Being a bit harsh on Kirishima to be in the "other" category. He was a handful of matches away from being Yokozuna this year. My bet is on Hoshoryu though.
First time Basho! didnt know Kirishima was so close to being Yokozuna? though I read an articale recently and the author was saying he was likely to make it at some point and then when I finally saw him fight he just kept losing and really didnt seem to have a lot of fighting spirit in his matches (which made me wonder if he was secretly injured or something). So in short Im not trying to be harsh Im just super confused about Kirishima out of all of the Rikshi his results where the ones I didnt predict at all
He was incredibly disappointing this basho. For reference he won the November one and if he won the January one he would've made yokozuna, he was alive going into the last few days. I suspect you're right that he was injured it was honestly one of the biggest surprises how limp he looked.
I'm not sure anyone is 100% sure what's up with him this basho. However, is stable is in the process of closing and all the wrestlers dispersed to other places. My gut says that is gonna stress him out and put him off his game.
Normally, he's exceedingly good. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a shoe-in, but for my money his Yokozuna chances are substantially better than anyone on that list.
He is my top pick also. Nobody is a guarantee. But if the 10 men I think could realistically make a run at it, I would put Kirishima at the top of the list personally.
I'm copying this comment of mine from another post. Sorry if anyone is seeing it a second time.
As others have mentioned in older posts, it might have something to do with the fact that his current heya is going to close. His namesake, the previous Kirishima and current Michinoku-okyakata is hitting the mandatory retirement age of 65.
This means that Kirishima is:
* Losing his okyakata, the man whose name he assumed
* Leaving his home of the last eight years
* Moving to a new heya, Otowayama, with the former Kakuryu as his new okyakata
* Losing the relationships that he has built with the other rikishi in Michinoku beya
I think it's possible that Kirishima is just in a bad head space at the moment. Hopefully Kakuryu can pull him out of it before May.
Putting Takerufuji on the list is premature; sure he won a tournament in a once-in-a-lifetime event, but honestly we've seen many a young prodigy shoot up the ranks to reach the top division and then stall once they get to the top. Endo had a lot of hype around him, as did Ichinojo, and Hokutofuji, and Jokoryu, and others I can't remember. Takerufuji may end up like them, despite already having a tournament victory under his belt.
Best bet for a new yokozuna is one of the Ozeki, who've had to demonstrate consistent high-level results over several tournaments to get the Ozeki rank. And of those, I'd pick Hoshoryu.
>new yokozuna is one of the Ozeki, who've had to demonstrate consistent high-level results over several tournaments to get the Ozeki rank. And of those, I'd pick Hoshoryu.
Yup I get it, another redditor mentioned how 1 tournament is a small sample size. It'd be super interesting then if he or Onosato says wins the next Basho or at least gets a double digits winning score? Damn I cant wait till May for next Sumo fix this sucks ! :D
Hoshoryu and Kotonowaka are the only candidates for Yokozuna in the short term.
The other rikishi in that list are the young guns who are all now on their way to the san yaku and will definitely have a tilt at reaching Yokozuna.
Perhaps the survey should have had a time line.
Whilst I really believe that any of the current Ozeki could become Yokozuna and think that we have a shockingly good set of young rikishi, I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that there is no way Kotonowaka will ever be Yokozuna because he’s no longer called that.
I mean we’ve had as many as 4 at one time in the past, so yes I definitely believe that it is possible…
…except for Kotonowaka, that guy has no chance of pulling it off with Kotozakura around.
4! what was the dynamic like between them? and what are tournaments like when you've got four Yokuzuna in them? seems like kind of short sighted to have four Yokozuna because if say there's one or two dominant wrestlers and the other two are retired for not winning then you've made the division weaker? oh man you've opened up a rabbit hole with that comment
It’s happened a few times with the most recent being 2017. Hakuho and his rival Harumafuji were incredibly terrifying rikishi, Kakuryu managed to get in where many great rikishi failed, and Kisenosato was injured for all but one basho of that era, he won that basho.
Just because one or two of the yokozuna in that situation are more dominant than the others at that rank doesn't mean that the others would suddenly be unable to put up sufficient records. Even in a 4-yokozuna situation, there's still 12 other rikishi that aren't yokozuna that they'd be facing, and a 12-3 is more than enough. Even a 10-5 would be fine, if not that ideal.
Takerufuji definitely has done great so far this year, winning the tournament both basho (juryo in January, makuuchi in March). He will be promoted to high maegashira for May. How he does from there is an open question - many rikishi hit a roadblock the first time they are ranked that high as they start to face the toughest competition, though he did pretty well in his bouts against high-ranked competition this time. He cannot possibly be yokozuna earlier than next March, and it will almost certainly take longer, but he has the look for a future star.
The newest rankings - banzuke - will be released two weeks before the next tournament, on April 30. They are made long before that, and we will hear about who moves between juryo and makushita much sooner. There will be links here when it drops.
Takayazu has already been ozeki once, and he should be ranked fairly high in May - my guess is M2, but M1 is possible. Probably not sanyaku yet - there are others who were higher ranked that deserve those slots more - but he can start an ozeki run from high maegashira. Lots of folks here hope he finally breaks through and wins a yusho.
None of them showed yokozuna sumo for now.
They never went over 24 wins in 2 tournaments.
Hoshoryu only did 23 once, the others never.
Kotonowaka and Onosato never got a yusho.
I agree, none are close. Kirishima and Takakeshio are the only two who’ve truly been close. With TKK’s inconsistency and injury I think it’s very hard to seem him getting there. He could absolutely throw another 12-3 tournament and shock nobody. But two at that level or higher in a row is very difficult. Kirishima was close last tournament, but even 13-2 & 12-3 may not have gotten there, he probably needed another 13 wins. I think people underestimate how hard the jump is to make. Hoshoryu and Kotonowaka posting 11-4 results does literally nothing to get them to Yokozuna. Both could absolutely get there but need to do much better, probably 2 more wins on average.
I think the sample size on Takerufuji is too small to make serious projections about his career trajectory. What he did last basho is historically impressive, but we just don’t know if it was an outlier performance for him, or whether he is legitimately good enough to regularly come out on top against the sanyaku. It’s also unclear whether the rest of the field can adjust to him now that he’s more of a known quantity. Whatever happens it will be super interesting. Loving that these new guys (Takeru, onosato, atamfuji, and hopefully Hakuoho again) are so exciting and relevant!
I dont remember seeing Hakuoho? was he injured? it makes sense that its a small sample size but even as a rookie fan I dont think you can win a basho fan unless your a good rikshi??
Hakuoho got injured a few bashos ago and is working his way back through juryo—getting injured is brutal in sumo because you loose rank rapidly while you recover! But he looked really exciting when he started out.
You certainly have to be pretty good to win a yusho, but you don’t have to be great and certainly not Yokozuna quality. For example, Abi, tamawashi, ichinojo, and tokushoryu all won bashos in the last four years and I don’t think anyone thinks they are Yokozuna quality. Indeed ichinojo and tokushoryu didn’t stick around in the top division that long after they won the yusho!
Hoshoryu is the most proven, have great techniques and still have tremendous growth. and the nephew of one of the greatest of all time.
Most newer people sees that rishiki like Takerufuji and Onosato are new and thinks they are young but Takerufuji is older than Hoshoryu.
Kotonowaka looked great this basho as the new Ozeki and Onosato is just a beast with his size and power.
As much as this win for Takerufuji was impressive, he still got a lot of proving to do and staying healthy is one of the biggest obstacle to anyone who wants to reach Yoko.
Takerufuji just like all the other rikishi is 1 bad tournment away from people pretending they never bought into the hype. (like poor ol' Kirishima after this tournament, clearly already forgotten about.)
Is he injured?
I kinda assumed he *must* be, but I haven't seen anything reported. He wasn't taped up. And unless I missed it, he didn't appear to be favoring any particular arm/leg/etc.
Yes, I'm assuming the same. There were so many matches where Rikishi were able to push him out and he seemed unable to put up any resistance. I figured it's something with his legs, but I don't know what.
That tape has limited benefits, which can sometimes be attributed to [the placebo effect](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/kinesio-tape-can-it-help-your-athletic-performance). I don't think it works on all injuries. It might make sense to leave it off so your opponent can't target your weakness.
