2025 Hatsu Basho: Day 6 results, replays and analysis
Spoilers. In here. Right now.
Well, that’s a wrap folks… for our 73rd yokozuna Terunofuji. He called it quits after a stellar, albeit injury hit career. More on that after the jump.
Day 6 still gave us some great bouts, despite the matches being largely over shadowed by this retirement.
Oho vs. Tobizaru was bout of the day, with both men fighting like they feel they could win this thing.
Hoshoryu vs. Gonoyama and Kotozakura vs. Atamifuji were both intriguing affairs, too.
Scroll down for videos of all the big bouts as well as full results and my takeaways on what went down.
Bonus gif is our retiring dai-yokozuna.
SPOILERS BELOW
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Results
Kitanowaka (4-2) def. Tokihayate (3-3) via yorikiri (frontal force out)
Kinbozan (6-0) def. Kagayaki (1-5) via tsukidashi (frontal thrust out)
Tamashoho (2-4) def. Shonannoumi (2-4) via hatakikomi (slap down)*
Nishikifuji (3-3) def. Kotoshoho (1-5) via oshidashi (frontal push out)*
Onokatsu (3-3) def. Hakuoho (3-3) via yorikiri*
Meisei (2-4) def. Nishikigi (4-3) via yorikiri
Takerufuji (5-1) def. Churanoumi (2-4) via yorikiri
Oshoma (4-2) def. Midorifuji (1-5) via oshidashi*
Takarafuji (2-4) def. Tamawashi (5-1) via okuridashi (rear push out)
Takayasu (3-3) def. Roga (0-2-4) via yorikiri
Endo (3-3) def. Ichiyamamoto (4-2) via hikiotoshi (hand pull down)
Chiyoshome (6-0) def. Mitakeumi (2-4) via uwatenage (over arm throw)*
Hiradoumi (2-4) def. Ura (2-4) via yorikiri*
Oho (6-0) def. Tobizaru (4-2) via oshidashi*
Wakatakakage (3-3) def. Abi (4-2) via hikiotoshi*
Takanosho (1-5) def. Wakamotoharu (1-5) via hatakikomi
Kirishima (3-3) def. Daieisho (4-2) via hikiotoshi*
Hoshoryu (5-1) def. Gonoyama (4-2) via okuridashi*
Atamifuji (2-4) def. Kotozakura (1-5) via kimedashi (arm barring force out) after torinaoshi (immediate rematch)*
Onosato (3-3) def. Shodai (2-4) via yorikiri
Must see bouts!
Leaderboard
M3w Oho, M5w Chiyoshoma, M14w Kinbozan: 6-0
O1w Hoshoryu, M10e Tamawashi, M11w Takerufuji: 5-1
Analysis
Well, it’s official. Terunofuji has retired. He gave the traditional press conference yesterday alongside his oyakata (stable master) Isegahama (formerly, the 63rd yokozuna Asahifuji). Also at the press confernece was Terunofuji’s mother, wife and son. His son seems to have the sumo stoicism down already.
Isegahama said Terunofuji recently suffered injuries to his knee and back and that he had “reached his physical limits” and thus decided to retire. Terunofuji stated that he will remain at Isegahama-heya as a coach, under the name Terunofuji (an honour he is permitted due to being a yokozuna). The current Isegahama is two years away from mandatory retirement. A lot of folks are predicting that when he does retire he will pass his elder stock, and stable, on to Terunofuji.
With Terunofuji exiting the sport, as a competitor, the pressure is on Hoshoryu to make sure the next banzuke (rankings document) has a yokozuna on it. He can become the sport’s 74th yokozuna if he wins this tournament.
On Day 6 he got a step closer to that by beating Gonoyama. See it below:
Gonoyama always brings the fire when he faces Hoshoryu. That stems from an incident a few years ago when Hoshoryu refused to get set in their match until he felt Gonoyama had shown an appropriate amount of deference.
