Kyushu 2024 Day Thirteen

As we head into the final weekend of sumo, here is where the Kyushu Basho stands.

Public League Leaderboard

Scores from Fantasizr.

Yusho Arasoi

12 Wins

02 Ozeki #1 East Kotozakura

03 Ozeki #1 West Hoshoryu

10 Wins

13 Maegashira #3 East Abi

19 Maegashira #6 East Takanosho

24 Maegashira #8 West Gonoyama

Notable Maneuvers

Henka. Abi went more up than sideways, but it worked to get out of the way of the charging Takerufuji and then pull him down.

Match of the Day

04 Ozeki #2 West Onosato versus 03 Ozeki #1 West Hoshoryu

Onosato came out of the blocks dominating. He went into a pushing attack that knocked Hoshoryu back. Then he reinforced his dominance by sticking his hand under Hoshoryu’s throat. At that point, Onosato appeared to be in cruise control, as Hoshoryu was going backwards to the tawara. And then Hoshoryu grabbed Onosato’s right arm and went sideways to win by tottari. Onosato is still learning just what the best rikishi, or maybe in this case just Hoshoryu, can do.

Recap

The winner of the Kyushu 2024 basho will be an Ozeki and will have at least 13 wins. Kotozakura and Hoshoryu both won to push their records to 12-1. In addition to adding another win to their record, they both separated themselves from the pack. In Kotozakura’s case, he gave Takanosho a third loss. Takanosho—and Abi and Gonoyama—has a mathematical chance, since he’s two behind with two matches remaining.

In reality, the final match of the final day will be Kotozakura and Hoshoryu. Even if they both lose tomorrow, not an inconceivable outcome, they’ll be at 12-2 each then see each other. Someone will get the win in that final match to earn 13 wins. Even if Takanosho, Abi, or Gonoyama win out, they’ll only be able to reach 10 wins. Their best hope is a Jun-Yusho, and even then that requires a loss by Kotozakura and Hoshoryu on Day Fourteen.

The Ozeki at the top of the leaderboard don’t look like they’ll drop matches. Hoshoryu is fighting with his best combination of power and skill. Sometimes, Hoshoryu gets too far out front, and other times he gets too tricky. Neither of those have happened much in Kyushu. Instead, Hoshoryu has taken it right to the opposition. When he has gotten in trouble, like on Day Thirteen, his ability to unleash a quick and powerful maneuver has shown up even the best.

Kotozakura is less spectacular than Hoshoryu, but he’s been just as good. Day Thirteen was also a good example of how his sumo works at his best. Takanosho went after him, but Kotozakura kept his feet, held up the match, and absorbed Takanosho’s efforts until he could push him to the side. This works for Kotozakura because of his impeccable fundamentals, but also because he has been locked into his opponents’ movements so well. If someone gets off-balance against Kotozakura, they are usually dead to rights.

The Kyushu basho will be remembered for many things. This has been Onosato’s Ozeki debut. Takerufuji returned to Makuuchi, hopefully for good. Tamawashi earned a kachi-koshi in the basho he turned 40. Yet in the end, this will be a basho about Hoshoryu and Kotozakura. They were the two top-ranked rikishi competing, and they will be facing off for the yusho on the final day. We at least know that much now.