August 2003

Kaio Emerges from Nagoya Weirdness with Cup

World Championships Cancelled!

  
Kaio Emerges from Nagoya Weirdness with Cup
Yokozuna Surrender Seven Kinboshi, Withdraw
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

It could have been called the basho nobody wanted.  At one point the only man with a zensho record was a mid-level maegashira.  Neither yokozuna was around to fight on senshuraku because both had pulled out with injuries after surrendering a total of seven kinboshi.  Did anybody want to win this one?

Fortunately, it turned out that two men did want it.  And when the final torikumi was over, ozeki #1-East KAIO stood tall over ozeki #1-West CHIYOTAIKAI with a 12-3 record.  It was a fitting conclusion:  these two had been tied with each other from Day 5 until their senshuraku meeting.  KAIO, who usually likes the yotsu game, defeated TAIKAI (who finished at 11‑4 for jun-yusho honors) with a trick from the tsuki/oshi game the Kokonoe heyagashira likes to play.  This gives the Tomozuna strongman his fourth Tenno-Hai – and raises hope in many fans that there may soon be a native Japanese grand champion to carry their banner.

By tradition a yokozuna, once anointed, cannot be demoted.  But the performances put on by both current grand champions almost makes one wonder if a change in this policy might do some good.  Yokozuna-East ASASHORYU gave up four (that’s right, FOUR!) kinboshi in the space of eight bouts.  His loss to maegashira #5-East KYOKUSHUZAN on day 5 was especially appalling as well as unnecessary:  SHUZAN was already on his way down when SHORYU grabbed the older Mongolian’s oichomage and yanked in a flagrant manner.  (Since that foul, there has been another instance of bad blood between the two.)  After losing on day 9 to stand at 5-4, he withdrew.  On the other side of the banzuke, yokozuna-West MUSASHIMARU’s wrist was proven to not yet be ready for the rigors of the ring.  The Hawaiian won his first two torikumi but then lost his next three, all to hiramaku.  He pulled out on day 6 after achieving another small statistical milestone (see accompanying article).  This writer does not know what the record is for the most “gold stars” handed out in a single tournament, but this basho had to have tied that dubious mark if not beaten it cleanly.  #3-West TAKAMISAKARI took stars from both yokozuna:  the other winners in addition to KYOKUSHUZAN were #1-West AMINISHIKI, #2-West KOTONOWAKA, #3-East TAKANONAMI and #4-East TAMANOSHIMA.

There were still four ozeki on the list as of the start of the action at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.  #2-East MUSOYAMA, the senior in terms of time at rank, was at 8-2 after day 10.  Three defeats in the last five days, including losses to KAIO and TAIKAI, left him with a rank-acceptable 10-5.  But #2-West TOCHIAZUMA just could not get unstuck.  He went 1 for 6 against other sanyaku rikishi; when you can’t make .500 against your fellow joi-jin you have big trouble no matter how many hiramaku you ring up.  His 7-8 puts him in kadoban for the upcoming Aki Basho.

Only one member of the lower sanyaku had any reason to crow.  Sekiwake-East WAKANOSATO was 2-4 as of day 6, but seven straight wins (including one over CHIYOTAIKAI) helped propel him to a very nice 10-5 outing and strengthened his credentials for possible near-term promotion to ozeki.  This was sekiwake-west KYOKUTENHO’s first time at this rank, and it showed.  He lost to MARU on shonichi, got hammered in the middle series of torikumi, never recovered and finished with a 6-9.  Komusubi-West TOCHINONADA had no such jitters; but he was assigned only other sanyaku to fight for the first 6 days and was 2-4 before he even got a look at a maegashira.  He managed to go 5-3 against the hiramaku, but needed more:  his 7-8 means he will be joining TENHO on the ‘erebeta’ back down to the maegashira ranks.  Komusubi-East DEJIMA was on Kosho Seido for this tournament.

If any one maegashira distinguished himself this time out it would have been TAKAMISAKARI:  his two kinboshi and a 9‑6 record made him an easy pick for the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize).  #1-East MIYABIYAMA, #4-West TOKI, #5-East TOSANOUMI, #7-West HOKUTORIKI, and #9-West ASASEKIRYU all punched out 10-5 efforts.  The last man at zensho, #7-East TOKITSUUMI went 9-6 and gained the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize).  The others at 9-6 were #12‑East KASUGANISHIKI, #13-East KOTOMITSUKI and #15-West KINKAIYAMA.  The Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) was not awarded.

