GRAND SUMO: Day 5 of the May 2025 Tournament - GRAND SUMO Highlights

Hello once again. Welcome to Grand Sumo Highlights. It's day five of the May Bar Show. And the Okazuna, great to see him back competing, but the last two days, not what he's wanted. He's had two losses in a row, an early hole at two and two. In the final bout of the day, as usual, and today he takes on rank and filer Gonoyama, who's yet to win. So he'll be desperate. What can the Okazuna do today? It's a warm day in Tokyo. The fans are at the sumo enjoying a drink, enjoying something to eat. Most of all, they're enjoying the sumo. Let's get to it. We kick off with Tochi Taiko, one of the rookies taking on in-form Nishikigi. There's the rookie Tochi Taiko, betting, well, he's doing a lot better than I thought he would actually, with a three and one record, and Nishikigi, the perfect start to make us into 16. Four straight wins. He shares the lead with four others. The first time meeting, good thrusting attack from Tochi Taiko, but now inside deep with the right hand, and winning as he often does on the mawashi these days, Nishikigi, five straight. Gonna go back to Nagoya 2023 when he had this sort of start, and Tochi Taiko, well, he drops to three and two. Well there's one thing for sure, this man will be at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day. Just who will he be sharing it with? Good start by Tochi Taiko, but being able to weather that storm, Nishikigi, and he gets inside quickly to win by getting the right hand deep, forces Tochi Taiko back, and wins by frontal force out, Yorikiri. The other rookie yet to get on the board is Kaio, who takes on veteran Takada Fujii up from Juryo for the day. There is the veteran. Tomorrow, he'll equal Chirao with the most consecutive appearances in sumo, 1,359, but today he meets the rookie looking for his first win. Can he get it today? Body slamming, thrusting attack briefly, slips to the side Kaio, now he's on retreat, he grabs the arm of Takada Fujii, he retreats and slaps him down, and there is win number one. I think more a case of relief for Kaio. It wasn't ideal sumo, he wins going backwards, but he had good footwork and takes care of the veteran. He drops to two and three, though win number one for Kaio. Man from Nakamura Bay, headed up by the former Yoshikaze, a takikomi slapdown. Retreating and pulling, probably a good thing because he didn't lose his footing, and now he retreats, grabs the arm, retreats and slaps down the veteran Takada Fujii. So how do you feel about your first top division win? Well, I lost the first four days, so now I'm really happy. Must have been tough not getting a win, how did you reset your mind? Well, every day I was talking with my stable master, he told me when he made his top division debut, he lost four in a row, I said, okay, he said don't copy me, so I won today. From here on, what are we going to see? Well, I want to show my strengths, just keep moving forward. Congratulations. Thank you. Now Asakoryu and Shonan no Umi, two previous meetings, doing well, Asakoryu, three and one, not the case for his rival Shonan no Umi who's one and three, but he has won the two times they've met. Asakoryu using the throat attack, gets deep with the left hand, had a grip on the Mawashi briefly, it almost, he lost the grip to win. And a shiitake nage, a brief grip, but long enough to win, he's up to four and one, Shonan no Umi now one and four, and he beats Shonan no Umi for the first time. Stepping up, Tamashouho and Rouga, mirror records, this man one and three, takes on Rouga, who is three and one. First time meeting in the top division, they've met six times in other divisions, Rouga has the edge. Well, Tamashouho coming out with a thrusting attack today, pushing and thrusting against Rouga, but now Rouga gets in under those thrusts and gets a really strong grip to win by Yurikiri. So maintains the overall dominance against him, and goes to four and one, Tamashouho a disappointing one and four after five days. Toki Hayate and Yudan meet here. They're both two and two. This man's doing well since he got his kachikoshi in the earlier tournament, and his confidence seems to be up, but he takes on Yudan today. And Yudan's never beaten Toki Hayate in the past. Three times they've met. Quickly inside today, Yudan takes Toki Hayate back, he can't recover from there, and it's a first time win for Yudan over Toki Hayate. He picks up his third win of the basho, and puts Toki Hayate at two and three. Stepping up are Tamifuji and Sadano Umi. Not a lot of