2025 Hatsu Basho: Day 5 results, replays and analysis

Spoilers abound.

Oh my.

We just had a very impactful day on the dohyo. The repercussions of that impact could be… major. I’ll leave it at that.

We had lots of great bouts, again. Tobizaru vs. Ura delivered on its promise of total chaos. Hoshoryu vs. Atamifuji was very exciting, too. Other bouts I really enjoyed include Kotoshoho vs. Takerufuji, Kinbozan vs. Nishikifuji, and Oho vs. Onosato.

Scroll down for all the top matches, complete results and my analysis on some potentially BIG news.

Today’s Bonus gif honours belong to the Troll King.

The sagari pull is sumo’s version of a bat flip.

SPOILERS BELOW

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Results

• Sadanoumi (3-2) def. Tokihayate (3-2) via yorikiri (frontal force out)

• Kitanowaka (3-2) def. Tamashoho (1-4) via uwatenage (over arm throw)*

• Kagayaki (1-4) def. Hakuoho (3-2) via yorikiri

• Kinbozan (5-0) def. Nishikifuji (2-3) via yorikiri*

• Nishikigi (4-1) def. Onokatsu (2-3) via yorikiri

• Takerufuji (4-1) def. Kotoshoho (1-4) via oshidashi (frontal push out)*

• Shonannoumi (2-3) def. Midorifuji (1-4) via kimedashi (arm barring force out)*

• Tamawashi (5-0) def. Meisei (1-4) via hikiotoshi (hand pull down)

• Oshoma (3-2) def. Churanoumi (2-3) via hikiotoshi

• Takarafuji (1-4) def. Mitakeumi (2-3) via yorikiri

• Endo (2-3) def. Roga (0-1-4) via yorikiri

• Chiyoshoma (5-0) def. Takayasu (2-3) via yorikiri*

• Ichiyamamoto (4-1) def. Hiradoumi (1-4) via sukuinage (beltless arm throw)*

• Tobizaru (4-1) def. Ura (2-3) via hatakikomi (slap down) after mono-ii (judges review)*

• Kirishima (2-3) def. Takanosho (0-5) via yorikiri

• Daieisho (4-1) def. Wakatakakage (2-3) via tsukidashi (frontal thrust out)*

• Abi (4-1) def. Wakamotoharu (1-4) via oshidashi*

• Shodai (2-3) def. Kotozakura (1-4) via yoritaoshi (frontal crush out)*

• Oho (5-0) def. Onosato (2-3) via okuridashi (rear push out)*

• Atamifuji (1-4) def. Hoshoryu (4-1) via kotenage (arm lock throw)*

• Gonoyama (4-1) def. Terunofuji (2-3) via fusen (default)

Must see bouts!

Leaderboard

• M3w Oho, M5w Chiyoshoma, M10e Tamawashi, M14w Kinbozan: 5-0

• O1w Hoshoryu, S1w Daieisho, K1e Abi, M2e Tobizaru, M3e Gonoyama, M6w Ichiytamamoto, M11w Takerufuji, M12e Nishikigi: 4-1

Analysis

The biggest news to come out of Day 5 was the absence of yokozuna Terunofuji. He has, according to reports, pulled out of the tournament entirely citing knee and hip issues. At this time of writing there is at least one report out of Japan that he has retired. I recommend waiting for official JSA accounts to report that, though.

Terunofuji hobbled through the first four days of this basho. He lost to Wakatakakage on Day 1 and then beat Takanosho and Kirishima on the following days. However, in those wins he looked quite slow and creaky. On Day 4 he lost to his nemesis Tobizaru.

If Teurnofuji does retire he does so with the honour of being labeled a dai-yokozuna (great yokozuna), thanks to his ten titles and the supremacy he showed when he was fit enough to compete. Sadly, his declining fitness meant we saw him less and less over the past few years.

If he has retired, Terunofuji can begin dropping weight. This will spare his battered knees and help him rebound from diabetes. Terunofuji leaving right now would be a big blow to the JSA if they didn’t have someone ready to replace him…

Enter The Rising Dragon… Hoshoryu.

Hoshoryu has taken this tournament by the scruff of the neck, but he showed he was human on Day 5 in losing to Atamifuji. That’s not a massive surprise/upset. Atamifuji has given Hoshoryu lots of trouble in his young career. This win gives him a 5-3 record against the ozeki. Atamifuji got this latest win with an armlock throw. That’s twice Atamifuji has been able to throw Hoshoryu (he got him with an uwatenage last May).

You can see this most recent bout below:

Atamifuji is very hard to throw. He’s only been thrown eighteen times in his 300+ bout career. His sheer size is part of the reason for that. But the other reason is how wide he stands during yotsu battles. In the video above you can see Hoshoryu try and trigger a throw on a couple of occasions, stepping between Atamifuji’s legs and trying to toss him over his thigh. However, Atamifuji was able to, each time, step around that attack while maintaining pressure against the belt.

Hoshoryu’s stubbornness got the best of him in this bout. Despite failing to get the throw, he stayed locked on Atamifuji’s belt. Atamifuji used that arm position to pull off his own throw. Atamifuji put a lot of muscle into that throw, forcing Hoshoryu to twist as he went crashing to the dirt.

