Kyushu 2025 Day Thirteen
The closing sequence of the November sumo tournament is upon us, and the yusho race will shift each day.
Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr
Yusho Arasoi
11 Wins
01 Yokozuna East Onosato
02 Yokozuna West Hoshoryu
10 Wins
04 Sekiwake East Aonishiki
Notable Maneuvers
Onosato won by yorikiri, but also won by the slimmest of margins. It was a nice bit of levitating to stay in the air while Aonishiki was outside the dohyo—but crucially not touching outside the dohyo. That’s a moment that could be critical for the Yusho.
Match of the Day
36 Maegashira #15 East Nishikifuji versus 07 Komusubi West Takayasu
This was Nishikifuji’s chance to get a nice win and show he should really climb the Banzuke for January. Takayasu needs to win out to maintain his rank. Nishikifuji looked like he had the advantage early, getting a leveraged position and moving Takayasu. The 35-year-old Taganoura-beya man showed his veteran sense by pushing back and breaking up Nishikifuji’s rhythm. Then he was going sideways and almost looked like he was going for a katasukashi. Takayasu didn’t really get any purchase, but the motion got Nishikifuji going out with a sideways shove a little before Takayasu fell down.
Recap
The two Yokozuna are now tied on 11 wins with two more matches to go. They are pointing towards a heads up for the Yusho on the final day. This is what sumo is supposed to be, the Yokozuna standing above everybody else as the main contenders. Remarkably, Hoshoryu is here despite a 4-2 record on Day Six. Onosato had a blip on Days Ten and Eleven, but he picked himself back up.
Aonishiki should feel slightly hard done by his result against Onosato. He was sent backwards by the Yokozuna, but also was executing a successful slap down. He simply ran out of room before Onosato hit the clay. The decision is fair, as Aonishiki’s body was outside the dohyo before Onosato touched dirt. A mono-ii also wouldn’t have been surprising. This match was extremely close, and Aonishiki’s Yusho and Ozeki chances both took a blow for this basho.
The young Ukrainian is also the only rikishi with a mathematical chance to usurp the Yokozuna’s Emperor’s Cup battle royale. Since Onosato and Hoshoryu see each other on Day Fifteen, one of them will win at least 12 matches. The four rikishi at 9-4 (Kirishima, Yoshinofuji, Ichiyamamoto, and Tokihayate) cannot get there now. Yoshinofuji’s victory over Tokihayate sealed Tokihayate’s narrow shot at an extremely surprising Yusho. This is a matter for the Yokozuna and a 21-year-old Sekiwake who looks like he is on his way to Yokozuna-dom at some point soon.
The rise of Aonishiki can still accelerate in this basho. He faces Hoshoryu on Day Fourteen, providing the opportunity to dent Hoshoryu’s Yusho position. He will also have to beat Kotozakura on the final day. Hoshoryu did beat the lone Ozeki right now on Day Thirteen, but Kotozakura put up a solid fight. Nothing about that match suggests Aonishiki will roll over the Scion of Sadogatake-beya. Kotozakura has been hobbled and middling throughout this basho, but he still has some spoiler capabilities.
And Aonsihiki needs him to play spoiler on Day Fourteen when Kotozakura and Onosato square off. The situation now is that if either Onosato or Hoshoryu win out, they get the Yusho. If they both win on Day Fourteen, the Yusho can only be won by a Yokozuna. We’d all like a playoff, but it requires some strange results. At a minimum, the final match of the entire basho is guaranteed to decide the Yusho.