Training news-Houshouryuu and Kotozakura

[Moti Dichne]

Yokozuna Houshouryuu went to Isegahama beya today for degeiko, where he showed off his excellent condition, winning 12 and losing 3 out of 15 matches against Maegashira Hakuouhou and Atamifuji. As he had declared yesterday, he intends to go for degeiko daily from today. He chose his first degeiko to be at Isegahama beya, saying, "It's the first time since the joint training camp we had (at Isegahama ) when I was in the Sandanme or Makushita," he said.   He participated in keiko at Isegahama for the first time in about 6 or 7 years. He broke out in a big sweat in the outdoor ring while the former Yokozuna Isegahama Oyakata  who became the new Oyakata at the heya from this tournament, looked on. He won all 4 matches against Hakuouhou, the first sekitori he chose. In the second bout, Houshouryuu put his hand down and Hakuouhou flew outside the ring at almost the same time, which was a close call, but after the session Hakuouhou admitted that he had lost that one. Houshouryuu overwhelmed Hakuouhou by using his abundant energy to throw him with an uwatedashinage, and showed a sharp tachiai to win by yorikiri, demonstrating his true abilities. The next opponent he called out was Atamifuji, against whom he has a losing record of 3-5.in honbasho so far. Perhaps due to his feeling that this opponent has figured him out, he was unable to apply pressure from the start, resulting in three losses to him, but he also showed good movement in many instances, like using the whole dohyo to counterattack and turn the tables even when pressure was applied. After the session, Houshouryuu said, "It's good. It's before the basho, so I just wanted to avoid injury and put up a good fight. It's been a while since I've practiced with someone from another heya," he explained, wiping the sweat off his brow with a good feeling, as the temperature had soared to nearly 35 degrees by the time he returned home.

Ozeki Kotozakura is suffering from neck pains and did not do any sumo today. Yesterday he faced Wakatakakage and others but as evening fell and birds could be heard the pain set in. "I have no idea what brought this about but i intend to train from tomorrow and onwards," he said.   This year he has not performed well so far, with five, eight and eight wins, but in June he has focused on basic exercises such as shiko and suriashi in an effort to make a comeback. With a heatwave expected over the weekend, he spoke optimistically, saying, "I have to think about the number of bouts, but sometimes my body moves better in the heat."