history between these two, they've met three times, Sadano Umi's won a couple. He's two and two, Tamifuji at three and one. A mawashi battle here normally. Who can get control of the tachiai? Faster away was Sadano Umi, left hand solid outside, loses Tamifuji, uses an outside leg grab there. It wasn't soto gake ni kimarite, but he set it up with that right hooking leg. And wins by yorikiri. So both men are three and two now. Endo having a terrific tournament, takes on Takano Sho today. And the gyoji, Shikimori Kindaiyu, has had two shachiki guys in a row. He's given the nod to Endo's opponent, but it's been reversed. Very close results. Takano Sho and Endo in even rivalry, favouring Takano Sho just. Good hit by Endo, in and side briefly, but he's taken back by Takano Sho, starts his thrusting attack. Now he's fending off Endo. No grip with Endo's left hand, nothing with the right either. So Takano Sho, it's all defensive, denying Endo, he gets him to the side, to the rear, and out. First loss for Endo, he drops him on the leaderboard, and Takano Sho picks up his third win. We've seen for the last couple of tournaments, very slow to get up when he's pushed off the dohyo. He is troubled by those knees. Very gingerly stepping up onto the dohyo. Four and one, Endo, Takano Sho three and two, and he wins by okuridashi, a rear push out. Very defensive sumo from both men here, initially thrusting at each other. Endo goes deep with the left hand, but Takano Sho quickly jumps to the right, denying him that grip. And then it's a bit of a stalemate here, both otsuke, one under the armpit, now to the forearm, so no attack from either man, it's all defensive sumo. And Endo makes the first move. As he goes in and under, Takano Sho goes away from that attack, gets to the rear and wins. Meisei and Shishi. Meisei doing okay at two and two. Shishi, no joy for him yet. Zero and four. They've met twice, and Meisei has won both of them. Is today the day for his first win of the tournament? Troubled by that bandaged thigh, goes forward, gets deflected straight away, up on his toes, there's no balance there for Shishi, and he's just thrust down with the right hand by Meisei for a Tsukiyotoshi win. And no wins yet for Shishi, Meisei's up to three and two. Aonishiki and Midorifuji step onto the dohyo. Aonishiki doing well at three and one. They meet for the first time, Midorifuji is yet to win. This man has got real skill and talent, he's learning sumo oh so quickly. Good start, both men thrusting away, Aonishiki, Midorifuji taken back, now a solid outside grip, left hand by Aonishiki, deep and in and under Midorifuji's defences, goes in tight and then taps the knee, Uchimuso. And then the twist down made it look even more impressive. That's just a simple tap, and that is thinking on your feet, if you're new to sumo that's very rare to see. And this man's still learning his craft, that was so clever. Uchimuso, the inner thigh propping twist down, you watch the right hand of Aonishiki and the left knee of Midorifuji. When they get down in a low position in the centre of the dohyo, there, just one little tap, that's all it takes. Outstanding sumo, from Aonishiki to pick up his fourth win, Midorifuji remains winless. Uchimuso, now Shodai and Kimbozan, pair of two and two men, and more parity, they've met six times and have three wins each. He likes to get in and under the armpit of an opponent, doesn't necessarily need the sumo washi. Kimbozan is a pusher thruster, and that's when he does his best sumo, keeping the opponent away. There's the thrust from Kimbozan, keeps him away at the moment, Shodai tries to get in, he's in now, left hand outside, solid grip, he's taken to the edge, spinning around, Kimbozan, he spins around and turns the tables, and wins by yurikiri. Normally you'd see Shodai do something like that to an opponent, with Kimbozan up to three and two, Shodai now, two and three, yurikiri. Now the final bout of the first half, and it's one of our bouts of the day, Haku Oho and Chiranomi. Haku Oho, one of our co-leaders going into the day, there were five of them, we've seen two already, one of them won, Nishikigi, Endo lost, can Haku Oho stay perfect? Chiranomi, one and three, only met once before in the top division, Chiranomi was the winner. Speedy tachiai from Haku Oho, deep with the left hand, he wants the right hand outside if he can get it, Chiranomi's denying him that, he moves forward well, and wins by oshidashi. Stays perfect, Yamagishima seven picks up his fifth straight win, and Chiranomi drops to one