GRAND SUMO- Day 12 of the January 2026 Tournament - GRAND SUMO Highlights

Hello again, it's Grand Sumo Highlights, day 12 of the Hatsuba show for the Koku Gikan. What a topsy-turvy tournament we've had in terms of the leaderboard. A number of people that have been there, disappeared, come back, and this man is right in the mix. He's one of three at the very top, the Shin Ozeki Aonishiki. Can he go all the way and win back-to-back Yusho? Many people think so, but there's a long way between now and the final day. Let's have a look at that leaderboard. Aonishiki, Atami Fujii, and Abe at the very top. One off the pace, Hoshoryu Kirishima, Shishi Asanoyama, and Oshio Umi. Disappointingly, Nishiki Fujii is out of the tournament. He's got a couple of disc problems in his back and also an elbow issue, so he's got two weeks recovery. The fans have turned up in number once again with their banners, their flags, supporting their favorite rikishi. They're all fed and watered. Let's get to the action. Mitake Umi and Tobizaru. Magashira 14, Magashira 13. Born in the same year. This man is eight months younger than Tobizaru. Trying to avoid Maki Koshi, the man on the left. Soft touch. They kind of walked into each other. Tobizaru, the left-hand inside, trying to get the right, but he's denied by, briefly denied by Mitake Umi. Now a left-hand deep, right-hand shallow, double inside grip. Tobizaru wins and avoids Maki Koshi today. They are now both five and seven, and Tobizaru maintains the dominance over Mitake Umi. Wins by yorikiri. Tomokaze and Chiyo Shoma meet for the third time. Both men four and seven. One of them's not going to be happy, so he wants a left-hand inside. Tomokaze, a pushing attack and perhaps a slapping down. A face slap from Chiyo Shoma. Walked straight forward into the face and into the chest of Tomokaze, and that happened in a blink. So it's a Maki Koshi for Tomokaze, four and eight. Chiyo Shoma avoids it as he picks up his fifth win to be five and seven after 12 days. Now we have Asakoryu and Toki Hayate. They're both six and five. Interesting, yesterday Asakoryu didn't get his hand down at the tachiai. The left hand was left hanging in the air. Toki Hayate got supporters in the house. No hand down yet for Asakoryu, and he doesn't get them both down, but he gets away anyway. Not picked up by anybody, and it's a win to Asakoryu. Win number seven. One away from Kachi Koshi for him. Toki Hayate now six and six. It's an Hoshidashi win for Asakoryu. Have a look at this replay. Watch his hands. Well, he doesn't get the left hand down and not picked up by the gyoji or the shimpan, and yesterday was so obvious it was amazing. But despite that, they miss it occasionally and they missed it today, but he's still good enough to get a good start and get to the throat and troubled Toki Hayate right to the edge. Now Koto Shoho and rookie Asakoryu. Six and five, the man on the right. Five and six, the rookie. So it's a first time meeting. They've not met at any level. Straight to the Mawashi. Right hand inside for both men. The favorite grips. Half stance by Koto Shoho. Normally that indicates a throwing technique or try to set up for one anyway. He's denying a deep right hand for Asakoryu. Fending off, but Asakoryu eventually does get the right a little deeper. A leg sweep attempt by Koto Shoho. Fans give it a bit of applause because they've come to a rest in the middle of the dohyo. Who makes the first move? Moving forward and now setting it up for a good throw. Shitake nage. Koto Shoho. Well, when we see them in that half stance, it often means that they want to throw the opponent and that's how it played out. Five and seven, Asakoryu. Koto Shoho one away from Kachikoshi. Another first time meeting here as a rookie steps up. It's Roger on the right, four and seven, trying to avoid Machikoshi. And Hatsuyama, one and ten, looking for just his second victory in the tournament. Roger, I thought he'd do better than this number at Magashira nine. A right hand outside double inside grip momentarily there for Hatsuyama. Now he's not a Mawashi man and let's see if that proves to be the case. It does. A yorikiri win for Roger avoids Machikoshi, one and eleven for the rookie. Midori Fujii and