Oonosato U-turn

[Moti Dichne]

Yokozuna Oonosato is making a U-turn and improving his condition ahead of the Aki basho. Today, he participated in a joint keiko session of Nishonoseki Ichimon at Sadogatake beya.  He had a series of head to head bouts against Ozeki Kotozakura  finishing with 12 wins and 3 losses in a total of 15 matches. At the YDC soken yesterday, he had a dismal 3-6 record against Houshouryuu and Kotozakura. but he has dramatically recovered. After the keiko, he commented, "I think I was able to do well today because I reflected on what I did poorly yesterday. Because I was all over the place yesterday, I think I approached practice today with a sense of urgency, which was good." Of the 15 matches he won, most of them were at the tachiai when Kotozakura stepped in sharply , forcing him to retreat, regroup, and counterattack. It is unclear whether this plan was intentional, as Oonosato was being mysterious.. However, as his bad habit of pulling back and inviting his opponent to attack when he is unable to push forward at the tachiai was beginning to show, he seemed to have gained confidence in his new style of counterattacking after being pushed back. "Unlike yesterday, I think my lower body was stable," he said, nodding.