Asashoryu stays one behind Hakuho

Wednesday 14th May, 07:14 PM JST

TOKYO —

Grand champion Asashoryu dodged a bullet against Russian youngster Wakanoho while rival yokozuna Hakuho gave Kyokutenho a royal tanning to remain undefeated on the fourth day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday. Asashoryu let Wakanoho inside for a right-handed underarm grip off the charge but tossed his 19-year-old opponent over the edge with a well-timed armlock throw to improve to 3-1, one behind his main rival at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

In the day’s final bout, Mongolian countryman Kyokutenho never had a chance after Hakuho got his preferred ‘‘migi-yotsu’’ grappling position and slammed his opponent to the dohyo surface with a powerful overarm throw. Kyokutenho slipped to 1-3. In other bouts, ozeki Kotooshu made short work of winless Georgian wrestler Kokkai, shoving down the top-ranked maegashira after the face-off to stay perfect, ozeki Chiyotaikai was abruptly shown the exit by Asasekiryu, ozeki Kaio fell to a third consecutive defeat at the hands of Miyabiyama, ozeki Kotomitsuki sent Estonian Baruto tumbling to the dirt and Ama fell to Kisenosato.

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5 Comments

Sarge at 02:16 PM JST - 15th May

I once had high hopes for Baruto.

My picks for today -

Tochiozan is going to lose for the first time to Robocop

Asasekiryu, who beat Chiyotaikai yesterday, will beat the Bulgarian boy

Baruto is going to get battered by Chiyotaikai

Kokkai, who has the edge ( 8-5 ) against Kaio, will lose this one

Kotomitsuki, who has the edge ( 8-5 )against Kisenosato, will lose this one

Kotoshogiku will lose to Hakuho

Miyabiyama, whom I have seen beat Asashoryu with my own eyes, will lose this one
mikeylikesit at 04:22 PM JST - 15th May

Baruto is going the way of Kokkai, I'm afraid. He made a splash at the start, and people thought he was going to make a mark. At the top, however, both flounder. Kokkai makes a lot of dumb mistakes like keeping his head down during charges so that he can't see his opponent about to push him to the ground, and Baruto likewise hasn't refined his sumo technique to compete with the sanyaku.

Size and strength are all nice and fine, and enough size (see Akebono and Musashimaru) is often even enough to earn yokozuna, but the most fundamental building block is technique, which is partly learned and partly the good judgment in the ring to do the right moves. Someone who can execute moves quickly and anticipate and avoid his opponent's attacks has the best potential in this sport, and, unfortunately for the curmudgeons at the JSA, the only people who seem to start with this ability anymore are Mongolians.

This is precisely what Baruto has lacked from the start, and he seems incapable of learning it.
pathat at 04:45 PM JST - 15th May

I`m just very happy to see Kotooshu off to a perfect start.
Sarge at 05:21 PM JST - 15th May

pathat - Your Bulgarian boy is going down today.
pathat at 07:33 AM JST - 16th May

Sarge: I am very sorry to report to you your grave error in predicting the demise of Kotooshu. Better luck next time.