Daily Review
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Eight & Nine
I am so sorry for missing Nakabi!! Happy Nakabi to you all. MATCH OF THE DAY: Fujino-freaking-kawa is such a glorious little king. I’m breaking my san’yaku rule because Oho got absolutely owned by the little guy. Fujinokawa… you are such a badass. He went for the lift-out against 185-kilogram Oho, and I just… I…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Seven
Great sumo today, but unfortunately, dear Wakanosho now exists in a place that can only be described as “concussed as hell”. Best of luck to him as he recovers… or retires… but he’ll probably be fine. MATCH OF THE DAY: There are two great contenders for this: Asanoyama-Mitakeumi and Fujiryoga-Chiyoshoma. I don’t like Chiyoshoma so…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Six
Short one today, sorry. MATCH OF THE DAY: Wakanosho and Fujiryoga, two large and blue-mawashi’d men, took to the clay today for what promised to be an interesting match. They traided thrust attacks that, unfortunately, left the tournament leader Wakanosho on all fours with bad concussion protocol. The poor boy got taken out in a…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Five
MATCH OF THE DAY: I am not a Tobizaru fan, so I was a bit too happy to see Wakanosho almost fly out but then rally magnificently to take out the Flying Monkey, or his English name, Fly-Mon. However you want to brand him, Tobizaru is not, and never will be, one of my boys.…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Four
Sorry for the delay since my last post; my far-from-home camp has started and the full day of travel yesterday did not result in productive sumo writing. MATCH OF THE DAY: Wakanosho vs Mitakeumi was not the matchup I wanted on the torikumi; Mitakeumi can only seem to lose this tournament, and, while I like…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Three
MATCH OF THE DAY: I quite like Fujiryoga and have developed a soft spot for injury-riddled Asanoyama, but not enough that I dreaded this matchup. In fact, I was looking forward to it and was not disappointed; Asanoyama barreled into the younger man from Aichi Prefecture and nearly powered him out. However, a slip caused…
-
Nagoya 2026: Day Two
MATCH OF THE DAY: Takayasu might be the oldest Makuuchi rikishi, but he did not look like it today against Roga. I wrote out a whole summary of Asanoyama vs Wakanosho for bout of the day but had to delete it all in favor of Takayasu disposing of Roga. He was on the bales before…
-
Nagoya 2026: SHONICHI
Welcome to Nagoya, everybody!! As expected, our only kyujo (injury) going into day one is Wakatakakage, the defending holder of the Emperor’s Cup. See the Banzuke Preview for more details, but he’s having some severe ankle issues. It truly sucks to have him be severely injured at Sekiwake, most likely the hardest rank to keep…
-
Natsu 2026: SENSHURAKU
KIMARITE OF THE DAY: Fujiryoga had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, with the hopes of Hakunofuji, Yoshinofuji, Kirishima, and Ura resting on his shoulders. You could see it in his eyes as he stepped onto the clay opposite Wakatakakage. I was worried about a henka from the youngest Onami, but I thought wrong;…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Fourteen
Today, two Sadogatake men got their hair cut: Kotonofuji and Kotohaguro. They are part of Sadogatake’s active channel and are both lovely souls and the tsukebito of Kotozakura and Kotoshoho respectively. We wish them both luck in their retirements, and I will sorely miss their cheer on the Sadogatake cooking videos. Before I forget, a…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Thirteen
MATCH OF THE DAY: I’m breaking my no match of the day san’yaku rule because I’m yapping so much in the overall summary section (sorry). But oh my gosh, what a match. Kirishima vs Kotoeiho was promised to be a great matchup and it did not disappoint. At points, I thought both rikishi were bound…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Twelve
Unfortunately, I have two top division kyujo to announce: Kotozakura and Asanoyama. So we have one singular Ozeki left, and Asanoyama forfeits one match away from a positive record, which is no doubt irritating for him. Asanoyama pulled out due to problems with his big toe after yesterday’s match; this man cannot catch a break.…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Eleven
MATCH OF THE DAY: Oshoumi may be out, but he doesn’t fight like it. I really like to see rikishi who are makekoshi keep giving their all, and in his case, winning out will probably be the only thing that can keep him from Juryo, though three more wins could be enough. He evidently had…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Ten
MATCH OF THE DAY: Fujinokawa and Hiradoumi are a delightful little pair of rikishi, and they had an extremely entertaining bout today. They charged at one another at the tachiai and Fujinokawa, after losing the initial tsuppari battle, leapt back. This put him off balance and Hiradoumi followed up, driving him to the edge yet…
-
Natsu 2026: Day Nine
MATCH OF THE DAY: Today, Asanoyama taught a very valuable lesson to the younger generation of rikishi. The valuable lesson was “Beating Chiyoshoma 101.” Chiyoshoma is perhaps the definition of a wily veteran, often decorating his bouts with a henka (basically a sudden leap to the side; see Shishi’s bout today!) and a badly placed…