Kaio Legs Out Exciting Natsu Race
Tops Injury-Lightened Field for Heya’s First Tenno-Hai
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

One rikishi previously known for his durability did not even start.  Another sumotori who’d fought back from mediocrity to earn promotion to the sport’s second-highest rank was also a no-show.  And a college champion who’d torn a 13-2 hole through the Juryo at the Haru Basho didn’t answer the bell for his shin-nyumaku tournament.

But none of those things mattered to komusubi #1-West KAIO.   He somehow got a bottle of the same ‘magic potion’ that stablemate SENTORYU had used to go 13-2 in Osaka, and drained it to the dregs.  Then, with his ‘evil twin’ safely locked away, the rikishi known as “The Human Juicer” went out and captured the 2000 Natsu Basho with a very convincing 14-1 record.  It was the first championship for a man who has shown so much promise in recent years, but whose career has been marked with unexplainable inconsistency.  He becomes the first rikishi to win the yusho from the ‘killer rank’ since WAKAHANADA (now retired yokozuna Wakanohana) did it at the 1993 Haru contest, the third first-time champion this year, and the first deshi from Tomozuna Beya to win the Emperor’s Cup in sumo’s modern era (1927-present).

For the first time since the 1988 Haru Basho, only one member of the Hanada family was listed on the banzuke.  (Aside:  newly-retired yokozuna Wakanohana (Fujishima Oyakata) was seen in Kyokai livery doing security duty on the west-side hanamichi.)  Yokozuna-West TAKANOHANA started strong with five wins, but then fell victim to KAIO’s powerful oshidashi.  Yokozuna #1-East AKEBONO looked strong and mobile with a patellar support strap on his left knee.   He gave KAIO his only loss on day 5, but his big mistake was being careless with sekiwake-west TOCHIAZUMA on day 3:  a win would have put him in superb position to win his first yusho in three years (and tenth overall).  The race for the Tenno-Hai between Tomozuna’s heyagashira and the two grand champions lasted until day 13, when TAKANOHANA was crushed out by resurgent ozeki #2-East CHIYOTAIKAI.  On senshuraku KAIO descended the dohyo after his 14th win with the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) and Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) and went to the shitaku-beya expecting to be called out for a playoff with AKEBONO.  But when TAKANOHANA forced the big Hawaiian over the tawara in the final bout of the basho, the issue was settled without further action.  Both yokozuna finished at 13-2 to share the jun-yusho.

The second Tokyo tournament of the year was marked by a series of notable absences due to injury.  At the very top of the Kosho Seido list was yokozuna #2-East MUSASHIMARU.  This has not been a good year for the gargantuan Samoan:  after winning four yusho in 1999 to reach the pinnacle of the sport, a wrist injury sustained in training forced him out of the Hatsu Basho after 2 days.  He came back in Osaka to post an acceptable 11-4, but did not even answer the bell this time out.  Even more troubling was the absence of ozeki-West MUSOYAMA.  After having pulled his career out of the doldrums, with the Hatsu yusho crowning a 33-12 run over the last three tourneys, many fans were looking forward to the new ozeki’s first basho at this hard-won rank.  Exactly what effect this will have on his future quest for yokozuna promotion cannot be known at this time; but it can’t look good to the same Yokozuna Deliberation Council that was ready to cash out Wakanohana over his injuries.  The Public Injury damage continued down into the hiramaku ranks.  Sadogatake Beya’s new collegian powerhouse, maegashira #8-East KOTOMITSUKI, was not present for his first Makunouchi basho.  Veteran maegashira #9-West MINATOFUJI filled out the Public Injury shelf.

With their heyagashira sidelined, and their newly-promoted ozeki stablemate also ‘on the pines’, it fell upon the shoulders of ozeki #1-East DEJIMA and sekiwake-East MIYABIYAMA to carry the Musashigawa colors into the fight.  Theirs was a study in contrasts:  MIYABIYAMA reeled off three straight wins to start, then won two bouts for every loss and finished with an 11-4 that earned both a Kanto-Sho and a promotion to ozeki for the Nagoya Basho (see accompanying article).  Meanwhile DEJIMA ran into early trouble, with KAIO and maegashira #3-East OGINISHIKI bouncing him in the first three days of action.  He only managed two wins against sanyaku competition and those were against ozeki #2-West TAKANONAMI and komusubi #2-West TAKATORIKI, who were both having subpar performances.  His poor 8-7 will hopefully serve as a wakeup call for improvement.

