Highlights
3s
May 1, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p751
In E2-0, Honda is the dealer in 4th place after dealing into an honour tanki the previous hand.
Honda starts out the hand 2-shanten with two secured red rives and a dora 2s. On turn 2, he creates an ankou to get to iishanten, but has to wait to fill a 7m penchan or a 3s kanchan for tenpai. On turn 5, he improves the wait slightly by drawing another 2s and making the kanchan into a 36s ryanmen. After making the 89m shape into a 9m pair and drawing a third 2s, Honda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins.
Immediately after, Shibukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen with no yaku. Unfortunately, Shibukawa would draw the 3s a few turns later to deal into Honda.
Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 2 for 18,000 plus one riichi stick, moving Honda into 1st place.
Can’t Sink the Ship
May 1, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p750
In S1-0, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 3rd place, 7,700 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 18,000 behind 1st place Honda. With the team about 148.4pts from a playoff spot, Nakabayashi needs at least a 2nd to have any good chance of advancing.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 3-shanten with no good value in his hand. With Nakabayashi’s first discard of the red dragon, Honda tells the table that he’s moving fast by calling pon, getting him to iishanten. On his very next turn, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 25p ryanmen for only one han.
With no signs of trouble round the table and being the dealer, Nakabayashi pushed without worry. On turn 5, he draws the red 5p to complete a ryanmen. On turn 8, he creates a 369m sanmenchan and gets to iishanten. Though he becomes tempted later in the hand to pare the 1223p in his hand to become a sequence with a wider wait, he chooses to keep the 2p pair for a guaranteed good wait and safer approach. Near the end of the row, Nakabayashi draws the 9m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the 8s and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving him close to the lead.
In S1-1, Nakabayshi is now 2,000 behind Honda and starts out 3-shanten with a secured 4m dora and a red 5p. The first row secures a few sequences for Nakabayashi, but otherwise leaves him without good shapes. On turn 8, he pairs up the white dragon to get to iishanten. As Nakabayashi waits for tenpai, Shiratori gets to tenpai, throws the white dragon and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.
With Shiratori’s white dragon discard, Nakabayashi calls pon to get to tenpai on a 6p kanchan. Soon after, he improves the wait to a 36p ryanmen. When Shiratori draws a fourth 9p, he calls a closed kan. Neither the rinshan nor the kandora help and the game goes on. Near the middle of the third row, Nakabayashi is able to find the 6p and win the hand. Nakabayashi wins with White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+100 plus Shiratori’s riichi stick to move into 1st place.
Speedy Mangan
May 1, Game 1, S1-2
In S1-2, Honda is in 2nd place after Nakabayashi passed him the previous hand. If he wants to retake the lead, he would have to win about a mangan.
Honda begins the hand 2-shanten with a clear tanyao hand. After Nakabayashi calls pon on his discarded south, Honda quickly gets another turn and draws the third 2s for iishanten. On his next draw, he gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 3m/4s shanpon. He improves the wait to a 47m ryanmen on his next draw and calls riichi to increase the hand’s value. On the ippatsu turn, he gets the 4m and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao for 2,000+200/4,000+200, moving back into the lead.
Back Above Water
May 1, Game 1, S2-0
In S2-0, Nakabayashi is back in 2nd place after Honda passed him the previous hand. If he wants to retake the lead, he would have to win about a mangan.
Nakabayshi starts out the hand 4-shanten with two ryanmens and two red fives. Unfortunately, neither of the red fives are secured, forcing him to wait to draw connectors. In the first row, Nakabayashi draws the red 5p and secures it and connects the red 5m, getting to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. On turn 8, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai, throws the red 5s and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, Nakabayashi draws the 7m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000, moving back into the lead.
Rise Like a Bird
May 1, Game 1
In S3-0, Shiratori is the dealer in 3rd place, 20,100 behind 2nd place Honda and 26,700 behind 1st place Nakabayashi.
From the very start, Shiratori is already iishanten with a pair of easts. With very few ways to improve his hand, all Shiratori has to do is sit and wait. On turn 5, Shiratori creates a 234p iipeikou to get to tenpai and calls riichi on an east/7s shanpon.
At this point in the hand, Nakabayashi is still 2-shanten, but has a few options for a wide wait. With no safe tiles, Nakabayashi pushes. Calling chii on the 6m at the end of the first row, he gets to iishanten and waits on 11 different tile for a tanyao tenpai. Near the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 5m/6s shanpon, hoping to end Shiratori’s dealership.
