this tournament. As always he should be a joy to watch, and win or lose he’ll be the guy to keep an eye on this tournament.
Komosubi Debut: Breaking into the Sanyaku ranks for the first time, Trump Cup winner Asanoyama is having a pretty great breakout year and will be looking to show he belongs with the big dogs. Fortunately he’s been competing against the big names pretty frequently in the last year, so he should bring some confidence into his matches.
End on a High Note? Former Ozeki Tochinoshin is once again fighting to regain his rank. He dropped out of Ozeki and regained his rank earlier in the year, but it wasn’t easy and he’ll have to push through his injuries to pick up another 10-win tournament. It would be great to see Tochinoshin do the impossible and regain his rank, but it feels like even if he could end the year on a high he’d still be in a difficult position. There’s no rest for the weary.
Defending Champion: Coming off a nice 12-3 Yusho-winning tournament, Mitakeumi will be looking to repeat his victory and also to build on a good start to a run for Ozeki promotion. He’s been solid as a Sekiwake, but struggled to string together the impressive tournaments he would need for the promotion.
Same Old Ozeki Story: I feel like a broken record, but Goeido and Takayasu could really use some good performances to end the year. Takayasu sat out the last tournament and will need a winning record to keep his rank. 8 wins isn’t really enough though, and being in the Yusho race would be great. Goeido is coming off a 10-5 tournament which is pretty good at this point, but he can and should do better. Takakeisho is the great hope at the rank, and put in a great performance in his return tournament in September, winning back his rank. He picked up a worrying injury on the final day, however, and his first match should say a lot about how much it's affected him.
Going the Distance? Both Yokozuna have looked pretty good when they’ve been able to go the full 15 days, but they’ve sat out or withdrawn often this year, including in September. Hakuho is a desperately proud man, and he’ll feel he has a lot to prove after withdrawing on the second day of the last tournament. Kakuryu is a tough guy to predict as he can look really good somedays, but then when his injuries and pressure get to him he can struggle. Pressure is exactly what both Yokozuna will be feeling throughout this tournament and, injuries aside, whoever can handle the pressure best will stand a good chance of winning the tournament.
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So there you go!
Stay tuned to Kintamayama's YouTube Channel for daily highlights of the top division, and check out Grand Sumo Awesome for English versions of the NHK digest episodes (although I don't think they include all of the top division matches). Or go straight to the source, on NHK World's Sumo website. There's also a great blog at tachiai.org with news and information.
For a slightly more updated and longer viewing guide, I'll include a post I made in the January thread with more options:
because it's taking place in Japan, it's not too convenient to watch live from the US (top division matches will start at like 2AM EST), but here are the options for watching the sport live:
NHK, the channel that broadcasts sumo in japan, has a global version NHK World which should be streaming at least the opening day on their website, maybe here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/sumolive/
Mbovo on twitch broadcasts live every day of the tournament here:
japanese streaming site Abema TV streams sumo live every day (starting with the lowest ranks really early in the day, all the way up to the top division) here: https://abema.tv/channels/world-sports/slots/8W8CNEEd69AjxT
Abema TV's stream isn't the same as the NHK broadcast, and they have their own commentators and graphics, and it's all in japanese.
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options for watching later:
Kintamayama on youtube uploads highlights from the top division, which will probably get posted in this thread every day.
Grand Sumo Awesome on youtube uploads the NHK highlights of each day's top division matches with english commentary. they don't include every top division match, but the English commentary is very useful.
it's pretty easy to find the day's matches on youtube these days, and there are a lot of choices.
NHK, the channel that broadcasts sumo in japan, has a global version NHK World which should be streaming at least the opening day on their website, maybe here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/sumolive/
Mbovo on twitch broadcasts live every day of the tournament here:
japanese streaming site Abema TV streams sumo live every day (starting with the lowest ranks really early in the day, all the way up to the top division) here: https://abema.tv/channels/world-sports/slots/8W8CNEEd69AjxT
Abema TV's stream isn't the same as the NHK broadcast, and they have their own commentators and graphics, and it's all in japanese.
---------------------------------
options for watching later:
Kintamayama on youtube uploads highlights from the top division, which will probably get posted in this thread every day.
Grand Sumo Awesome on youtube uploads the NHK highlights of each day's top division matches with english commentary. they don't include every top division match, but the English commentary is very useful.
it's pretty easy to find the day's matches on youtube these days, and there are a lot of choices.
And as usual, for anyone who'll be watching the sport for the first time, please feel free to ask any questions you might have here and someone will try to answer them. Also be sure to check out my Introduction to SUMO thread for a brief (although probably outdated at this point) overview of the sport.
Hakke-yoi!
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