Onosato defeated Hoshoryu in a championship playoff between yokozuna, both having finished with a 13–2 record. With this victory, Onosato claimed his fifth career championship, his first since being promoted to yokozuna, and his first in two tournaments. The Onosato–Hoshoryu matchup turned out very differently from what I had expected. In the honwari (regulation bout), I thought Onosato would charge forward with an unhesitating attack at the tachi-ai (initial charge). Yesterday, Hoshoryu won with a henka (sidestep at the initial charge) at the initial charge. Precisely because of that, I believed it would be extremely difficult for him to attempt a second consecutive henka in such a high-stakes yokozuna showdown for the championship. I assumed Onosato thought the same way—but I was wrong. In the honwari bout, rather than focusing on the kind of sumo he wanted to impose, Onosato seemed too preoccupied with the possibility that his opponent might attempt another henka or some other varia...
My name is Kimitoshi Koyanagi , Japanese. I am a sumo fan with approximately 50 years of experience watching the sport. My English is poor. But I aim to share the appeal of sumo with the world, focusing on analyzing and providing commentary on the bouts and their content during tournaments.