Musashikuni Mamu completed the second basho of 2019, the Haru Basho, and he did alright. This is the same exact opening sentence that I used for the post on Wakaichirō Ken in the Haru Basho, because both rikishi finished with 3-4 records.
I predicted that Musashikuni would finish with a 4-3 record, so I wasn’t too far off. It was more of a 50/50 chance whether Musashikuni would go 4-3 or 3-4, so I am not too heartbroken about missing my prediction.
For this basho, Musashikuni was ranked at makushita 42 east. Between makushita 35 and 50 tends to be Musashikuni’s plateau. That is, he can’t seem to get much higher than this ranking, but he also doesn’t get much lower than this ranking. I believe that Musashikuni has the physical abilities to defeat this plateau, but he just needs to get all his skills in sync. He shows flashes of brilliance, but he also sometimes leaves himself open for counterattacks. With time, he will learn to defend himself better.
Below is a table that summarizes Musashikuni’s Haru Basho 2019 performance, followed by gifs of his first three matches. Unfortunately, the YouTube account that typically uploads videos of his matches has been removed for copyright violations. So, I could not make gifs of his 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th matches. I am pretty heartbroken about this. . .and it will certainly impact the write-ups of Musashikuni in the future.
Anyways, please email me at NorthAmericanSumo@Gmail.com if you have any questions or comments about Musashikuni!
|
Opponent |
Ranking |
Current Record |
Result |
Method |
|
42 West |
3-4 |
Win! |
Yoritaoshi |
|
|
43 East |
4-3 |
Win! |
Uwatenage |
|
|
38 West |
4-3 |
Loss |
Oshidashi |
|
|
41 West |
5-2 |
Loss |
Uwatenage |
|
|
37 West |
5-2 |
Loss |
Kirikaeshi |
|
|
43 West |
4-3 |
Loss |
Yorikiri |
|
|
49 East |
2-5 |
Win! |
Kotenage |
Musashikuni Mamu Match 1 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Very great start by Musashikuni! He shows off his strong, powerful sumo techniques, and he muscles out his opponent for the victory.
Musashikuni Mamu Match 2 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
Again, Musashikuni shows off his power! His opponent went for the throw at the end, and he almost got it. . .but it was too little too late and Musashikuni gets the victory.
Musashikuni Mamu Match 3 Gif – Haru Basho 2019
It seems that Musashikuni went for a pull-down here rather than a power move, and it did not pay off in the end. His opponent just pushed forward for the win. This put Musashikuni at 2-1.
As mentioned, my source for Musashikuni videos was taken down after Day 5 of the Haru Basho 2019. So, I am no longer able to make gifs of Musashikuni’s matches, which is extremely disappointing to me. I really like watching Musashikuni perform, and I like sharing his matches with others even more.
For the rest of the basho, Musashikuni had a little bit of a lackluster performance. He also lost his next three matches, followed by a win in the final match. In the losses, it seemed that Musashikuni never really committed to a single approach, rather thrusting, pulling, throwing, or something else altogether. Instead, it seemed that he tried to go for whatever may have been available, and his opponents seemed to capitalize off his uncertainty. I will say, though, that Musashikuni DOMINATED in his final match of the basho. It was quite the joy to watch.
All in all, Musashikuni went 3-4 in this basho. He will probably fall back to around to the 50th rank of makushita, which isn’t too bad. This is a rank that Musashikuni seems to excel, as he can push around his opponents a little more than the upper ranks. I look forward to watching his matches next basho – however I can!
North American Sumo 
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