Report card: 2024 Natsu Basho Part 7 - San'yaku

Finishing up my grades for all the makuuchi wrestlers who competed in grand sumo's 2024 summer tournament.

Welcome to the last of my report cards regarding the 2024 summer tournament. I tried to get them all done before the Nagoya banzuke dropped. However, I just missed the deadline. If you’ve been here a while now you know this is pretty standard for me!

Anyways, after this post (and my Onosato deep dive), I will be one hundred percent locked in on the Nagoya basho. I’ll be covering that tournament a little differently from those I have in the past (largely due to a week’s vacation I have lined up during those dates). I’ll send a programming note, along with our next spotlight poll, next week to tell you all about it.

But enough housekeeping, let’s grade the san’yaku!

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Onosato

Rank: Komusubi 1 East
Record: 12-3 (yusho, Outstanding Performance Prize, Technique Prize)
Grade: A+

I’ll be doing a deep dive on Onosato’s tournament, since he was out spotlight rikishi. Needless to say, though, he aced this one.

Asanoyama

Rank: Komusubi 1 West
Record: 0-0-15
Grade: Ungraded

Asanoyama sat out the tournament due to injury. He took a big demotion, but he should be in fighting shape for Nagoya.

Abi

Rank: Sekiwake 1 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: A

Abi came to play in May. In 2023 Abi was a little under the radar, failing to capitalize on his first and only yusho in November 2022. Between that Kyushu win and this most recent tournament he didn’t register double-digit wins or losses and only had a losing record on two occasions.

In May, though, Abi followed up on a strong March (9-6 as komusubi) to look as threatening as he did early in his makuuchi career.

Abi’s game is predictable. But it’s also very violent. So much so that advanced knowledge of what he’s going to do can only go so far. Everyone knows he’s going to launch himself at your throat (unless he pulls off a perfectly timed henka). This puts the pressure on the opponent to block and/or withstand that assault and find a way to win despite being made to feel very uncomfortable.

The best way to defend against Abi is to brush his thrusts aside and either push back or find his belt when he is turned off centre. That’s easier said then done, though, thanks to Abi’s size, reach and growing expertise at these techniques.

Abi is so good at his style of fighting that if you miss your first chance to block him, it’s usually a wrap. That’s what happened to Hoshoryu below, on Day 1.

It looked to me that Hoshoryu was planning to seize on Abi’s arm for a pull down or a dragging push out. However, Abi was just too fast and powerful off the blocks for that to work. Before Hoshoryu knew what was happening his heels were on the straw.

Abi’s best win of the tournament was over Kotozakura. In that bout Kotozakura did a great job of defending the opening thrusts. He deflected them with his hands a little, but he also just grit his teeth and refused to move his head out of danger. That showed a lot of toughness (not usually the first thing I compliment Kotozakura for).

When Abi felt his heels touch the straw he sprung into plan B, which for Abi is always “the straw is lava”. In this instance Abi perfectly timed his escape to snatch up Kotozakura’s arm and pull him off balance to set up the eventual push out.

It was a bit of a surprise to me when we got to the last few days of the basho and realized that Abi was still in with a shot of winning this thing. On the final day he needed to beat Onosato to force a play-off. However, Onosato was just too good that day/month and wouldn’t be denied his first (of many) yusho.

Onosato’s defense on Abi was similar to Kotozakura’s. He blocked the thrusts, but also rolled with them and kept moving instead of digging his heels. When Abi’s heels hit the straw this time he again looked for an escape route. Because Onosato had his arms around Abi, and wasn’t thrusting like Kotozakura was, Abi found himself blocked off from both sides.

Without being able to squirt out of the way, Abi instead turned and I think considered a shitatenage on the right side before accepting that the bout was lost.

Despite that loss, though, this was an amazing tournament for Abi and he is now on an ozeki run!

Wakamotoharu

Rank: Sekiwake 1 East
Record: 4-8-3
Grade: D

This was a disappointing tournament for Wakamotoharu. He was 3-3 after losing to Daieisho on Day 6. In that bout Wakamotoharu injured his toe and that would take him out of action for four days. He came back on Day 11 to try and rescue a kachi-koshi. However, a loss to Hiradoumi ruined that.

