Report Card: 2024 Haru Basho - San'yaku
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The banzuke for the May tournament has been released, but we’ve still got two weeks before the natsu basho gets underway. Before that happens, I’m sneaking in our last March report card post! In this post I will be grading our upper rankers. This group was a real mixed bag at the haru basho with some having a shot at the yusho while others struggling to get more than a handful of wins.
I’ll break them all down below.
Nishikigi
Rank: Komusubi 1 West
Record: 3-12
Grade: E-
This was a very poor showing for Nishikigi. I would like to assume that there may have been an injury hampering Nishikigi in March, but I didn’t see any clear evidence of that.
He looked great in beating Terunofuji on Day 1, someone he matches up quite well against and someone he earned a kinboshi against last July. Nishikigi is usually able to brace for an incredible amount of impact and then prevent his opponents from pushing him back.
During this tournament, Nishikigi was easily moved backwards. See how Takanosho, who is no slouch when it comes to shoving, was able to get Nishikigi back and out. In this bout Nishikigi opted against trying to push straight back, where he is usually very strong, and instead tried circling away. As he circled, Takanosho was easily able to gain ground on him and reduce and then eliminate Nishikigi’s angle of escape.
Going forwards, things were even worse for the komusubi. When Nishikigi leans in, he really leans in. Nishikigi sometimes pushes so hard into his opponents that, when they move out the way, he launches forwards like he’s been spring-loaded. That’s what happened against Takakeisho on Day 7. He took similar losses to Atamifuji and Abi.
That Takakeisho loss came in the middle of a brutal eleven bout losing streak. It was a pretty sad tournament for Nishikigi, considering how impressive he looked in the middle of 2023.
Abi
Rank: Komusubi 1 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: C
Abi did Abi things this basho and, this time around, they worked more often than they didn’t.
If you’ve been reading Sumo Stomp! for a minute, you know how Abi fights. He makes space with his thrusts and then takes that space away, quickly, to create a big hole for his opponents to fall through.
On Day 1, he punked Kirishima (who really should have known better). Watch below as Abi powered through Kirishima’s attempt to block his opening thrusts, snapping Kirishima’s head back. As soon as Abi saw that reaction from the ozeki he pulled the ripcord and let Kirishima throw himself to the ground.
Abi has perfected this technique to the point where he can do this while on the defensive, also. See below as he managed the space between he and Takakeisho, while being forced backwards. Pay special attention to Abi’s back foot and watch how he instantly sprang his finishing move when he felt the straw on his feet. The finishing move in this sequence required more of a push down on Takakeisho than Abi needed for Kirishima. Pushing down on Takakeisho also gave Abi some resistance to elevate himself up and away from danger.
What makes Abi even more dangerous is that, when given an opening, he can blast forwards with his thrusts and secure oshidashi and tsukidashi wins, too.
See below how he opened up with his usual offence against Daieisho. However, Daieisho turned from the contact, off of an especially good thrust under the jaw. Once Daieisho was turned, Abi scrambled forwards, with a stronger push that launched Daieisho back and eventually out.
Abi didn’t get it all his own way in March, though. A couple of rikishi were able to withstand his hands and force him outside of his comfort zone.
Mitakeumi showed one way to prevent Abi manipulating space in a match. See below as he immediately bear hugged Abi and drove him back to the straw. Mitakeumi accomplished this was a strong underhook on the right side. That prevented Abi from hitting him with that arm and from escaping to the side once they reached the boundary.
Onosato also got a win over Abi (in their first ever meeting). He was able to out-Abi Abi on this occasions. See below as Abi hit Onosato and then tried to force him back, like he did against Daieisho. This might be a sign that Abi didn’t respect Onosato’s game that much and he believed he would be able to simply push him out. Onosato responded exactly how Abi would to such aggression, though. It will be interesting to see what happens the next time they face each other.
Abi has been a yo-yo between the upper and maegashira ranks for a while now. This is the first time he was able to bank a winning record at komusubi since 2022. In the time between then and now he had popped up and then immediately back down from komusubi on two occasions. His best streak of winning records in the san’yaku is three, which he managed after his first promotion to komusubi in 2019.
Wakamotoharu
Rank: Sekiwake 1 West
Record: 9-6
Grade: C+
Wakamotoharu looked good in March, with shades of his ozeki run form last year. After losing out on a shot at ozeki Wakamotoharu slumped to a 6-9 record to end 2023, showing a very unenthusiastic and, at times, morose attitude to his sumo. Thankfully, he looked rejuvenated in January as he locked in a 10-5 record (with a gold star and special prize). That got him promoted to sekiwake for this tournament. As sekiwake Wakamotoharu was able to get kachi-koshi, though it wasn’t with double-digits.
Wakamotoharu’s big mistakes in March came early, with losses to Abi and Daieisho (two opponents he usually fares well against). His later losses are more excusable, losing to the highly skilled Kotonowaka and Hoshoryu and the runaway trains that were Onosato and Takerufuji.
Wakamotoharu’s game is based around enforcing his will in the clinch. He wants to win by yorikiri every time and he knows that he needs the right grip to do that, especially against foes who can put more weight behind their pushing. His grip of choice is hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside).