Hoshoryu shook out his arm after that and touched at his elbow. The kind of rotation his arm was put through could have easily damaged one of his joints. If he has suffered an injury here, that would be a nightmare situation for the sport (which might be desperate to promote a new yokozuna ASAP).

Hoshoryu’s loss meant he is no longer in the lead in this tournament. Instead we have a rather surprising quarter of characters at 5-0.

The most impressive of those four undefeated rikishi is Oho. He got past Onosato on Day 5. See it below:

Oho opened this bout with a thrust to the throat. Onosato wasn’t moved back by that. Instead Onosato collapsed on the pocket and surged Oho back to the straw. Oho was able to slide across and throw Onosato past him, though. He was able to do this because he established an inside position with his left arm off the tachiai. He did that simultaneously with the opening throat thrust, as if the thrust was meant as a distraction.

This loss is another example of Onosato, who is excellent, still being a little raw and not always recognizing when he’s in a dangerous grappling spot. Oho is a thruster, not a grappler, but he’s got a lot more experience than Onosato (despite being the same age). Even so, it was impressive to see Oho switch to grappling to get the win here.

The other wrestlers on 5-0 are Kinbozan, Tamawashi and Chiyoshoma.

Tamawashi benefitted from a Meisei slip on Day 5 (see it below).

Chiyoshoma took Takayasu for a spin. The 33-year-old has been extremely lively with his movement this tournament, forcing his opponent’s into foot races and pouncing on them when they get turned around and put off balance.

Kinbozan had a really nice win on this day. His thrusting has looked very good this tournament. He showed a lot of aggression against Nishikifuji, pushing him around the ring. Nishikifuji did a good job of circling away from Kinbozan’s thrusts. That forced Kinbozan to latch onto Nishikifuji and get him out with a solid yorikiri.

Tamawashi, Chiyoshoma and Kinbozan have looked very impressive so far this tournament and Tamawashi and Chiyoshoma have beaten some decent opponents. Even so, I’m not expecting either of them to be in title contention at the business end of the basho.

At the moment it doesn’t seem like Kotozakura will be there either. The 2024 Kyushu champ has looked, frankly, terrible in the last few days. On Day 5 he lost to Shodai (someone he had a 10-4 record against).

You can see the bout below:

Kotozakura got the fight he wanted from Shodai, establishing a migi-yotsu (right arm inside, left arm outside grip) off the tachiai. This gave Shodai a migi-yotsu, too. This happens to be Shodai’s go-to grip as well. When this happens we call it ai-yotsu.

If you’re going to establish a snug ai-yotsu position with someone you have to be very confident in your yotsu being superior. In this bout Kotozakura’s confidence seemed misplaced, though. Shodai rag-dolled him from the position and took him out with a thud. Kotozakura must be carrying an injury. I don’t think he’d lose this kind of tug-of-war match so easily if he wasn’t. Kotozakura took nasty bump to the ground on this loss, too. That’s happened a couple of times this tournament.

Kotozakura is now 1-4. If he’s as hurt as I think he is, I expect him to pull out of this tournament soon.

Two wrestlers currently lurking at 4-1, who might have something to say about where this cup is going, are Abi and Daieisho. Abi beat Wakamotoharu and Daieisho beat Wakatakakage. Both men have looked very sharp so far this tournament. Takerufuji is also at 4-1, he beat Kotoshoho (who lived up to his All Violence Team status — cutting Takerufuji with his thrusts).

See Abi’s win over Wakamotoharu below:

Lastly, our Tobizaru vs. Ura match delivered all the excitement we expect from these two.

Tobizaru got the win and moved to 4-1, but it was close. See what happened below:

Ura succeeded in trapping Tobizaru off the tachiai and keeping him close (that’s where he does his best work). Tobizaru is slippery like an eel, though. He managed to evade Ura’s katasukashi (under shoulder swing down) and then went for a hatakikomi (slap down). Ura defended that by turning himself into a torpedo and blasting Tobizaru off the ring (and into a poor geiko). The replay showed that Tobizaru pushed Ura down (and kicked up his toes) at just the right time to score the win.

That’s 4-1 for the Flying Monkey. Can you imagine if he manages to keep up this performance (now the match-making has gotten easy for him) and mount a serious title challenge? We can only dream.

Day 6 brings us a great grudge match with Gonoyama vs. Hoshoryu. Gonoyama benefitted from Terunofuji’s absence to improve to 4-1. He’s looked very good in this tournament, though, and he always shows up against Hoshoryu.

Kotozakura will face Atamifuji (if he’s fit). Kotozakura owns Atamifuji with a 7-0 record (including two katasukashi).

Oho and Tobizaru will look to spoil each other’s momentum. Tobizaru has the 3-2 edge in their head-to-head stats. Though, Oho has won the last two.

Abi will take on Wakatakakage, whom he has won the last five bouts against. Daieisho will have Kirishima. Daieisho is just 6-12 against the former ozeki.

Take care all!

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