Natsu 2026 Day Thirteen
The May sumo tournament sheds contenders once again as it heads to the final weekend.
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Public League Leaderboard
Scores from Fantasizr
Yusho Arasoi
10 Wins
05 Ozeki #2 East Kirishima
9 Wins
08 Komusubi East Wakatakakage
12 Maegashira #2 East Yoshinofuji
34 Maegashira #13 East Kotoeiho
Notable Maneuvers
Tsuridashi. Tobizaru tried his best to get Wakatakakage moving around the ring. Instead, Wakatakakage was able to grab him as Tobizaru was sideways and picked him up and placed him out and over for the “frontal lift out.”
Match of the Day
05 Ozeki #2 East Kirishima versus 34 Maegashira #13 East Kotoeiho
These two came in sharing the lead on ten wins, and they may have just delivered the match of the tournament. Kotoeiho began by getting his left arm deep on Kirishima’s belt, which moved the Ozeki backwards. Kirishima then nearly pulled off a throw. Kotoeiho kept his feet, and began moving Kirishima to the tawara. While on the way, the Maegashira attempted a leg trip, which put Kirishima’s feet at the edge. From there, Kirishima launched a remarkable utchari that sent Kotoeiho over as Kirishima fell backwards. The gyoji pointed to Kotoeiho, but a mono-ii was immediately called. Kirishima had not only thrown Kotoeiho over, but he kept his feet inside as Kotoeiho slowly went down and put his hand down just before Kirishima fell on his back.
Recap
Kirishima is, once again, the sole leader of the Natsu basho. He 100% earned this one the hard way, and now he sits at 11 wins with two matches left. As the only Ozeki remaining in a Nokozuna basho, he will face lower-ranked competition. Probably much lower, Kirishima has already faced the trio at 10 wins—Wakatakakage, Yoshinofuji, and Kotoeiho—and on Day 14 gets 9-win Maegashira #10 Hakunofuji. His Day Fifteen opponent is a complete wild card.
The three 10-win rikishi all absolutely have a chance. Kirishima’s two losses were to Shodai and Gonoyama, so he can drop one of his final two matches. The chase group has also been fighting extremely well. Wakatakakage manhandled Tobizaru on Day Thirteen, Yoshinofuji is on a nine match win streak. Kotoeiho very toppled Kirishima in their Day Thirteen clash. They should all be favored over the final weekend.
Their best bet is still probably a playoff because Kirishima picks up one more loss. They can’t all make it to a playoff if Kirishima does lose again. Wakatakakage and Kotoeiho square off on Day Fourteen in what should be a great match based on how they performed on Day Thirteen. No matter how it plays out, one of them will get a crucial fourth loss that moves them out of yusho contention.
Day Fifteen is almost guaranteed to see a Yoshinofuji-Kotoeiho match, because they are a rare matchup of contenders who haven’t already seen each other. What the final day holds for Kirishima or Wakatakakage is unclear. They’ve already faced each other, as well as Yoshinofuji and Kotoeiho after tomorrow. Atamifuji still hasn’t faced Kirishima, although he also is out of the yusho race.
If there’s another match that directly decides the yusho, it will need to be a playoff. For such a crazy basho, that would be a fitting end. Kirishima’s Day Thirteen victory makes it much less likely. It was also a fantastic win in terms of performance. He doesn’t need to keep that up over the last two days. Kirishima just needs to win.