Sumo Game: News

Makuuchi Yusho:	O Sumio (12-3; 120 points)
Juryo Yusho:	J6 Kajiyama (12-3; 118 points)
Makushita Yusho:	m66 Jejima (13-2; 109 points)
Gino-sho:	M1 Sokkenaiyama (9-6; 121 points) M8 Meyeru (10-5; 121 points)
Kanto-sho:	M9 Heruwejima (12-3; 117 points)
Shukun-sho:	not awarded

by Takanotaki, 2010/3/31

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 15

The Haru Basho 2010 will go down in the Sumo Game record books as the highest scoring tournament ever shattering the Nagoya 2006 average by .4 to finish at 7.35. The day seven average of 9.25 is now the highest single day record while individually Wm5 Bishonohana has set record for most points in a basho at 122. In Makunouchi, Ozeki Sumio picks up his third career yusho in a play-off over EM9 Heruwejima who was awarded the Kantosho special prize for keeping the yusho close down the stretch. Sumio having won the yusho in two of the past three tournaments will yet again make a run for Yokozuna in May with his 12-3 record. Both WM8 Meyeryu and WM1 Sokkenaiyama were awarded the Ginosho for their efforts and 121 tournament points. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama improved to 12-3 for the title while in Makushita, returnee Wm66 Jejima at 13-2 will get a nice boost up the ranks while picking up the yusho. Congratulations to all yusho and special prize winners! We hope to see everyone back here in May for the Natsu Basho!

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/31

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 14

Going into the final day of Haru Basho 2010, the yusho scenarios for each of the divisions are as follows:

In Makunouchi both Ozeki Sumio and EM9 Heruwejima, who were victorious on day 14 to improve to 11-3, are co-leaders at this point. A win by one and a loss by the other will give the yusho to the one who improves his record. If both Sumio and Heruwejima are victorious it will come down to a tie break based on total points with Sumio holding a slight advantage 111-108. If both should lose on the final day then the winner of the head to head match between WM4 Norizo and WM8 Meyeryu, both at 10-4, will join the play-off. Meyeryu is in the best position for a come from behind yusho with 113 points while Norizo at 109 has an outside shot as well.

In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama failed to win the yusho on day 14 while falling to 11-3. However, Kajiyama remains the sole leader and will take the prize with a senshuraku win. A loss by Kajiyama, on the other hand, would allow WJ9 Takanosushi and WJ11 Maiku, both one match off the pace, to climb back into contention with a victory. Should it come down to a play-off, the decision for the yusho could be tight since Kajiyama holds a single point lead over the other two, 110-109.

In Makushita, Wm66 Jejima, who after returning to the game from a 7 year hiatus, could win the yusho should he improve to 13-2 and eliminate his nearest competitors Wm26 Aome, Wm30 Irinohana and Wm63 Takami. However, if Jejima should lose then a playoff would occur since Irinohana and Takami are facing off in a final day showdown with winner improving to 12-3. Aome could join the play-off as well with a day 15 victory. In terms of total points, Jejima is at a slight disadvantage with 100. Of the three loss wrestlers, Aome in the best shape with 105 followed by Irinohana with 104 and Takami with 101.

Good luck to all the contenders!

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/28

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 13

After thirteen days of Haru Ozeki Sumio dropped his second match in a row to fall to 10-3 and opened up the Makunouchi division for a tight finish. EM9 Heruwejima after struggling to a 2-3 start has put together an eight match winning streak to improve to 10-3 for a share of the lead with Sumio. One match off the pace are a group of five others at 9-4 and still in yusho contention. Sekiwake Flohru saw his bid for Ozeki promotion come to a crashing halt on day 13 after being hampered with a four match losing streak and falling to 6-7.

In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama improved to 11-2 and increased the win margin over the field by 2 for the second time this tournament. A win on day 14 would guarantee him the yusho. In Makushita, Wm66 Jejima was handed his second loss of the basho to fall to 11-2, however, Em44 Boltbutthamma also lost on the day and failed to gain ground. As a result, Jejima remains the sole leader with Boltbutthamma joining a group of five others at 10-3.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/27

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 12

After day twelve of the Haru Basho 2010 scoring for the tournament remains high at 7.57 and barring a complete collapse in scores for the remaining days, Sumo Game could have its first basho to break the 7.00 mark since its inception in 2000. In Makunouchi division Ozeki Sumio continues to lead all comers, however, his second loss on day 12 to a stuggling Komusubi Konosato and put an end to his Yokozuna run this time around. Naturally, Sumio is still gunning for the yusho and any wins between now and the end of the basho will only make it easier to put up the proper numbers for promotion come May. Closely chasing Sumio down the stretch are WM8 Meyeryu, EM9 Heruwejima and EM12 Rupatengu who are all one loss down 9-3.

