The banzuke was released for the September basho, so let's take a look and make some predictions for the upcoming tournament.
See the full official banzuke here.
First off, let's take a look at how I did last time. (Previous predictions article here)
+ I said a healthy Terunofuji was better than everyone else. And I was right.
= I expected a healthy-ish Takakeisho to get his 8 and retain ozeki. He clearly wasn't healthy-ish.
= I expected Kirishima to get 10 and get back to ozeki, but secretly hoped he wouldn't. I'm calling that a push.
+ I said Abi isn't good enough to get to ozeki and feel correct in that. I also said Onosato would have to wait for September for a real ozeki push, and was right again.
+ I said Mitakeumi would struggle because he was over promoted. I was right.
- I thought Wakabrotoharu would do better ... Something was definitely troubling him.
+ I said Asanoyama could do some damage at M12, but also said he can't stay healthy. He then proceded to tear up his knee and is going to slide down the rankings again while he recovers. I was right again.
+ I said Wakatakakage would do well and he sure did. I love you WTK!
So I was mostly accurate in my predictions. You can trust me, I'm an expert. Now onto our predictions for wacky Aki 2024.
Sanyaku
Terunofuji won in July to get the YDC and JSA off his back for another couple of tournaments. I fully expect him to pull out of Aki if the first few days don't go his way. He's had some knee issues during jungyo and his diabetes is flaring up again, so take some time off, champ.
Hoshoryu and Kotozakura are the last ozeki standing. I really want one of them to win the title this time. If Teru pulls out one of them has to be considered the favorite ...
... or perhaps Onosato. He had a bit of a letdown in July after his May yusho, but I think he'll come back with a clearer head and more focused approach at Aki. He needs 12 wins to get to 33 and have a case for ozeki. If he gets 12-13 and wins another yusho they pretty much have to promote him even with a "weak" 9 wins sandwiched in between two yusho.
Takakeisho has his chance to get 10 wins at sekiwake to jump back to up ozeki, but I'm afraid I don't have much confidence he'll be able to do it. He looked pretty awful in July as his neck injury has sapped away all of the power in his thrusts. He'd probably be wise to take time off and really recover and then fight back up the rankings again, but after being ozeki for nearly 5 years falling down to juryo or makushita probably isn't too appealing. We'll have to see what happens.
Maegashira
Takanosho fought out of his mind in July and secured 12 wins and a jun yusho, but he probably falls back to earth in September. When he's "on" he can clearly be pretty darn good, but he hasn't been "on" very consistently for the last few years so I don't have much confidence in him.
Not much to say about the rest of the maegashira. Happy to see Wakatakakage up at M7e. He should put up a good number again. Roga is up to his career best M10w, so he'll probably get wrecked this time.
Cool to see Onokatsu and Shirokuma make their top division debuts. I'm rooting for them.
How the hell did Nishikifuji hold on at M17?!? It's the same rank he had last time and he went 6-9. He absolutely 100% should have been demoted to juryo with that record. Onosho at Juryo 1w and Nishikifuji probably should have their positions swapped, but the banzuke is like twisted black magic that no one fully understands.
Bonus Kachi Clash picks!
- Hoshoryu
- Onosato
- Wakamotoharu
- Wakatakakage
- Shirokuma
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