Short-ish one today, sorry!

MATCH OF THE DAY: Ichiyamamoto hates fighting Wakatakakage, but today, he had to–and he often does, actually, considering they tend to loiter around the same rank. It seems to me that Ichi usually takes the win over his beloved idol; however, that idol put the W in Wakatakakage today. Wakatakakage’s early hatakikomi attempt did not end well, but he covered it with a quick slip under Ichi’s arm for the belt grip and a force out by yorikiri.

KIMARITE OF THE DAY: I love Atamifuji, but it’s nice for Oho to finally get a good win. He took out the much larger fellow from Isegahama-beya with a cleanly executed katasukashi in honor of the absent Midorifuji. The Lord of Katasukashi has been out due to issues with his heart, so we haven’t had as many great Kimarite. Heal up, Midori! And good job, Oho.

PINK MAWASHI DAY TWELVE: There was a brief interview shown between Asakoryu and Ura because they’re both from Osaka. Asakoryu, unfortunately, earned his kachi-koshi 8-4 today, along with both Asanoyama and Asahakuryu, which was pretty cool. It’s rare to see three simultaneous winning records earned by three members of the same stable. Ura, unfortunately, just had no response to Asakoryu’s tsuppari.

OVERALL SUMMARY: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Aonishiki looks like a train wreck. Kotozakura fought very well, to his credit, and beat Genkiyama soundly. I honestly had no idea who would win between the Mongolian superstars, but Kirishima, despite looking a little unsure, won over Hoshoryu to maintain his sole lead of the yusho race. This means that his only chaser is now… Kotoshoho! You probably know how I feel about that. I mean, good job, Kotoshoho, I guess. But like. Kotoshoho? We need Kotoshoho to be mixing it up? We can’t have good Ozeki anymore? But, oh yeah, Kirishima’s going to join them. And good old Kotozakura got 8-7 today.

Kotoshoho will fight Hoshoryu tomorrow–welcome to the biggest league of them all. The bout will be proceeded by Kirishima vs Oho (poor Oho, but somehow I think he’s got a shot at this). Gonoyama will take on Atamifuji and Takanosho will fight Takayasu. Ura will fight Kotoeiho to avoid makekoshi.

Down in Juryo, Dewanoryu won the face-off with Kazuma, to my disappointment, so he’s now in the sole lead of the yusho race. Tomorrow in Makushita, Wakanofuji and Arashifuji will fight, which may or may not play an important role in the yusho race… but we’ll cover that tomorrow.