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World Championships Cancelled!
Some Effect on NASC Expected
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

First, the Junior World Championships that usually take place in Osaka in August were canceled because of the SARS scare in Asia.  Next, we heard that the organizers of the Moscow World Sumo Championships were having financial problems and that the event might have to be moved.  We were told by Mr. Yonezuka that this was 95% certain.

The next time we talked to him, we were told that Moscow was definitely off and that they were looking for another venue.  Since Long Beach, California has a 7,000 and 11,000 seat arenas, we did some checking with the Long Beach visitors and convention bureau and floated a trial balloon in the direction of the ISF.  The curt reply was that the decision had been made to cancel this year’s championships and that no alternative venues were being considered.

We have no idea at this time how this decision was arrived at or whether North America was consulted.  Given the fact that we previously reported that the number of countries represented at last year’s championships was the smallest since the first World Championship, this is another major setback for International amateur sumo. 

One would think that the ISF would have a contingency plan for such situations.  Couldn't they always fall back on the Kogukikan if they needed to?

It remains to be seen how this will effect the NASC.  We already know that one of the reasons that two time heavyweight bronze medalist Marcus Barber isn't going is because there is no Worlds.

Faces in the Nagoya Crowd
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

In the faces in the crowd department:  the lady I mentioned last year was there again in the same seat along the East side hanamichi every single day.  We know she has at least fifteen kimono because she was wearing a different one every day, I think she is in her forties or fifties, my wife thinks older than that.  She may be a Geisha because she wears white make-up.  Just as before, there were many more women in kimona than you see in Tokyo.  Also, no face mask and no cell phones.

On day eight, Asashoryu's wife was the guest commentator.  All we can say is:  wow, what a cutie!  They also showed scenes from some kind of fair in Mongolia with lots of people doing Mongolian wrestling and horse racing.

We counted seventeen kensho-kin banners parade around the ring before the bout between Asashoryu and Takamisakari on day eight, that was won by Takamisakari.

The View from the “Power Bear’s” Den:  Nagoya 2003!
by "Zenrikikuma" for SUMO SHIMPO

Let’s start this column with some remarks about the lack of Yokozuna this basho.  I had thought Musashimaru would have come ready to take the yusho but he looked terrible.  He looked as if he hadn’t practiced the whole time he was out due to injury.  I actually picked him to win the yusho but was I wrong.  On the other hand Asashoryu looked great on day 1 but he got “screwed” on day 2 with a loss to Kotonowaka:  Koto’s hand clearly hit the dohyo before Asa but Asa held his breath and took the bad call.  Now on day 5 Asa pulled Kyokushuzan by the topknot and won the match, but the judges called a mono-ii and reversed the call and gave Shuzan the win by default.  This was the first time ever that a Yokozuna had lost a match by default.  Asa was so furious that later that night he broke the side view mirror on Shuzan’s Mercury vehicle.  A couple of days later Shu and Asa almost got into a fight in the bathroom:  allegedly Asa walked by Shuzan and forearmed him in the chest and Shuzan shouted at Asa (in Mongolian) “You idiot! Act like a normal human being! Is this the way you respect your elder (ani deshi)?”  Luckily Kaio was there to stop what was about to happen. Asa never got his composure back and bowed out of the Yusho with an injury (?).

The highlight of the basho was Takamisakari who (to me) was spectacular with wins over both Yokozuna and two Ozeki.  I just wish he could have taken enough wins to win the Yusho.  It was very heartwarming to see his win over Asa and see him cry out “Yatta!” (I’ve done it).  By far Takamisakari is the rikishi keeping the sport alive in Japan; he is exciting as well as loved by the fans.

Kaio - who I picked to win the last basho - redeemed himself and stepped up to win with a manhandling of Chiyotaikai.  Kaio and Chiyo had good bashos, and they look like they will have many more memorable matched in the years to come.  They are definitely the dominant Ozeki.

Musoyama had a very good basho but I think that he needs to show the public that he really wants to remain an Ozeki.  Sometimes he looks lazy, but this basho he really got the job done.  As for Tochiazuma:  I think he is going to be demoted after the September basho in Tokyo because he looked terrible.  He just doesn’t have the fire he once had.

