GRAND SUMO: Day 8 of the May 2025 Tournament – GRAND SUMO Highlights
Konichua and thanks for joining us on Grand Sumo Highlights. It’s day eight of the May tournament. We’re at the halfway point of this 15-day competition. They’ll see the leaderboard. Onosato and Hakuoho are the co-leaders each with a perfect seven and0 record. Wakatakake and Aishki are close behind trailing by just one loss. There’s Onooato who’s gunning for promotion to Yokoa. He is aiming to score his perfect record kachi today. Well, let’s get things going here at Kokikan on day eight. We start with Nishi 5 and two, meeting Tamaso at two and five. Tamaso is having a tough time picking up wins in the Makuchi division. This is his second stint in the top tier, but once again, he’s finds himself behind the eightball. Nishi Kigi is looking to snap a two match losing streak after starting strong at 5-0. Nishiki pushes. Tama Shoho snaps and he flies out of the Tokyo. The goji points the goodbye to the east side Tama Shoho. Are we going to have a mono the conference by the judges? Evidently not. So Tamaso is the winner. Looks like he slapped Nishiki down before he went out of the ring. Third win for Tamaso. Well, let’s confirm that in the replay. Nishi Kigi pushes goes inside advances back. Tamaso slaps him down. It is Loga meeting Tochi Thai Kai. Logga five and two. Nice record. Shiny Mak rookie Toi Taai. The top division rookie is hoping to see daylight for the first time in four days. He enters with three straight losses. Loga came out on top after battling for nearly 3 minutes yesterday. Does he have any juice left in the tank? Right hand in, left hand out is Logga’s go-to weapon. Toai keeping the separation, but they go chest to chest. Now, if Loga can get that left and overarm grip right there, Loa is in business. He overwhelms Tochi Thai and he wins by Yori Kitty. So as soon as Log was able to gain his favorite left hand outside grip, it was all over for Toi Taikai. That was all she wrote. Four straight losses for Toi Taiikai. Dogga advances to six and two. Moving on, it’s Kaio meeting Toki Hayate for the very first time. Rookie Kao is riding a three match win streak and looking to even his record by keeping the momentum going. Tokiate bounced back with his first win in four days yesterday. He needs to keep fighting aggressively to build on that momentum. There they go. Tokiate advances pulling, slapping, circling away, going backwards is Kao. Kaio yanks the arm. Kaio gets a and Kaio hurls Ti Hayate with a strong overarm throw to take the match. Kaio finds himself at the 500 mark after eight days. Four wins and four losses. Four straight victories for the rookie Kaio. Moving on to Sonomi meeting Asakoru. Both men at five and two. Sadomi’s Aniuchi, the fisherman’s throw he used for victory yesterday was beautiful. It showcased his flexibility and resilience once again. Asakori may be smaller than most of his opponents, but he makes up for it with his tremendous spirit and fighting spirit as well. And Asakoru goodi right away after the initial contact. The southern army did 360 tried to recover but Asakoru shuts him down. 6 and2 is Asakoru’s record after eight days. Oshidashi victory. It is Shaani meeting Atami Fuji. Shaomi two and five. So Shaolanomi needs to turn things around soon or he risks finishing with a poor record that could see him relegated to Jurio. Atami Fuji is competing with plenty of oomph this time combined with his imposing physique. It’s a powerful combination. Good charge by Atami Fuji. Atami Fuji advances. Atami Fuji keeping his opponent Shaomi at bay. Shaomi stops the charge. Good footwork shown by Shaomi. Atami Fuji once again goes on the offensive. Left hand in, right hand out. Yuzumo battle. Power versus power. Atami Fuji marches. Atami Fuji unable to finish him off. It’s Shaani dispatching Atami Fuji with a strong Wat Nag with his right hand at the last moment. Oh, wait a minute. Looks like we’re going to have a mono either conference by the judges to confirm Shona’s victory. Who went down or out first? Close call. The Goja awarded the match to Shaan Noi. We reviewed whether Shaumi’s foot stepping out and Atami Fuji’s body touching down occurred at the same time. After careful consideration, we confirmed that Atami Fuji’s body touched down first. Therefore, we uphold the