Day 9 Natsu 2021

Will we start to see some more make-koshi? Will Takakeisho make 
kachi-koshi? Lets find out!

Hakuyozan visits from Juryo today. Chiyotairyu soon walked him out. 

Kotoeko faced Akua. Lots of shuffling, side leaps and what not but 
Ishiura failed to really engage. Akua won by pulling Kotoeko to the 
ground.

Tamawashi faced Chiyomaru and lost! They have faced each other 5 times 
before and Tamawashi won all of them. Tamawashi made a mistake in his 
position, lost his balance and Chiyomaru spotted an opening. A nice 
surprise of an outcome.

It is odd seeing Tamawashi and Endo in the first 6 or so bouts. I am 
used to them being much higher up the banzuke.

Endo had a low effort win against Keisei. They engaged and Keisei sort 
of fell over. Poor Keisei.

Tsurugisho faced Terutsuyoshi. It was one of those where one is double 
the size of the other. Tsurugisho tried walking Terutsuyoshi out but 
the tiny salt chucker clinged on. A sneaky lifting of Tsurugisho's leg 
lead to a topple and a win for Terutsuyoshi.

Myogiru walked Tochinoshin out thanks to seemingly pushing on his bad 
knee. Tochinoshin did not look happy after.

Aoiyama has returned from kyujo. He is make-koshi but destroyed 
Kiribayama. They engaged and he just slapped him down. This was the 
most lively I have seen Aoiyama for some time. Hopefully he can avoid 
a significant drop down the banzuke.

Meisei took on the Tobizaru challenge. Slaps galore with a weird 
flailing Tobizaru. He did not leave the dohyo so no points for Meisei. 
He got the win though and Tobizaru is make-koshi.

Mitakeumi faced Wakatakakage. A henka and Wakatakakage was left doing 
the splits and wondering what happened. 

The main bout today. Takayasu against Terunofuji. Can papa bear stop 
the bionic man? Takayasu was on the offence most of the match but 
seemed to slip up last minute. Terunofuji pulled Takayasu down while 
stepping out. Gyoji says Terunofuji won. A mono-ii agreed. Terunofuji 
looked like he was hanging out of his arse and Takayasu was going to 
upset things. Nope. Skill and movement got the win. 

Horshoryu dropped Shodai with surprising ease. Shodai lost when 
Horshoryu got the belt and it was a case of walking out the ring. Not 
bad for a first meeting for the pair.

Daieisho prevented Takakeisho from making kachi-koshi today. They 
engaged hard, tried some nice side stepping but Takakeisho ended up on 
the straw and a small shove was all Daieisho needed.

Onosho tried hard against Asanoyama. Some great pushing which turned 
into feet sliding, trying to find some grip. Asanoyama got the win 
after swinging Onosho around and out. A damn fine bout for an Ozeki. 

So we still only have 1 kachi-koshi, the undefeated Terunofuji. 
Following on are 5 with 2 losses - Takakeisho, Mitakeumi, Ichinojo, 
Endo and Chiyotairyu. There are some surprises there for sure. 
Make-koshi has been claimed by 7 rikishi. Poor Tobizaru. He does seem 
to vary significantly between basho. 3 are at risk tomorrow - 
Kiribayama, Tochinoshin and Tsurugisho.