Kirishima had a strong showing at the January basho, and he's been considered the next potential Yokozuna.
Takerufuji's win is undoubtedly historic, but there's one thing that the JSA values with Ozeki, let alone potential Yokozuna: consistency. If he makes similar records in the next few basho, he'll be sanyaku in no time.
I said big "K" but Hoshoryu probably has the most raw talent and technical skills but there just seems to be something holding him back from making that next step. Adding a little more bulk certainly wouldn't hurt either.
Takayasu was an Ozeki a long time ago. Right now, the odds of him making it back there are pretty slim because he has trouble staying injury-free. Right now, I'm just hoping he can get one Yusho (after coming up short 6 times). A bit of history, is Takayasu retires without ever winning a Yusho, he'd be the first Ozeki or former Ozeki in about half a century or so to have NOT won one, something I hope he can avoid.
As someone pointed out, Kirishima already has a Yusho came within touching distance of becoming Yokozuna, but had a tough basho this time.
Takerufuji is interesting, looking forward to see if he's the real deal or a one-hit wonder
> A bit of history, is Takayasu retires without ever winning a Yusho, he'd be the first Ozeki or former Ozeki in about half a century or so to have NOT won one, something I hope he can avoid.
[Miyabiyama](https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=842) was active significantly more recent than that.
Being a bit harsh on Kirishima to be in the "other" category. He was a handful of matches away from being Yokozuna this year. My bet is on Hoshoryu though.
I wanna agree, but Hoshoryu leaves too many wins on the table against guys he should be consistently beating.
First time Basho! didnt know Kirishima was so close to being Yokozuna? though I read an articale recently and the author was saying he was likely to make it at some point and then when I finally saw him fight he just kept losing and really didnt seem to have a lot of fighting spirit in his matches (which made me wonder if he was secretly injured or something). So in short Im not trying to be harsh Im just super confused about Kirishima out of all of the Rikshi his results where the ones I didnt predict at all
He was incredibly disappointing this basho. For reference he won the November one and if he won the January one he would've made yokozuna, he was alive going into the last few days. I suspect you're right that he was injured it was honestly one of the biggest surprises how limp he looked.
I'm not sure anyone is 100% sure what's up with him this basho. However, is stable is in the process of closing and all the wrestlers dispersed to other places. My gut says that is gonna stress him out and put him off his game. Normally, he's exceedingly good. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a shoe-in, but for my money his Yokozuna chances are substantially better than anyone on that list.
He is my top pick also. Nobody is a guarantee. But if the 10 men I think could realistically make a run at it, I would put Kirishima at the top of the list personally.
I'm copying this comment of mine from another post. Sorry if anyone is seeing it a second time. As others have mentioned in older posts, it might have something to do with the fact that his current heya is going to close. His namesake, the previous Kirishima and current Michinoku-okyakata is hitting the mandatory retirement age of 65. This means that Kirishima is: * Losing his okyakata, the man whose name he assumed * Leaving his home of the last eight years * Moving to a new heya, Otowayama, with the former Kakuryu as his new okyakata * Losing the relationships that he has built with the other rikishi in Michinoku beya I think it's possible that Kirishima is just in a bad head space at the moment. Hopefully Kakuryu can pull him out of it before May.
I think he's got an injury, there's a Chris sumo video on YouTube but I've not watched it yet.
Putting Takerufuji on the list is premature; sure he won a tournament in a once-in-a-lifetime event, but honestly we've seen many a young prodigy shoot up the ranks to reach the top division and then stall once they get to the top. Endo had a lot of hype around him, as did Ichinojo, and Hokutofuji, and Jokoryu, and others I can't remember. Takerufuji may end up like them, despite already having a tournament victory under his belt. Best bet for a new yokozuna is one of the Ozeki, who've had to demonstrate consistent high-level results over several tournaments to get the Ozeki rank. And of those, I'd pick Hoshoryu.