Against Asanoyama, below, you can see how Wakamotoharu uses defense to ensure he wins the battle for position. Asanoyama is very good at wrapping guys up and walking them out with long powerful strides. He needs a good grip on the belt to do this. You can see below that he was able to get his right hand on Wakamotoharu’s mawashi. Lots of wrestlers tolerate a grip like this and just try and get off their offence before the gripping opponent does anything to advance the position. Not Wakamotoharu, though.
Against Asanoyama he broke the grip by shifting his hips and squeezing Asanoyama’s right arm. After the squeeze, he locked Asanoyama’s arm down and prevented him reaching across, Wakamotoharu then seized the initiative and powered Asanoyama back, driving that right arm upwards with the hidari-yotsu grip. This sent Asanoyama off balance and easier to force out.
Against Meisei (below), Wakamotoharu showed he has good defence with his legs, too. Watch how he blocked Meisei’s throw attempts while advancing with that preferred hidari-yotsu grip.
Now you know what Wakamotoharu is looking for. Watch below how his fight with Atamifuji is all about him trying to establish that grip. And see how quickly the bout was over once he got it.
Preventing Wakamotoharu from getting that grip is hard to do, but if you can stop him there, you have a good chance of winning. See how Abi was able to do that below:
Daieisho
Rank: Sekiwake 1 East
Record: 6-9
Grade: D
Daieisho looked quite poor in March and that resulted in a 6-9 record. That’s his worst record since an injury hit 7-7-2 tournament in July, 2022. His nine losses here are his most in a tournament since 2021. This March performance sees Daieisho out of the san’yaku for the first time since January, 2023.
I’m not Daieisho’s biggest fan. I think he drives forwards off his toes too much and that this makes him too susceptible to slap downs. However, I think his run in March might be due to an injury. His tippy-toe style is risky, but when an opponent just stands in front of him it’s usually enough to overwhelm them.
But in March, look how he was able to hit Oho with everything he threw, but wasn’t able to get the win. And when Oho responded, Daieisho looked powerless to stop him. I think Daiesho may have been carrying some sort of leg injury here and was unable to use the kind of power you’d expect from him when thrusting forwards or bracing for impact.
Even though he didn’t have the same zip going forwards, he was still moving hard enough to get caught out plenty of times. Below you can see his losses to Meisei and Onosato. Both losses came after Daieisho got caught going forwards on his toes. Look at the feet of Meisei (below) and Oho (above) to see how they don’t thrust until their feet are flat on the ground.
Daieisho came close to championships and an ozeki promotion last year. To do the same this year, and stand any chance of clinching those accolades, he’ll need to figure out how to thrust without leaving himself so vulnerable.
Kotonowaka
Rank: Ozeki 2 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: B+
I profiled Kotonowaka’s March tournament in a special spotlight post (available here).
Takakeisho
Rank: Ozeki 2 East
Record: 8-6-1
Grade: C-
Takakeisho came into this tournament hurt and needing a kachi-koshi to save his skin as an ozeki. As soon as he got his eighth win (on Day 13) he peaced out. Takakeisho has since sat out the entire April exhibition tour to rehab his neck and pectoral injuries (per Chris Sumo).
I gave him a friendly grade here because he was able to tough out the tournament and get what he needed. Kadoban is becoming a familiar state for Takakeisho. He has been figuratively put in the corner seven times in his ozeki career (each time due to injury). He’s been able to erase that status on all but one occasion (because one injury forced him to miss the entire following tournament).
Takakeisho, who remarkably is still only 27, looked off the pace in March. But given his injuries and who he fought, I think it’s really impressive that he can still get eight wins out of fifteen.
It’s also impressive that he was able to thrust (and slap) with power despite carrying a pec injury. Asanoyama is a very tough opponent, but whenever he meets Takakeisho he looks ordinary (even when Takakeisho is hurt).
The slap down above looks like a light touch. But that’s only because Asanoyama was putting so much forward pressure into Takakeisho, trying to force him back. Takakeisho is so strong that he was able to keep Asanoyama in place and then release him when he felt the time was right.
Takakeisho’s shoving power is also displayed by this gif. When Ura squats down he can be very hard to move. Not by ‘Keisho, though.
Takakeisho’s most notable loss this tournament was to Onosato, who he was seeing for the first time. Below you can see that Takakeisho felt how strong Onosato was after being pushed back and then being blocked when he tried to throat thrust him back. That made Takakeisho switch tactics and try to catch Onosato while in retreat. That proved to be a poor decision, given Onosato’s long reach. Takakeisho doesn’t have the same staying power when he’s on the move and a powerful thrust from Onosato sent him to the concrete.
Hoshoryu
Rank: Ozeki 1 West
Record: 11-4 (jun-yusho)
Grade: A
In March Hoshoryu again showed that he is very very very good at sumo. This is the seventh time he has gotten double-digit wins over the past ten tournaments. His double digit streak is now at three, it would have been seven were it not for the 8-7 he scored in his debut ozeki tournament. Whatever nerves he had then seems to have disappeared, though, as he continues to operate as a no-doubt future yokozuna. It feels like just a matter of time before the 24 year old gets that rope. …
To read the rest of this premium article, which includes the full write up for Hoshoryu, as well as Kirishima and Terunofuji, subscribe to Sumo Stomp! on Substack today.