and four, it was their rivalry, they both had one win each against each other in the top division, and Haku Oho shares the lead right now with Nishikigi. Speedy tachiai got away much quicker did Haku Oho, deep left hand, as I said, nothing doing with the right hand, but he uses the forearm here to raise Chiranomi up, and out. Speedy tachiai, good follow up with the arms, and Chiranomi didn't have a lot to say in that bout. Ono Katsu and Tobizaru, two and two, this man three and one, his rivalry is zero, yep it's the first time they've met, so this is a new experience for both of them. In and under with the right hand, bit of a face slap there from Ono Katsu, right hand deep, he loses it momentarily does Tobizaru, solid outside left for Ono Katsu, takes him to the edge, and out, a yorikiri win for Ono Katsu, he's up to three and two, and Tobizaru now the same score. I like to see him lead with the right, he leads with the left, left foot forward, left hand forward, he gets the outside grip denied with the right, so obviously Tobizaru knew what his favourite grip inside was, but he gets his favourite outside grip first. So today it works for him, and he controls it from start to finish. The oh-so-popular Ura takes on Chiyo Shoma, both men with the same score, and it's not a good one, zero and four, they've met nine times, Ura has won seven of them, but Chiyo Shoma's won the last two, November and January. In very low, Ura drives forward, out goes the foot first, I think you'll see the foot went out first before he went down, I'm pretty sure the shinpan saw that, the judge, we'll see it in the replay, what's the right sweeping foot of Chiyo Shoma, Ura wins by yorikiri, and picks up his first win, Chiyo Shoma now zero and five. As he goes back here, have a look at the right foot of Chiyo Shoma, before he goes down, taken back here, boom, there's the foot, big drag on the clay, the dirt outside the toada. Now Oh Shoma and Ichiyama Moto, they've met four times, Ichiyama Moto has won three of them, two very different styles here, one always attacks, this man's kind of negative in his sumo, in other words, always very defensive, Ichiyama Moto just likes to push and thrust, he's not strong, but his pushing and thrusting can be non-stop, and he keeps it up today, good start today by Oh Shoma for a change, but he's taken straight back by Ichiyama Moto, who keeps his chin very close to his chest, keeps the head down, and just concentrates on pushing and thrusting. Very interesting tactic by Ichiyama Moto, he was obviously very conscious of the fact not to keep the head up, and he wins by oshidashi, for win number three, Oh Shoma drops to two and three. Once he gets the thrusting going, watch the chin of Ichiyama Moto, keeps it very tight near his chest, he's not looking at Oh Shoma, just keeps the head down, denying any movement upwards. Abbe and Takeda Fujii, not a lot of history here either, they've met just three times, this man's won a couple, but Abbe coming off his first win yesterday, it was a big one, he beat the Yokozuna. Look for the two arm thrust by Abbe, and well, the combination of attack and slippage, I'm not sure which was stronger, Takeda Fujii goes down from a thrust to the face by Abbe, Tsukio Toshi, win number two, two wins in a row. And Takeda Fujii drops to three and two, one of the early fan favourites for the Yusho at Maegashira 4. One hit to the face, another one, pushes, thrusts, down goes Takeda Fujii. A lot of slipping involved here, I'm not quite sure, no, just a good win by Abbe. Takeyasu and Wakamoto Haru, both men having a tough first four days. At least Takeyasu's got a win, Wakamoto Haru not, and they've met eight times, and this man's won six of them, and one of Wakamoto Haru's wins against Takeyasu was a Fusencho, a freebie. So history favours the man on the left, two arm thrusts straight off the face of Wakamoto Haru, and that allows Wakamoto Haru to get in and under, and win by Oshidashi, very unusual. Watch the right hand of Takeyasu in the replay here, he goes for a thrusting attack but it's way too high, it hits the cheek of Wakamoto Haru and slips straight up, almost the forehead. An Oshidashi win, a rare one for Wakamoto Haru, and the first one in this tournament for him, one and four, both men. Wakataka Kage and Kirishima. Both men three and one, Komusubi Sekiwake. Komusubi has won six of their fourteen bouts, this man's won the eighth, including a Fusencho. Big hit inside, Wakataka Kage, now gets a Hazuoshi going from the left, tries something from the right, deep