Though Nakabayashi has hope, that hope is short-lived as Shiratori draws the takame east to win the hand. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/East/Iipeikou for 4,000 all.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p744
In S3-1, Shiratori is now 4,100 behind 2nd place Honda and 10,700 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. With a mangan, Shiratori will take 1st.
Shiratori starts out the hand 3-shanten with some potential for good shapes. To his right is Shibukawa with pairs of 4m, 2s, red dragon and white dragon. In the first row, Shiratori advances to 2-shanten with some decent shapes and Shibukawa makes his 2s an ankou and draws a 3s pair, getting him to chiitoi iishanten and suuankou 2-shanten. In the second row, Shibukawa draws a south pair for a chance for tenpai. WIth his team at the bottom of the standings and Shibukawa in last place, he rejects the tenpai to aim for a potential yakuman.
Later on in the row, Shibukawa draws a fourth 2s. After holding onto it for a few turns, he decides to call kan when he pairs up the west. With his rinshan draw, he makes the red dragon an ankou and gets to iishanten, waiting on a south, west or white dragon for tenpai. As Shibukawa waits, Shiratori fills in a kanchan to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
With nowhere to go but up, Shibukawa keeps going, planning throwing every dangerous tile he draws. Near the middle of the third row, Shibukawa draws a third west. With a concealed kan of 2s and concealed triplets of west and red dragon, Shibukawa is now tenpai on a south/white dragon shanpon. He calls riichi, hoping to draw either of them for a yakuman. The hope for a comeback is alive.
Almost as quickly as it lived, the dream died. During Shibukawa’s ippatsu round, Shiratori draws the 6p and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all plus Shibukawa’s riichi stick, giving Shiratori the lead and putting Shibukawa below -10,000.
Bad Wait, Good Value
May 1, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p751
In E2-0, Yu is in 1st place after winning the previous hand. With the team in 5th place, any extension of the lead will increase the team’s chances of advancing. At the start, Yu is 4-shanten with a pair of 9m dora. To his right is Matsumoto, getting to iishanten with his very first draw. By turn 3, Matsumoto is already tenpai with a good wait and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
At first, Yu tried to play safely by throwing tiles that Matsumoto had already discarded. He broke pairs and ryanmens to try to stay out of trouble. However, as he went into the third row, his hand somehow started to form shapes. At the start of the third row, he was 2-shante with a ryanmen. A turn later, he made his 9m dora pair an ankou to get to iishanten. Two turns after that, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p wait despite only having two draws left for himself. On Matsumoto’s last draw, he draws and discards the 3p and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3 for 8,000 plus Matsumoto’s riichi stick.
Haitei
May 1, Game 2, E4-0
In E4-0, Matsumoto is the dealer in 3rd place, 4,100 behind 2nd place Kurosawa and 17,000 behind 1st place Yu.
Matsumoto starts out the hand 3-shanten with an ankou of 7s and pairs of south, green dragon and 8p. On turn 2, Matsumoto draws a red 5m to create a 36m ryanmen and be 2-shanten. On turn 3, he makes the south an ankou for iishanten. With a pon on the green dragon near the start of the second row, Matsumoto is the first to tenpai and waits on a 36m ryanmen.
Across the table from him is Uchikawa, sitting 4,700 behind Matsumoto. At this point, Uchikawa is iishanten with a very likely chanta. Soon after, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and waits on a 2s kanchan. If he wins, he will have Riichi/White Dragon/Chanta/Sanshoku for at least a haneman. Having thrown the 2s previously, he also has the suji trap on his side.
Though Matsumoto has an ankou of souths that he can use to fold, Matsumoto keeps pushing his hand with his good wait and decent value. On Matsumoto’s second-last draw, he draws a 7m. Since the 7m isn’t safe, he throws the safe 4m and switches to a 6m kanchan. On Matsumoto’s last draw, the very last tile in the wall, Matsumoto finds the 6m and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Green Dragon/Haitei/Aka 1 for 2,000 all plus one riichi sick, moving into 2nd place.
Good Wait vs. Good Wait
May 1, Game 2, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p752
In S3-1, Yu is in 1st place and sitting as the dealer. The team needs more points and this is his opportunity to do so.
