Wakaichirō Ken finished the second basho of 2019, the Haru Basho, and he did alright. I predicted that he would obtain a 4-3 record, and he instead finished with a 3-4 record. After finishing with a 5-2 record in the Hatsu Basho, Wakaichirō moved up several spots to sandanme 99 west. While I thought he could move up even further, it seems that the move up the ranks was a little too much.
Next basho, Wakaichirō will almost assuredly appear in jonidan again. He appears more comfortable in this lower division, as most of the competitors are his size or smaller. Whenever Wakaichirō appears in sandanme, he loses multiple matches against larger and/or stronger opponents, who are always difficult to defeat as a thruster. Jonidan, however, does not have as many of these larger and stronger competitors.
So why didn’t Wakaichirō quite live up to expectations? He seems healthy again, although every rikishi has sometype of nagging injury. Instead, it seems that Wakaichirō is still trying to hone his abilities – particularly his thrusting abilities. He went for the same approach in each match. In some matches, it paid off. In other matches, it seemed to be more of a learning opportunity. If this is what Wakaichirō needs to improve his sumo abilities, though, then he should get as much practice as he can!
Below is a table that summarizes Wakaichirō Ken’s Haru Basho 2019 performance, followed by gifs of his matches. If you would like to see anything else involving Wakaichirō’s performance in the Hatsu Basho 2019, please contact me at NorthAmericanSumo@Gmail.com.
|
Opponent |
Ranking |
Current Record |
Result |
Method |
|
99 East |
3-4 |
Win! |
Oshidashi |
|
|
98 East |
5-2 |
Loss |
Hatakikomi |
|
|
97 West |
4-3 |
Loss |
Kotenage |
|
|
100 West |
3-4 |
Win! |
Tsukitaoshi |
|
|
Jonidan 4 West |
4-3 |
Win! |
Yorikiri |
|
|
98 West |
4-3 |
Loss |
Yorikiri |
|
|
95 East |
4-3 |
Loss |
Hatakikomi |
Wakaichirō Ken Match 1 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Great, strong start to the basho! Always moving ahead. As a Reddit.com/r/sumo member commented, this match really illustrates Wakaichiro’s unorthodox pushing style. Most rikishi try to keep their feet flat, whereas Wakaichiro takes small steps on the balls of his feet. Could this be from his football experience?
Wakaichirō Ken Match 2 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Wakaichiro tried to go for the strong start again, but it didn’t work out for him.
Wakaichirō Ken Match 3 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Again, he attempted the strong start, but his opponent was a stonewall. After Wakaichiro got a little bit of momentum, his opponent was able to use Wakaichiro’s force against himself and throw him out for the victory.
Wakaichirō Ken Match 4 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Getting back to the basics! A strong, solid win by pushing ahead.
Wakaichirō Ken Match 5 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Woo! Back to basics part two! Wakaichiro pushes out the larger rikishi for the victory.
Wakaichirō Ken Match 6 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Wakaichiro tries to get the push out, but he comes up short in the end. His opponent was able to keep a firm base, spin him around, and pull him out for the loss.
Wakaichirō Ken Match 7 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
This match was for the kachi-koshi! Wakaichiro tried to get the pushout again, but his opponent’s slapdown was too much for him. Don’t blink! My video source cut off the end, so this was the best that I could do.
Wakaichiro put all he had into this basho, but came up a little short. He will probably fall back to jonidan from the sandanme division. Oh well. Wakaichiro is looking healthier, so I hope he begins to incorporate a wider array of techniques. Only with practice can Wakaichiro really climb the ranks. We will still be rooting for him, and I am sure that the readers of NorthAmericanSumo.com will be too!
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