Posted on 03/21/2019 9:11:27 AM PDT by RitchieAprile
OSAKA (Kyodo) -- Grand champion Hakuho beat ozeki Tochinoshin on Wednesday to retain his lead at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with 12 straight wins.
Hakuho faced little challenge from the struggling Tochinoshin (6-6), who has only beaten the 41-time top-division champion once in 28 matchups.
The Mongolian yokozuna hemmed up Tochinoshin after a momentary stalemate, then turned on the gas after recharging his engine and deposited the ozeki over the straw.
Fighting as a demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki, Tochinoshin needs to secure two wins over the final three days of the 15-day meet to retain his post at sumo's second highest rank.
The final bout of the day at Edion Arena Osaka proved to be an upset, with ozeki Takayasu (10-2) defeating yokozuna Kakuryu (9-3).
With both wrestlers looking for their 10th win, Kakuryu fought back to gain the inside edge against the ozeki and planted himself in the center of the ring.
But Takayasu found the grand champion's belt, and hefted Kakuryu over the edge before falling out himself. Takayasu improved to 9-12 in his rivalry with the yokozuna.
Rank-and-filer Ichinojo (11-1) remained the only wrestler one win behind Hakuho after defeating No. 8 Asanoyama (7-5).
The No. 4 maegashira promptly secured a left-handed grip on Asanoyama's belt as the wrestlers collided, then swung the 170-kilogram wrestler around to the edge of the ring.
With his opponent backed into a corner, the massive Mongolian swung his right arm over Asanoyama's head for extra leverage and threw him down to the clay.
The sekiwake wrestlers, who won respective titles at the previous two tournaments, had mixed fates on Day 12.
Takakeisho (8-4) suffered his second straight loss in his bid for a promotion, this time at the hands of Goeido (10-2). The ozeki put Takakeisho into offensive mode with some hard shoves, then routinely slapped him down as Takakeisho tried to answer back.
Tamawashi (5-7), meanwhile, defeated top-ranked maegashira Endo (4-8). After a heated exchange of slaps, Tamawashi was driven to the edge but reversed on the straw and dashed out of harm's way. The Mongolian turned and put everything into a flying shove to launch Endo off the raised ring.
Among the komusubi, Mitakeumi fell to 5-7 with a loss against No. 2 Myogiryu (5-7). Mitakeumi staved off several throat holds and tried to maneuver Myogiryu to the edge, but was shoved out in the process.
Newly-promoted Hokutofuji (4-8) bounced back after posting a losing record on Day 11 by taking down No. 3 Nishikigi (3-9). Hokutofuji created some distance with a hard initial shove, then bulldozed the maegashira out.
Among the lower ranked wrestlers, Bulgarian-born Aoiyama and former ozeki Kotoshogiku each improved to 10-2 with wins against Ryuden (8-4) and Chiyotairyu (6-6), respectively.
This thread is useless without pictures.....
Love sumo... much better and more a test of strength than our combat ‘sports’.
Sumo is a sport which I admire. While I’m no good at remembering names, it’s the overall method of dealing with the opponent that I find fascinating.
It involves getting into someone’s special way of thinking.
It’s not what I would call a violent sport, more of a Physical Chess Match.
I really hate it when my computer changes a word just as it’s posting!
I meant to say Sumo Wrestling involves getting into someone’s ‘SPATIAL’ way of thinking.
:)
It’s about getting a good charge , a good slap in, and a good grip. Believe it or not, they ain’t as big as they used to be.. used to watch sumo back in the ‘70s when I was stationed on the Rock.
It’s hard to achieve much less maintain massive weight.. just eating alone is a chore.
Their plight is much like the NFL linemen that bulk up to play, but after they retire they shrink by half.. well, some do.
One of my favorite things about sumo is keeping an eye on the little old ladies (OK, they are my age) sitting ring side. The thought of one of these big boys getting thrown out of the ring into their lap keeps me on the edge of my seat.
I was noticing that over time as well, NormsRevenge.
At first I really did think it was my imagination; thought they appeared much larger in the past and put it down because of my bad memory. Many of them were walking mountains!
LOL
Pokemon is sumo.
Nice thread. I really should go to stadium more often. I’m not sure why I don’t, but it probably has to do with how fantastic our rock n roll scene is here. Sumo is really a great sport.
HAKUHO, the Yokozuna ( Grand Champion ) is NOT Japanese. He is Mongolian.
Sumo is fascinating. Many moons ago, it would be broadcast once a week on a UHF channel out of Los Angeles. I was hooked! Chiyonofuji was my favorite. There seemed to be two tpes of wrestlers — the very fat and the very muscular. The very fat were dangerous, but with one wrong move a smaller muscular athlete could get them to fall or go rocketing out of the ring (and onto the spectators!). Many of the fattest wrestlers were non-Japanese. There was that gigantic Hawaiian whose name escapes me . . . The non-Japanese wrestlers always looked out of place and unattractive compared to most of the Japanese wrestlers — very flabby, lots of scars and stretch marks — but they were so much larger than the native Japanese. Some years back there was a young sumo hopeful who had a surgeon implant a thick pad of human body fat onto the top of his cranium in order to meet the height requirement!
I am regularly delighted to rediscover the wide range of interests and knowledge exhibited by my fellow Freepers.
Are all the Sumo wrestlers Mongolians, now?
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