YDC Soken

[Moti Dichne]

The YDC Soken was held today as promised, open to the public as promised. The highlight was Houshouryuu, who had 22 bouts, going 18-4 and was praised by the chairman for this. Chairman Oshima Tadamori (78), a former member of the House of  Representatives, expressed his satisfaction with the Yokozuna , who was dominant and showed his presence, as they say in Corsica.. The event was open to the public free of charge, and about 5,500 fans were there. "It was a very promising training session. I think it will be an exciting basho,"  said the Chairman. Regarding the Yokozuna, he said, "He showed a dominant presence. His body was firm." He praised the Yokozuna, who had a winning record of 8 -1 against the current tournament champion and Yokozuna wannabe Oonosato and 7-3 against Kotozakura, saying, "He showed his strength as a Yokozuna even in training with both Ozeki." He did not say much about the two Ozeki, who both had a total of 16 matches with 6 wins and 10 losses, save some words of encouragement.  "I hope they will do their best in their preparations for the basho." Houshouryuu was also 1-0 against Daieishou and 2-0 against Wakatakakage.

So Oonosato who hasn't trained these last six days showed up and was a mediocre 6-10. He faced only sanyaku rikishi, doing especially poorly against Houshouryuu, 1-8. He wanted to show the members of the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee and the approximately 5,500 fans who gathered that he was "fully qualified" to become a Yokozuna, but it seems that he failed . There was one match where he fully demonstrated his strength against Houshouryuu, getting his right hand in and using his horsepower to push him out. However, that was the only match he won against the Yokozuna. He was pushed back by Houshouryuu's low, sharp tachiai  and overwhelmed by his athleticism. He was pushed and thrown with such force that he flew out of the dohyo. After the session, he reflected on the lack of harmony between the movements of his upper and lower body, saying, "I'm still all over the place. There are a lot of things that aren't good." It had been six days since he last did sumo, since the jungyo in Yokohama on April 26th. He was absent from the rengo-keiko of his Nishonoseki Ichimon, which was held the day before, due to poor health. He did not disclose details, saying, "I think I'm fine now," but also admitted, "I'm behind." His slow progress was clearly obvious with that 1-8 against Houshouryuu.. Still, he was optimistic "On the contrary, it's good that it happened now. It wasn't right before the basho and I'm glad there's one more week, so I'll look at it positively." He vowed to not only improve his technique but also not to neglect building up his body.