2024 Kyushu Basho: Day 10 results and analysis

Yes, there's spoilers.

Nov 19, 2024

Day 10 was a lot of fun! And it came close to my White Whale, a day where every makuuchi bout ends with a different kimarite. On Day 10 we had different finishes through the first nine matches and finished with 11 different kimarite across 20 bouts. And only seven bouts ended in oshidashi or yorikiri.

And two of those yorikiri bouts were very exciting and quite pivotal when it comes to the overarching narrative of this basho.

Scroll down to see all the results and plenty of videos from Day 10. There’s also my analysis of what went down.

Bonus gif today is our new bow twirler, Kototsubasa.

SPOILERS BELOW

Results

Shonannoumi (7-3) def. Shishi (3-7) via uwatenage (over arm throw)*
Chiyoshoma (6-4) def. Hokutofuji (3-7) via katasukashi (under shoulder swing down)
Asakoryu (4-6) def. Sadanoumi (3-7) via kotenage (arm lock throw)*
Takerufuji (8-2) def. Meisei (6-4) via oshitaoshi (frontal push down)
Midorifuji (5-5) def. Tokihayate (4-6) via yorikiri (frontal force out)*
Takayasu (6-4) def. Nishikifuji (3-7) via oshidashi (frontal push out)
Ichiyamamoto (6-4) def. Roga (4-6) via hikiotoshi (hand pull down)
Gonoyama (7-3) def. Ryuden (2-8) via tsukidashi (frontal thrust out)*
Tamawashi (5-5) def. Endo (5-5) via tsukiotoshi (thrust down)
Mitakeumi (6-4) def. Takarafuji (7-3) via oshidashi
Takanosho (9-1) def. Onokatsu (7-3) via hatakikomi (slap down)*
Nishikigi (3-7) def. Atamifuji (4-6) via yorikiri
Wakatakakage (7-3) def. Oho (3-7) via okuridashi (rear push out) after torinaoshi (immediate replay)*
Abi (8-2) def. Hiradoumi (1-9) via katasukashi*
Wakamotoharu (6-4) def. Oshoma (2-8) via oshidashi
Shodai (4-6) def. Ura (2-8) via oshitaoshi
Kirishima (4-6) def. Churanoumi (2-8) via uwatenage
Daieisho (6-4) def. Onosato (7-3) via yorikiri*
Hoshoryu (9-1) def. Kotoshoho (2-8) via yorikiri*
Kotozakura (9-1) def. Tobizaru (6-4) via hikiotoshi*
*Must see bouts!

Leaderboard

O1e Kotozakura, O1w Hoshoryu, M6e Takanosho: 9-1
M3e Abi, M18w Takerufuji: 8-2

Analysis

Kotoshoho gave his all against Hoshoryu, hoping to clear a path for his Sadogatake stablemate Kotozakura. However, Hoshoryu looks like a man on a mission this basho. He locked up on Kotoshoho’s belt early, looking to avoid the All-Violence team member’s hard thrusts. Kotoshoho used a good front grip to defend against a possible throw, but Hoshoryu was still able to outmuscle him in the clinch and force him back and out of the ring.

Kotozakura kept pace with Hoshoryu, beating Tobizaru (as expected). Kotozakura sometimes hangs back and lets opponents come to him. But this time he surged forwards and made sure to smother Tobizaru from the jump. Once he had a hold of him, Kotozakura wrenched Tobi down — giving him a clay sandwich to end his day.

Kotozakura’s ring awareness might be the best in the game. He’s phenomenal at negotiating himself around the straw when he feels the boundary with his feet, but he’s also great at knowing how much space he has around him without looking. Kotozakura had the perfect amount of space needed to pull off this finishing move. Also, check out his right foot in the replay blow. Notice how he skimmed his foot back. He didn’t step. This way, if he was too close to the straw, he would feel it before it was too late.

Onosato fell a win behind his fellow ozeki, due to a surprising loss ot Daieisho (someone he was 4-0 against). A lot of credit has to go to Daieisho for this match, though.

He caught Onosato’s fabled charge and was able to brace against the straw and keep himself in bounds. He was then able to step forwards and put Onosato on the back foot. Onosato then made a mistake and, I think, showed his inexperience. He latched onto Daieisho’s belt with his right hand. That’s a fine idea, given Daieisho’s deficiencies when it comes to yotsu-zumo. However, he reached very far back on the mawashi. If his grip were more shallow, he would have had a tight sashite on that side, which he could have used to transition to an uwatenage. But given where his hand was placed he was unable to do much with that grip, including prevent Daieisho from stealing another step forwards. When Onosato felt himself going backwards he let go of the grip entirely and gave Daieisho a little hug, which did nothing. When he released his grip, Daieisho took advantage and powered him off the dohyo.

Watch below how ineffective Onosato’s move was when he released his grip. My guess is he was trying to force Daieisho’s hands up off of his belt. There weren’t many great options available to him in this situation, given where he was holding Daieisho’s belt. It’s nice to see that Onosato is human every now and again.

Takanosho moved to 9-1 on Day 10, too, keeping him in the conversation for a potential yusho. He wiped out Onokatsu with a slap down. This dropped the top division sophomore to 7-3 and gave us all another reminder that… there’s levels to this game.

Unlike Onokatsu, Takerufuji has continued to win despite the difficulty of his match-making increasing. On Day 10 he came through a bruising battle with Meisei. This was their first ever meeting. Takerufuji might have surprised Meisei by attacking him with thrusts, not a belt grip. Takerufuji was not only able to match the pusher/thruster strike for strike, but he was able to drop him along the boundary with a stiff shot right to the chest. This led to Meisei taking a scary tumble off the ring.

That win took Takerufuji to 8-2. The only other rikishi with that record is Abi. He beat poor Hiradoumi on Day 10 and showed incredible balance while doing so. Hiradoumi, who is desperate for wins in Kyushu, looked as if he had Abi dead to rights along the edge. But Abi was able to hop on one leg to safety and then use his long arms to slap Hiradoumi down.

The last bout I want to point out is Gonoyama vs. Ryuden. Gonoyama has been very good this tournament, reaching a 7-3 record. During this basho I’m seeing more nuance in his game than I’m used to. Gonoyama has a reputation for attacking straight forwards without seemingly much of an alternative plan should that not get the job done. In this tournament, though, he’s shown some nice ability in reverse.

Below he you can see him push Ryuden back, but then step back to let Ryuden droop forwards. Ryuden does well to stay on his feet. But because he was off balance, Gonoyama was then able to rush him out with relative ease. I think Gonoyama could do very well if he mixes more of these sequences and set-ups into his sumo (instead of just trying to beat everyone off the tachiai).

Day 11 has some big match-ups for us. Daieisho will get a chance to upset Hoshoryu (someone he has a paltry 4-11 record against). Kotozakura will meet Wakamotoharu (who he has a 10-6 record against). Onosato will face Takanosho. Abi will meet Onokatsu for the first time in his career and Takerufuji will face this improved Gonoyama.

Can’t wait.