Johannes B 3 weeks ago
Great game! That was really interesting and fun.
Day 1: Shonichi (Opening Day)
Final scoresDay 1, and the Aki Basho opens without Hoshoryu, leaving Onosato alone as the sport's only active yokozuna. This game covers the final seven bouts of the top division, the marquee closing stretch that ends with the musubi-no-ichiban, plus one featured bonus bout from earlier in the card. Each pick introduces both wrestlers, so no sumo knowledge needed.
Winners
1 of 8
BONUS BOUT: Asasuiryu vs Chiyoshoma
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsAsasuiryu (Maegashira 15)CorrectMaking his top-division debut at 15 East after promotion from juryo, the second division. First bout at this level, on the sport's biggest opening day, in front of a full Kokugikan.
+1
Chiyoshoma (Maegashira 14)Veteran Mongolian at 14 West, one of the craftiest wrestlers on the card and well known for sidestepping at the charge. A rough first test for anyone who has never seen it coming.
+1
2 of 8
Hakunofuji vs Churanoumi
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsHakunofuji (Komusubi)Komusubi, the fourth-highest rank, and holding a junior sanyaku slot for Aki. Opens against a maegashira he should handle if he is to stay at this level past Day 15.
+1
Churanoumi (Maegashira 3)CorrectMaegashira 3, deep in the danger zone where the schedule feeds you yokozuna and ozeki all week. A win here is the kind of start that makes the rest survivable.
+1
3 of 8
Yoshinofuji vs Fujinokawa
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsYoshinofuji (Maegashira 2)Maegashira 2 and about to spend his week against the very top of the banzuke. Beating a brand-new sekiwake on Day 1 would be a statement.
+1
Fujinokawa (Sekiwake)CorrectSekiwake for the first time in his career, the third-highest rank, at just 22. The debut everyone is watching: hold this rank and the ozeki conversation starts.
+1
4 of 8
Atamifuji vs Gonoyama
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsAtamifuji (Sekiwake)CorrectSekiwake, 23, and runner-up in two of this year's tournaments. Needs 12 wins here to reach the 33-win benchmark for ozeki promotion, so every bout from Day 1 counts.
+1
Gonoyama (Maegashira 3)Maegashira 3, a powerful pusher-thruster who can bully bigger men off the mark. Exactly the kind of awkward opener a promotion chase does not want.
+1
5 of 8
Aonishiki vs Kotoeiho
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsAonishiki (Ozeki)CorrectOzeki, 22, and the reigning champion after winning Nagoya from a lower rank. Win the Cup again here and he is in the conversation for yokozuna, the top rank.
+1
Kotoeiho (Maegashira 1)Maegashira 1, coming off 10 wins in Nagoya, and handed the champion on Day 1. Beat an ozeki and you announce yourself.
+1
6 of 8
Takayasu vs Kotozakura
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsTakayasu (Maegashira 2)Maegashira 2, 36 years old, and the most beloved nearly-man in sumo: many near-misses at a title, never one. Went 11-4 last time out and is still dangerous.
+1
Kotozakura (Ozeki)CorrectOzeki and grandson of a yokozuna, coming off a nervy 8-7 that saved his rank on the final day. Needs a convincing start to steady the year.
+1
7 of 8
Kirishima vs Kotoshoho
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsKirishima (Ozeki)CorrectOzeki, 30, and the most consistent wrestler of 2026: champion in March, 12-3 in three of the last four tournaments. Quietly building a yokozuna case.
+1
Kotoshoho (Maegashira 1)Maegashira 1, back in the firing line at the top of the rank-and-file. Drawing an ozeki on Day 1 means an immediate shot at a marquee scalp.
+1
8 of 8
MUSUBI: Onosato vs Daieisho
Sep 12 @ 11:00 PM
Pick the correct answer.
PointsOnosato (Yokozuna)CorrectThe yokozuna, sumo's highest rank, and in the top slot on the sheet for the first time. No title since his promotion and a shaky 9-6 last time out, so this fortnight matters.
+1
Daieisho (Komusubi)Komusubi and a blistering pusher who has beaten every top-ranked wrestler in the sport at some point. Because he is sanyaku and not a maegashira, an upset here does NOT earn a gold star.
+1
Series chat
Senshuraku delivered exactly what it promised. Onosato and Aonishiki came in tied at 11-3 and settled it in the last bout of the basho. Onosato thrust him out by tsukidashi and took the Emperor's Cup at 12-3. Aonishiki finishes 11-4 in his first real title fight, and he will be back. The rest of the card refused to behave. Yoshinofuji drove Asanoyama out. Fujiryoga threw Takayasu. Kotoeiho and Hakunofuji both salvaged something on the last day of a rough basho. And Kirishima, sitting at 7-7 with make-koshi as an ozeki staring at him, threw Kotozakura with an uwatenage to save it. A perfect card was worth 14 tonight. Clear favorites went 2 for 4. That closes the Aki Basho series. Fifteen daily games, one opener, and a championship that came down to a single bout between two men on the same record. Final standings are live. Congrats to @Ippikiokami for finishing with a commanding lead! This was a great basho!
Jane Bird 3 weeks ago
Insomnia had me all groggy and I forgot yesterday 😭 is still OK. Great basho!!
