Terunofuji was commenting on Abema. His name is Isegahama now… for some of the stablemasters, I remember their elder names, but not him. It was nice to see the Kaiju right before his danpatsu-shiki. He hasn’t lost as much weight as I thought he would, but he probably needs it to be scary so he can terrify Hakunofuji and Yoshinofuji more effectively. Just kidding. He seems like a really nice guy.

MATCH OF THE DAY: Hiradoumi really brings his all to the dohyo, which means that most of his matches are exciting, and he went into today at 7-3, a strong showing for him. Today he went up against Asanoyama as the JSA begins to weed out the Maegashira threats, and Asanoyama got his hand on the mawashi quickly. Hiradoumi struggled and fended the ex-Ozeki off at the bales, but Asanoyama eventually overpowered him and forced him out. It was a yorikiri, but a hell of a yorikiri.

KIMARITE OF THE DAY: Oshoumi and Nishikifuji are not the most remarkable rikishi, but they both showed why they belong in the top division today. Nishikifuji went for the throw really quickly, twisting Oshoumi but twisting himself up in the process. He lost balance and Oshoumi sort of fell on top of him, hooking his leg around Nishikifuji’s for a beautiful sotogake win. Really, really impressive throw, kid! Oshoumi’s good. Since when is he this good? I’ve been aware of him for a year or so, but I didn’t think he’d be kachi-koshi, much less on Day Eleven. He’s had a really good tournament. I’ll also mention in this category that Midorifuji won by katasukashi for the first time this basho. Good job, buddy.

PINK MAWASHI DAY ELEVEN: Nothing today… Wakamotoharu is not in top form, but then again, neither is Ura. His madman sumo has not been yielding results in January. He will be back home in Osaka next time for a better score, I hope.

OVERALL SUMMARY: Abi and Chiyoshoma both henka’ed today, which was a depressing but admittedly entertaining follow-up to Abi’s statement that he’ll do anything to win the yusho. Well played, you jerk, well played. Poor Shishi had no response to Abi. Asakoryu was able to turn it around and annihilate Chiyoshoma, though, which was delightful. In terms of the other yusho competitors, Atamifuji knocked little Fujinokawa straight out of the yusho race, and Aonishiki shared a sickening bout with Hakunofuji. Not sickening as in Abi sickening; sickening as in… Hakunofuji doesn’t look so hot. They started off strong, but Hakunofuji’s knee gave out pretty quickly and he stayed down for a second. Aonishiki did make a point of standing over him then pulling him to his feet, which was very nice of him. Unfortunately, it seemed like Hakunofuji actually had to cling to him to be able to get to his feet, so… that’s bad. Knee injury? Asakoryu also reacted very strangely to his bout, jogging back to his place but then abruptly stopping and holding onto his knees, then clutching his elbow and wincing, but also seeming to have difficulty standing. I have no clue what that means, but he looked like he was in serious pain. Back? Knees? Elbow? All three? I really don’t know. But I hope he’s okay… he’s got so much fighting spirit.

In typical Kotozakura fashion, he lost decisively to an otherwise horrible Takanosho, who now moves up to a thrilling 2-9. Rough tournament, Onigiri-Kun. Hoshoryu and Takayasu shared a relatively funny bout where Hoshoryu basically just had better ring sense at the last second and danced himself off the tawara while Takayasu barreled out. Both rikishi did a double take at the gyoji’s fan being pointed to Hoshoryu and, entertainingly, both of them looked at the TV replay in the hallway afterwards to figure out what happened. I’m not sure Hosh won that one, but Takayasu definitely lost. Onosato overpowered Kirishima, I’m sorry to say, though basically with one side. Kirishima is either too honorable or too dumb to try to take advantage of that shoulder, but he’s not an idiot, and he shouldn’t hesitate to use Onosato’s stubbornness against him. I’ve decided that Onosato should have to fight Abi, because Abi will definitely not hold back, and that would be a hell of a way to force Onosato to go kyujo. But it’s not going to happen.

Our elders are hot-shot Maegashira Atamifuji and Abi… and Aonishiki. Yeah, how’s that banzuke looking, Yokozuna Deliberation Council? I really don’t know if they’ll promote him right up if he wins. I kind of hope not. It’s nothing against Aonishiki really, I just want him–and retrospectively, Onosato as well–to spend more time at Ozeki first. But Aonishiki is incredible, and he deserves that belt. I don’t know what I want anymore, actually. Anyway, the chase group is led by Hoshoryu and Kirishima, then Shishi, Asanoyama, and Oshoumi. Hosh and Kirishima will fight tomorrow, while Onosato takes on Takayasu in the musubi-no-ichiban. Atamifuji will fight Aonishiki (bad JSA! Bad!) and Abi will fight Kotozakura. Why do I feel like Abi’s going to win? Shishi, Asanoyama, and Oshoumi fight (bizarrely) Oho, Fujinokawa, and Churanoumi respectively. I guess san’yaku is busy with Atamifuji and Abi, and fighting each other? That still feels off to me. Though I might just subconsciously be upset because I like Fujinokawa and Churanoumi.

The lower divisions have been pretty entertaining, though I’ve been pretty sporadic about covering them this time around. A strong pair of rikishi in Makushita are gunning for the yusho race: tiny fan favorite Enho and Futagoyama’s Nobehara. More on that on Friday when the yusho is decided. Down in Juryo, Fujseiun, Sadanoumi, and Wakanosho are the narrow leaders of an interesting yusho race. More on that tomorrow.