Yu starts out the hand 3-shanten with multiple ryanmens and a lone 1p dora. As Yu draws tiles in the first row, he both advances his hand and has the opportunity to create complex shapes. At the start of the second row, Yu gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 1p dora tanki. A few turns later, he improves his wait to a wide 1236s wait and calls riichi.
Immediately after, Matsumoto fills in a kanchan to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258p wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if it wins.
Between the two riichi players, there are seven different winning tiles. Naturally, the standoff was quickly resolved. On Matsumoto’s ippatsu turn, he draws and discards the 6s and deals into Yu. Yu win the hand with Riichi/Iipeikou for 3,900+300 plus Matsumoto’s riichi stick.
Mistakes and Perfect Play
May 2, Game 1, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p1101
In E2-1, Matsugase is the dealer in 1st and Nakabayashi is 10,000 behind in 2nd place.
Matsugase starts out the hand 5-shanten with two red fives while Setokuma and Nakabayashi are 2-shanten (Setokuma for a standard hand, Nakabayashi for chiitoi). In the first row, Matsugase pushes his hand to 2-shanten with better shapes, Setokuma advances to iishanten and Nakabayashi’s hand is flexible to go between a standard hand and chiitoi. In the second row, Nakabayashi calls pon on the 8s to confirm a standard hand. By the end of the row, all four players are iishanten, all waiting for the right tiles for tenpai. In the third row, Matsugase calls chii to be the first to tenpai, waiting on a 47s nobetan.
A turn later, Matsugase draws the 6p.With the 6p being a fishy tile and one that looks to win a bit more easily, Matsugase switches to a 6p tanki.
A few turns after that, Nakabayashi discards the 4p. Calling pon, Setokuma discards the 7s and gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen.
On Setokuma’s right, he hears a voice calling ron. Just as Matsugase is about to reveal his hand, he realizes that he switched his wait a few turns ago! The game paused, the referee chimed in. Because declared that Matsugase a false ron but did not reveal his hand, Matsugase now had a dead hand. With a dead hand, Matsugase is not allowed to make any calls or declare himself tenpai at the end of a draw.
With Matsugase’s hand officially declared dead, the game continued. On Nakabayashi’s draw, he gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.
With the hand nearing the end, it seemed like the game would go to a draw. Then, on the last tile of the hand, Nakabayashi draws the 2m. The tile is dangerous, but Nakabayashi is tenpai. No matter which tenpai he takes, he will deal in. However, taking tenpai will give him at most 1,500 and taking noten will lose him at most -1,500.
Since he doesn’t want to aid Setokuma, Nakabayashi decides to fold with the fairly safe 4p, avoiding the mangan deal-in. The hand ends with Setokuma the only one tenpai.
Being Patient
May 2, Game 1, S2-1
In S2-1, Matsugase is the dealer again and holding a 9,800 lead over 2nd place Nakabayashi.
With Matsugase’s very first draw, he gets to iishanten with a pair easts and 9s dora and a 58p ryanmen. On turn 3, Matsugase draws the 8p and calls riichi on a 9s/east shanpon. The wait is a very hard one to win by ron, forcing Matsugase to wait and draw it himself. Turn after turn, Matsugase misses. The first row finishes and he still hasn’t found it. 6 discards turn into 12 discards and it seems to be lost. Then, near the middle of the third row, Matsugase finds the east and wins the hand. Matsugase wins with Riichi/Tsumo/East/Dora 2 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick.
Final Day Fighting
May 2, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p752
In S3-0, the U-Next Pirates and Team Raiden are playing in their second-last game of the semifinals . Setokuma is the dealer in 4th place, 9,800 behind 3rd place Nakabayashi. Both players need to get as many points now to get a spot in the playoffs.
Setokuma starts off the hand 3-shanten with a ryanmen, two penchans and a single west dora. In the first row, he fills in a 3s kanchan and gives himself options for better shapes. In the second row, he fills in a ryanmen and gets rid of his remaining penchan for a ryanmen. At the end of the second row, Setokuma fills in a ryanmen and gets to tenpai on a 69p ryanmen. In the middle of the third row, Setokuma draws the 6p and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,600 all, moving Setkouma into 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p753
In S3-1, Nakabayashi is in 4th place and 6,200 behind 2nd place Setokuma.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5m, a lone east and a 6m away from a 567m iipeikou. The first row gifts Nakabayashi with a red 5s and ryanmens, pushing the hand towards a sequence-based hand despite only getting to 2-shanten. The second row confirms tanyao and leaves him iishanten with a 7s and 6m kanchan. As Nakabayashi waits, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. If Tankizawa gets the 4s, he will have at least a mangan.
