Rikishi Summary - Kaiho to Kyokutenho

To be included in this summary, a rikishi must:

The text below each rikishi's entry is my brief commentary - please try not to take the words too seriously.

Kaiho

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    97   48   32   27   54.2%    6.20    5.57
    98   31   44   46   48.9%    5.69    5.86

'98 comments
He has the kind of fighting spirit that can get him to a high maegashira rank, and the body to send him right back down.

Kaio

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95    5   46   29   61.3%   12.02   10.32
    96    4   60   30   66.7%   12.99   10.49
    97    7   36   32   52.9%   11.01   10.57
    98   10   45   45   50.0%    9.90    9.90
'97 comments
The best sekiwake in the past three years, clearly. Even with his lesser performances since his injury, he is still a top 10 rikishi. Toughest schedule over the past 3 years as well.
'98 comments
I don't think you can say "once he recovers from his injury, he'll be gunning for ozeki" anymore. This year will be very pivotal in shaping how the remainder of his career will go.

Kasugafuji

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   28   38   37   50.7%    7.33    7.23
    96   62   21   39   35.0%    4.28    6.53
'97 comments
I remember most rikishi after they retire, but for some reason I draw blanks with Kasugafuji. My apologies.

Kenko

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95    9   37   38   49.3%   10.20   10.30
    96   16   40   50   44.4%    8.53    9.37
    97   23   18   27   40.0%    7.59    9.09
'97 comments
A good rikishi, and a better person. He will be missed.

Kinkaiyama

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    98   30   53   37   58.9%    5.88    4.55
'98 comments
According to the numbers, he should be able to thrive in makuuchi. That hasn't happened yet.

Kirishima

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   39   34   41   45.3%    6.88    7.58
'97 comments
That's the problem when you do these ratings: you have to start somewhere. Thus, Kirishima's career gets condensed into one year as "dude ranked #39."

Kitakachidoki

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   32   36   39   48.0%    7.19    7.49
    96   39   38   52   42.2%    6.87    8.03
    97   33   42   48   46.7%    7.19    7.69
    98   49   39   51   43.3%    3.84    4.84
'97 comments
Still hanging on.
'98 comments
A return to Makuuchi is out of the question, I think.

Konishiki

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   30   32   43   42.7%    7.24    8.34
    96   34   41   49   45.6%    7.19    7.86
    97   43   35   48   42.2%    6.63    7.81
'97 comments
To me, the impressive thing was that towards the end of his career, you always heard how sick Konishiki was, or how his knees were bothering him. But he really didn't miss that many matches at all.

Kotobeppu

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   45   29   46   38.7%    6.58    8.28
    96   46   37   53   41.1%    6.59    7.92
    97   62   27   47   36.5%    3.88    5.91
'97 comments
Even before his dive into juryo, he really wasn't very good at all.

Kotoinazuma

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   14   38   37   50.7%    8.54    8.44
    96   45   35   55   38.9%    6.62    8.29
    97   26   39   51   43.3%    7.47    8.47
    98   44   39   51   43.3%    4.29    5.29
'97 comments
The rankings are a little slanted for Kotoinazuma. '95 was his climb to sanyaku, and '96 is when he came crashing down. His current #27 is a pretty fair estimate of where he belongs.
'98 comments
Well, this has to be it, right?

Kotonishiki

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95    7   34   26   56.7%   11.55   10.55
    96    8   48   42   53.3%   11.08   10.58
    97   16   38   52   42.2%    8.64    9.80
    98    9   47   31   60.3%   10.03    8.74
'97 comments
For whatever reason, '97 was not a good year for Kotonishiki. In '98, he will either be like Takatoriki (doing OK) or Akinoshima (going down).
'98 comments
If you take away his Kyushu yusho, Kotonishiki didn't have that great of a year. I don't see how '99 can be nearly as good.

Kotonowaka

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   11   37   38   49.3%    9.92   10.02
    96   15   39   51   43.3%    9.33   10.33
    97   19   39   48   44.8%    7.91    8.68
    98   12   49   41   54.4%    9.66    9.00
'97 comments
Kind of like Asahiyutaka: made it sanyaku, people expect him to get back there, it probably won't happen.
'98 comments
Kotonowaka really turned it around in the second half of '98. If he can sustain it, I don't see why he can't have another good year.

Kotoryu

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   41   22   18   55.0%    6.78    6.03
    96   19   53   37   58.9%    8.02    6.68
    97   22   44   46   48.9%    7.71    7.88
    98   29   41   49   45.6%    5.98    6.65
'97 comments
His placement on this list surprised me. I didn't think much of him, but who knows, maybe he'll be around for a while.
'98 comments
He'll probably be able to stick around as long as he avoids a serious injury.

Kushimaumi

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   54   26   31   45.6%    5.94    6.60
    96   48   43   47   47.8%    5.90    6.23
    97   41   47   43   52.2%    6.69    6.36
    98   56   37   38   49.3%    3.42    3.63
'97 comments
Wow, if you didn't know any better, you'd think that this was a youngster showing slow but steady improvement. His return to makuuchi in '97 was an anomoly - he only has a couple of years left in him.
'98 comments
Kushimaumi retired in '98.

Kyokudozan

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   50   32   43   42.7%    6.16    7.26
    96   37   37   38   49.3%    7.08    7.18
'97 comments
His retirement has always given me a funny feeling. He's the only rikishi I've seen (in my quite limited experience) retire "just 'cuz." Sure, he retired to pursue a political career, but almost everybody retires because they are demoted to a level they find unacceptable (or get sick).

Kyokushuzan

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    95   51   18   19   48.6%    6.15    6.35
    96   17   55   35   61.1%    8.23    6.56
    97   17   36   54   40.0%    8.11    9.61
    98   24   39   51   43.3%    6.40    7.40
'97 comments
His rank stayed the same in '97, even though his win-loss percentage dropped by 20 points. It's not whether you win or lose, it's who you face.
'98 comments
Now that he has to tone down his tricky (and dangerous) brand of sumo, we see he really can win against the top rankers.

Kyokutenho

  Year Rank  Win  Loss    %      PR      OPR
------------------------------------------------
    96   55   28   31   47.5%    5.23    5.61
    97   46   47   39   54.7%    6.41    5.72
    98   45   41   49   45.6%    4.06    4.72
'97 comments
People seem to have a lot of high hopes for this rikishi. He has a very "pure" style of sumo, but he needs to prove he can stay in makuuchi before he becomes "the next ozeki."
'98 comments
See above, only forget about the part where people have high hopes for him.

Comments? Let me know