Nagoya 2025 Day Thirteen
The July sumo tournament gets set up for the final weekend after another shakeup to the Yusho leaderboard.
Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr
Yusho Arasoi
11 Wins
09 Maegashira #1 East Aonishiki
37 Maegashira #15 East Kotoshoho
10 Wins
27 Maegashira #10 East Atamifuji
35 Maegashira #14 East Kusano
Notable Maneuvers
Sotogake. Kusano got locked up with Kirishima, which should have benefited the veteran former Ozeki. Instead, Kusano put his right leg behind Kirishima’s left for a textbook outside leg trip.
Match of the Day
37 Maegashira #15 East Kotoshoho versus 02 Yokozuna West Onosato
Kotoshoho is the surprise lower-Maegashira co-leader, while Onosato is in his first basho as a Yokozuna but looking less than in perfect form. At the tachiai, Onosato stood up Kotoshoho like he likes to do. Kotoshoho then began moving around the dohyo like he likes. Crucially, though, he did it with his right arm on Onosato’s belt. They called it uwatenage, or an overarm throw, but really Onosato went out because of a sequence of efforts by Kotoshoho to first get him sideways, then move him around, and finally send him out. This is Kotoshoho’s first kinboshi, and keeps him atop the leaderboard.
Recap
The two rikishi leading the Yusho race at 11-2 are Aonishiki and Kotoshoho. Aonishiki is truly remarkable. The Ukrainian is 21, with a background that includes fleeing Ukraine and joining sumo as a war refugee. He is in just his third top-division basho, and eleventh overall. He never had less than 6 wins before Juryo, and now he has not had fewer than 10 wins as a sekitori. Even if he loses both matches over the final weekend, Aonishiki will have 33 wins in his first three Makuuchi basho, with a bevy of special prizes and a Sanyaku debut.
Kotoshoho was once hyped almost as much as Aonishiki as a promising young sumotori. When he was 21, he made it to Maegashira #3 in his 14th career basho. He didn’t have the amazing backstory or lower-division dominance as Aonishiki (because no one ever has), but he was clearly the hotshot prospect. Then he went 2-13 at his career high rank, got injured the next basho, and ended back in Juryo. His career has been up-and-down ever since, but the talent was always obvious. Kotoshoho is supremely athletic on the dohyo, and he has the technique to make a mawashi grip lethal.
Kotoshoho and Aonishiki do not square off on Day Fourteen, presumably leaving their matchup as a possible Yusho decider on the final day. Kotoshoho follows his match with Onosato by facing another Sanyaku wrestler in Kirishima. This is another stout test, but Kotoshoho has the talent to beat anyone. Aonishiki will see 10-3 Kusano, the debutant whose impressive basho has been overshadowed by Aonishiki and Kotoshoho. The other 10-3 rikishi, Atamifuji, is squaring off with veteran Komusubi Takayasu.
Only Aonishiki, Kotoshoho, Atamifuji, and Kusano have an actual shot at the Yusho. Mathematically, Onosato, Wakatakakage, Tamawashi, Ichiyamamoto, and Mitakeumi have a shot at 9-4. They just need to win out, while Aonishiki and Kotoshoho both go 0-2 as both Atamifuji and Kusano go 1-1 or worse. With an Aonishiki-Kotoshoho bout still in the offing, that’s an impossibility. Even Atamifuji and Kusano, just one loss off the pace, really need both Aonishiki and Kotoshoho to drop their Day Fourteen matches for realistic Yusho chances.
Kotoshoho is the oldest rikishi among the leadership quartet at 25, with an August birthday. Kusano is 24, Atamifuji is 22, and Aonishiki is 21. Youth is showing out this tournament, although progress in sumo is not always linear. A quick glance at the careers of Kotoshoho and Atamifuji demonstrate this perfectly. Tamawashi and Takayasu have also been successful enough this basho to show veterans can still hang in. But the top division is getting energized by younger rikishi, and one of them will get a first career Yusho.