In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama picked up his 10th win of the basho to remain sole leader and now leads WM11 Maiku at 9-3. In Makushita, Wm66 Jejima extended his winning streak to 11 matches to lead the field and stay one win ahead of Em44 Boltbutthamma his nearest rival.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/26

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 11

After eleven days of the Haru Basho 2010 Ozeki Sumio continued his dominance in the division and improved to 10-1 keeping his Yokozuna chances alive for another day. One loss down is WM8 Meyeryu who having started the tournament with a 2-2 record has put together a nice seven match winning streak to improve to 9-2. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama was defeated on day 11 to see his lead slip from two wins to one as fell to 9-2. As a result, WJ5 Gibuten, WJ10 Hermanosho and WJ11 Maiku remain in serious contention for the yusho at 8-3. In Makushita, Wm66 Jejima upped his record to 10-1 and is still followed closely by Wm26 Aome, Wm30 Irinohana, Em44 Boltbutthamma and Wm63 Takami who are all 9-2.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/25

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 10

At the two thirds point of the Haru basho, scoring for the tournament is hovering around 7.63 despite a soft day's average of 6.22. Picks will start to get tougher in the coming days, however, as yusho candidates begin to slug it out. In Makunochi Ozeki Sumio continues to lead the basho while improving to 9-1 with WM8 Meyeryu nipping closely at his heels at 8-2. It should be noted at this point that Sumio by virtue of a strong start has put himself in strong position for promotion to Yokozuna should he make a run and complete the tournament at 14-1. On the other hand Sekiwake Flohru who is still up for promotion has hit a bumpy patch in recent days, however, he still only needs a 3-2 mark down the stretch to get a nice bump upwards.

In Juryo, WJ9 Kajiyama extended his lead to two matches over the rest of the field. In Makushita, Wm66 Jejima won the battle of attrition to become sole leader at 9-1 as Wm30 Irinohana stumbled to 8-2. Irinohana joins a group of six other yusho contenders should things tighten up in the coming days.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/24

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 9

Another high scoring day of the Haru Basho 2010 lifted the overall average for the tournament just slightly upward to 7.79 and is still on track to be the highest scoring tournament in this game's history. In Makunouchi Ozeki Sumio continues to dominate at 8-1 while securing an early kachikoshi. One match off the pace is WM8 Meyeryu at 7-2. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama became sole leader after WJ9 Takanosushi dropped his second match of the tournament. Takanosushi joins WJ5 Gibuten and WJ11 Maiku at 7-2. In Makushita, a further trimming of the leader board has Wm30 Irinohana and Wm66 Jejima battling it out with an 8-1 record.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/23

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 8

With several heavily favored picks in upset losses, scoring at Nakabi cooled down to finish at 6.38 lowering the overall average for the tournament to a still impressive 7.77. In Makunouchi division Ozeki Sumio improved to 7-1 to remain sole leader. One match off the pace are WM8 Meyeryu and WM9 Zenjimoto. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama and WJ9 Takanosushi both picked up their seventh win on the tournament to share the lead at the midway point. In Makushita, Wm30 Irinohana, Wm32 Yassier and Em66 Jejima were victorious to improve to 7-1 keeping the division in a tight race.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/22

Haru Basho 2010 - Day 7

Big news today as day 7 of Sumo Game broke an all time record for highest scoring days at 9.25. A total of 92 participants logged a perfect score on to their career rap sheets, with many of them ending up on the losing side of things in tough tie breaks situations. The old record of Natsu Basho, day 6 at 9.20 wasn't exactly shattered but still today will be the bar of near perfection for this game for quite a while! The overall for the tournament is a whopping 7.97 which is remarkable considering the fact that not having a second Yokozuna around to gobble up an easy pick in the first week and having three new rikishi entered in the lower tiers have made picks relatively tricky.

