[Magus978]

As I did for day 2, I'll do a running commentary for day 3 as I watch the video.

- Terutsuyoshi making it look easy against Kaisei to stay perfect. Wouldn't be surprised if Kaisei ends up being in danger of relegation from the top division after this tournament, if he isn't already.

- Enho's smaller than me! I'm 6', 254 lbs! I should have gone into Sumo. He and his opponent Kotoyuki having a hard time getting the timing right on the start, but Enho succeeds with the counter and pulls off a victory against his far bigger opposition!

- Toyonoshima and Yago seem to be on the same path as far as their record goes. Someone's gotta win here, and it's Yago in a slow-paced battle of mawashi-holding.

- Chiyomaru and Kagayaki, both 1-1, looking for a little momentum coming off of losses on day 2. They've faced off 10 times already, with Chiyomaru getting the better of it 6-4. This time, it's Kagayaki getting the better of Chiyomaru despite a sound slapping technique applied by Chiyomaru.

- Tochiozan faces Sadanoumi, both coming off wins. Both have been fixtures in the Maegashira ranks for awhile. Sadanoumi made it look easy with his lift technique, getting a good grip on his opponent's mawashi and just brute-forcing him out.

- First battle of undefeateds on the day, as Kotoeko faces off with Takagenji. Both at Maegashira 10, could make some noise. Takagenji makes it quick and goes to 3-0 in impressive fashion. Could he make a run at a big jump up the Maegashira ranks?

- How about a battle of 0-2's next? We've got Nishikigi against Daishoho. Daishoho finding life tough a little higher up the Maegashira ranks, and just found it even tougher because Nishikigi emerges victorious and finds a win waiting for him. In the end, he reversed a potential switch and was able to power him out.

- Onosho and Okinoumi meet in an early must-win for Okinoumi. Early slapping, but in the end I think Onosho thought a bit ahead and might have tripped over himself, and as a result Okinoumi is happy to pick up the pieces. Both fighters move to 1-2.

- Tomokaze enjoying his bouts against fellow Maegashira, as he's 2-0. Today he faces off with 1-1 Shohozan. I love Tomokaze's slap technique here, they come fast and furious and in the end Shohozan just couldn't keep up. Tomokaze establishing himself as an early contender at 3-0.

- Chiyotairu's got tournament-winning size, and so far he's got early tournament winning form at 2-0. His opponent, Shimanoumi, doesn't have the form in this event, but has had 4 straight kachi-koshi coming into this tournament. He'll have to do better if he wants to make it 5 in a row. It's Chiyotairu who comes out extremely fast...but he falls! Used his opponent's momentum against him, and so much for that tournament-winning form of Chiyotairu.

- Myogiru and Takarafuji on the same paths at the moment at 1-1. Takarafuji's got the left arm taped up, or that could just be an elbow pad. As for the match itself, Myogiru gets the advantage after a very small stumble and moves to 2-1.

- Meisei vs Ichinojo got interrupted for some sort of news break. Via replay, however, we see that Ichinojo let Meisei tire himself out, and it was just a matter of lifting by the mawashi until he was out of the ring.

- Former Ozeki Kotoshogiku faces off with Daieisho. Daieisho is an interesting case...he was Maegashira 2 the past two tournaments, but after a pair of 7-8 runs he only dropped 1 rank. Needs to have a winning record this tournament to restart a challenge for Komusubi rank...but he won't do it with performances like that. Kotoshogiku made it look pretty easy.

- Abi's road through the tournament gets somewhat easier now as he faces Maegashira 3 ranked fighter Shodai, who's at 2-0 and looking for more. Abi's slap technique gets the job done here, and if he can do that to his next few opponents, he can get right back on track for a kachi-koshi and more.

- Now we get to see some Sekiwake action. Tamawashi returned to Sekiwake rank after a nice tournament last time out, facing off against Mitakeumi, who was promoted after a 9-6 record last basho. It's Mitakeumi who strengthens his prospects of staying at this rank with a win.

- Endo faces his second Ozeki of the tournament in Takayasu. Both are 1-1. They both take a nasty spill out of the ring, but I think it's Takayasu who won it as Endo's ankle went to the ground before Takayasu flew out of the ring...but hold it! We've got ourselves a mono-ii! The judges have a little talksie, and they've decided that we're doing this until we get it right! Rematch time! Cue the fast forward!

- Endo's ready to go...and now so is Takayasu...well, maybe Endo was a bit too ready. Let's try that again, kids. In fact, Endo was so ready that he bounced off of Takayasu and seconds later, hit the ground. Oops.

- Aoiyama, the Bulgarian, is 2-0 and faces off with Ozeki Goeido. I believe the rule is that Aoiyama can get back to Komusubi if he has a kachi-koshi. Instead, Goeido doesn't stick to the script and just overruns Aoiyama.

- Ryuden faces off with the injured Tochinoshin. The Georgian is really favoring that knee. Ryuden exposes the weakened Tochinoshin and gets him down with the Uwatedashinage (Bless you!). Tochinoshin should really consider dropping out and focus on getting himself healthy for the next basho, where I believe Conn Chris mentioned that he would be kadoban again.

- Have a little sympathy for Hokutofuji, who's 0-2 with probably the most brutal 3-day schedule I've seen in awhile. An Ozeki on day 1, Yokozuna Kakuryu on day 2, and now he's gotta deal with Hakuho. His road back to Komusubi may be impossible at this point if he can't find a way to win here. Hokutofuji puts on a great show, but in the end it's Hakuho who gets the win in a very exciting bout.

- Main Event time! The second of our two Yokozunas, Kakuryu, battles Asanoyama, another Maegashira who you should have great sympathy for as he's on the same path as Hokutofuji. However, unlike Hokutofuji, Asanoyama managed a win against his Ozeki opponent Goeido on day 1. It'll be a long road to hoe if he wants to make Komusubi. No shame in losing to Kakuryu though. Nevertheless, it was easy for Kakuryu here.

- Looking at the standings, we have two wrestlers who appear to be absent for this basho. Takakeisho, an Ozeki, and Maegashira 11 Toshikaze. Have to think Takakeisho will be kadoban for the next tournament he competes in. We're down to 7 undefeateds, and two of them are among the lowest of the low in the Maegashira rankings in Terutsuyoshi (M16) and Enho (M14). Another double-digit Maegashira who's in the hunt early on is M10 Takagenji.