Highlights
First Hand of the Year
October 4, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0 of the very first game of M-League 2021, Sonoda starts out with two red dora and a regular dora, while dealer Matsumoto sets himself up for ittsuu. By the end of the 1st row, everyone is 2-shanten. The first to get to iishanten is Matsugase with a wide iishanten. In the middle of the 2nd row, Matsugase gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 5s tanki. The first to call riichi is Okada, who calls riichi on a 4p kanchan near the end of the 2nd row. Later, Matsugase gets to tenpai on a 258p wait. With Matsumoto and Sonoda bailing, the hand went along to its natural end. The hand goes to a draw with Okada and Matsugase the only ones tenpai.
Tactical Hit
October 4, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, the fight for the top is close, with 2nd place Taro being only 7,000 points away from 1st place Hinata. Taro starts out with a 2-shanten hand with the potential to be able to surpass Hinata (with the double dora 5p). By turn 3, Taro is iishanten. On turn 5, Hinata tries to extend her dealership and prevent Taro from catching up by making a second pair of yakuhai, but is still too far in shanten. Soon after, Taro also gets to tenpai waiting dama on a 7s/8s shanpon. Not calling riichi is an interesting choice, as a ron from anyone other than Hinata wouldn’t be enough. However, staying dama also allows him to Target and have a chance at improving the wait. His gamble pays off, as Hinata she deals in the 7s while she tries to push her hand. Taro wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,200+600 to win the game.
Deadly Dama
October 5, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Kobayashi is the dealer, though nobody starts out with anything particularly interesting. Holds a pair of red dragons and some blocks being 2-shanten, Takizawa is the only player to have some semblance of potential progress and value. The first few turns provide useful draws and by the end of the 1st row, everyone but Kobayashi the dealer is iishanten. The player to get to tenpai first is Hagiwara, who stays dama on a 5p yakuless kanchan. In the middle of the 2nd row, Kobayashi gets his chance at good tiles and gets to tenpai on a 14s ryanmen wait. With the 1s giving a sanshoku haneman and the 4s giving a dealer mangan, Kobayashi stays dama to catch someone off guard. A few turns later, Kayamori deals the 1s takame into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 1 big 18,000 point win.
Hagiwara Highlight
October 5, Game 1, S4-0
In S4-0, Hagiwara is in 3rd place and is 1,400 from 2nd and 7,800 from 1st. He starts out with a pair of east dora, being a non-yakuhai and the potentialy to be used for a pinfu hand. On turn 5, Hagiwara is iishanten for a probable pinfu and a chance at sanshoku. At the start of the 2nd row, Hagiwara adds the potential for chanta as well. Near the end of the 2nd row, both Hagiwara and Kobayashi are iishanten for sanshoku. Near the start of the 3rd row, Hagiwara draws a 3rd dora. Though killing his pinfu and sanshoku, it does give him a tenpai hand and he calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen wait. A few turns later, Kayamori calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen wait. On Hagiwara’s very last hand, he draws the 4m to win the hand. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3 for 2,000/4,000 and wins the game.
Down to the Wire
October 5, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, the scores are very close. The distance between 3rd place Uotani and 1st place Mizuhara is 3,400. At the start of the hand, Uotani starts out with a big iishanten hand and has a chance at a 3-sided wait by turn 2. On turn 5, Kurosawa joins the battle and gets a really wide iishanten. At the end of the 1st row, Uotani gets to tenpai on a 258m and calls riichi, looking like the clear winner. However, Kurosawa challenges her by calling a pon and waits on a 258p sanmenchan of her own. Turn by turn, the suspense became unbearable. Near the end of the hand, Kurosawa draws the 8p. Kurosawa wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1 for 500+200/1,000+200 to win the game by 1,900.
Honda Highlight
October 7, Game 1, S1-0
In S1-0, Honda is in 2nd place an the dealer. His hand develops quickly, being iishanten by turn 3 and challenging the speed of Murakami who was iishanten with his starting hand. On turn 5, Honda gets to tenpai on a 5p/2m shanpon wait. He decides to stay dama to have the chance to add pinfu and sanshoku to his Tanyao/Aka 1 hand. The very next turn, he draws the 3m and he calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen wait. If Honda wins on the 4m, he would get a dealer haneman and catapult him into the lead. At the start of the 2nd row, Murakami gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 9m dora tanki. If Murakami draws the 9m, he would have the shortcut to haneman. Haneman chance versus haneman chance, the moments after Murakami’s riichi were tense. However, Honda drew the 4m a few turns later to win the hand. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, plus Murakami’s riichi stick. With the hand, he goes into 1st place and he eventually wins the game in his first ever M-League appearance.
The Kill
October 8, Game 2, S2-0
In S2-0, Date is the dealer and in 2nd place. She starts out with an amazing starting hand, holding an ankou of the dora red dragon and at 3-shanten. Challenging her in both value and speed is Rumi, who holds two red dora and a tanyao-centric hand. Through the first row, Date struggles a bit to advance her hand, but Rumi manages to make progress. Near the start of the 2nd row, Rumi gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 7s kanchan wait, hoping to improve the hand to a two or possibly three-sided wait. As she waits, she feed Date a 3p to finish her ryanmen for iishanten. Soon after, Asakura discards the 9s and Date calls pon on it to get to tenpai on an 8s kanchan wait. When Rumi draws the 5s, she calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen wait, hoping to draw it herself or get uradora for the haneman. However, she throws the 8s in order to do that and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 3 for 12,000, plunging Rumi down to -10,700.
The Revenge
October 8, Game 2, S3-1
In S3-1, nobody starts out with a particularly interesting starting hand. However, by the 2nd row, hands were beginning to take shape. Both Date and Rumi have chiitoi in their sights, with Asakura and Sawazaki close behind. By the end of ther 2nd row, all of them are iishanten. The first player to get to tenpai is Rumi, who discards the 5p to wait on the 3s tanki. Immediately after, Date gets to tenpai and has to choose between a 3s tanki or a green dragon tanki. Because the green dragon is more dangerous due to the lack of them discarded, she chooses to wait on that and throw the 3s, thereby dealing into Rumi. Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 12,000+300.
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