Day 14, and the Emperor's Cup is still on the table. Onosato came to the musubi needing one win to set up a clinch, and Kotozakura dumped him with a tsukiotoshi. Aonishiki had already handled Kirishima, so the two of them go to senshuraku tied at 11-3. Chalk had a brutal night. Six of our bouts had a clear favorite and only two of them held. Now the good part. Onosato and Aonishiki meet each other in the final bout of the basho. The winner takes the yusho at 12-3, the loser finishes 11-4, and nobody else in the field can reach either number. No playoff, no scoreboard watching, no permutations. One bout for the Cup. Four more bouts on the Day 15 card sit on a kachi-koshi knife edge, Kirishima among them. He goes make-koshi as an ozeki if Kotozakura beats him. Day 15 is live.
Day 13 wrap: the lead is down to one. Kirishima threw the yokozuna, and suddenly this is a race. Onosato is 11-2 with two days left, and Asanoyama and Aonishiki are right behind at 10-3 after both won. Four more sit at 9-4 and are not out of it: Churanoumi, Fujinokawa, Ura and Wakamotoharu. Asanoyama beat sekiwake Atamifuji to get there. He is a Maegashira 6, a former ozeki who fell to the lower divisions and climbed back, and if he wins the Cup our pre-tournament question about a rank-and-file champion turns Yes. One bout was decided without a bout: Takanosho did not appear, so Hakunofuji took a fusen, a default win. It counts in the official record, so it counts here. Day 14 picks are live.
Paul Lee 4 weeks ago
How are Kyūjō handed in the game? Do they count as a fusen win, or are they disregarded?
@Ippikiokami Of course! Would love to know if you agree or disagree with the way it is working. I'm planning on running these for future bashos as well so if you think the competition should be voided instead that would be great input! :)
We score it as a normal win. That's how the Sumo Association records it: it counts toward a wrestler's record, his promotion, and the championship race, so it counts here too. Tonight Takanosho did not appear and Hakunofuji took the win that way. The only time we'd void a contest is if we built a bout that couldn't happen, meaning the withdrawal was already public when picks opened. That would be our mistake, not a result.
Day 12 wrap: the field shrinks to three. Onosato threw Atamifuji with a pulling underarm and sits 11-1 with three days left. Only Asanoyama, Fujinokawa and Aonishiki are still within two at 9-3. The chasers were fed to each other and half of them fell. Asanoyama beat Churanoumi, Aonishiki beat Kinbozan, and Fujinokawa came through against Kirishima. Churanoumi, Kinbozan and Atamifuji all drop to 8-4 and need a collapse to matter. One pre-tournament question is now settled: Atamifuji cannot reach 12 wins, so that answer is No. Day 13 picks are live.
Day 11 wrap: the yokozuna answers the question. Fujinokawa had beaten Onosato in each of their last two meetings, so the musubi was a genuine toss-up. It was not close: the grand champion forced him straight out. Onosato is 10-1 and two clear with four days to go. Behind him, a six-man jam at 8-3: Atamifuji, Fujinokawa, Churanoumi, Kinbozan, Asanoyama and Aonishiki, who has now won five straight. For any of them to catch Onosato, he has to lose twice. Kirishima finally stopped the slide by beating Atamifuji, which also hurts the pre-tournament 12-win question: Atamifuji must now win all four of his remaining bouts. And Hakunofuji, the man who beat two ozeki this week, is 3-8 and will lose his komusubi rank. Day 12 picks are live.
@jane_bird Lol - I've had nothing but dumpster fire after dumpster fire.
Jane Bird 1 month ago
Officially my first dumpster fire day! Haha. This is fun, and takes the pressure off 😁
Day 10 wrap: three chasers, one yokozuna. Onosato beat Hakunofuji and leads alone at 9-1 with five days to go. Right behind him at 8-2 are Fujinokawa, Atamifuji and Kinbozan, all of whom locked in a winning record tonight. Atamifuji pushed out ozeki Kotozakura, so his 12-win question is still alive: four of his last five. Aonishiki stopped Churanoumi for his fourth straight win, and the reigning champion is back in range at 7-3. The worry of the night is Kirishima, beaten by Fujiryoga and now 5-5. Two more losses and the ozeki is kadoban, meaning he'd have to win eight in November to keep his rank. Our bonus man Kinbozan, a Maegashira 10, is now three wins from a real shot at the Cup. Day 11 picks are live.
Day 9 wrap: the kid throws an ozeki. Fujinokawa, 22 years old and in his first tournament at sekiwake, threw Kotozakura in the chasers' showdown. He's now 7-2, one win off the lead, and has beaten the reigning champion and an ozeki this week. Onosato won again to reach 8-1, which locks in a winning record, and he still leads alone. Four men chase at 7-2: Fujinokawa, Atamifuji, Churanoumi (our bonus winner) and Kinbozan, a Maegashira 10 nobody was watching a week ago. The slump of the tournament: Kirishima lost to 2-6 Daieisho and is 5-4. The ozeki who was 12-3 in three of the last four basho is out of the race. Fujinokawa wasn't a named option in our yusho question, so if you took "Some other wrestler in the field," you're suddenly very interested. Day 10 picks are live.
Jane Bird 1 month ago
I had picked Kirishima for yusho so that is absolutely not going to happen unless the basho gets REALLY weird. If he wins in a playoff I'll buy a lottery ticket for the first time in my life, haha.