Hooked on Sumo: Insights & Analysis 　(by 小柳公寿)

 Onosato has withdrawn from the tournament. My reaction was basically, “as expected.” In yesterday’s bout against Fujinokawa, I had been hoping to see the kind of sumo he once showed when he demolished Aonishiki in an instant. But not only did he lose—the content of the bout itself was quite poor as well. Fujinokawa defeated Hoshoryu to claim kinboshi on consecutive days.  In fact, I had a feeling Fujinokawa might win this bout. My reasoning was that Hoshoryu has often lost in the past to smaller rikishi such as Midorifuji and Wakatakakage. Recently, however, he seems to have figured out how to deal with both Midorifuji and Wakatakakage, so I expect that he will eventually learn how to handle Fujinokawa as well. However, the key point was probably the timing of placing his hands down at the tachiai. It gave the impression that Fujinokawa had completely read that timing and managed to seize the initiative. I don’t think Hoshoryu lost because he was in poor condition, but tomorr...

 Aonishiki suffered a loss to Yoshinofuji, dropping to one defeat. Given the nature of their previous meetings, I had expected Yoshinofuji to be a major hurdle for Aonishiki, so the result itself did not come as much of a surprise. Aonishiki created the body position to attempt an uchi-musō ( inner thigh propping twist down), but Yoshinofuji drove forward from the right, almost scooping him up with sheer force. It was very similar to the way Atamifuji attacked in the championship playoff last tournament. However, unlike Atamifuji, he was unable to drive Aonishiki all the way back to the tawara (edge of the ring). Instead, Yoshinofuji disrupted Aonishiki’s balance with a throw from the left and continued driving forward. There was clear ingenuity in that sequence. In particular, it was good that he did not hesitate after the uwate-dashi-nage (pulling over armthrow), immediately continuing the attack without giving Aonishiki time to recover.

 Aonishiki, who is making a tsuna-tori (yokozuna promotion )bid this tournament, opened with a win.  Wakamotoharu attempted a henka at the tachiai, but Aonishiki showed no sign of panic, maintaining his forward-leaning posture and finishing with a yorikiri. His ability to secure and draw in the hidari-mae-mitsu was particularly good. Watching both his NHK pre-tournament interview and this bout, the impression he gives is that he is truly grounded. That said, tomorrow’s opponent is the formidable Yoshinofuji.  From a spectator’s point of view, it should be a very interesting match to watch. Onosato showed one of his bad habits and started the tournament with a loss. Wakatakakage, on the other hand, fought very well.  He twisted back his right inside arm (migi-zashi), neutralizing Onosato’s left hand, while applying ottsuke and shibori (squeeze) from the left to deny Onosato the migi-zashi. That said, how many times have we seen Onosato dig his own grave by pulling str...