Both of the other ozeki came out of the Haru Basho with serious problems.  How they dealt with those problems was yet another study in contrasts.  This writer pictures Kokonoe Oyakata riding CHIYOTAIKAI very hard and not giving him any room to slack off.  The result:  six wins over other joi-jin (including TAKANOHANA) and an 11-4 posting that will please the legendary stablemaster (for a few days, anyway).  TAKANONAMI was in his fifth kadoban only two basho after having been demoted to sekiwake and winning the 10 bouts necessary to recover his ozeki ranking.  He started out well with four wins, and after 9 days he was at 6-3.  Then the wheels came off:  six days, six losses, a 6-9 record and a second demotion to sekiwake in less than half a year.  (Will he come back yet again?  This reporter’s personal opinion:  no.)

The rest of the sanyaku performed as expected.  TOCHIAZUMA’s win over AKEBONO was a pivotal moment in the competition.  He may not have been in contention but his 9-3 mark on day 12 was an excellent building block for a double-digit performance and a run at a future ozeki slot.  It was not to be, however:  three losses on the last three days left him with a still-good (but not ozeki-helpful) 9-6.  There have been times when this reporter has believed that komusubi-East TOSANOUMI was deliberately trying to be demoted back into the maegashira ranks so he could add to his stash of kinboshi.  But his performance, though weak to begin with, got better as the tournament went on.  He also finished at 9-6; MIYABIYAMA’s promotion to ozeki leaves a sekiwake slot open for him to move into for the Nagoya Basho.  Komusubi #2-West was not unfamiliar territory to Haru winner TAKATORIKI, who had set the new record for the longest time (18 years in sumo, 870 top-division contests) to his first Tenno-Hai.  What was unfamiliar to the former sekiwake was the reduced number of stablemates in the Makunouchi, along with his inability to handle the increased power in the new generation of sanyaku.  On shonichi a familiar nemesis, AKEBONO, welcomed the Futagoyama veteran back to the joi-jin ranks.  And he did it exactly as he’d done in Osaka - rough and decisive, as he used his massive hands to piston the defending Cup holder off the dohyo.   TAKATORIKI was 2-2 after 4 days but then collapsed completely:  even comparatively-weak maegashira competition such as #1-west ASANOWAKA, #2-west HAMANOSHIMA and 3#-west DAIZEN tore strips from him.  He went ‘from the penthouse to the outhouse’ with a miserable 2‑13:  the prospect of retiring and taking over from his father-in-law might look pretty good right now.

The only rikishi ranked above maegashira #6 to finish kachi-koshi was #4-west TAMAKASUGA, who went 9-6.  In his shin-nyumaku basho, #12-East TOCHINOHANA racked up a 12-3 to lead all maegashira, and pulled in a Kanto-Sho and a Gino-Sho (Technical Prize) in the bargain.  Other strong hiramaku performances were posted by #7-West AKINOSHIMA (10-5), #9-East TOKI (9-6), #11-East HAYATEUMI (9-6), #11-West HIGONOUMI (9-6) and #14-West KOTONOWAKA (10-5).  The ageless veteran #13-West TERAO went 5-10:  the question becomes whether he will take the demotion to Juryo and keep fighting, or retire and help his older brother run Izutzu Beya.

In the juryo ranks, #1-West KOTONISHIKI was on Public Injury still nursing the arm injury he sustained in Osaka at the hands of AKINOSHIMA.  #4-West TAMARIKIDO and #6-West AKINOSHU were also absent.  The still-popular “Big Salt”, #7-West MITOIZUMI used a Kosho Seido break to palliate twenty years’ worth of damage accumulated in the dohyo wars; but the heir-apparent to Takasago Beya might only have postponed the inevitable by so doing.  Former maegashira #1 GANYU, who had fallen from the Makunouchi ranks and through Juryo into Makushita due to a series of injuries, announced his retirement.  Of those second-division rikishi who came to fight, former maegashira WAKANOSATO went 12-3 at #11-East to win the yusho, while #12-East TAMANONADA went 11-4 for the runner-up slot.  #9-East TOCHISAKAE posted a 9-6.  #2-East SENTORYU, coming off his 13-2 ride in Osaka, struggled early but managed to get his eighth win on senshuraku:  his prospects for promotion to the ‘bright lights’ look fair to good.  The other foreign rikishi in Juryo, #10-West HOSHITANGO, also had his problems but also gained kachi-koshi on the final day.

KAIO’s victory marks only the eighth time in modern sumo history that a rikishi ranked at komusubi has won the yusho.  The members of this rather unique fraternity are:

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Miyabiyama Earns Ozeki Promotion
Becomes Third Musashigawa Rikishi at Sumo’s Second-Highest Rank
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

As if further proof of Musashigawa Beya’s ascendancy was needed, former college champion (and Tonkatsu-defeater) MIYABIYAMA has been promoted to ozeki for the Nagoya Basho.  The promotion came on the heels of his second consecutive 11-4 posting at sekiwake, for a three-basho record of 34 wins and 11 losses.  He thus joins stablemates DEJIMA and MUSOYAMA (also collegiate yokozuna) at sumo’s next-to-final step just below their heyagashira, yokozuna MUSASHIMARU (who is not a collegian).