G’s decision. Shan Noi is the winner. So not only goes to three and five with the victory back-to- back wins. Moving on, we have Duden and Endo. Guden 4 and three. So is Endo. They have met 12 times in the past. Endo leads the series 8-4. Endo on the left. Quick start by Yudan. Endor breaks balance. Right-handed Watt and he dispatches Vuden with a strong Watt Nag. What a tremendous forward pressure by Endo. Endo ends up in the front row. Seems to be okay. Fans looks to be fine as well. We never want to see anybody getting hurt whether it’s a fan or Ricoishi. Anyway, Endo comes out on top. Endo goes to five and three with a nice overarm throw. Shishi versus Koto has entered this tournament after sitting out the first five days due to his right thigh injury. Shishi injured his left thigh on opening day also. So both men banged up lower body. Going forward is Koto Sho. Another close match in the end. Are we going to have another monoe the conference by the judges? Shishi re-enters the ring. But looks like Koto is the clear-cut winner. Yoroshi win. Very aggressive style of sumo by Kotoho. Second win. Let’s get to Shai and Takosho. Shai two and five. He needs to crank it up if he wants to avoid finishing with a losing record for the fourth straight time. A bit more consistency will help Takosho climb higher in the rankings. Oh, strong charge by Takanosho. Takosho gains his favorite right-hand inside position. He goes in for the kill, but Shai backpedals and hits the screen. A what a come from behind win. Nice awareness for Shai. He knew exactly where he was in the ring. He had a few steps behind him, so he executed the beltless arm throw to take the match. One of the highlight matches here on day eight. It pits me four and three and undefeated Haku Oho. Last time they met, Mei won. But that face off, you know, me step to the side at the touchi. So Hakuo better be ready for me’s tricky move. Hakoho got him to gain his eighth straight win. A perfect record. to Kachi Koshi me. Can he deny Hakuho’s intentions? Going in straight is me. Me pounding away. Hakuho gets the right hand in, but a nice left hand Kotag by me. They tumble down the do at the same time. Another another close match, but none of the judges is raising a hand and that means Macy’s win will stay. Hakoho suffers his first loss. Me coming away with a last second. Kotag, what an improvisation by me at the edge. Hakoho was charging forward but Hakuho It’s Kachi Koshi on day eight slipping out of his hands at the last moment. There’s what we saw. Right hand in by Hakoho. Hakoho charges but Meay counters with a beautiful Kotenag again. Me with all guns blazing knocking Hakoho back. Hakoho gains that right hand inside position but it was too late too little. Me is the winner. Hakoho yes going down first. Moving on, we have Midori Fuji, a winless Rico hoping to gain his first win today, meeting Oma. Will win this Midori Fuji finally score his first win. Osha showcases a wide array of skills from his amateur wrestling background in his victories. Midori Fuji wants to go inside perhaps gain a nice inside position to execute his Kataski the go-to move. Midori Fuji looking very aggressive but nice counter move by OA fending Midori Fuji off pounds slaps moves to the side confusing Midori Fuji and Midori Fuji never finds his rhythm offensively and Overwhelms Midori Fuji from start to finish a Makoshi losing record for Midori Fuji 0 and8 or Shoma that’s his third straight win. He goes to five and three. Moving on, Tobiizu versus Aishki. At the beginning of this show, we saw Aishki in the ring entering ceremony. Well, he’s at 6 and1. One of those one loss Rickishi right behind the undefeated Onos at the moment as Pakoho suffered his first defeat. First ever meeting between Tobaru and Aishki. Should be a dandy. Good charge. Aishki. Aishki giving a lot of business to Toby Zado. Toby taking a lot of punishment. But Tobi not backing down. Toby is a flying monkey. He moves very fast. But Alishki shuts him down. What a sumo. And what a result by the Ukrainian Anishki. Toby Zaru gets manhandled by Al Nishki. Alishki’s intensity pretty much overwhelms Toby Zaru. So Anishki lost on the opening day. He’s now put together seven consecutive victories. Wow. This is his second top division tournament. He already looks like a veteran keeping