On Day 13 (of 15) in the current tournament, Yokozuna Hakuho lost to Ozeki Taio, giving him three losses for the tournament and virtually assuring Yokozuna Asashoryu (who only has one loss) a tournament victory. If Asashoryu wins on Saturday, even if he loses to Hakuho on Sunday, he will win the tournament.

What if Baruto had beaten Asashoryu a couple days ago? A Hakuho win over Asashoryu would have then given Baruto the championship, which would have been the first by a non-Ozeki, non-Yokozuna in almost a decade. Instead, Baruto will have to settle for just a promotion to Ozeki instead.

Here is to hoping Asashoryu loses on Saturday (and isn’t awarded a stack of cash like he was in the above photo last September when I saw him) so that Sunday’s bouts (when I will be there) mean something.

Related posts:

1. January Sumo Tournament 相撲 平成22年1月 初場所 The recent January 2010 Sumo Tournament held in Ryogoku Kokugikan (Tokyo) held great promise of being one of the most exciting sumo competitions in a while until the last...
2. Yokozuna Asashoryu retires 横綱朝青龍の引退 After Asashoryu won the January sumo tournament, I predicted it would be his last time being grand champion, never imagining that it would be due to his retirement. I...
3. Baruto 把瑠都 Baruto is making things very interesting for the January Sumo tournament currently being held in Tokyo. While he isn’t my favorite wrestler, he is a distant third to Takamisakari...
4. More Sumo Photos Some special events happen on the final day of a sumo tournament. One is a short demonstration or ceremony put on by the Yokozuna- and Ozeki-ranked rikishi before the...
5. Sumo (相撲) – Part 4 I understand that some of my relatives, following the blog, wanted to see more pictures of overweight males wearing little. So today’s entry is for them. It is at...

Posted on January 22nd, 2010 under Japan • Tags: asashoryu, sumo. • RSS 2.0 feed • You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed