M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #7-8

Game #7

Riichi Battle

April 22, Game 1, E2-2

In E2-2, Okada is the dealer and starts out 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons and 5 parts of an iipeikou. When the red dragon is discarded in the first row, Okada declines calling to keep her hand closed. On turn 2, Okada fills in a penchan to get to iishanten. On turn 4, she completes the iipeikou and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.

By this point, Kondo is iishanten with a red dora and few safe tiles, so Kondo keeps moving forward. On turn 8, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan.

The player who wins this hand will win 2,600 in bonus sticks. With the sticks at stake, there was much anticipation to see who would win. At the start of the 3rd row, Kondo draws and discards the 3p and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Iipeikou for 3,900+600 plus 2,000 in riichi sticks, putting her into 1st place.

No More Ura San

April 22, Game 1, E4-2

In E4-2, Hinata is in 3rd place and just 5,900 behind 1st place. She starts the hand out at 3-shanten with an ankou of 6m and an isolated south dora. Her hand has quite a wide acceptance, allowing her to get to iishanten by turn 3. On turn 4, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

Within the ippatsu round, Okada gets to tenpai on a closed honitsu hand, pushing her to push the hand. At the start of the 2nd row, Okada draws a 4m, which kills her honitsu, but it does connect to her red 5m and puts her into tenpai. With the closed tenpai Okada calls riichi and waits on a 36m ryanmen.

With bonus sticks up for grabs, whoever wins this hand could become 1st place. In the middle of the 2nd row, Okada draws and discards the 4m and deals into Hinata. With one flip, Hinata reveals three uradora and upgrades her 1-han hand to a mangan! Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Ura 3 for 8,000+600 (plus Okada’s riichi stick) to move into 1st place.

South 4

April 22, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s30_p1062

In S4-0, the scores are very close, with 1st place Kondo and 2nd place Hinata being separated by only 200 points. Kondo starts out 2-shanten with two 1p dora, while Hinata is 3-shanten with an ankou of red dragons and a red 5s. Already having a yaku in her hand, Hinata tries to win quickly, making a call to get to iishanten. Before the end of the row, Kondo is also iishanten. The first of the two to get to tenpai is Hinata, who calls a chii and waits on a 47p ryanmen.

Flying a bit under the radar, Okada gets to tenpai immediately after and calls riichi on a red dragon tanki.

For Kondo, being note and Hinata being tenpai would mean he moves down to second. Any tsumo by Okada would also push him to 2nd. For Hinata, being noten and Kondo being tenpai would make it harder. Being iishanten, Kondo treads carefully. At the end of the 2nd row, Kondo gets to tenpai and chooses to call riichi on a 25s ryanmen, an instant haneman if he wins on the 2s.

With an ankou of red dragons, there is temptation for Hinata to fold with it, which would be a disaster. But, Hinata resists the temptation and pushes. In the end, the hand ended in a draw with everyone but Takizawa in tenpai, pushing the game to another hand.

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In S4-1, Hinata is in 1st place after Kondo’s riichi stick pushed him below her. Kondo starts out 4-shanten, while Hinata starts out 2-shanten. However, the two of them aren’t the only ones on the table. For her starting hand, Okada is iishanten with a 1s dora. On turn 2, Okada draws a red 5p. On turn 8, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least 5 han and looking for one more han to get 1st.

With the riichi stick, Hinata decides to not challenge it, folding by breaking a sequence.

For Kondo, the calculus is much harder. If he goes noten, then he will have to settle for 2nd. However, if he pushes and deals into Okada, there is a good chance of him falling to 3rd and Okada to 1st, meaning that the Sakura Knights increase their lead. Drawing a dora, he confirms his stance to not advance and folds his hand. In the 3rd row, this is further confirmed when Takizawa calls riichi on a 9m tanki.

Both Hinata and Kondo were able to avoid both players and the hand went to a draw. With Takizawa and Okada being the only ones tenpai, Hinata stayed in 1st place, winning the game.

Final Scores

Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s1_p212
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1517474924495273984

Standings

After slipping a bit yesterday, the Shibuya Abemas bring on the challenge once again, coming within a 1st place of both the Sakura Knights and Phoenix. With Kondo and Okada coming 2nd and 3rd, respectively, they prevented their teams from falling, but will still need to keep their guard up. And, with some unfortunate deal-ins, the Konami Mahjong Fight Club drop once again.

Intro | Game #7 | Game #8