Time for another sumo tournament, and the big story at this tournament will obviously be the gambling crisis that has hit sumo. A number of rikishi in the top division will be sitting this tournament out for their involvement in the scandal, and the highest ranked Japanese rikishi has been kicked out of the sport. The winner of this tournament also won't get the Emperor's Cup trophy, which has made some of the competitors uncharacteristically angry. NHK won't be having their full sumo broadcast for this tournament, but highlights of the full day, including each top division match will be available (though probably not with English commentary).
To begin with, here is the
banzuke (rankings) for the top division in this tournament:
As I said, the scandal that has hit sumo will be a big topic this tournament, and it's effect is already visible here in the rankings as all of the names in red will be sitting out this tournament, with
Kotomitsuki being the only one who has been kicked out. All of them (and others) will be under house arrest for this tournament. Because there will be some open spaces this tournament expect to see competitors from the second-highest division (Juryo) coming up each day to fill in.
Turning to the content of the banzuke, I'm surprised
Hokutoriki has been unable to get out of the bottom of the ranks lately. I keep expecting him to get a good record, and maybe this will be the tournament for him to do it.
Homasho predictably plummeted to the bottom of the ranks (having been ranked at Maegashira 2 last tournament and pulling out midway through). I expect double-digit wins from him.
Gagamaru, another Eastern European (Russian I think) rikishi finally makes his top division debut, and I'm expecting something like a 7-8 or 6-9 record for him, a losing record but not bad enough to send him back down to Juryo. Mah boy
Tokusegawa is movin' on up, and a winning record at this rank would be great, but I wouldn't expect any more than 8 wins from him.
Tokitenku may have trouble ranked so high, but I'd love to see a winning record from him. He goes up the ranks slowly, and if he does end up with a losing record it won't be a disastrous one.
Aminishiki drops to M2 from Sekiwake last tournament, and he definitely has the skills to get a pretty good winning record at this rank. His counterpart
Aran has been disappointing when ranked near the top of the division, and I think he'll have a losing tournament.
Hakuba impressed me last tournament, and even though he does a lot of
henka (moving to the side or avoiding the initial charge) I still like his style as one of the smaller rikishi competing, so I'd like to do well. I would be surprised if he got more than 5 or 6 wins though.
Tochinoshin, on the other hand, I think can get a barely winning record at this rank, and I'm a big fan so I'll definitely be rooting for him to do so. This is a big tournament for him if he wants to show he can hang at the top.
Kotoshogiku I really hope can get 8 wins, but I think Sekiwake might be too high for him and his
gabburi-yori. And all I ask of the Ozeki is that they make the yusho race (championship race) interesting.
Anyway, the Japan Sumo Association's official Banzuke Topics can be found here:
Banzuke Topics
And here's a link to my Introduction to SUMO thread:
Introduction to SUMO
in other sports, it usually takes place as athletes being invited to parties, or taken out to dinner, or simply a photo opportunity here and there. in sumo however, the organized crime syndicates were overdoing it. recently they purchased the entire front row in the final day of a basho just to show one of their incarcerated colleagues (sumo is shown in prisons in japan) that things were running well and smooth in their businesses. they finally crossed the line when they started extorting and threatening rikishis. then the police had to take action. 