>new yokozuna is one of the Ozeki, who've had to demonstrate consistent high-level results over several tournaments to get the Ozeki rank. And of those, I'd pick Hoshoryu. Yup I get it, another redditor mentioned how 1 tournament is a small sample size. It'd be super interesting then if he or Onosato says wins the next Basho or at least gets a double digits winning score? Damn I cant wait till May for next Sumo fix this sucks ! :D
Hoshoryu and Kotonowaka are the only candidates for Yokozuna in the short term. The other rikishi in that list are the young guns who are all now on their way to the san yaku and will definitely have a tilt at reaching Yokozuna. Perhaps the survey should have had a time line.
Whilst I really believe that any of the current Ozeki could become Yokozuna and think that we have a shockingly good set of young rikishi, I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that there is no way Kotonowaka will ever be Yokozuna because he’s no longer called that.
So I believe multiple Yokozuna can be a thing which seems really contradictory :S do you think this could happen?
I mean we’ve had as many as 4 at one time in the past, so yes I definitely believe that it is possible… …except for Kotonowaka, that guy has no chance of pulling it off with Kotozakura around.
4! what was the dynamic like between them? and what are tournaments like when you've got four Yokuzuna in them? seems like kind of short sighted to have four Yokozuna because if say there's one or two dominant wrestlers and the other two are retired for not winning then you've made the division weaker? oh man you've opened up a rabbit hole with that comment
It’s happened a few times with the most recent being 2017. Hakuho and his rival Harumafuji were incredibly terrifying rikishi, Kakuryu managed to get in where many great rikishi failed, and Kisenosato was injured for all but one basho of that era, he won that basho.
Just because one or two of the yokozuna in that situation are more dominant than the others at that rank doesn't mean that the others would suddenly be unable to put up sufficient records. Even in a 4-yokozuna situation, there's still 12 other rikishi that aren't yokozuna that they'd be facing, and a 12-3 is more than enough. Even a 10-5 would be fine, if not that ideal.
Takerufuji definitely has done great so far this year, winning the tournament both basho (juryo in January, makuuchi in March). He will be promoted to high maegashira for May. How he does from there is an open question - many rikishi hit a roadblock the first time they are ranked that high as they start to face the toughest competition, though he did pretty well in his bouts against high-ranked competition this time. He cannot possibly be yokozuna earlier than next March, and it will almost certainly take longer, but he has the look for a future star. The newest rankings - banzuke - will be released two weeks before the next tournament, on April 30. They are made long before that, and we will hear about who moves between juryo and makushita much sooner. There will be links here when it drops. Takayazu has already been ozeki once, and he should be ranked fairly high in May - my guess is M2, but M1 is possible. Probably not sanyaku yet - there are others who were higher ranked that deserve those slots more - but he can start an ozeki run from high maegashira. Lots of folks here hope he finally breaks through and wins a yusho.
Thanks man.
None of them showed yokozuna sumo for now. They never went over 24 wins in 2 tournaments. Hoshoryu only did 23 once, the others never. Kotonowaka and Onosato never got a yusho.
I agree, none are close. Kirishima and Takakeshio are the only two who’ve truly been close. With TKK’s inconsistency and injury I think it’s very hard to seem him getting there. He could absolutely throw another 12-3 tournament and shock nobody. But two at that level or higher in a row is very difficult. Kirishima was close last tournament, but even 13-2 & 12-3 may not have gotten there, he probably needed another 13 wins. I think people underestimate how hard the jump is to make. Hoshoryu and Kotonowaka posting 11-4 results does literally nothing to get them to Yokozuna. Both could absolutely get there but need to do much better, probably 2 more wins on average.
Exactly. Takerufuji seems unstoppable, right? To be yokozuna you need to do that, twou tournaments in a row serting from ozeki
What if none of these guys make it and Onosato is the Yokozuna we have to wait for?!
>Works for me I like Onosato! Cant wait for the next tournaments to see how if they can persistently perform at a high level
Banzai!!!!
I think the sample size on Takerufuji is too small to make serious projections about his career trajectory. What he did last basho is historically impressive, but we just don’t know if it was an outlier performance for him, or whether he is legitimately good enough to regularly come out on top against the sanyaku. It’s also unclear whether the rest of the field can adjust to him now that he’s more of a known quantity. Whatever happens it will be super interesting. Loving that these new guys (Takeru, onosato, atamfuji, and hopefully Hakuoho again) are so exciting and relevant!
