SUMO - 2023 Natsu Basho (May 14th - 28th)

Sticko said:
I'm a day behind but I truly believe this turtle is going to push that lawnmower all the way to yokozuna. He looked in bad condition the second week and a couple of his opponents figured out his sideways stance leaves him vulnerable to sotogake but I believe he will make the needed adjustments.
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I got confused for a minute because I mean Kagayaki looks like a turtle
 
Sticko said:
I'm a day behind but I truly believe this turtle is going to push that lawnmower all the way to yokozuna. He looked in bad condition the second week and a couple of his opponents figured out his sideways stance leaves him vulnerable to sotogake but I believe he will make the needed adjustments.
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I don’t know — he’s big but his technique is poor and his speed, power and ferocity also seen poor.
 
Finally caught up on the final two days.

I feel like this was a pretty huge tournament for Terunofuji. Returning from his injury recovery, and he's still not even close to 100%, but he looked pretty dominant out there and he's still got the overwhelming strength to rely on.

Kiribayama did what he had to do as well, and put in a fantastic performance against the Yokozuna on day 14. Hoshoryu beating him on the final day probably feels bad, but it's a good sign for the depth in the Sekiwake ranks.
 
Fork said:
Finally caught up on the final two days.

I feel like this was a pretty huge tournament for Terunofuji. Returning from his injury recovery, and he's still not even close to 100%, but he looked pretty dominant out there and he's still got the overwhelming strength to rely on.

Kiribayama did what he had to do as well, and put in a fantastic performance against the Yokozuna on day 14. Hoshoryu beating him on the final day probably feels bad, but it's a good sign for the depth in the Sekiwake ranks.
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Think he will get Ozeki?
 
Rob Battisti said:
I don’t know — he’s big but his technique is poor and his speed, power and ferocity also seen poor.
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Well the reason I believe in him is partly that Hakusho is his mentor but mostly that he's 21 and already in makuuchi, and you can see when he's fighting well he's very hard for even experienced rikishi to move.

The second week he fought like dog crap losing 5 in a row but I'm wondering if that's a sign he was injured or just worn out or lacking in confidence. I've never seen a rikishi try to wrestle like him - he's big but not a pusher-thruster at all and likes to get in weird awkward positions with his belt sumo.

I'm sure he had the most bout time in the May tournament by a big margin beginning with a 3-minute match on day 1 so maybe he's just tired.
 
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Does anyone else ever watch Dosukoi Sumo Salon? I watched a pretty interesting episode yesterday on katasukashi and learned a lot.

It's actually pretty similar to a hatakikomi slap down except with a katasukashi you first have to get one arm under the opponent's armpit and then you slap down with the other arm. Often you move sideways as well to get them off balance. You need a bit of space, your opponent's legs can't be too close to you.

Most rikishi apparently perform katasukashi from just one side but Midorifuji has actually hit the move from both the right and left sides. He has the greatest % of wins coming by katasukashi of all time but he's not even in the top 5 yet of most career katasukashi victories.

They discussed how it's very effective when used by smaller rikishi against bigger opponents. Interestingly, Aoiyama pulled off a katasukashi against a smaller opponent on day 15.
 
This Saturday will see the retirement ceremony of Kakuryu (Source tachiai_blog)
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Stormtrooper85 said:
This Saturday will see the retirement ceremony of Kakuryu (Source tachiai_blog)
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just following his boy Kiribayama's promotion too. that's pretty special.

does anyone have thoughts on Kakuryu as a Yokozuna? i feel like it would be easy to say he was underappreciated having risen up under Hakuho's shadow, but i don't know if that's just looking at his career with rose-tinted glasses. his Ozeki run was impressive, but as an Ozeki he wasn't putting up crazy numbers until his Yokozuna run. and then i feel like he just got promoted to Yokozuna too late in the game like many others and had to contend with injuries.
 
Fork said:
just following his boy Kiribayama's promotion too. that's pretty special.

does anyone have thoughts on Kakuryu as a Yokozuna? i feel like it would be easy to say he was underappreciated having risen up under Hakuho's shadow, but i don't know if that's just looking at his career with rose-tinted glasses. his Ozeki run was impressive, but as an Ozeki he wasn't putting up crazy numbers until his Yokozuna run. and then i feel like he just got promoted to Yokozuna too late in the game like many others and had to contend with injuries.
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Kakuryu is perhaps an unappreciated Yokozuna in his time. He has 6 Yusho under his belt, 7 times he was awarded the Gino-Sho, which a bit of quick reading shows this is the hardest award to receive (bit of trivia in 1988 no one was awarded the Gino-Sho all year) this supports the people who call Kakuryu a thinking man's yokozuna.

Kakuryu came through the ranks at a really top heavy time, he faced Asashoryu, Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kisenosato and he managed to break through to Yokozuna.

While Kakuryu doesn't get the credit he probably deserves for coming up in the era of Hakuho but always worth pointing out how old Sumo is, how long it's been around and to this point there have been only 73 people to make it all the way to the very top.
 
Kakuryu's retirement ceremony is just happening now? He was already retired before I started watching in like July 2021.
 
Stormtrooper85 said:
Want to point out the obvious here, 5 previous Mongolians have made Ozeki and all of them went on to Yokozuna. Can Kiribayama follow them?
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If Terunofuji was not around i think he'd make it. If terunofuji stays for 2-3 more years, i dunno, he doesn't seem to be able to do anything against the big man. it might be just the push of the hype working, but i see Asanoyama making it before him. these two are for me the best guys in sumo at the moment - Kiri and Asa.
 
Ozeki Kirishima. well deserved, hope he makes a run at Yokozuna.
 
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Stormtrooper85 said:
Kakuryu is perhaps an unappreciated Yokozuna in his time. He has 6 Yusho under his belt, 7 times he was awarded the Gino-Sho, which a bit of quick reading shows this is the hardest award to receive (bit of trivia in 1988 no one was awarded the Gino-Sho all year) this supports the people who call Kakuryu a thinking man's yokozuna.

Kakuryu came through the ranks at a really top heavy time, he faced Asashoryu, Hakuho, Harumafuji, Kisenosato and he managed to break through to Yokozuna.

While Kakuryu doesn't get the credit he probably deserves for coming up in the era of Hakuho but always worth pointing out how old Sumo is, how long it's been around and to this point there have been only 73 people to make it all the way to the very top.
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Kakuryus time in Sumo was the most high level quality ever in this sport and I dont think we will see this level in many years to come if maybe ever. This scale is sometimes forgotten. It tells you something that a monster like Terrunofuji was only able to make his run after these guys retired. Kakuryo but especially Harumafuji would have been very dominant Yokozunas in other eras including right now.

Man I miss these times. It was so much technical skill. Unbelievable. And Kakuryu is the best singer among rikishi:D






I am way too nostalgic. Cant bring myself to really enjoy Sumo right now with how great it was back then. Them forcing Kakuryo and Harumafuji into retirement was a huge huge mistake.
 
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