MATCH OF THE DAY: Two rikishi I’m quite partial to, and probably the two least reactive rikishi in the top division, fought today: Churanoumi and Fujiseiun. By least reactive, I don’t mean their sumo; I mean their facial expressions. Churanoumi is the most neutral person on the face of the earth, and Fujiseiun is not much better. But Fujislayun took the W over Churanoumi today with some quick and brutal shoves and slaps. It looked pretty good for both of them, but once Fujiseiun got a hand on the belt, it was over for Chu-Chu.

KIMARITE OF THE DAY: Shishi got abisetaoshi’ed on Day One by Kinbozan, who got henka’ed by Hakunofuji today. But Shishi has been fighting really, really well, and he got his first win today against Tokihayate, by the same kimarite that he lost to two days ago. I think it translates to a backward force downward, but I could be wrong on that. One of these days, I’ll learn Japanese. Abisetaoshi tends to be more of a “dang, that other guy just fell over” rather than a “yo, I just made that guy fall over,” but you know what, that’s okay. A win is a win. And an abisetaoshi is an abisetaoshi.

PINK MAWASHI DAY THREE: I like Asanoyama’s sumo, but today it was used for very bad purposes to escort Ura off the dohyo and directly into Abi’s face. I’m sure it was the time of Abi’s day, but it was not the best day for the Pink Man. I fear the rikishi have really learned to just be prepared for anything from Ura and are starting to react to him a little more, and that makes me nervous.

OVERALL SUMMARY: Tobizaru politely handed Oshoumi a loss on his 25th birthday. But happy birthday anyway, my dear. 25 is very young to be in the top division, so kudos to him for that as well. In addition, Fujiryoga had a challenging battle against Onokatsu and staggered off the dohyo. We may well see Onokatsu back up in Makuuchi, but the knee does not look good for the young man from Fujishima-beya. In Fujinokawa and Kirishima’s bout, Fujinokawa absolutely stepped out about half an hour before Kirishima defeated him, but to be fair, I’m not sure either of them knew it. And it was pretty funny. I’m sure, had he won, there would have been a mono-ii that toppled the result, but it would have been very unfortunate, had they not.

Kotoeiho looks good, which is gratifying. He, Wakatakakage, Kirishima, and, to my surprise, Tobizaru are the early threats this basho, while the bigger concerns are Kotoeiho’s opponent for the day, Tamawashi, as well as Tokihayate and Ryuden.