Tobyu at bay with his strong pushing and thrusting attack. Toby cannot find any kind of rhythm offensively. Tobis has many tricks in his technique bag, but he cannot display those techniques because shuts him down and Uda on the dojo. First ever meeting. Uda secured his second win of the tournament yesterday after battling for over a minute. Onasu is competing at his highest rank yet. If he wants to climb even higher, he will need to start winning more consistently. Good charge by Ono. On Kazuo takes Uda to the edge. Uda rallies. Udura goes for the kataskashi. That could be a big mistake because it allowed Onato to gain a strong grip. The kataskashi attempt by Uda under shoulder swing down attempt fails big time and he gave Ono Katsu a great position to work with and Ono Katsu goes to four and four. It is Shoma meeting Kim Bzan. Kim Bzan with a nice five and two record. Bzan’s thrusting attack is in full swing, earning him four consecutive wins. His opponent, the Chio, is a tricky customer, often seen going airborne or side stepping at the jump to create confusion and gain an early advantage. Oh, left hand in with the right hand in, left hand out. Kimbozan chest to chest with Chio. Chio should be a handling this match better than Kim Bzan. Kim Bzan is a hard pusher thruster. Not really famous in this Yotumo fighting style, but Chio having a rough time moving for budging Kim Bzan’s big body. Kim Bzan outweighs Chio by 40 kg. Kim Boza 178 kilos. Chio 138. And this is evident in this match. Chimosa using his size advantage. Oh, there’s Mashimata. You just saw earlier that Kokono and Shimpan, the former Oikai, the chief judge, raising his right hand indicating to Shikimi Kandu that the mawashi of Chio is loose. So this is called Mamashi Mata. Kandu will tighten the mawashi of Chio. So after stopping the match for momentarily, we will restart the match. And you confirming with the chief judge Kokonoan whether it’s okay to restart the match. He gets the okay. And there they go. Right hand in, left hand out. Power versus power. Of course, Kim Bzan trying to out muscle cha. and he escorts Chio out of the ring. So after the Mawashi Mata Kim Bzan flexing his muscles to overpower Chio, Kim Bzan extends his winning streak to five overall. Kimzan is now 6 and2. Chio 2 and six. Kimzan improving with each bash showing versatility in this match. It is Ichi Yamamoto three and four versus Chironomi 1 and six. Ichi Yamamoto is looking to execute his thrusting attack more effectively to achieve greater consistency in his results. Win or lose, Chironomi always fights hard and never lets his opponents score easy victories. Chiranomi looking for his first win in five days. Goes forward. Look at the aggressive sumo style by Chiranomi, the man from Okinawa on the right. Chiranomi going after Ichyamoto. Ichyamoto responding. Ichiamamoto showing his fighting spirit. at the edge and he hurls Chioi to the deck with a strong. What a sumo by the two Rickishi. And after a strong battle or a seesaw battle, Ichi Yamamoto comes out on top and that’s his 300th career victory. Moving on, we have Gonoyama and Waka Moto Haru about to face off. Gonoyama’s emo is his bulldozing pushing attack relentlessly driving straight forward. Wakamoto Haru must improve significantly if he wants to return to Syaku. Goyama defeated Ozikoto Zakura yesterday, so he’s feeling good. He pulls. Wakamoto Haru advances and Wakamoto Haru crushes Gongoyama. So Wakamoto Hararu scores backto-back wins. Oshidashi win and Gonoyama didn’t really show up for work today. His pushing offense was nowhere to be seen. Wakamoto scores his third victory. It is Abby and Takayasu about to lock horns. Abby is three and four. Takayasu the Komasubi returnees two and five. Well, Takayasu advanced to the playoff. He nearly won his first title in March. This time things are going in a different direction. AB’s main weapon is his pushing and thrusting attack often combined with relentless nooa. There is the nooa. a throat thrust over the step arm and Takayasu runs out of real estate. He was unable to escape from Aby’s relentless forward charge. Abby wins. Four wins and four losses for Abby after eight days. So Mashidatu is hoping to return to Syaku himself and the left hand thrust right hand and Taka Yasu already struggling. Takayasu never showed any