Shodai, they've met 16 times. Shodai's got an 11 to 5 edge. The last time they met, Midori Fujii won with a wonderful technique, a fisherman's net throw. Blasting into the chest of Shodai is Midori Fujii. He's got a right hand deep, shallow with the left, wrenching the arm there is Shodai and that's gonna hurt. Kokutonage couldn't maintain that position and Shodai was gentle at the edge. He let go pretty quickly when Midori Fujii was out. So Shodai is now even at six and six, Midori Fujii five and seven. It's Kim Bo-Zan and Ryuden. One-way traffic here in the past. They're both four and seven. You know the drill. One of them will have Machikoshi and Kim Bo-Zan looking to beat Ryuden for the first time. They've met six times before. Ryuden's won them all. Good inside position with a right hand by Kim Bo-Zan. Solid left hand outside grip for Ryuden. Fighting at the edge, fighting back is Kim Bo-Zan but it doesn't last and it's a Machikoshi for him. At the Maegashita 15, he needs all the wins he can get. Ryuden now is five and seven. He needs probably a couple more. Our first highlight bout of the day is Fujinokawa and Asanoyama. Seven and four, Fujinokawa. Eight and three, Asanoyama. We highlighted him yesterday getting his first Kachikoshi in a long time. Well, a bit of a battle there who they're supporting. One supports Fujinokawa, the other Asanoyama. He's going to be hard to get a hold of. Constant movement usually. Fujinokawa charges into Asanoyama but loses his position. Now Asanoyama grabs the arm, stops the attack from Fujinokawa. Really throttling the arm. He loses it then gets a push attack going. Asanoyama, win number nine, stays in that second place on the leaderboard. Fujinokawa denied his Kachikoshi today. Shake of the head, he's seven and five. Good footwork today by Asanoyama to chase down Fujinokawa. Fujinokawa slams in early, gets a good inside position but that's broken straight away by Asanoyama. He moves forward and then grabs the arm, the right arm, denying anything from that side by Fujinokawa. He tries to escape but it's locked up by Asanoyama and then gets to the edge and pushed out. Very difficult opponent Fujinokawa and a first time meeting for these two. Asanoyama showing his experience today in shutting down Fujinokawa to win by Oshidashi. Spins him here and then the push. Well unfortunately Nishiki Fujii is out of the tournament so Onokatsu will get it for Sensho. A freebie and Onokatsu now is six and six. Two weeks recovery for Nishiki Fujii. We'll see him in the next tournament. Gonoyama and Tamawashi, both four and seven. They've met five times before. Tamawashi's won three of them. Gonoyama won the first two times they met. Should be a good tachiai here, both hard hitting. Slamming into each other, thrusting attack. Gonoyama gets to the side and takes out Tamawashi. Oshidashi for Gonoyama. He avoids Makekoshi unfortunately for the Magashira 5 Tamawashi. It's a losing tournament and a few in a row. Now it's Chironomi and Oshoumi. Oshoumi one of our three last men. Chironomi going for Kachikoshi. First time meeting between the two. Both like left hand in. Left hand in briefly for Chironomi but he's wrapped up and grabbed and steps out as he's taken back. Oshoumi picks up his ninth win. No Kachikoshi for Chironomi today. Briefly got that inside grip Chironomi but it was broken straight away by Oshoumi. There it is there but it's gone. So he goes in and under the arm and a double outside grip. Eventually gets to the chin of Chironomi as well to force him back and basically took a giant step back and then out. Oshoma and Daisho. They've met twice before. A win each. Oshoma six and five and this man trying to avoid Makekoshi. He thought he'd bounce back this time but the Magashira 4 is struggling. Soft touchy eye. Stepping to the side and getting taken down is Oshoma by a thrust down. Tsukiyotoshi. So he avoids a losing tournament. So many men escaping Makekoshi today. Hakano Fujii and Ura. They've only met three times. Hakano Fujii's won a couple. Ura won the last time they met. In low is Ura. Trying to raise him up is Hakano Fujii. Left hand deep. Boatman. Almost a leg trip attempt and he goes Katasukashi undershot. Swing down and kind of staggers backwards after getting the win. Ura. The very popular Ura. Well that lady is obviously a big fan and Hakano Fujii is now five and seven and he's had a couple of big wins in this tournament. Popular win. Taken back is Ura but he maintains some solid possession with the left hand inside. Hakano Fujii wants the left but he can't do anything with it and it's a nice move here by Ura. Retreats and then here's the undershoulder swing down victory. Well executed by a man who's exciting to watch every day he gets up on the dojo. Win or lose. Takenosho and Ichiyama Moto. Takenosho coming off that big win against the Ozeki yesterday. He's got a strong edge in their rivalry here. Five to one favoring the man on the right. A pushing attack by Takenosho. Fending off with one hand and one hand only. He uses the right. Continues with the right and wins by Oshidashi to pick up his third win. Double digits in losses for Ichiyama Moto. Not many wins but he'll be happy with that one. Yoshino Fujii and Wakatagakage meeting for the second time. Magashira one, Magashira two. Six and five Yoshino Fujii. Wakatagakage is five and six. He would have been hoping for a better result at this stage. Inside position with the left hand briefly by Yoshino Fujii. Left hand outside grip. Right hand in will favor Wakatagakage as he moves forward. Stalemate in the middle of the dohyo. Once again Wakatagakage is on the attack. Almost taken down. A kugiri neri try there by Yoshino Fujii but it didn't come off and Wakatagakage wins by yorikiri. Well they tried everything both of them. Twists, attempted throws, smack downs and eventually it's a butter bread and butter yorikiri win for Wakatagakage. They're both six and six. Wakatagakage got the right hand inside eventually and from this point on he can control. He's got a shallow left but that's blocked by Yoshino Fujii. Try to slap down there. Now he's clapping on the arm of Wakatagakage. He tries a throw coming up here and then gets into an awkward position. Almost trying a kugiri neri there. Going the other way. That doesn't work. Wakatagakage speed across the dohyo and wins. Wow Shishi in rarefied air fighting a komusubi at Maegashira 14. Eight and three taking on Oho who's four and seven. The nerves must be fairly intense I would think for Shishi. Pusher thrusters and Shishi's more of a slapper. There he slaps the face of Oho gets him off balance. Oho comes back with his pushing attack into the face but Shishi stays on his feet and eventually takes Oho down. Oh big win. Shishi nine and three and he stays in the yusho race and unfortunately for the komusubi he won't be in sanyaku. He drops to four and eight. In a scheme of things with so many men in the yusho race that's a huge win for the Maegashira 14. Constant battering by both of them and slapping and hitting and eventually Shishi wins by a slap down. Wakamoto Haru and Hiradomi. The komusubi and the Maegashira six. Five and six the komusubi. Hiradomi going for kachikoshi today seven and four. What's the inside grip? Hiradomi is keeping Wakamoto Haru back. Left hand double in double inside grip and Hiradomi tries a pivot at the edge Wakamoto Haru. But I think he might have stepped out. It's very close. Uchari attempt again. He won with that technique earlier in the basho in Wakamoto Haru and he tries it again here. I think the gumbai went the way of Hiradomi. So no mono-ui. He takes. Hello. No. He's got to give it back. They're gonna have a mono-ui now. Wow. Late decision there. Let's see the footwork. The left foot. It looks to go out there. Hard from that angle. Get a better right here. It's definitely touching the sand. The gyoji pointed to Hiradomi but a mono-ui was called over a possible uchari by Wakamoto Haru. After review it's determined that Wakamoto Haru stepped out first. The winner is Hiradomi. Late call there but well he touched the money once. He gets the kensho officially this time and he wins by yorikiri. Abi and Kotozakura. Abi one of our co-leaders going into the day at 9 and 2 takes on Ozeki Kotozakura who's going for kachikoshi. History does favor Kotozakura 13 to 6. And he's won the last three almost a year since Abi beat Kotozakura. Well straight into a mawashi battle. This is not what Abi wants