[sumo] What's Next?

Tue Mar 31 06:54:05 EDT 2009

To which I would like to add the question:
10.  Who are the most promising up-and-comers in the lower ranks?  That is,
rikishi in juryo and below, whom we predict can make it to sanyaku?

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 5:00 AM, Jezz <jejima at gmail.com> wrote:

> Okay, my take....
>
> On 31/03/2009, Jack Gartin <jacklg99 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > 1.  Will Asa come back - strong??  Or will we see him slowly give up his
> > dominance of the sport? And perhaps retire???  I'm betting the latter by
> the
> > end of this year or first quarter of next.  He's the kind of guy when
> he's
> > no longer king of the sandbox, picks up his toys and goes home.  And when
> he
> > does retire I'm betting it's not gonna be pretty.
>
> I think Asa will come back strong.  Before this year started, I was
> predicting that he would retire early on, but after the January basho,
> I have completely changed my mind.  Apart from Hakuho, there is
> currently no barrier to him winning yusho-after-yusho.  I don't think
> he'll give in so easily to his fellow Mongolian.  I think (hope?) they
> should have a good, healthy rivalry for another two years, at least
>
> >
> > 2.  Will Kisenosato redeem himself and move back up to sekiwake?  Or is
> he
> > due for a slide, at least for a while?
>
> I think he'll be back sooner, rather than later.  Whether he can go
> higher than Sekiwake is another question.  I don't think he has it
> what it takes - yet.
>
>
> > 3.  Will Goeido - along with Kise - the two hopes for the future -
> move/stay
> > into sanyaku this next tournament or will they hold Goeido back and see
> if
> > he stays strong then move him in July.
>
> Kisenosato will be demoted out of sanyaku.  Goeido will probably be a
> Sekiwake in May.  (Although Kakuryu could get that slot, I suppose.)
>
> > 4.  WHAT WILL KAIOU DO?  Even the vernacular press is starting to ask if
> it
> > isn't time to go.  Not just the foreigner fans.  I think/agree he wants
> to
> > hang in and retire in/after Fukuoka in November.  But the pressure may
> get
> > to be too much.  Certainly the body is visibly failing.
>
> I think Kaio will keep on being Kaio.  If he turns up for September,
> then he will have equalled the record for the most Makunouchi bashos.
> I don't think he'll be retiring this year - but I could be wrong.
>
> > 5.  Same applies to Chiyo.  Can he come back?  There's got to be some
> soul
> > searching going on at the heya these days about his future.  Remember his
> > Shisyo (master) is Chiyonofuji (Kokonoe) who brooks no silliness or
> > slacking.  Hmmmmmm?  BUT, he's the highest ranking Kokonoe beya rikishi
> and
> > Kokonoe may want to keep him going for a while yet.
>
> Chiyotaikai will come back, and will probably get the 8 wins needed to
> save his ozeki rank.  Even if he doesn't, I don't think he has said
> anything about retiring if he is demoted from Ozeki (unlike Kaio), so
> I would expect him to fight from Sekiwake in such an instance, hoping
> to get the 10 wins for a repromotion the 'quick' way.  I was very
> disappointed with his performance this basho, and felt he should have
> gone kyujo mid-basho, when it was clear that he was going to end up
> with very un-ozeki-like numbers.  To have the record for the worst
> ever completed ozeki basho, to go along with the kadoban record, is a
> little embarrassing, to say the least.
>
> > 6.  Is this the beginning of the Hakuho era - much asTaiho, Chiyonofuji
> and
> > Takanohana started???  Has he got it all together and now just gets
> smoother
> > and better?  Gonna be a lot of fun this year and LOTS of changes coming,
> I
> > think.
>
> Hakuho is the third youngest ever to get 10 yusho (the youngest being
> Taiho, then Takanohana, with Asashoryu now sitting in 4th place),
> which is truly impressive.  However, with Asashoryu still being on the
> scene, I think we are currently in the era of two great Yokozuna.  I
> would fully expect Hakuho to have at least 20 yushos by the time he
> retires, though.
>
> > 7.  Then there's Baruto.  He looks increasingly like a strong candidate
> for
> > Ozeki maybe late this year.  His sumo is getting better and he's already
> > strong as an ox.  He just has to figure out how to deal with guys who are
> a
> > lot shorter than he is.  Get lower at the tachiai and plow forward seems
> to
> > be the answer.  We'll see.
>
> I don't think Baruto is ready yet.  He does have the potential though.
>  One thing someone pointed out on the sumo forum in regards to his
> bout with Asashoryu....  He has got good defensive sumo - but he needs
> to know when to switch to 'offensive' sumo.  He has never beaten
> either of the Yokozunas.  Until he finds a way to do that, I don't
> think he is ready for a move to the next level.  I see him being a
> strong sanyaku rikishi for a while, before he starts to make a bid for
> ozeki.  He has never had a double digit record whilst ranked in the
> sanyaku - or in the upper joi-jin for that matter.  Until he starts
> getting the 'numbers' it is a little early to start seeing him as an
> ozeki.
>
> > 8.  And LAST - really - of all:  Who is gonna be the next Yokozuna
> > candidate?  That's always fun to watch for.  There'll be some false
> starts,
> > of course, but somebody will finally surface above the crowd and start a
> run
> > for it.  Maybe not this year but the beginnings should start to turn up.
> > No, I don't think it'll be Harumafuji.  Slick and fast, technically very
> > good, but he loses his concentration at the darndest times and, then,
> loses
> > the match(es).  It's gotta be somebody with focus and technical skill.
>  I'm
> > watching Goeido.  He looks like he's got the 'right stuff' but we'll see.
> > Kisenosato, although strong and improving technically, doesn't seem to
> have
> > the tight focus required.  He'll be an ozeki soon, but probably not
> yokozuna
> > quality.
> >
> I would say that Harumafuji is still the best bet amongst those at the
> top - but as an outside chance.  However, in an era of two strong
> yokozunas, it is very hard for a third rikishi to have two-in-a-row
> stellar bashos to force a place for a third yokozuna.  We may have to
> wait 2 or 3 years - or for Asashoryu (or Hakuho) to retire first.
>
> > There now, Let's have a civilized discussion about these and any other
> > topics to fill in the slack, non-basho time.
>
> 9.  I would like to add another topic.  I am an Asashoryu fan, but I
> felt he lacked 'something' in the second week.  During his post-basho
> interview, Hakuho said that he was able to (partly?) attribute his
> yusho to his focused keiko before the basho.  Now, this is not meant
> to be a 'trollish' comment, but one for the other Asashoryu fans to
> give their opinion on.  Before the next basho, would it be better for
> Asashoryu to shut out all (or as many as he can, as he does have
> interests that need to be attended to) as many distractions as
> possible in the couple of weeks leading up to the basho, and get in as
> much keiko as possible, and stay focussed on task in front?  He now
> has a real foe in the guise of Hakuho, and can no longer claim the
> yusho simply by turning up.
>
> All the best,
>
> Jejima
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