Sushi, Sake and Sumo Too:  The Event in Boise
by "Zenrikikuma" for SUMO SHIMPO

The following is from the Family Advocate Program Website:

“Let’s get ready to SUUUUUMO!!” That’s how board member and emcee Jerry Carter launched the “Sushi, Sumo and Sake Too” event—over 2,500 pounds of wrestling entertainment at the Big Easy on May 30, 2003. Idaho Sumo Wrestlers Kelly, Alan, and Jeremy Gneiting who weigh in at 385, 340, and 225 respectively, demonstrated the ancient Japanese martial art of sumo wrestling. They were accompanied by Casey Burns, Trent Sabo, Jeff Riddle, Richard Hopp and James Hernandez.  In the U.S. there are four officially sanctioned Sumo Federation clubs. Two of them were at this event —the Snake River Sumo Association and the Southern California Sumo Association.

This part is from my own words:

This was an event for the children; we hope we raised enough money to help.  We paid our own way to Boise and gave all we could, and it seemed that the crowd loved us.  We made good friends and I hope everyone enjoyed the festivities.

Well, on to the Sumo.  The event took place at “The Big Easy”, a nice nightclub in downtown Boise, Idaho.  There was free sushi and the people were very good-natured.  The event started with a sumo demonstration MC’ed by Kelly Gneiting:   Trent Sabo and Jeff Riddle showed the crowd how different winning techniques were performed and also explained the reason for throwing salt and stamping our feet before the sumo match.

The bouts were exciting and full speed as we watched all the rikishi battle each other.  The round robin showed that it was a pretty even competition as everyone wrestled everyone.  There was even a grudge match event where Casey Burns called out Kelly Gneiting and defeated him.  Trent Sabo called me out so I had to give him a tsuppari attack to defeat him.  Trent stated to the crowd, “This is my grudge match because James doesn’t like to wrestle against the lighter weights enough, so I have to take advantage of it now!”, at which the crowd laughed.  Richard Hopp wrestled a few impressive matches until he hurt his knee and couldn’t continue.  Big Casey Burns got the crowd to give Richard a standing ovation because he got hurt for the Kids.  Jeff Riddle was very impressive as well as Trent Sabo because they took on all the big boys and came out unscathed.  Jeff defeated me when we wrestled in the round robin. 

The part of this event I liked the most was the people of Boise who treated us well, like we were celebrities.  It is a great feeling when people come up to you and just want to touch you, shake your hand, ask you questions about sumo and treat you like some kind of sumo god.  We were bought many a drink that night so now I know why the sumotori of Japan drink so much:  it’s because everyone wants to be with them and show that they respect them.

JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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The 600-Win Club (updated after Nagoya 2003)

(Info from the NSK and Stefan Gelow web sites)

* Non-Japanese

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A MATCH I’D LIKE TO SEE:

The “Ray Bradbury” match...in which Bart Harris of the Lone Star Association and our 
own Franklin “Buddy” Buddemeyer square off in a “Battle of the Illustrated Men”.

…a thought from “Snow Wind”

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Small Milestone for Maru
Moves past Taka on All-Time Wins List
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

MUSASHIMARU has not been very visible lately.

The 67th yokozuna has been trying to give his wrist a chance to heal; but the process has been very slow and he is rapidly falling into the same state of affairs that dogged Takanohana after his knee injury.  But then he emerged from Musashigawa Beya to answer the drums for the Nagoya tourney.  He won his first two torikumi, lost his next three, and withdrew from the basho.

But by taking those two wins, MARU moves ahead of Taka in number of top-division wins, 702 to 701.  Also:  this was MARU’s 71st tournament ranked in the Makunouchi Division.  Taka had 71 basho in the premier division at the time of his retirement.  Therefore both men had won, lost, or been absent in a total of 1,065 Makunouchi torikumi.  MARU’s top-division win-loss percentage across that span surpasses Taka’s, .6591 to .6582.  (Comparison:  Taiho’s 746 wins in 69 basho works out to a .720.)

The mammoth Samoan now occupies 4th place on the all-time win list.  Will his wrist heal enough for him to pass Taiho’s 746 victories and Wajima’s 14 yusho?  Time will tell…

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2003 California Open Shows the Unexpected
New Faces and Old Come to Fight; Some Defending Champs Are No-Shows
by "Yukikaze" for SUMO SHIMPO

Last year, thanks to an article in the Orange County Register, the 2002 California Open Sumo Championship experienced an influx of new wrestling talent.  The result was some of the most exciting and spirited competition ever seen on the “Dohyo of Dreams”.  And over the course of the following year, even more strongmen heeded the siren call and came out to learn.

So when the curtain went up on the 2003 edition of the COSC, this entire class of newcomers had been transformed into hardened, seasoned sumo competitors.  One newcomer did step up, and did well in a tough division – but this year’s tournament basically demonstrated what a year’s worth of training and polish had accomplished.