and he's lifted up and lifted out. Tsuridashi. A frontal lift out win for the Ozeki to pick up kachikoshi and Abi falls back to the three loss group and there's quite a few of them. Unusual tachiai by Abi. No attempt to go for a pushing attack or thrusting. He just leaps straight into the arms of Kotozakura and nine times out of ten he wouldn't win on the mawashi against Kotozakura. Well maybe it was the speed of Kotozakura as well across the clay that got him into a better position and the Ozeki gets kachikoshi day 12. The second of our bouts of the day. Two men on top of the leaderboard going into the day. The other man that was with them has lost. Aonishiki and Atamifuji two previous meetings. Aonishiki won them both but they weren't easy wins and he's changed his mawashi color from blue to black. Apparently he wants to freshen his mind. Well interesting. He's co-leader and changes the color of his mawashi. Slammed back initially is Aonishiki by Atamifuji. Goes deep with the left hand. He loses that grip. Aonishiki starts thrusting into the chest of Atamifuji who tries a slap down. Tries an armbar throw. Gets taken to the edge. Tries another throw from the right. Gets taken upright and out and Aonishiki wins. Aonishiki is now the sole leader with a 10 and 2 record. Atamifuji drops back into the group with 9 and 3. Could he go back to back? He's still got three days of sumo to go and there are a handful of men chasing him. Then we've still got a bout coming up with two men with 8 and 3 records so one of them will go to 9 and 3. So the group chasing Aonishiki could be larger or it will be and that was a real struggle but once again this solid core that Aonishiki has. Very hard to knock off his feet. Stands his ground so well and just waits for the moment to get inside deep and win. Yorikiri. Now Kirishima and Hoshoryu. Both 8 and 3. Pretty even rivalry. They've met 23 times. Hoshoryu has won 13 of them. Kirishima was beaten yesterday basically by a one-armed Yokozuna, Honosato. Left hand deep, right hand in. Kirishima's got the Morizashi double inside. The Yokozuna tries a hand change to inside but out he goes. Kirishima bounces back for a victory. 9 and 3 and Hoshoryu drops to 8 and 4. Murmuring in the crowd and the step is not pure for the Yokozuna. That left knee troubled before the tournament but he still managed to get this far. 12 days of sumo and Kirishima picks up a big win. You wonder what the mindset's going to be for Hoshoryu with days left. He's dropped back to 8 and 4. I mean he's two wins off the pace with three days to go so anything's possible but such a huge group of men with three losses chasing our sole leader Aonishiki. It's going to be interesting to see what decisions are made. Yorikiri. Now the final bout here on day 12. Honosato and Takayasu. They're both 7 and 4. So obviously not using the left hand at all. It's all right arm. He's occasionally using the left as a guide but he's not gripping with it. Right hand in briefly. The left hand is not grabbing. It's just using as an Otsuke. See there's no grip there by Honosato. He's taken to the edge. Almost taken out. Now a spin around but out steps Takayasu in his attempt to throw. He gets the pressure from Honosato and Honosato in his career picks up another Kachikoshi. He's never had a losing tournament since he entered sumo. Takayasu 7 and 5. I don't know if that's the reason he stayed in. I don't think it's the only one and obviously he can't use that left arm very well. He doesn't grab with the arm. He's just fending with it and he's basically fighting Takayasu with his right arm which obviously is a strength but he's got an outside grip. This is not Honosato's favorite position. He spins one way. Takayasu loses his balance. He now tries to throw but steps out. Honosato wins and numerically he's still in the Yusho race with an 8 and 4 record. What a crazy way to end the day. Honosato victorious. Well there it is the leaderboard. Aonishiki on top on his own. Then six men with three losses and then there's a bunch at four. We've got a very exciting tournament coming up in the remaining three days. Well it has been already. Don't miss tomorrow's action as we bring you more grand sumo highlights. Bye for now.