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SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo |
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Chris Gould
Chris sinks his teeth into how sumo can go about pulling in the younger
fans - currently so noticeable by their absence. The first of a
three-part series.
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Sumo World Championships |
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Mark Buckton
Mark Buckton reports from Sakai near Osaka, site of the latest Sumo World Championships.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda finishes off his look at former yokozuna Minanogawa.
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Sumo 101 / Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric expains sumo fan terminology - with the inevitable twist - for
those just getting into the sport and still subject to the know it alls.
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Age stands still for no man |
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Joe Kuroda
Former ozeki Kiyokuni will retire in November under the compulsory '65
and you are out' rule. JK takes a look at this quiet earth mover.
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Feel the Sumo |
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Eduardo de Paz
Read and feel the renowned Leonishiki's passion for all things sumo at his first live event.
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SFM Interview |
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Mark Buckton
Mark interviews Colin Carroll - again - Irish star of Sakai.
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Photo Bonanza |
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See the Aki Basho bonanza as well as the largest collection of pics you
are likely to see on the Sumo World Championships earlier in October.
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Aki Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the September Aki Basho and throws in some henka sighting results for good measure.
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Lower Division Rikishi |
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Mikko Mattila
The lower divisions, their members and results get the once over thanks to Mikko's eye of things 'beneath the curtain'.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest clarification of several of the sport's plethora of kimarite.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
Howard Gilbert - manager of New Zealand's amateur sumo team takes a look at the approaching Russians.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best sumo sites online.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitator - Lon Howard
Jesse Lake and Rich Pardoe hammer out their differences on a current furor - promotion criteria.
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and enjoy Benny Loh's
offerings and put a caption to Stephen Thompson's picture to win
yourselves a banzuke.
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Sumo Odds ’n’ Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements including Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Readers' Letters |
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See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens.
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Sumo Quiz |
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The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
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optimal shot at juryo during the next basho.
Asahimaru at Ms3 failed to deliver with an uninspiring 2-5 record. An
indication of his basho was the fact that he was the only rikishi
Dewaotori managed to beat.
Asahimaru
Dairaido at Ms4 has failed his
honeymoon phase with juryo, and has plummeted down to makushita with
the help of three bad make-koshi in a row. With a 3-4 make-koshi, the
once explosive and raging rikishi who brought thunder onto the juryo
dohyo has lost something, but whether or not the dive is injury-related
is anybody’s guess. Harunoyama, at Ms4w, has been slow and
injury-ridden in juryo for a while. The problems finally peaked in Aki,
where he had to withdraw, winless, after four straight losses.
Kirinowaka at Ms5 stormed up with
his stablemate Hakuba, but has found it difficult to break into juryo.
His 2-5 at Ms5 means that he will have to wait a while to have another
realistic chance for juryo promotion.
The 19-year-old Ikioi was fifth on
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the oyakata’s talent-list and sure
looked to have a strong basho going undefeated at Ms46 - until his
fourth bout and his massive slapfest against 40-year-old veteran
Kotokanyu. Ikioi won the torikumi, but obviously disturbed by Ikioi’s
slapping attack, Kotokanyu attacked him in the shitaku-beya after the
bout and the incident resulted in Kotokanyu’s dishonourable retirement
from sumo. This was certainly the most unique event in the lower
divisions this basho. Ikioi may have been shaken by the ordeal, too, as
he ended up losing his last three bouts.
Daitensho and Kaishoryu wrestled for the sandanme yusho in a play-off
in Nagoya. But both felt the difference between makushita and sandanme
in September, as neither could clinch kachi-koshi. Daitensho at Ms31
ended up with 3-4, while Kaishoryu at Ms11 went 2-5. Kaishoryu
commented that despite his 2-5 record, he was able to perform good sumo
and learned from this experience at that high makushita
rank.
Makushita is full of rikishi worth mentioning but one can’t cover
them all, so in this issue, the emphasis was more on the younger
rikishi. Even outside the group covered here, there are plenty of new
rising talents like Fujimoto, Kazafuzan, Fukuoka, and others.
Kazafuzan
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The older
makushita rikishi with experience in juryo didn’t do that well as a
whole and were clearly outclassed by the young challengers.
Fukuoka
In Kyushu, the upper makushita will be filled with youth when Wakanoho,
Hakuba, Yakigaya, Koryu and Kadomoto occupy the ranks. The veteran duo
from Musashigawa-beya, Buyuzan and Bushuyama, will try to swim along
and challenge the younger men at the top of makushita. Young Dewaotori
will also try to get a new start after his horrendous Aki basho, where
he went 1-14 with a bad shoulder and bad sumo.
In sandanme a surprise winner was 23-year-old Wakamifuji from
Magaki-beya. He had a relatively easy first half, but then justified
his yusho content-wise by causing Sakaizawa his first-ever loss
(play-off excluded) after 19 straight wins. In that bout, Sakaizawa
even seized a morozashi, but with a fast grip change, Wakamifuji was
able to get back into the bout. At the end, Wakamifuji managed to throw
Sakaizawa and after a mono-ii deliberating a possible hair pull,
Next
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