Report card: 2024 Natsu Basho Part 6 - Tobizaru, Takayasu, Gonoyama, Hiradoumi, Daieisho and Atamifuji
The following post was first published on Sumo Stomp! on June 29 2024.
Welcome to my penultimate report card for the 2024 summer basho. Below I have my write-ups for a group of guys who were trying to claw their way into the san’yaku. Below I’ve got Tobizaru, Takayasu, Gonoyama, Hiradoumi, Daieisho and Atamifuji.
Let’s get into it.
Tobizaru
Rank: Maegashira 3 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D+
Tobizaru took home a losing record in May. However, the fact he’s able to get close to kachi-koshi (and often achieve it) while ranked here or hereabouts, despite his size disadvantage, is worthy of a lot of praise. Tobizaru has been ranked in the upper half of the maegashira since 2020. He was promoted to themakuuchi that year, scored 11-4 in his first tournament, and was promoted to M4. Since then he’s only lost double-digit bouts on two occasions (both in 2021). Since 2021 he’s been one of the most consistent and competitive wrestlers in the division.
Unfortunately, his semi-regular 7-8s mean he has never progressed past komusubi, but being a staple of the joi for so long is an achievement in itself. And it’s also easy to forgive his losing records given how much excitement he packs into every bout (and how enjoyable he is to follow outside of the dohyo).
But how does he stay so competitive? First and foremost it’s his division leading evasive skills. He fights with a buoyancy that makes him hard to catch and control. He’s basically sumo’s version of Flubber. That’s a double edged sword, though. Because he’s so bouncy, when someone does catch up with him he’s easy to bounce all the way into the second and third rows.
Tobizaru walks a tight rope in every bout. Sometimes he stays on, other times he falls. With this approach to fighting, I don’t think a 6-9 record is all that shabby.
On Day 1 in May everything went right for him and he was able to stay on that tight rope, despite everything Abi threw at him. In the bout below you can really see how good Tobizaru’s footwork is. He was able to navigate the straw, blindly, while side-stepping and curving away from his opponent. You can see how close his feet came to stepping outside the boundary, but he’s able to keep them in bounds even with Abi breathing down his neck.
On Day 2 we saw the risks involved with Tobizaru’s approach. Wakamotoharu clocked him with a forearm off the tachiai and tried to get close to him. Tobizaru was determined to not get trapped, though. He bounced back and came very close to scoring a win. Unfortunately for him he touched down first.
Hiradoumi had a similar idea to Wakamotoharu, he wanted to lock up Tobizaru to prevent any of his sorcery along the boundary. Unlike Wakamotoharu, Hiradoumi was able to stick to Tobizaru and leave no doubts over who went out first.
Tobi will get a small demotion off the back of this tournament (maybe to M5 or 6). I expect him to get a kachi-koshi in Nagoya from that position (and put on a show while doing so).
Takayasu
Rank: Maegashira 3 East
Record: 7-3-5
Grade: C+
It was another “what could have been” tournament for Takayasu. He looked fantastic up until an injury popped up and ruined his basho. He started his tournament off with wins over Wakamotoharu and eventual winner Onosato.
He was then kyujo for Day 3. He returned on Day 9 and went 5-2 to finish the tournament, beating Hoshoryu and Kotozakura.
Takayasu is so good. But it’s painful how much his injury problems have robbed from him in the last few years. I have no doubts that if he was injury free in this tournament he would have been a major factor in the closing days of the basho. Just look how he handled Onosato!
By now we all know how special Onosato is. And we know how strong he is, too. But look at how this banged up 34-year-old was able to stop the phenom in his tracks.
Takayasu is the best defensive wrestler in sumo and he showed that in the Onosato bout. Onosato went for Takayasu’s belt off the tachiai. This is a tactic Onosato began using in this tournament, so Takayasu probably had no idea Onosato would do anything other than plow into him and hit him in the chest. It’s amazing that Takayasu reacted so quickly and blocked off that hand from his belt. He then executed a pivot to break Onosato’s grip on the other side of his belt. From there Takayasu hand fought and then resisted both a hatakikomi and a hikiotoshi. Takayasu blocking off all these attacks, left Onosato befuddled and out of position, leading to his fall along the straw.
Takayasu’s defense was also on full display against Hoshoryu (below).
This bout featured a prolonged stare down, with Hoshoryu doing his best to intimidate the former ozeki. Takayasu looked like he couldn’t care less, though. When the fight began, Hoshoryu tried to do what he does better than anyone else. But Takayasu blocked off his judo throws, first by attacking Hoshoryu’s grip and then by checking his attempt to hook his left leg. After he blocked the throw he was able to muscle Hoshoryu down for a very satisfying finish.
Takayasu is capable of quite incredible feats of strength on the dohyo. Check out how he flung Gonoyama to the ground with one hand (his non dominant hand, too).
Now I’m praying that the notoriously slippery clay in Nagoya won’t result in Papayasu slipping and suffering yet another injury.
Gonoyama
Rank: Maegashira 2 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D+
Gonoyama was promoted to his highest ever rank for this tournament (thanks in part to two fusen victories in his 10-5 run in March). He did OK at M2 and really deserves a lot of praise for being able to stick around at M6 and higher for the last year (he was promoted to makuuchi for the first time at last year’s Nagoya basho).
Gonoyama has managed to stick around the high maegashira ranks despite only having one mode. Also, Gonoyama has not been able to progress beyond the high maegashira ranks because he only has one mode. That mode is fast forwards…
To read the rest of this post please head on over to Sumo Stomp! on Substack.