goes Kirishima, he tries a throw but a counter throw by Wakataka Kage around the neck of Kirishima for a Kubinage, headlock throw, this is outstanding. Kirishima looked to be in control, he had momentum, he had position, and then a twist of the body, a pivot, and a wrap around the neck, and he pulls the headlock throw. So clever from Wakataka Kage, Kirishima probably felt well, I'm about to win here, good start both men, solid grip, outside by Wakataka Kage, left hand deep, right hand in for Kirishima, now he tries the throw and there's the twist and there's the headlock throw. Beautiful movement by Wakataka Kage, the Komusubi wins, beats the Sekiwake. In form Sekiwake Daisho, one of our co-leaders going into the day, takes on Maegashira 1 Oho. Four straight wins, 13 and he'll be in Ozeki, I know it's a big ask, but Oho has his fans, losing to Onosato yesterday, he's three and one doing okay. Big hit by Daisho, straight to the throat and chest, Oho offers very little, taken straight back and out. Oh, one-way traffic there, just opened up that cut too that Oho has on his forehead. Daisho dominating from start to finish, that was impressive. The big hit, the initial hit, was the one that set it up, there he misses with his thrusting Oho, he's taken back again, he tries pulling on the arm, that was a mistake, thrust out win. Now Hironumi and Kota Zakura, Maegashira 3 and the Ozeki, they've met six times, the Ozeki's won five of them, but Hironumi won the last time they met in March. Hironumi 2 and 2, Kota Zakura the same score. Big hit and low by Hironumi, can't get a grip, he's under the elbow of the Ozeki, but the Ozeki just pulls him straight down. Excellent timing to win by Hiki Otoshi, well they liked it, and so did Kota Zakura, picks up his third win. Oh, somebody's been working hard on the signage. Deep momentarily was Hironumi trying to Hazuo Oshi out of the chest, but watch this pull, boom, down you go. Excellent timing by the Ozeki to win here. Onosato and Tamawashi, Onosato four straight wins and has looked extremely good. He hasn't made too many mistakes, obviously with the four straight wins, but it's the way he's been doing it. Tamawashi big ask, he's a pusher thruster, there's not a lot between them in height and weight, but Onosato the bigger of the two by 10 kilos. Blasting in with a thrust to the chin which lasts half a second, as Onosato just walks straight forward and overpowers Tamawashi to pick up his fifth straight win. So four men share the lead after five days and Onosato heads that list, a yurikiri win. He gets hit with a thrust to the chin, but he walks straight through that and overpowers Tamawashi. There's the throat and chin attack, but it doesn't last long. Very solid with that left hand under the armpit and then the right hand on the mawashi. Nice win, once again solid. Second of our bouts of the day, Hoshoryu and Gonoyama. The history between them. Does favor Hoshoryu and he's won the last two. Gonoyama beat him last time in July 2024 by a thrust out. So what does he bring today? What kind of sumo? He knows what he's going to get from Gonoyama. Does he attack? Does he take his charge? What is Hoshoryu's mindset? Coming off two losses, he needs to bounce back here as a yokozuna. Good hit by Gonoyama, one hand. Now the yokozuna's in briefly. He wants a right hand inside, but he's pushed back by Gonoyama. Now he moves forward, gets the left hand outside. That could be a winning move. Sets it one way, sets it the other, and ends up with a pulling over arm throw. Uwate dashi nage. He watched Gonoyama very carefully. He was so, so determined not to lose his footing and that he did. Not dominant sumo, but winning sumo. Uwate dashi nage. The pulling over arm throw and Hoshoryu stops the rot of losses. It is now three and two. Gonoyama, no wins for him yet. He's zero and five. So he's very careful here. He knew that Gonoyama was going to come out thrusting. He often goes with one hand and then tries to get inside, but the yokozuna kept him away at all costs. Tries to get inside, but he's taken back with that big nodowa. Now he's got the left hand outside. Now he takes him one way and then the other. So he takes him that way and then he sets it up for the pulling over arm throw. Lovely move today by Hoshoryu. He must be relieved and fans of him also as well. Hakua with the yomitorishiki, the bow twirling ceremony to end proceedings here on day five. Hope you enjoyed today's sumo and look forward to you coming back tomorrow to join us for more Grand Sumo Highlights. Bye for now.