He started the tournament off with a loss to Takayasu, but then beat Tobizaru (narrowly) and Gonoyama. On Day 4 he fought Onosato for the second time in his career. The first time they met Onosato was able to force Wakamotoharu out right off the tachiai.

In May he was able to halt Onosato’s progress sooner and lock in his favoured hidari-yotsu grip (left underhook, right overhook). From that position Wakamotoharu was able to move Onosato back (because he’s as strong an ox). However, Onosato had the intelligence to use that grip against Wakamotoharu, exploiting Wakamotoharu’s overhook for leverage and the takedown.

Wakamotoharu’s make-koshi claiming loss to Hiradoumi happened because he wasn’t able to establish his hidari-yotsu. Hiradoumi gave him half of it off the tachiai, but kept his other arm close and used it to push Wakamotoharu. Wakamotoharu twice tried to throw Hiradoumi off that right overhook. But Hiradoumi’s base was just too strong and he was able to use his underhook to execute the crush out when defending the second attempt.

Wakamotoharu was bounced from the san’yaku thanks to this record. If he’s healthy in Nagoya, though, he should be able to bounce right back.

Kirishima

Rank: Ozeki 2 West
Record: 1-6-8
Grade: F

Kirishima’s yips from March carried over into May and he continued to look nothing like the wrestler who took 2023 by storm. The upheaval at his stable was over by this point, but a nagging neck injury may be most to blame for his inability to get wins in this tournament.

Kirishima got a win over Hiradoumi on Day 2, but that was it. He lost his other five matches against Gonoyama, Atamifuji, Daieisho, Onosato and Oho.

In his Day 1 loss to Gonoyama you can see how his neck was bothering him. When Gonoyama put his hand on his throat Kirishima seemed to turn away and concede the bout, instead of having his head snapped back. I believe Kirishima was also entering the tachiai with his head raised slightly more than usual, to also reduce pain to his neck. Usually, Kirishima would put his head right on an opponent’s chest, look for a grab at the front of their belt and work from there.

His worst loss of the tournament came on Day 3 versus Atamifuji (below).

I think this is a case of his injury making it hard for him to focus. His side-step was very poor. He did it in the middle of the ring, giving Atamifuji all kinds of space to reset and respond with an attack. And he jumped forwards, not backwards, allowing Atamifuji to get behind him (the worst position you can give someone in sumo).

Kirishima faced Oho on his last day of the competition (see that below). He didn’t seem to be guarding his neck as much. He actually looked competitive in this bout. However, he was perhaps overzealous in trying to prove (maybe to himself) that he could still compete.

Thankfully, after this, Kirishima decided to sit out and prioritize his health over his ozeki ranking. He’s sekiwake now and I really don’t know what’s going to happen with him in Nagoya. His performances last year were my favourite to watch, so I’m desperate for him to recapture his form and to look like a future yokozuna.

Takakeisho

Rank: Ozeki 2 East
Record: 0-2-13
Grade: Ungraded.

Takakeisho suited up for Day 1 to see what he could do. He met, and lost to, the surging Hiradoumi and then sat out for the remainder of the tournament. He’ll be kadoban in Nagoya.

Kotozakura

Rank: Ozeki 1 West
Record: 11-4 (jun-yusho)
Grade: A

Kotozakura had a good tournament, just not a great one. His 11-4 was very impressive, though, and the way he went about it was very easy on the eye. At his best Kotozakura is as strong as he is graceful. His body type makes his grace very unexpected and, frankly, delightful.

I don’t think there is anyone in sumo as big as he is who can pull off the kind of evasions we saw against Onosho and Gonoyama (below).

In both of these wins, Kotozakura needed tremendous balance to stay on one foot and take his body out of the crosshairs of over 300 lbs of pushing power. Both these wins were achieved through different methods, though. Against Onosho he used an arm lock to lever himself out of the way. On Gonoyama he utilized a belt grab for the same effect. His ability to escape these positions means he has a lot of luxury to pick and choose his battles in the ring. He can feel an opponent out and look for a hold with a lot of confidence that, if he gets pushed back, he’s in no way out of the fight.

His agility and grappling are extremely potent weapons on their own, but when you add them to his size and strength, Kotozakura becomes one of the hardest men to beat in the sport.

See below how hard he was to beat opposite fellow elite Hoshoryu.