In Makunouchi after seven days Ozeki Sumo has been on full tilt to claim sole leadership division with a 6-1 record. One win off the pace is a group of seven at 5-2 including Sekiwake Flohru who is gunning for Ozeki promotion and is on pace for the accolades. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama and WJ9 Takanosushi continue to do battle while both improving to 6-1. In Makushita, Wm30 Irinohana was dealt the first loss of the tournament to fall to 6-1. As a result, Wm32 Yassier, Wm59 Yeditoshi and Wm66 Jejima pull even for lead to make it a four horse battle.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/21

Haru Basho 2010 - Days 5 and 6

Day six of the Haru Basho 2010 saw numbers good enough to break into the top ten list for highest scoring days list. Led by total of 22 players achieving perfection the average for the day soared to 8.58 to make it the sixth highest in Sumo Game history and increasing the overall scores for the tournament to 7.75.

In Makunouchi division Ozeki Sumio and EM16 Mariohana continue to set the pace with a 5-1 record while following closely are a large group one loss down at 4-2. Sekiwake Flohru remains in the hunt for a promotion despite losing on day six to fall into the pack of 4-2 wrestlers. In Juryo, WJ9 Takanosushi who was sole leader after five days was handed his first loss on day six allowing WJ6 Kajiyama to catch him in the standings while improving to an identical 5-1 mark. In Makushita, Wm30 Irinohana remains perfect for the basho and is sole leader of the division at 6-0.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/20

Haru Basho 2010 - Days 3 and 4

Despite having only one Yokozuna for the Haru Basho scoring has been on the high side after four days. Naturally Hakuho is off to his usual fast start but with Harumafuji and Baruto dominating early scoring for the tournament has risen to a 7.60 average with a total of 18 perfect scores handed out already. In Makunouchi division, Ozeki Sumio and EM16 Mariohana are the early leaders at 4-0. One match down is a group of seven including Ozeki candidate Flohru. After going 12-3 in Kyushu and 10-5 for the Hatsu Basho Flohru now only needs a 9-6 record this time around for promotion. In Juryo, WJ6 Kajiyama and WJ9 Takanosushi lead the field at 4-0. In Makushita, Wm1 Zichi, Wm20 Saruwatari, Em24 Haidouzo and Wm30 Irinohana have jumped out to a fast start in notoriously tough division in the early stages.

As a side note, server migration of Sumo Game has led to a few unforeseen glitches with the stats pages but word has it that they have been solved. Apologies for any inconvenience that may occurred during the process.

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/18

Haru Basho 2010 - Days 1 and 2

Welcome to the Haru Basho 2010. The off season was a tad boring with the only news worth mentioning was that of Kaio in a new TV commercial where he sells some food or drink or something like that. I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention. Oh...and other than that, Asashoryu finally got squeezed out by the Sumo Association and retired Yokozuna Takanohana did a little trick where he walked on water followed by feeding an entire room full sumo wrestlers with two fish and a bowl Chanko nabe. Seriously, Asashoryu's departure from sumo comes as a sudden surprise in many ways as the event leading up to his purge happened in the middle of the last tournament where apparently he got into a scuffle with a friend during a late night drinking session and broke his nose. Naturally, the intrepid sports journalists here in Japan went off at the conclusion of the tournament and carried it 24/7 creating a typhoon of rumor and innuendo forcing the sumo association to take action. Now, whether or not sumo association actually pulled the plug on the guy or whether Asashoryu walked away with a stiff middle finger, he's gone. Personally, I would like to think that he walked away on his own knowing that his chronic elbow injuries would lead to a shortened career anyway and since he will probably not finish any higher on the career yusho list why not have some fun with the worthless hacks that write for the sports newspapers. In other words, why give these guys a chance to tear him down with the calls for retirement when his body finally fails on him. As it is now, the sumo association must hold their collective breath between now and his hair cutting ceremony and hope that he doesn't do anything embarrassing like threatening to buy ringside seat and a beer and enjoy sumo as spectator! Anyway, the show must go on...

In Sumo Game, we have a total of 160 participants for the Haru Basho with only three new comers to the game. Due to high number of Sanyaku members that picked up a kachikoshi in January, we have three Sekiwake and three Komusubi this time around. Sekiwake Flohru has an excellent chance for Ozeki promotion and has gotten off to a fast start at 2-0. Good luck to all and enjoy the tournament!

by Nushuzan, 2010/3/16