Sumo January Hatsu Basho - Day 3

Sumo January Hatsu Basho - Day 3

How to watch:
Araibira's channel(Has all matches, no commentary) - http://www.youtube.com/user/araibira/videos?view=0
JasonsinJapan's channel(Top 6 matches plus commentary) - http://www.youtube.com/user/JasonsinJapan/videos
Japan Sumo Associations live stream(On very early in USA night until early USA mornings)(Use Windows Media Player) -
http://mfile.akamai.com/125134/live/reflector:52441.asx?prop=a

For more on each wrestler, their stats, tournaments and schedules check out:
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx

LEGEND:
Y = Yokozuna - 1st rank
O = Ozeki - 2nd rank
S = Sekiwake - 3rd rank
K = Komusubi - 4th rank
M and a number = Maegashira - 5th rank
J = Juryo = 6th rank and the top of the second division of sumo

Ranbo(0-1) vs Kosenho(0-1)
Ranbo still hasn't found First Blood as he lost to go to 0-2.

Osunaarashi (1-0) vs Kyokutaisei
Osunaarashi is Egypt's first sumo wrestler ever and I wanted to include him in my coverage. He's in the 3rd division and looking to go to 2-0. Today was another easy win for him as he manhandled his opponent and it seriously looked like his opponent was trying to escape. This is a force to be reckoned with.

Orora(0-1) vs Tochinobori(0-1)
Rough day again for our buddy Orora. He got beaten in every step of the game here. He got pushed anywhere his opponent wanted him and in the end he was too slow and weak to make a counter move to avoid being pushed out. Orora goes to 0-2.

Takanoyama(J5) vs Oiwato(J5)

Nice win today for Takanoyama as him and his opponent had a nice chest slapping fest until Takanoyama grabbed his opponents arm and flung him down with class. Takanoyama goes to 2-1.

Jokoryu(J1) vs Daikiho(J1)

Good work today by Jokoryu as he stayed in the back and got ready to catch his opponent. He then controlled his opponent and tossed him down to get the win, along with taking a spill of his own.

Daido(M13) vs Tochinowaka(M15)

This was a close one with both men teetering on elimination. Tochinowaka held on though to take the win and go to 3-0.


Chiyotairyu(M8) vs Aoiyama(M6)

The judges gave this one to Aoiyama but I think its a close call. If you take a look in the second picture, it appears that Aoiyama's foot is out. Who really won? I'm not sure. Maybe Aoiyama due to Chiyotairyu falling and his hand/arm touching first but it is hard to see.

Gagamaru(M4) vs Kyokutenho(M2)

Bad loss for Gagamaru here as you can see he really got tossed. No doubts about it.

Goeido(S) vs Baruto(S)

Rough loss for Baruto here and we all know he needed this one. He got side stepped and pushed straight out without any struggle whatsoever. Things are not looking good for Baruto and his quest for 10 wins.


Shohozan(K) vs Kakuryu(O)

Shohozan went down quickly to a side step. Bad loss for Shohozan who goes down to 0-3 and desperately needs to get a win at this point. Actually, he needs 8 wins just to keep his ranking, so it's not looking good. The only good thing is that by the middle of this tournament, he will have opponents on or below his level which should even things out, as he's fought Ozeki's and Yokozuna's so far.

Kisenosato(O) vs Tochiozan(K)

Rough one for the viewers to call but an easy one for the ref. Kisenosato appeared to be stepping out and he got the L. Tochiozan gets a big win here over a higher ranked opponent. Add this into Shohozan's bad luck and he's looking good here.


Toyohibiki(M3) vs Kotoshogiku(O)

Nice power matchup here with Kotoshogiku taking the win and taking a dive of his own.

Kotooshu(O) vs Aminishiki(M1)

Big upset here with Aminishiki doing a side step to get the win!


Harumafuji(Y) vs Toyonoshima(M2)
Good battle here with Toyo even blocking an STO at one point before going down! Definitely the best match of the day! Harumafuji goes to 3-0. Great effort by Toyonoshima as he was so close.

Harumafuji gets color!

BAM!

Hakuho(Y) vs Myogiryu(M1)
HUGE UPSET!!!!! Myogiryu pushes Hakuho out!!!!!!!!!! Whoa! I didn't see that coming!!!! Big win here and a big loss for Hakuho!

Rankings:
3-0: Harumafuji, Kotoshogiku, Tochinoshin, Aoiyama, Kitataiki, Shotenro, Tochinowaka

2-1: Hakuho, Kotooshu, Kisenosato, Kakuryu, Goeido, Tochiozan, Kaisei, Takayasu, Chiyotairyu, Wakanosato, Sadanofuji, Okinoumi, Fujiazuma, Takarafuji, Takanoyama.

1-2: Aminishiki, Toyonoshima, Gagamaru, Myogiryu, Kyokutenho, Ikioi, Masunoyama, Baruto,

0-3: Daido, Shohozan, Toyohibiki, Miyabiyama, Takekaze and Aran.

Overall thoughts: Very interesting day today with some big upsets happening. I was really surprised at Hakuho's loss and was surprised as well to see Kotooshu go down. Aoiyama is making a nice run for it as is Harumafuji but they both have much harder days to come. I'm still not seeing it with Baruto. He's in big trouble here and he only has 3 loses to spare now. I was also intrigued by the amount of side steps today. There were some fairly important ones and the guys who can't afford to lose really have to avoid them.