In this bout I don’t think Hoshoryu was going for a throw (more on that later). Instead I think he was trying to shuck Kotozakura to the side so he could get around him and then push him out (if he was going for a throw I think we would have seen more action from his right knee). Kotozakura is an incredibly heavy load to move, though. He defended that attempt by pulling on Hoshoryu’s belt and bending his knees. He then transitioned, quickly, from the belt grab to an underhook to execute his own throw.

The biggest loss of this tournament for Kotozakura came against Onosato. I’m really excited about the rivalry these two can have from here. Right now they are 1-1, since Kotozakura brought down Onosato back in March (finishing him simalrily to how he did Hoshoryu above).

In this bout Kotozakura tried to repeat his success from March (something Kotozakura likes to do, as we learned from my most recent spotlight post). However, the much improved Onosato didn’t fall for it twice.

Kotozakura quickly established a hold on the right side of Onosato’s belt and then tried to transition to the overarm throw (as he did in the past). However, this new version of Onosato was far more defensively sound than the previous one. Onosato had too firm a grip on Kotozakura’s belt to be thrown down in this position and Kotozakura may have been overconfident in thinking he could still execute the move there.

Kotozakura is the best rikishi in the sport who is yet to win a yusho. This year that’s got to change, though. He’s just too good not to lift an Emperor’s Cup. His record over the last four tournaments is 45-15. And he’s managed to do that despite the pressures of recently becoming sekiwake and then ozeki.

Kotozakura has a handle on this game, and what he needs to do to represent the rank of ozeki and above, and I think it’s just a matter of time before things break exactly the right way for him in a tournament. I also think he’s the closest rival to Onosato heading into Nagoya.

Hoshoryu

Rank: Ozeki 1 East
Record: 10-5
Grade: A-

This was an interesting tournament for Hoshoryu. I think he was battling some kind of injury throughout, either to his back or his knee. For the majority of the tournament it seemed like he was allergic to judo throws and was refusing to go for them (he’ll usually land around 5 or 6 in a given tournament). If he was hurt, then doing those throws could have easily made things worse.

He pulled off one extremely notable throw (we will get to that one soon), but all his other wins came via different methods. Below are a selection of bouts which show the kind of offense he was offering throughout the basho.

Against Gonoyama (above) he pulled off a strong force out (with extra mustard on it because it was Gonoyama). A lot of his wins looked like this, where he used his above average strength and way above average foot speed, to rush opponents out of the ring.

Against Oshoma (above) he used his foot speed to evade and get side on to his opponent so he could push him out with relative ease. He did this a couple of times in the tournament, too.

Against Onosho (above) he pulled off a henka. This was on Day 9. Hoshoryu often throws one of these in each tournament. On its own it’s not enough to suggest he was babying his body in some way, but this plus all the other non-throwing moves have me feeling pretty confident that he wasn’t one-hundred percent.

Against Onosato Hoshoryu executed his only throw of the tournament (and one of his most beautiful to date). I think he went into this bout knowing he had to do this to get the win. He’s 2-0 against Onosato now, with each win coming via an amazing judo throws. The first throw he landed on Onosato, in March, was more reactive and had to pulled off as Onosato rushed him to the boundary. In this one, Hoshoryu was the aggressor.

Onosato, who had been experimenting with belt grabbing throughout the tournament (to great effect!), was cautious in the tachiai in this bout. He likely had memories of rushing Hoshoryu and being dumped on his back. However, Hoshoryu proved that he doesn’t need someone to run into him in order to take them for a ride. When he felt Onosato had gone still, he initiated the throw by stepping into him and slinging him over his knee.

To get 10-5 while barely using your most potent weapon shows how special, and dangerous, Hoshoryu is. He turned 25 a few days ago. He, Onosato (24) and Kotozakura (26) are going to be sharing a lot of cups over the next few years. And I think at least two of those, maybe all three, are going to get that ultimate promotion. Can’t wait!

Terunofuji

Rank: Yokozuna 1 East
Record: 0-2-13
Grade: Ungraded.

Terunofuji probably felt pressured to appear at this tournament despite not being fit enough to compete. On Day 1 he was muscled out by eventual champ Onosato. It’s unclear whether we’ll see Terunofuji in Nagoya.

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Thank you for reading this last report card for the 2024 summer basho. Next up is my breakdown on Onosato’s tournament.

Take care all!