Sumo January Hatsu Basho Day 14

Sumo January Hatsu Basho Day 14

Welcome to day 14 of the Basho. The championship could be decided today and anyone at 7 losses today gets a demotion with a loss. I'll focus more on those people on Day 15.

Kyokutaisei vs Iwasaki
Kyokutaisei got the easy win today through tripping his opponent from inside and sending him on his back.

J5e Takanoyama (5-8) vs J9w Tanzo (7-6)

Good effort by Takano, but he just got outpowered. He tried for the inner leg trip but Tanzo wasn't budging.


J1e Jokoryu (10-3) vs J13e Takanoiwa (11-2)
This one has huge results coming out of it. Takano gets the Juryo title with a win and with a tie, I'm not sure what happens.

Strong tachi-ai by Jokoryu that threw Takano off and put him down. Big win for Jokoryu and now these two are tied going into the last day. I guess we get a rematch tommorow for the Juryo crown.

M15e Tochinowaka (8-5) vs M11w Fujiazuma (7-6)

What is this mess? They gave this to Fujiazuma? HOW? Is someone blind? You can clearly seen his foot is out and down. Awful and biased judging.

S1e Goeido (7-6) vs M7e Takayasu (11-2)

Goeido ate dirt here in a quick loss to go to 7-7. Tommorow is now a must win for him.

M4w Aran (6-7) vs O2w Kotoshogiku (6-7)

Kotoshogiku got under him and fought for the win. No real fight from Aran here.


O2e Kotooshu (8-5) vs S1w Baruto (7-6)
Everyone seems to think that Koto will take it easy now that he as 8 wins. Let's see.

Kotooshu took the win in no time here. He lifted up Baruto by the belt and pushed him out with ease.


Y1e Hakuho (11-2) vs O1e Kisenosato (10-3)
This is a pretty interesting one. Kisenosato is out of it but Hakuho needs a win here and a Kakuryu win to stay alive.

 Hakuho took the quick win here without too much trouble to go to 12-2. Good showing by Hakuho as usual but it won't be enough.

O1wKakuryu (8-5) vs Y1w Harumafuji (13-0)
Harumafuji clinches here with a win.

Kakuryu put up a good fight, but he was in trouble from the start and while he did evade danger twice, in the end he lost.

Rankings:
14-0: Harumafuji

12-2: Hakuho and Takayasu

11-3: Jokoryu and Takanoiwa, both from Juryo.

10-4: Kisenosato

Kadoban alerts - These guys all need wins tommorow not to get demoted:
Kotoshogiku(won't get demoted with a loss, but he could use the win), Goeido, Tochiozan, Myogiryu, Aoiyama, Okinoumi, Tamawashi, Shotenro

Overall thoughts: Harumafuji clinched the basho today. I had picked Hakuho and after Harumafuji's bad basho last year, I certinaly didn't think he would win it. He deserved the win though and only had one real match that he slipped a little in. I also thought Tochinowaka got screwed in his match as his opponent was very clearly out. Not so many other thoughts here today except that I am looking forward to Hakuho vs Harumafuji tommorow.