Sumo May Natsu 2013 Basho Day 1

Sumo May Natsu 2013 Basho Day 1

Welcome to my coverage of the May Natsu 2013 Basho. My hope is to do each day. Pictures/Gif's may not be possible for everyday but then again it may.

I'm picking Hakuho to win the basho, like always. He went undefeated last basho and at this point it is hard to pick against him. I'm also expecting a good performance out of Baruto. He looked stronger last basho and his injury should be better by now.

I don't know what to expect from Harumafuji other than a near perfect record or a 10-5. I don't see any middle ground for him, but I think the near perfect record is more likely since the Sumo Association is riding him hard due to his performances. This extra pressure may assist Hakuho.

I'm also hoping for Kotooshu to either get inspired or get demoted. His performances have been lazy and shameful as of late and certainly not worthy of an Ozeki.

I have been disappointed with almost all of the Ozeki and expect much better performances from them this time around. Ozeki is a high rank with a lot of honor to it and I feel it has been shamed lately.

Goeido is one to watch here. He needs 12 to get a possible promotion to Ozeki by getting 30 wins in three tournaments. Less than that and he could be waiting another tournament and who knows what could happen by then.

Takarafuji should be worth keeping an eye on too. Last basho, he went 11-4 but fought almost no one of great value.

Jokoryu will be another person to look out for. He's up to M7 rank and he could be continuing his ascension here.

As usual, I'm also rooting for Takanoyama, Osunaarashi and Kyokutaisei. Osunaarashi and Kyokutaisei both really need to go undefeated here to start the process of getting into Juryo. Takanoyama looked like a beaten man last basho and hopefully he can change things up a bit. He's kind of like a Rey Mysterio, where he is one of the most talented people out there, but just doesn't have the size.

Here are the abbreviations:
Y = Yokozuna
Starting at Ozeki, you will see for example Kotoshogiku listed as O2e. O = Ozeki. The number next to it (2) is his rank amongst the other Ozeki, where the higher the rank the better they are. There is then a letter next to the number which for Kotoshogiku is "e".  E stands for East and is higher ranked than W, which stands for West.
O = Ozeki
S = Sekiwake
K = Komusubi
M = Maegashira
- Anyone below this line is in the second division of Sumo, like an ROH or a Triple A of baseball -
J = Juryo
- Anyone below this line is in the third division of Sumo -
Ms = Makushita

As usual, I'll try to do more in the opening days as we figure out who is hot and who is not. As we go further down and people drift in and out of contention, I will follow them accordingly. However, you can probably bet that I will watch all of the Yokozuna, Ozeki, Baruto, Jokoryu, Takanoyama, Osunaarashi and Kyokutaisei matches.

Today I will be watching:

Ms15e Kyokutaisei (0-0) vs Ms15w Aozora (0-0)

Kyokutaisei got overpowered and had very little to offer here as he took the loss. Well, there goes his chances for Juryo for another tournament.

Ms7e Osunaarashi (0-0) vs Ms7w Higoarashi (0-0)

Osunaarashi got the win here. I think Higo just slipped when he went to bearhug Osuna and fell down for the easy Osuna win.

J10e Tokushinho (0-0) vs  J10w  Takanoyama (0-0)

Takanoyama won. Great skill shown by him here. He jumped immediately and got Toku's back. From there he sweeped his leg from behind. Well done.


J8e Tochinowaka (0-0) vs J8w  Tanzo (0-0)

Tochinowaka got this one when Tanzo tried pushing him from side to side and stepped out on his own.

BONUS - Shotenro vs Gagamaru

Shotenro won. Gaga didn't look good here at all and mostly just stood around while Shotenro had him slipping, which is when Gaga stepped out.

M7w  Jokoryu (0-0) vs  M6w Takekaze (0-0)

Takekaze won here. Jokoryu came in too strong and Take brushed him off after the intial tachi-ai for the easy win.

BONUS - Shohozan vs Takayasu

Shohozan won in a good match. He got under early and was able to use his short stature to his advantage in thrusting up to get Taka out.

BONUS - Aoiyama vs Toyonoshima

Aoiyama bulldozed his way to victory as Toyo had his chin out, so Aoi smacked him in it.

M3w   Aran (0-0) vs S1w     Baruto (0-0)

Baruto won in a slow match where he very slowly pushed Aran out.

M2w  Tochinoshin (0-0) vs  O2w  Kotooshu (0-0)

Koto showed some pizazz to him as he was really quick to jump on Tochi and pushed him in the stomach until he went out.

O2e  Kotoshogiku (0-0) vs M2e  Kitataiki (0-0)

Koto got control early and this was over from the start.

M1w  Aminishiki (0-0) vs O1w  Kakuryu (0-0)

Kakuryu got some slaps and really got an easy one here against Aminsihiki.

O1e   Kisenosato (0-0) vs M1e  Myogiryu (0-0)

Kisenosato got the win here in a close one. Myo had a good performance and started out really strong, pushing Kisen around. Kisen then used Myo's momentum to swing him down.

K1w  Okinoumi (0-0) vs  Y1w  Harumafuji (0-0)

Harumfuji got around Oki quickly to put him out and get a nice win.

Y1e  Hakuho (0-0) vs  K1e  Tochiozan (0-0)

Hakuho won. Tochiozan surprised him and almost pushed him out but Hakuho turned him around and took it. This was certainly a scare for Hakuho.

I'll start the rankings tommorow.

Overall thoughts: No upsets really at all today but it was fine for what it was. An okay day of sumo.