This might be the first time in modern sumo history that a heya has had two of its rikishi promoted to ozeki in consecutive basho.  MUSOYAMA was promoted to ozeki just after the Haru Basho, but did not compete in Tokyo due to an unspecified injury.  DEJIMA earned his promotion last year after winning the yusho in Nagoya.

By virtue of his promotion MIYABIYAMA fills the ozeki slot vacated by TAKANONAMI, who has been demoted to sekiwake for the second time this year as a result of consecutive make-koshi records.  If TAKANONAMI somehow manages to win 10 or more bouts in Nagoya he will be entitled to regain his ozeki status.  It will be interesting to see what happens if that lightning somehow manages to strike.

The last time a single heya had three deshi ranked at ozeki was the 1994 Kyushu Basho, when Futagoyama Beya had TAKANOHANA, WAKANOHANA and TAKANONAMI in that rank.  (In that tournament TAKANOHANA went 15-0 for his second consecutive zensho yusho and was promoted to yokozuna.)

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Musashigawa Rikishi Takes The Bow – And Twirls It
SUMO WORLD news service

SHINMEI, from Musashigawa Beya, is the new yumitori-shiki (bow-twirling ceremony) performer.  The 27-year old junior of MUSASHIMARU replaces Futagoyama Beya rikishi WAKAKAZE, who retired from sumo at the end of the Hatsu Basho (as reported in the February SUMO SHIMPO).  This continues the custom of the yumitori rikishi being from the heya of the currently-dominant yokozuna.

SHINMEI had performed the bow ritual at exhibitions and at the retirement ceremonies for KOTOINAZUMA and TOCHINOWAKA before being tabbed for this prominent but potentially-jinxed assignment. 

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Current World Rankings For Competitors In SCSK Events
(as of 8th World Sumo Championships in Riesa, Germany)

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 Future Champion Rikishi Enters Ranks

1998 SCSK Summer Tournament champion Joe “Rikinojo” BUTLER and his lovely wife Kelly recently became the parents of a 9-pound, 6-ounce son named Aaron Joseph.  OMEDETO GOZAIMASU!!

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The Things You Get To Do…

At a recent event in Japan, CHIYOTAIKAI and other top-division sumo wrestlers dressed as the characters from the “Sailor Moon” anime series and put on a show.  This reporter is not familiar with the series so he wasn’t exactly sure what was going on.  But it appeared as if everyone was enjoying themselves.  To study and download color photos of this curious event go to http://www.os.xaxon.ne.jp/~rini/sailor/sumo/index.htm

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WELCOME BACK (?!) – Komusubi #2-West TAKATORIKI goes flying off the dohyo under the powerful thrusting attack of yokozuna #1-East  AKEBONO on shonichi of the 2000 Natsu Basho.  The former sekiwake was promoted all the way back into the sanyaku from maegashira #14 on the strength of his yusho-winning 13-2 record in the Haru Basho, but fell to 2-13 in Tokyo.  (Photo:  Ken Coller/SUMO NOW!)

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SEKITORI BIRTHDAYS for June and July

Data from SUMO WORLD magazine.

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Vierra Takes Night of Giants 2000
by "Tonkatsu" and Ernie Hunt
from ESPN broadcast and first-hand report

Looking decidedly leaner and meaner, North American heavyweight and open champion Wayne Vierra added "Night of the Giants 2000" to his growing list of credits.  Sub-titled "World Super Heavyweight Sumo Championship", the second night of giants was held at Caesars Tahoe on Saturday April 22nd.  Like the first tournament  at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in November of 98, this was an invitational event, basically tailored for ESPN.  The expert commentator was moto-ozeki KONISHIKI, who had a chance to promote his new career as a rapper.

In addition to Vierra, returning faces included: Manny Yarbrough and James Perry, U.S.A.; Levan Ebanoidze, Georgia; Fred Craig, New Zealand; Torsten Schiebler and Jorg Brummer, Germany; and B. Bat-Erdene, Mongolia.  Missing were defending champion Mark Robinson of South Africa and anyone from Japan.

Ernie Hunt filed the following report: "I got up there just in time to see the last two matches of the evening.  I was shocked at the attendance.  It was held in the main show room and it was standing room only as far as I could see.  The crowd was on the stage, also behind the ring.  I guess they were the 76 bucks tickets.  It looked like a first class operation, well promoted by the attendance.  When I checked into the Reno Hilton at three in the morning the clerk saw my sumo shirt and asked if I had been to Tahoe to see the sumo, so it was well promoted.”

Ernie also submitted data from the tournament brackets, which went into the following matrix.  There were nineteen competitors divided into six three or four man pools.  Each pool fought a round robin with the winner and in some cases the runner-up advancing to the top eight.