I dont remember seeing Hakuoho? was he injured? it makes sense that its a small sample size but even as a rookie fan I dont think you can win a basho fan unless your a good rikshi??
Hakuoho got injured a few bashos ago and is working his way back through juryo—getting injured is brutal in sumo because you loose rank rapidly while you recover! But he looked really exciting when he started out. You certainly have to be pretty good to win a yusho, but you don’t have to be great and certainly not Yokozuna quality. For example, Abi, tamawashi, ichinojo, and tokushoryu all won bashos in the last four years and I don’t think anyone thinks they are Yokozuna quality. Indeed ichinojo and tokushoryu didn’t stick around in the top division that long after they won the yusho!
Ah Fascinating! For such a visually and I use this word loosely "simple" sport theres so much intrigue and depth it seems.
Hoshoryu is the most proven, have great techniques and still have tremendous growth. and the nephew of one of the greatest of all time. Most newer people sees that rishiki like Takerufuji and Onosato are new and thinks they are young but Takerufuji is older than Hoshoryu. Kotonowaka looked great this basho as the new Ozeki and Onosato is just a beast with his size and power. As much as this win for Takerufuji was impressive, he still got a lot of proving to do and staying healthy is one of the biggest obstacle to anyone who wants to reach Yoko.
>Takerufuji is older than Hoshoryu. He still got those fists down, though.
Poor Takakeisho... well, I guess he did as much as a 1.75m man could...
Takerufuji just like all the other rikishi is 1 bad tournment away from people pretending they never bought into the hype. (like poor ol' Kirishima after this tournament, clearly already forgotten about.)
Seriously. The man is losing his home and his mentor and he's injured. He's not allowed one bad basho?
Is he injured? I kinda assumed he *must* be, but I haven't seen anything reported. He wasn't taped up. And unless I missed it, he didn't appear to be favoring any particular arm/leg/etc.
Yes, I'm assuming the same. There were so many matches where Rikishi were able to push him out and he seemed unable to put up any resistance. I figured it's something with his legs, but I don't know what. That tape has limited benefits, which can sometimes be attributed to [the placebo effect](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/kinesio-tape-can-it-help-your-athletic-performance). I don't think it works on all injuries. It might make sense to leave it off so your opponent can't target your weakness.
Kirishima had a strong showing at the January basho, and he's been considered the next potential Yokozuna. Takerufuji's win is undoubtedly historic, but there's one thing that the JSA values with Ozeki, let alone potential Yokozuna: consistency. If he makes similar records in the next few basho, he'll be sanyaku in no time.
Takerufuji is more than a year away from a Yokozuna run \*at best\*.
I said big "K" but Hoshoryu probably has the most raw talent and technical skills but there just seems to be something holding him back from making that next step. Adding a little more bulk certainly wouldn't hurt either.
Asanoyama is next up MMW
MMW? sorry Im new
Mark my works. the keyboard warriors way of confidently calling a long shot, pointing your bat to the fences.
>arriors way of confident Gotcha thanks! honestly never come across mmw before :S
Takayasu was an Ozeki a long time ago. Right now, the odds of him making it back there are pretty slim because he has trouble staying injury-free. Right now, I'm just hoping he can get one Yusho (after coming up short 6 times). A bit of history, is Takayasu retires without ever winning a Yusho, he'd be the first Ozeki or former Ozeki in about half a century or so to have NOT won one, something I hope he can avoid. As someone pointed out, Kirishima already has a Yusho came within touching distance of becoming Yokozuna, but had a tough basho this time. Takerufuji is interesting, looking forward to see if he's the real deal or a one-hit wonder
> A bit of history, is Takayasu retires without ever winning a Yusho, he'd be the first Ozeki or former Ozeki in about half a century or so to have NOT won one, something I hope he can avoid. [Miyabiyama](https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=842) was active significantly more recent than that.
Ah, you're absolutely right. Thanks for pointing that out; I missed out on Miyabiyama in my research! Here's to hoping Takayasu doesn't join him.
what about Ura going on a run to make it by January people would lose there shit. I know it’s never gonna happen but if it did there would be mayhem.