M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #7-8

Game #8

Takame

April 22, Game 2, E3-1

In E3-1, Sasaki is in 3rd place and 4,200 behind 1st place. He starts out the hand iishanten with three completed sequences. By turn 2, he has 13 different tiles that can get to tenpai. On turn 3, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147m sanmenchan. If Sasaki wins on the 1m, he will add ittsuu to his hand. Around this time, Uotani is iishanten with good shapes, so she pushes. At the end of the 1st row, Uotani tries to throw the 1m to convert to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, but ends up dealing into Sasaki. Sasaki wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Ittsuu for 8,000+300 (plus a riichi stick from the previous hand) to put him into 1st place.

Back In the Game

April 22, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Uotani is trying to get back into the game after dealing into Sasaki’s mangan. She starts the hand off 4-shanten with a pair of south yakuhai and a single 8p dora. On turn 2, she adds to her potential yakuhai by pairing up the red dragon. Before the end of the 1st row, Uotani calls pon on the south and tries to convert her hand to honitsu. In the middle of the 2nd row, Uotani gets to iishanten and calls an added kan on the south. Unfortunately, neither the kandora nor the rinshan helped her. Within a turn, Uotani makes another call to get to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen. A few turns later, Uotani draws the 1m to win the hand. Uotani wins with Honitsu/South for 1,600/3,200, putting her into 3rd place and within 3,500 of 2nd.

Ippatsu Dora Penchan

April 22, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Sasaki is in 1st place and wanting to separate himself from the rest of the pack. He starts out 3-shanten with a red 5m as his only value. Through the first row, he develops a bunch of penchans, but not much in terms of good shapes. In the 2nd row, he finds a pair to get to iishanten and gets to tenpai near the end of the row, calling riichi on a 7m tanki. On his very next draw, he finds the very last 7m in the wall and wins the hand. Sasaki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, putting 15,100 between himself and the next competitor.

Dora 3

April 22, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Uotani is in 4th place and chasing down 1st place Sasaki, needing to make up the 22,600 difference to get to 1st. She starts the hand off with an ankou of dora and a pair of souths at 2-shanten, exactly what she needed to get points. On turn 2, she gets to iishanten. On turn 3, she creates a ryanmen to improve her hand. On turn 5, she creates a sequence from the ryanmen and calls riichi on a 2p kanchan. At the start of the 3rd row, Uotani draws her 2p and wins the hand. Uotani wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 (plus one riichi stick) to move into 2nd place.

Dama Mangan

April 22, Game 2, S3-1

In S3-1, Uotani continues her quest for 1st place. She starts off the hand 3-shanten with a 1p dora and some semblance of a 123 sanshoku (though waiting on the 3 for all three of the shapes). In the first row, she completes a sequences and draws a red 5s, but still has to complete all three of her penchans. On turn 8, she draws the 3p to complete the first one and get to iishanten. Around the end of the 2nd row, Uchikawa the dealer becomes a player of concern when he calls pon on the green dragon and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.

The next turn, Uotani gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 3s penchan.

A few turns and calls later, Ooi gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen, the same as Uchikawa.

In the middle of the row, Ooi draws and discards the 3s, dealing into Uotani. Uotani wins the hand with Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000+300, plus a riichi stick to go into 1st place by 100 points.

Closing

April 22, Game 2, S4-0

In S4-0, Uotani is in the lead by the slimmest of margins, just 100 points ahead of Sasaki. To confirm a 1st, she will need to win the hand. Before she even gets her first draw, she calls pon off of Ooi’s discarded green dragon to get a yaku and put her 2-shanten. On turn 3, she calls chii for iishanten. He pursuit for 1st place is not impeded, however. Within a few turns and a few calls from 2nd place Sasaki, he gets to tenpai on a 3s kanchan.

At the end of Uotani’s 1st row, she gets to tenpai and waits on a 14p ryanmen. Within seconds, Ooi ends up discarding the 4p and deals into Uotani. Uotani wins the hand with Green Dragon only for 1,000 points, securing 1st place.

Final Scores

Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s1_p213
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1517502187290894336

Standings

After the 1st place from Uotani, the Sega Sammy Phoenix jump back to 1st place. For Sasaki his 2nd place keeps him and the Konami Mahjong Fight Club in the fight. The Kadokawa Sakura Knights dropped down to 2nd in the standings, but being only 3rd place means that they stay within a 1st of 1st. And finally, the struggles continue for Ooi, with the team stuck in 3rd place.

Well, that’s all for Day 4 and the last full week of M-League 2021-22! By the end of next week Tuesday, we will find out which team gets to raise the plate! What aggressive, defensive and extraordinary action is in store for us next week? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see! See you next week!

Intro | Game #7 | Game #8