M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #11-12 and the Awards Ceremony

Game #11

Defusing the Bomb

April 26, Game 1, E4-0

In E4-0, Date is in 1st place and the dealer and holding a small lead. She starts the hand out 4-shanten and lacking in any good shapes or value. Through the first row, she completes a sequence and gets to 2-shanten, but her hand is full of kanchans. On turn 8, Date fills in a kanchan for iishanten. On turn 9, Date has a chance to take a kanchan tenpai, but she chooses not to take the 6s wait in order to get something better. On turn 11, Date gets to tenpai on a better wait and calls riichi on a 34m wait.

At this point, Shiratori is tenpai and dama on a 3p kanchan. Already having a yaku and a guaranteed mangan he stays dama. On turn 12, Shiratori draws a red 5p to have all three of the red 5’s. With a guaranteed haneman, Shiratori decides to call riichi on a 36p ryanmen with a chance at baiman if he draws it himself.

With Shiratori holding an explosive hand, Date wants to end the hand before Shiratori can win. Within the ippatsu turn, Date draws the 3m and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo for 1,000 all (plus Shiratori’s riichi stick).

Shortcut to Haneman

April 26, Game 1, S1-2

In S1-2, Date is in 1st place and wanting to extend the lead. She starts the hand off 3-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand with an isolated south dora. On turn 3, Date draws a 4th pair. At the end of the row, Date confirms chiitoi as she gets to iishanten. On turn 9, she draws her 6th pair and calls riichi on a south tanki. With nobody ever daring to throw the yakuhai dora, Date’s only hope to win is to draw it herself. Though Shiratori continues to push and ends up chasing her with a riichi in the middle of the 3rd row, Date ends up drawing the south within the first go-around to win. Date wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 3,000+200/6,000+200, plus two riichi sticks to put her above 40,000.

Riichi Battle

April 26, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Shiratori is in 4th place after suffering the dealer penalty on Date’s haneman tsumo. Being 8,400 behind 3rd place, Shiratori starts the hand 3-shanten with two completed sequences and a red 5m. Within three turns, 3rd place Kondo causes problems for Shiratori when he calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.

With few safe tiles and being in 4th place, Shiratori continues to push his hand. On turn 5, Shiratori gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. At the start of the 2nd row, Shiratori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.

With each player trying to win their team the championship, they both put their fates to the wall. On turn 10, Kondo draws and discards the 6s, dealing into Shiraotri. Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,00, plus Kondo’s riichi stick. With the win, Shiratori moves into 3rd place and comes within 1,600 for 2nd place.

Moving Up

April 26, Game 1, S3-1

In S3-1, Shiratori is in 3rd place and 3,600 behind 2nd place. With 2,300 in bonus sticks available to be won, even a cheap hand can put Shiratori ahead. He starts the hand off 2-shanten with a pair of green dragons and an ankou of 9m. In the first row, Shiratori struggles to advance, but does give himself two ryanmens. At the end of the row, Shiratori calls pon on the green dragon to get to iishanten. Two turns later, Shiratori calls chii to get to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen. A few turns after that, Shiraotri draws the 7s and wins the hand. Shiratori wins the hand with Green Dragon only for 1,300+300. Adding two riichi sticks, Shiratori managed to get just enough points to move into 2nd place, just 1,000 points ahead of Uchikawa.

Final Scores

Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s1_p216
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1518896386988965888

Standings

With Date’s 1st place, she helps her team end on a positive note. By taking top spot, she also ensures that the other three remain close, making for a close battle.

Intro | Game #11 | Game #12
Awards Ceremony | Final Thoughts