Report Card: Natsu Basho - Part 3 Ichiyamamoto, Hokutofuji, Sadanoumi, Kinbozan and Shonannoumi
The following post was first published on Sumo Stomp! on June 11, 2024.
Continuing on with my report card series for the 2024 summer tournament. This time around I’m grading Ichiyamamoto, Hokutofuji, Sadanoumi, Kinbozan and Shonannoumi.
Enjoy!
Ichiyamamoto
Rank: Maegashira 12 East
Record: 8-7
Grade: C
Ichiyamamoto put in a solid performance in May to earn his second kachi-koshi since returning to the makuuchi in November. His prior records, since a short stint in juryo (where he won a yusho), are 11-4, 5-10 and 7-8.
He scored some solid wins in this basho, getting the better of Sadanoumi, Shonannoumi, Ryuden and Tamawashi. The win over Tamawashi (below) came on the final day.
This is a great bout to look at, since both men were fighting their hardest to try to bank a winning record. In this bout Ichiyamamoto showed a lot of strength and toughness. I feel like these are areas he’s been working on. During his previous stint in makuuchi he was really lacking there. But in this tournament he drove forwards with committment and didn’t blench under pressure.
Previously, Ichiyamamoto’s thrusts were more of the pitter-patter variety, but you can see against Tamawashi that he was putting his head down and really trying to force his opponent backwards (instead of just trying to pester them). His side step at the end of this bout showed off his mobility, too. That has always been one of his plus attributes.
Ichiyamamoto’s win over Sadanoumi, on Day 2, also displayed a lot of toughness. And you’ve got to be tough to get anything against Sadanoumi. Again, see how Ichiyamamoto was really committing to these drives forwards. It works for him here, but sometimes he was caught out by putting his head down like that. Doing so gives his opponents a very enticing target for potential slap downs.
Ichiyamamoto is still prone to doing a little too much when he finds himself in some space. In his bout with Tokihayate he ended up sprawling on the ground because his hand movement had drifted too far into flailing, instead of the controlled thrusts we saw in the above examples.
All in all, though, this was a good tournament for Ichiyamamoto. And it’s nice to see him do well, being that he’s one of the more entertaining characters in the sport.
Hokutofuji
Rank: Maegashira 11 West
Record: 7-8
Grade: C-
It’s almost been a year since Hokutofuji broke out at the 2023 Nagoya basho and came up just short of a yusho, losing to Hoshoryu in a play-off. It’s been tough for him since then. He’s had losing records in all but one of the basho that followed. In many of those tournaments it looked like he was fighting hurt. Even so, at this point, it sadly seems like that Nagoya performance is something Hokutofuji may not be capable of repeating.
Whether that’s the effect of nagging injuries or just that Nagoya was a fluke, I don’t know. But that Nagoya tournament was one of my favourites in recent memory because of Hokutofuji’s performance and the intensity he brought to every second he spent on the dohyo.
That intensity seemed to ebb away when Hokutofuji looked most hurt over the last twelve months. But thankfully it seems to be back. However, intensity alone hasn’t gotten him back on the winning track.
Though his right knee and calf were bandaged this tournament, Hokutofuji looked good off the tachiai and was able to drive his foes back with power. See below how he deployed the nodowa throat thrusting technique on both Ichiyamamoto and Mitoryu. He used that throat thrust in combination with a push to the chest. The throat thrust served to put the opponents off balance (and deter them from their own attacks), while the chest thrust was all about moving them backwards.
Unfortunately for Hokutofuji, this technique didn’t always pan out. When he put his hand into Shonannoumi’s throat, Shonannoumi responded with a great side step. In this bout, Hokutofuji really struggled when he found himself in open space. He looked a little desperate trying to get back into close quarters and, as a result, was easy to control and put down.
Against Takanosho (below), he found someone who wanted to do the same thing as him. This resulted in a battle of strength and Takanosho got the better of him this day. Hokutofuji tried to use his mobility to slip passed Takanosho, but he timed it poorly and Takanosho had far too much space to reposition himself and then score the fight winning thrust out.
Given what we’ve seen from Hokutofuji so far this year, a 7-8 is a decent result for him. I just want more.
Sadanoumi
Rank: Maegashira 11 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: B-
Sadanoumi is now the sole owner of the title of best gatekeeper in the makuuchi. Previously I listed him as one of The Three Gatekeepers with Takarafuji and Myogiryu. But while those others have fallen, he has remained a perfect measuring stick for the division. If you can get past him, the upper maegashira rankings await.
At 36-years-old Sadanoumi is still strong, quick and ornery enough to make him a hard out for every opponent he faces. His 9-6 record in May gave him his fourth kachi-koshi in the past five tournaments. This tournament also saw him notch his 706th win. That gives him the third highest total wins among active rikishi (behind Takayasu with 733 and Tamawashi with 860). The record for most wins belongs to Hakuho, who had 1187 wins.
Sadanoumi has gotten many of those 700 wins with his migi yotsu grip (right underhook, left overhook). Below are three examples of him using this technique on route to three very different looking victories.
The first is his bout with Shodai….
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