In this bout Gonoyama got a good shot in off the tachiai, arching Hoshoryu’s head back and opening a clean path to his chest. Hoshoryu responded with great footwork, though. He circled to his right and gave himself a great angle to push under Gonoyama’s thrusting arm. Once he pushed Gonoyama across him he opened up a path to Gonoyama’s mawashi. With two hands on Gonoyama’s belt, and with Gonoyama being turned to one side, Hoshoryu was able to easily push him out.
Hoshoryu is probably the wrestler you’d expect to do best under this kind of pressure. He usually seems so unflappable. He did seem a little nervy in his debut ozeki tournament, though. Hopefully he’s locked in enough this tournament that the massive prize on offer doesn’t adversely affect his sumo over the next week and half.
Hoshoryu isn’t the only man who stands a chance of being promoted to yokozuna after this tournament. However, as things stand, it seems highly unlikely that Kotozakura (November’s tournament winner) will be anywhere close to competing for a title this month.
He lost again on Day 6. This time it was to Atamifuji, someone he had never lost before in seven previous bouts.
You can watch the match below:
Kotozakura has to be injured. In this tournament he’s been pushed around by opponent’s who usually can’t move him an inch. I suspect there’s some kind of lower body injury going on, perhaps a knee. It looks like Kotozakura is incapable of pushing off from the ground and backing down his opponents.
In this bout with Atamifuji, Atamifuji got Kotozakura on the boundary and then one of the judges incorrectly signaled to the referee that Kotozakura had stepped out. When Kotozakura saw the referee signaling the bout was over, he stepped fully out. After a discussion a torinaoshi was called.
The look on Kotozakura’s face when the torinaoshi was called is further evidence that he’s not feeling right this tournament. There was no look of relief or eagerness there. To me he looked upset that he needed to climb back on the ring and do it all over again. He was forced out in that second bout with even less effort from Atamifuji.
At this point Kotozakura really should just pull out of the tournament and get himself ready to start a new yokozuna run in March.
Our third ozeki, Onosato, has been quite irrelevant this tournament. That’s new for him. He’s 3-3 now after a basic win over Shodai.
Our 6-0 leaders in this tournament are likely more pretenders than contenders. However, the one with the best shot at actually winning this cup is Oho. Oho stayed perfect when he beat Tobizaru.
This was a very fun bout, see it below.
This was a fire-fight, with Oho attacking Tobizaru with his long thrusts and Tobizaru keeping his feet moving to bring himself back from the brink of defeat on multiple occasions. Eventually, Tobizaru ran out of room and was pushed out. Oho showed good cardio in being able to keep up with the Flying Monkey for that long. He also showed good discipline in not over-reaching, something Tobizaru is always looking to exploit.
After this bout both men cracked little smiles. I think that was in recognition of each other’s efforts and also maybe a sign that they both thought this was a fun one.
The other 6-0 wrestlers are Kinbozan and Chiyoshoma. Kinbozan thrusted out Kagayaki without much trouble. Chiyoshoma quickly threw down Mitakeumi.
Daieisho and Abi have fallen back from the pack a little. Abi was henka’d by Wakatakakage on Day 6 (live by the sword, die by the sword, eh?). Daieisho lost to Kirishima. Kirishima looked very lively in this bout (see it below) and was able to beat Daieisho as he usually does, by baiting him into a charge and then slipping to the side. That brings Kirishima up to 3-3 on the basho.
The last video I want to share today is Nishikifuji vs. Kotoshoho. Kotoshoho did his best to represent the All Violence Team here, but Nishikifuji showed a lot of toughness and pace to keep up and push out Kotoshoho. Kotoshoho is now just 1-5. This is turning into a tournament to forget for Kotoshosho and Kotozakura’s Sadogatake stable.
Lastly, Day 6 gave us the latest installment of the Fur Bowl with Takayasu vs. Roga. Roga returned to competition on Day 6. He doesn’t look fully fit, though. Takayasu was able to push him back quickly off the tachiai and score an easy yorikiri.
Hoshoryu vs. Oho is the most important match scheduled for Day 7. Oho has a great 5-3 record against Hoshoryu. Hoshoryu was able to beat him in November, though.
On Day 7 we’ve also got Kotozakura vs. Gonoyama, Kirishima vs. Wakatakakage, and Atamifuji vs. Onosato on the books.
See you then!