The remaining trio of ozeki did much better this time than they did in Osaka.  TAIKAI had the kadoban ‘buck’ coming in, but fought hard to offload it with six shiroboshi to open and kachikoshi on day 10.  He topped SHORYU on day 12 to stand 10-2 but could not close matters out against other joi-jin, losing his last 3 for a 10-5.  KAIO won his first seven over hiramaku and had his eight on day 9, but had problems handling joi-jin until he got his turn against the reeling grand champion.  He also finished out at 10-5, and now has 697 Makunouchi shiroboshi:  both Takanohana (65) and Mushshimaru (67) are squarely in his sights for Nagoya.  OSHU had 7 wins in the first eight days, but then lost four straight before regaining the rails against TAIKAI and SHORYU to put a 9-6 on the board.  With HAKUHO moving up, and AZUMA packing it in, no ozeki will be kadoban when the Aichi Prefectural Taiikukan opens its doors in July.

The reduction in the ozeki ranks was received as good news in the lower sanyaku – for one rikishi, anyway.  KOTOMITSUKI won his first four torikumi, and nine of his first 10, on his way to a strong 12-3 posting.  Coupled with the 10-5 he racked up in Osaka, he now stands at 22-8 over his last two tournaments:  ten or more wins in Nagoya could very well give Sadogatake Beya a second ozeki in the very near future.  Sekiwake-West AMA (MGL) struggled the entire basho mixing shiroboshi and kuroboshi, and after day 13 stood on the brink with a 6-7.  But the smallest man in the Makunouchi (124 kg / 273 lbs) pulled up his tabi and won his last two matches (including ASASEKIRYU on senshuraku), made his kachi, and keeps his sanyaku paycheck.  Both komusubi were roughly handled this time out.  East-sider TOYONOSHIMA got hammered early and often on his way to a 4-11 mark:  West-sider KOTOSHOGIKU did better but still got pinned with a 7-8, which means both ‘killer rank’ slots will be occupied by new faces in July.

The race for top maegashira honors ended in a 12-3 tie between ASASEKIRYU (who was awarded the Gino-Sho) and #10‑East DEJIMA (who earned the Kanto-Sho).  Other maegashira efforts earning honorable mention:

#4-East AMINISHIKI (9-6) (kinboshi) (Shukun-Sho)

#7-East TAKAMISAKARI (9-6)

#7-West WAKANOSATO (10-5)

#9-East ROHO (RUS) (10-5)

#9-West MIYABIYAMA (9-6)

#13-East FUTENO (10-5)

#14-East RYUO (MGL) (10-5)

#16-East HOKUTORIKI (9-6)

In Juryo:  #11-West BARUTO (EST) came very close to an unprecedented second zensho in this division, but finished at 14-1 to take the championship.  Other worthy contender efforts:

#2-East KITAZAKURA (9-6)

#2-West HAKUROZAN (RUS) (9-6)

#5-East KAIHO (9-6)

#6-West TOYOHIBIKI (10-5)

#11-East SHIRONONAMI (9-6)

#13-East WAKANOHO (RUS) (10-5)

Citing health issues (including headaches, dizziness and a mild stroke which had resulted in a hospital stay), ozeki TOCHIAZUMA announced he was retiring from sumo competition effective prior to the start of the 2007 Natsu Basho.

Daisuke Shiga (TOCHI’s civilian name) had been born to be a part of the sumo world every bit as much as the Hanada brothers had been.  The son of Tamanoi Oyakata, he entered the world on November 9, 1976 and entered the sumo world at the 1994 Hatsu Basho.  His rise through the lower divisions was fairly fast with yusho in the Jonokuchi, Jonidan, Sandanme and Makushita divisions.

He made his sekitori debut at the 1996 Natsu Basho (now bearing his father’s shikona) and went 10-5.  (One of those 5 losses was to future fellow-ozeki CHIYOTAIKAI.)  Four months later TOCHI won the Juryo yusho with a 12-3 mark:  he was shin-nyumaku in November, went 10-5 in his debut performance, and would remain on the banzuke’s top row for the remainder of his career.  He made his first sanyaku appearance at Nagoya 1997, going 9-6 at komusubi #2-West and earning a sekiwake slot.  In perhaps a foretelling of what was to come, he went 2-4-9 at Haru 1998 and was demoted to maegashira #5 for the Natsu:  this would be his lowest ranking from this point out.  He gained a reputation for serious strength combined with great technique, which made him a consistent performer in the joi-jin ranks.  In the last half of 2001, while ranked at sekiwake, he posted records of 10-5, 12-3 and 12-3 to earn promotion to ozeki.  And in his first basho as ozeki, he won the Hatsu 2002 championship with a 13-2 mark.

As an ozeki, TOCHI showed the ability to hold the rank.  But he never seemed to have the “belly fire” necessary to break through to the grand champion’s place in the rankings.  It was almost two years (Kyushu 2003) before he won his next Tenno-Hai.  He was in kadoban a total of eight times.  In two instances during 2004 he posted consecutive make-koshi records and was demoted to sekiwake:  both times he won 10 or more shiroboshi for reinstatement.  His third (and final) top-division title, at Hatsu 2006, was easily the most memorable:  it marked the end of the historic rensho that had made ASASHORYU (68) the first modern sumotori to win all six basho in a calendar year.  A year later, he was kadoban again after a 5-10 effort.  In Osaka he came out probably figuring (in this writer’s opinion, anyway) this would be his final performance under the ‘bright lights’.  He fought like a man determined to go out on a high note, and won his first seven torikumi.  Fellow ozeki KOTOOSHU and HAKUHO fended him off the next two days; but he then defeated maegashira KASUGAO for the all-important eighth shiroboshi.  He lost to SHORYU the following day, handed a fusen win to CHIYOTAIKAI, and withdrew from the dohyo wars… permanently, as it turns out.