Asa vs. Nada in pictures

Here are some pictures from yesterday’s final bout. It is very clear that Tochinonada was out first, perhaps the shinpan decided to stick to Asa by giving it to Tochinonada? It will be interesting to see where Asa goes from here, because it seems like the dominant Asa we used to know is gone. What will happen on day 6? Check back later for the play by play! To check the video of the match go here!

Asashoryu falls again! Nagoya basho day 5 highlights

Hey everyone! Thanks for coming back for day 5 action from the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium! If you missed day 4′s highlights please check here for some commentary on the best bouts of the day and some video highlights as well!

On to day 5! Video is up!

Estonian Baruto sent Wakanosato to the dirt to improve to 3-2 (kainahineri).

Toyonoshima, who started causing havok from opening day, seems to have lost his fire as he dropped his second in a row to Kisenosato (tsukiotoshi).

Sekiwake Ama continues to tear up the banzuke going after Chiyotaikai in an almost reckless fashion right from the get go while evading Chiyo’s tsupari. Ultimately, Ama regained his composure in time to push the Ozeki off the dohyo (oshidashi). Ama is still in perfect standing at 5-0. He is on the way to 10 wins; hopefully he can pull it off and start a promotion bid.

Kotomitsuki sent Maegashira 1 Aminishiki flying off of the dohyo and into one of the shinpan. At first I thought perhaps he or the shinpan was hurt, but Aminishiki got up scratched the back of his head a bit and took his bow (oshitaoshi). Kotomitsuki is hanging in there at 3-1.

Wakanoho was a bit too eager in today’s match against Kotooshu. He jumped at the Ozeki and seemed quite a bit embarassed as a result. Upon the actual tachi-ai Koto wrapped him up and rather gently placed him outside the straw bales (yorikiri). Kotooshu stands at 3-2.

Hakuho got himself in a bit of trouble at first against Hokutoriki. Hokutoriki managed to get a tight right underarm grip on Haku’s mawashi, but almost as though he was fighting a child, Hakuho got his arm under Hokutoriki’s and pushed him out of the ring (yorikiri). Haku stands perfect along with Ama at 5-0.

And in the final bout of the day, a shocker and somewhat of a controversy, as Tochinonada went up against Asashoryu. Both wrestlers seemed to have good position at tachi-ai and were struggling to gain ground on each other. As the bout went on though Asa seemed to lose momentum and was pushed back by Tochinonada. Their movement propelled both of them clear off of the dohyo in what looked like a very close call. Amid a rain of zabuton, a mono-ii was called and after what seemed like an eternity the decision was given to Tochinonada via oshitaoshi. How exciting! Asa falls for the second time this tournament. It seems like we are watching a completely different Asashoryu than from last year. Very interesting. Tochinonada improves to 3-2 and the yokozuna falls to 3-2.

UPDATE: Apparently the shinpan screwed this call up. NHK replays showed Tochinonada’s hand hitting the dohyo before Asa hit. That means that Tochinonada actually lost though the decision will stand. I have yet to see this for myself, but once the video is availible I will put it up.

It’s Ama and Hakuho on top and still perfect at 5-0. Can they keep it together? Will we have any more yokozuna upsets? Check back tomorrow for day 6 action and for video highlights of today’s bouts! Thanks for stopping by!