Natsu 2026 Day One

We have our first day of sumo in the May tournament.

If you’re wondering where to watch all the action, check out NHK World’s Grand Sumo highlights or with the Grand Sumo App (App Store and Google Play).

Public League Leaderboard

Scores from Fantasizr

Notable Maneuvers

Sukuinage. That’s what they called how Yoshinofuji beat Kotoshoho, because they have to give every match a kimarite. Kotoshoho was sort of in control of this one, wrapping his arms around Yoshinofuji and moving mostly forward. But the Sadogatake wrestler never overpowered the Isegahama man. As the match hit the tawara, Yoshinofuji kept his foot against the tawara as Kotoshoho fell trying to push him out. So, sure, beltless arm throw.

Match of the Day

03 Ozeki #1 East Kotozakura versus 10 Maegashira #1 East Fujinokawa

Fujinokawa is almost dwarfed by Kotozakura, plus he has a massive experience gap versus the Ozeki. Yet Fujinokawa had a nearly perfect match. At the tachiai, Fujinokawa focused on not letting Kotozakura get a mawashi hold. After standing up the Ozeki, the youngster pulled sideways and immediately kept up a pushing attack to never let Kotozakura get into his sumo. Fujinokawa got a critical victory over an Ozeki after he forced Kotozakura to go out backwards.

Recap

In all honesty, this was a very ugly day of sumo. Even before the action kicked off, Yokozuna Onosato and Ozeki Aonishiki were missing. Onosato is still battling his left shoulder, while Aonishiki has a damaged toe. When the sumo started, the action was full of rikishi not quite getting into it and anticlimactic finishes. The worst moment was in the final match. After an engrossing staredown as they got ready, Hoshoryu and Takayasu clashed. Almost immediately, Hoshoryu fell to the clay and began grabbing the back of his right thigh. We may be in a nokozuna situation tomorrow.

Hoshoryu’s loss and possible injury wasn’t the only upset in the Sanyaku ranks. Both Sekiwake are at a career high rank, and Kotoshoho is in his first Sekiwake basho. Both Sekiwake also lost. Atamifuji never got himself into his match with Ichiyamamoto. Kotoshoho looked better against Yoshinofuji, but he couldn’t get the win in the end. Although Sekiwake usually have a rough time, squeezed between upper Maegashira wanting to make a jump and the Ozeki-Yokozuna group, this basho should give them an opening.

Instead, it is returning Ozeki Kirishima who gets the early advantage. Kirishima’s sumo wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive on Day One, but it didn’t need to be. He felt Takanosho get off balance right after the tachiai, which meant he could win with a simple slap-down. Kirishima is the highest ranked man without a loss in a basho with 3 of the top four rikishi by rank injured. The only other Sanyaku man at 1-0 is Wakatakakage, who managed to move sideways against Hiradoumi for an easy Day One victory.

That slim advantage can vanish in an instant, of course, and Day One should never be overreacted to that much. If we do want to play the “looked good on Day One” game, there are plenty of Maegashira who may be in place to rack up wins. Wakanosho got his first win as a Maegashira by using his brand of sumo and pushing Oshoumi straight out. Kotoeiho controlled his match against Tokihayate to win by uwatenage. Asanoyama and Abi are former yusho winners who fought in classic form; Asanoyama by yorikiri and Abi by oshidashi. Fujiseiun picked up a nice yorikiri win by containing Chiyoshoma.

If they keep up their Day One form, they could all challenge for the yusho. That is always easier said than done, and the Yokozuna and Aonishiki have already shown even the best rikishi are not immune from succumbing to injury. The Natsu basho has two more weeks of matches, but it’s already guaranteed to be an unusual one. Both Yokozuna may be gone, and a trove of recent younger Maegashira are looking to make names for themselves.

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