M-League 2020 Finals: Games #3-4

Game #3

Drawing Pains

May 11, Game 1

In Game #3 of the M-League finals, the wins couldn’t be found and everyone had difficulty finding tenpai.

In E1-0, both Aki and Hinata are iishanten at the start of the 2nd row and at the end of the 2nd row, Hinata gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen wait. The hand ends up going to ryuukyoku with Hinata the only one tenpai.

In E2-2, An early riichi on a 7s dora tanki wait from Murakami causes a simple fold for everyone and that hand ends in a ryuukyoku with Murakami the only one tenpai.

In E3-3, Hinata the dealer starts out with a 2-shanten hand with a chane at iipeikou. By the end of the 1st row, Sawazaki joins in with an iishanten hand with a chance at sanshoku along with pinfu. The first of the two to get to tenpai is Sawazaki, who calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen wait with an embedded sanshoku (though all of his waits are being used up). By the end of the 2nd row, Hinata is also tenpai and waiting on a 3s kanchan wait with two dora in hand. Despite the riichi, she keeps pushing her hand. With a kan by Aki, she shifts the haitei and ends the hand early, bring the hand to ryuukyoku with Sawazaki and Hinata both tenpai

In E3-4, The closest to tenpai by the end of the 1st row is a 2-shanten hand, with iishanten only being achieved by the end of the 2nd row. Even with everyone iishanten by the start of the 3rd row, the tiles were unkind to everyone. That hand ended in ryuukyoku with nobody in tenpai.

Timing is Everything

May 11, Game 1, E2-1

In E2-1, the scores a still fairly close. Aki the dealer starts out with the fastest hand at iishanten by turn 3. However, it was Sawazaki who was the first to get to tenpai, calling riichi on a 14s ryanmen wait at the end of the 1st row. Aki continues to push her hand and by the middle of the 2nd row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan wait. Her timing couldn’t be better, as Sawazaki throws the 4m on the ippatsu turn and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 1 for 7,700+300, plus 2,000 in riichi sticks.

Just One is Enough

Game 1, May 11, S1-0

In S1-0, Sawazaki is in last place and 10,000 behind 3rd place Murakami. Holding 4 pairs in his starting hand, it looks as if his hand would be a chiitoi. However, his first few draws line up perfectly to convert his hand into a standard hand, getting to iishanten by the end of the 1st row. At the start of the 2nd row, Sawazaki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p/White Dragon shanpon wait. At worst, the hand can pick up 1,300 if he rons off of the 3p. However, a tsumo on the white dragon would allow him to get a mangan and take him to 3rd place. The standard folding procedure takes place from the early riichi, but Murakami does try to get to advance his hand gets to tenpai late in the 3rd row. As the wall depletes, it seems like it will be yet another hand that will go to ryuukyoku. However, on Sawazaki’s very last draw, he finds the white dragon he so desperately needed. Sawazaki wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanankou/White Dragon for 2,000/4,000.

Furiten Doesn’t Matter If You Tsumo

Game 1, May 11, S3-0

In S3-0, Hinata is in 1st place, but only by 500 points. With 4th place only 8,500 away, she would like to have some breathing room before the game goes to S4. Everyone starts out with generally standard hands, with nothing particularly interesting to start. However, everyone moves their hand quite well and everyone gets to iishanten by the middle of the 2nd row. By the end of the 2nd row, the sight is familiar, as everyone had been iishanten before in E3-4 and nobody got to tenpai. The tenpai drought ended when Murakami gets to tenpai on a 58p in the 3rd row. Soon after, Hinata gets to tenpai and stays dama on a furiten 69s ryanmen wait. It seem perfect, with the 6s being dora and the 9s giving sanshoku, but her 9s discard on turn 4 puts her furiten. On her very next draw, she finds the 9s to bypass the furiten and win the hand. Hinata wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 4,000 all to put her in the clear lead.

Final Scores

Standings

After game three, marking the quarter-way point of the finals, the Shibuya Abemas’ score and the Kadokawa Sakura Knights’ score hasn’t changed much since the start of the finals. The EX Furinkazan and Akasaka Drivens have switched places since the start, but both are a bit disappointed that they aren’t closer to the top of the pack. With the result of this game, the EX Furinkazan is particularly disappointed for losing ground on the top spot after yesterday’s good performance.

Intro | Game #3 | Game #4