kind of offensive move in his match against Abby today. Backpedaling all the way. Takayasu. It is Waka Taka Kag meeting. Oho. Waka Takag with a nice 6 and1 record. Oho. Three and four. Waka Takag showcasing great skill and speed this time. Oho is hungry for a win as he enters day seven on a four match losing streak. Strong start by Wakatakag. Oho pulls right away. Wakatakag goes inside and defeats Oho. Oho with a bad move pulling Waka Taka Kag right away. And Waka Taka Kag with a great anticipation he moves forward and he dispatches Oho in a very convincing style. Yoroshi frontal crush out win. Waka Takag goes to seven and one. Oho pulling, slapping, giving up a lot of ground. Waka Takag scores an easy win. He blows Oho away to go seven and one. It’s Kirishma meeting D show. Both men at five and two. This is the Siwake showdown. Both Seekiwake going head to head. Here’s Kishima competing more like he did as an Oziki these days. Disho cannot afford to lose his third straight match. He’s gunning for promotion to Oziki. Disho extending both arms nicely and he’s able to overwhelm Kirishima today with his pushing and thrusting attack. Disho bounces back. So after losing on backto-back days, Disho gets the win over Kirishima today. Dao goes to six and two. Kishima never able to stop Disho’s charge. Sukidashi thrust out victory. A picture perfect sumo by Data and he racks up his sixth win of the tournament. It is Hiro Umi and Onoato in a highlight match. Hiomi three and four. Onato 7 and0 close rivalry. Onos has won the last two but overall Hiadomi has two wins over Onos. So no cupcake opponent for Onosato today. Onosato this man he can secure an undefeated Kachikoshi with a win. His opponent Hiadomi is a feisty combatant. So he’s hoping to knock off Ono Sato and score a huge upset. Hiomi pulls. Ono Sato advances. Ono Sato dismantles Hiadomi. Kachikoshi for Onosato 8 and all perfect style Kachikoshi. This is Onosato’s 13th tournament since making his pro debut and Onosato racking up his 13th straight Kachi Koshi. Onos has never had a losing record since turning pro. A perfect 13 out of 13. Onosato picture perfect. Kachikoshi. So here is Koto Zakura. Another oziki who’s up against Tamawashi. Koto Zakura suffered his third loss yesterday. Let’s see if the Oziki can bounce back with a strong performance. The 40-year-old Iron Man of Sumo Tamawashi is today competing in his 1,400th Top Division bout. Tamashi goes in hard. Koto Zakura absolves Tamawashi’s frontal charge. Cotto Zakura holding his ground. Koto Zakura patiently awaiting to gain his favorite grip. He already has the right hand inside position. Now the left hand outside. This could be all she wrote for Tamawashi. Cotto Zakura confidently marches forward and defeats Tamawashi with a strong Yorikiri. Cotto Zakura rebounds from his day seven setback and he goes to five and three. Calm and collected fighting style by the Oziki. Tamawashi cannot create the separation. So his offense is being shut down by Cotto Zakura. Kotto Zakura confidently goes forward and dispatches Tamawashi. Here is the final match on day eight versus Yoko at five and two. The Yokoza has bounced back with three consecutive wins after suffering back-to- back losses earlier. Taker Fuji is learning just how tough it is to compete and win at the highest level. Can he defeat Yokozuna for the first time? Stepping to the side. Oh, Kim Shoske goes down, but he gets back up. And in the end, it was hurling Tuji with a nag. And uh another close call, but looks like Kim Shonoske pointed the Goombai to the east side. Hu the wind stays with Hu. So Kim Shoske doing a good job. He tumbled but got back up on his feet and saw the ending of this match to call the right winner. Stepping to the side is Tako Fuji. Great response by the Yokojuna armlock and the throw. Kotenag victory for Hu 6 and2 now. So that’ll do it for day eight. Ono Sato stands alone at the top with a perfect record after eight days. Just behind him are Wakataka Kag Hakuo and Aishki each with one loss. Five other Ricoi remain within striking distance at 6 and2. Thanks for joining us today. Please join us again tomorrow as we enter the second week of this 15-day Natsu bash showara.
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Day 8 upper division bouts from the May 2025 GRAND SUMO Tournament.