💾 Archived View for sdf.org › stug › sumo › 2021_natsu_15.txt captured on 2021-12-03 at 14:04:38.
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Day 15 Natsu 2021 The final day of the basho is here and the yusho has not been decided. A loss by Terunofuji and a win by Endo will lead to Endo and Takakeisho having to fight it out for the yusho. My money is on Terunofuji still. He has fought extremely hard and lost by unduely harsh judgements. There are grumblings of possible nationalism causing the hair pull call and call for Endo so that a Mongolian does not claim a 15-0 win for their first yusho as Ozeki. It stinks that we have to suspect such motives but what are you going to do about a secretive bunch of old men? Well by winning the yusho anyway if you are Terunofuji. So lets go enjoy the last day of sumo for another 6 weeks! Hakkeyoi! Ishiura faced Kotonowaka. Slaps at the tachiai, a bit of a swing around and then some belt gripping. A miss swing on Kotonowaka got the momentum which Ishiura is well placed to make use of. Kotonowaka hit the clay with a make-koshi. Shimanoumi and Chiyoshoma had a darwin bout. A wonderfully dynamic match with Chiyoshoma trying a henka and Shimanoumi managing to get a belt hold. They swang around until Chiyoshomo was out of the dohyo. Onosho faced Chiyotairyu and lost. Chiyotairyu did a sneak henka and Onosho is make-koshi. Horshoryu had a go at launching Tobizaru. Tobizaru barely risked taking a rikishi out. A good match though. Tobizaru was on the attack for most of the bout until Horshoryu saw an opening and just rushed Tobizaru off the dohyo. Wakatakakage faced Kotoeko. Swift powerful arm movements kept Kotoeko at the straw until Kotoeko did some crazy roll out of the way and Wakatakakage hit the clay. Well impressive!! Endo faced Shodai. Shodai has a 7-3 winning record against Endo. Shodai keeps that a winning record. Endo was trying to find a belt grip and Shodai kept wiggling away pushing Endo to the straw. Poor Endo is out of the running. The big match now. Terunofuji vs Takakeisho. They have each won twice against each other. They are both Ozeki. If Terunofuji wins, he gets the yusho. If Takakeisho wins, he faces Terunofuji again to get the yusho as they would have the same 12-3 record. This is an exciting match for sure!! In an instant, Takakeisho got the win! WTF?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? As Terunofuji left the dohyo, his tzukibitu had a stumble in sympathy it seems. Terunofuji does not look a happy chap. Who can blame him? They engaged in a tachiai before a step right from Takakeisho meant all of Terunofuji's weight was too far forward and he hit the clay. So Takakeisho gets to face Terunofuji again. The winner of this bout gets the yusho. Excitement to the last minute for this basho!! A reluctance to push weight too far forward lead to a slightly odd grapple free match. Terunofuji kept Takakeisho away until he pushed hard on Takakeisho's head and ensured the yusho was his. Terunofuji has won his second yusho in a row, first yusho as an Ozeki and the third yusho within 12 months! A truely impressive record. As he left the dohyo to prepare for the presentations, his emotion came out. It was really sweet to see and shows how much dedication has gone into returning from Jonidan 48W in Haru 2019 to winning a yusho in July 2020 and now an Ozeki with 3 yushos from the past 12 months. This is the outcome he deserved after dominating this basho. Poor Takakeisho getting so close. We end with 15 kachi-koshi, 27 make-koshi and what might be yet another interesting promotion/demotion challenge for the next banzuke. It has been a fun basho with some twists and turns. We return to having 3 Ozeki again with Asanoyama's inevitable ban from participating. For the next basho, Terunofuji will face immense pressure to win a second yusho as Ozeki to stake a claim at Yokuzuna. Personally, I would say he deserves such an honour now but I am not part of the NSK or the Yokuzuna council. I suppose he will have to do it the hard way unlike some of the past few Yokuzuna. Anyhow, issues for the coming weeks. Congratulations to Terunofuji!!