The COSC started with the kids’ competition.  This year it was a demonstration of pure sibling rivalry as Alexander and Dominic Enriquez - the sons of SUMO SHIMPO webmistress Alexa ‘Shirabara’ Enriquez – went head-to-head in a spirited duel for the right to wear the crown as California’s smallest sumo champion.  In a best 2-of-3 matchup, older brother Alexander prevailed over Dominic to take the gold medal.

In the lightweights, 2002 North American champion Trent Sabo was a preponderant favorite.  But he got a surprisingly-tough battle from this year’s rookie sensation, Art Morrow.  In addition, Greg Negri (who normally fights as a middleweight) was ‘fleeted down’ by mutual consent to make it a four-man field.  Brad Sykes, Trent’s foster brother, rounded out the lists.  In the end, form more or less won out as Trent marched through the round robin and bracket finish to take the gold.  Art won the silver while Greg and Brad shared the bronze.

The middleweights were more of a “pick ‘em” proposition.  One big reason for this was that Jack Keener, last year’s winner in the combined middle/heavyweight and Open competitions, did not show up to defend any of his titles.  This division has grown and matured well in the year since the last COSC:  four of the five men in it had one year experience or less.  Jeff Riddle emerged from the round robin with a 3-0 mark, only to fall to Franklin Buddemeyer in the battle for the division crown.  Kurt Rightmyer bested Greg Negri for the bronze podium step.

In May, the sumo career of Marcus Barber was nearly ended by a painful encounter with a poisonous spider.  But less than two months later there he was – all 500-plus pounds standing tall in a heavyweight field that made this correspondent look like the runt of the litter (which he was).  Marcus  won all three of his round-robin matches to gain the top seed in the bracket.  This writer withdrew before the bracket was drawn.  At that point Richard Hopp also pulled out:  he was awarded the bronze medal.  Marcus and James Hernandez fought a titanic torikumi for bragging rights among the ‘big boys’ - and in the end James overcame the weight advantage to become California’s heavyweight sumo champion.

In a surprise development, there was no big rush into the openweight competition.  Part of this might have been due to Trent’s entry:  he is trouble for anyone at any weight.  Another part might have been James’ consistent refusal to enter open action.  Yet another reason might have been Jack Keener’s absence.  In any case, only three men signed up for this divisional battle.  As could be expected, Trent Sabo garnered his second gold of the day.  Kurt Rightmyer and Harry Dudrow shared the podium in that order.

This correspondent considers the Masters’ division to be his ‘turf’:  he had won the first two championships in the ‘old boy’ competition before falling to bronze in 2002.  But last year’s champion, Register correspondent Jeff Kramer, left to take a new gig in New York and did not come back to the DoD to defend his win.  That left this one, 2002 silver medalist Jeff Riddle and SCSK co-founder Harry Dudrow in the “Geritol Division”.  To his surprise, your humble writer was able to best the lighter but extremely skillful Mr. Riddle in a close match.  He then fought and won a hard match with the tough Mr. D. to take back his crown.

Special awards were presented to “Shirabara” for her sterling work in keeping SUMO SHIMPO on the Web; to referee Ernie Hunt for his tremendous service as the top sumo referee in the USA; and to Hiroshi ‘Honetekawa’ Matsuzaki for his unstinting support of the SCSK’s efforts to rebuild and grow amateur sumo both in this state and across the country.

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RESULTS of the 2003 CALIFORNIA OPEN SUMO CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, July 26, 2003:  “Dohyo of Dreams”, Garden Grove, CA

Little kids: Alexander Enriquez Dominic Enriquez	Men’s lightweight (under 187 lbs./85 kg) Trent Sabo Art Morrow Greg Negri/Brad Sykes
Men’s middleweight (187-253 lbs./85-115 kg) Buddy Buddemeyer Jeff Riddle Kurt Rightmyer	Men’s heavyweight (over 253 lbs./115 kg) James Hernandez Marcus Barber Richard Hopp
Men’s open (no restrictions) Trent Sabo Kurt Rightmyer Harry Dudrow	Men’s master’s (40+ years) Jim Lowerre Jeff Riddle Harry Dudrow

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<<I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE THREE-LEGGED RACE – Rookie rikishi Art Morrow (left) gets really tight with Trent Sabo at the 2003 California Sumo Championship, held July 26 on the “Dohyo of Dreams”.  Morrow won the silver medal in the lightweight competition while Sabo nailed down the gold.  (Photo:  “Harukaze” for SUMO SHIMPO)

California Sumo Competition Calendar for 2003-2004