The 9th Annual Akita International Sumo Basho (第九回秋田県国際相撲場所) is a charity sumo tournament that was held on June 22nd by the Akita Association of JETs. Every year JETs and friends gather from all across Tohoku (and some farther still) to decide who was worthy of the title of Akita's Yokozuna.
Rikishi (participants): ¥500. Arrive no later than 9:30. Upon arrival, volunteers assisted with putting on the mawashi, explaining the rules governing the bouts, and gave tips on how to fight.
The Men's tournament consisted of 12 men who were divided into 2 groups. After the initial 5 rounds the top 3 wrestlers from each group were assigned numbers from 1 through 6. These 6 men went through 3 rounds to decide the top 2 who then proceeded to the final.
The Women's tournament consisted of 5 women. The fights were broken into two sessions, with each wrestler fighting 2 fights per session. The two highest scoring wrestlers proceeded to the final.
Officials
The officiating for the 2013 tournament, as well as special prize decisions was overseen by past and present Akita JETs:
Head Referee/Head Judge - Bryan Barber ('04-'09)
Head Referee/Head Judge - Pat Costello ('07-'11)
Ring-side Judge - Delmer Lopez ('08-'13)
Ring-side Judge - Daniel Dooher ('06-'10)
Taiko Performance
Gojōme Tenshō Taiko (五城目天翔太鼓) played 2 songs during the opening ceremony. Video
Publicity
The Akita Sakigake Newspaper once again came and covered the tournament. Below is the original text and translation of the article that appeared in the June 23rd edition of the newpaper.
Sakigake Article (Main: Adrain Qais vs Padraig de Cléir, Sub: Kazune Hasegawa passing water to Neil Mac Taidhg)
After the men's opening round Dean, with a perfect score of 5-0, and Doug and Todd with scores of 4-1, had secured their positions in the semi-finals. But with four men tied on a 3-2 record we needed to eliminate one, as only six could progress. It was decided that whoever lost two playoff bouts in a row will be eliminated. Janken was used to decide the first 2 fights, and the two losers would then fight each other.
Canada
United States
Ireland
2013 Basho
2013 Basho
Group Photo 1
Group Photo 2
Scoreboard