In the ippatsu round, Nakabayashi draws a 7s and waits dama on a 6m kanchan for mangan minimum. A turn later, he switches to a 4m kanchan. After drawing a 3m, he switches his wait again to a 3m/5s shanpon. The wall shrinks down and it looks like Nakabayashi is only going to get tenpai payments. Then, on the last tile, Nakabayashi funds the 3m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Tanyao/Haitei/Aka 2 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, moving Nakabayashi into 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p753
In S4-0, Setokuma is in 3rd place and trailing the dealer Nakabayashi by 7,200. With a 4/20 or 3/40 tsumo, a 3/30 direct hit or a mangan general ron, Setokuma can move above Nakabayashi and take 2nd place.
Setokuma starts off the hand 3-shanten but lacking in value. Besides the ability to use the 3p through a penchan, Setokuma needs to figure out to get enough value out of his hand to get a comeback. On turn 2, Setokuma creates a 47p ryanmen and on turn 3, Setokuma draws the 3p dora to fill in the penchan. If Setokuma can fill in the 6s kanchan or transform it into a ryanmen, he will have enough value on tsumo to win. At the end of the first row, Setokuma successfully creates a 36s ryanmen and confirms pinfu. As Setokuma waits for tenpai, Matsugase makes some calls to get to tenpai on an east/north shanpon.
Right after, Setokuma draws the 4p and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. To move into 2nd, he needs to draw it himself or find one uradora. With the riichi by Setokuma and being a haneman direct hit away from losing top spot, Matsugase folds his hand as he draws the 3s. With Nakabayashi folding as well and Takizawa’s hand being able to accept the 36s, Setokuma and Team Raiden fans can only hope to draw it himself. At the start of the third row, Setokuma victoriously draws the 6s and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 1,300/2,600 to finish the game above Nakabayashi and taking 2nd place by 600.
Win Some, Lose Some
May 2, Game 2
In E2-0, Hisato is in 2nd place and 16,900 ahead of 4th place Yu. With the Konami Mahjong Fight Club in 4th place and the U-Next Pirates in 5th place in the standings, a greater gap between the two will mean a stronger hold on a playoff spot.
Hisato starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of white dragons and two 7m dora. With good value already, Hisato calls pon on the white dragon at the first possible opportunity. On turn 5, he draws a third 7m to have mangan and get to 2-shanten. After calling chii on a 3p kanchan and filling in a 6s kanchan, Hisato gets to tenpai on a 689m wait. At the start of the third row, Hagiwara discards the 8m while trying to keep his tenpai and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 3 for 8,000.
In E3-0, Katsumata is in 1st place and trying to keep 2nd place dealer Hisato away.
Katsumata starts off the hand by filling in a penchan to get to 3-shanten with a dora 5s. In the first row, Katsumata is able to fill and create a ryanmen, getting to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, he switches out his penchan for a ryanmen, fills it and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Hisato gets to tenpai and throws the 4m, trying to call riichi on a 25s ryanmen but dealing in in the process.
Katsumata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 8,000, widening his lead over 2nd place.
Sashikomi
May 2, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p742
In E4-0, Hagiwara is in 3rd place with about half of what 3rd place Hisato has, who has just under half of what 1st place Katsumata has.
At the start, we see Hagiwara at an annoying 5-shanten (4-shanten for chiitoi) and Hisato at 2-shanten with good shapes. With the good shapes in his hand, Hisato is able to get to tenpai at the end of the first row and waits on a 14m ryanmen.
At this point, Hagiwara is sitting 3-shanten with a pair of red dragons. At first, he starts to fold by breaking his 78m block. However, as he folds, his hand shifts to a souzu honitsu. He draws a pair of east doras and an ankou of 4s, getting him to 2-shanten. As he draws a third east at the end of the second row, Hagiwara is now iishanten for even a potential suuankou. Near the middle of the third row, Hagiwara fills in a 6s kanchan and calls riichi on a 2s/red dragon shanpon, guaranteed at least a dealer baiman if it wins.
For Katsumata, it means needing to avoid two hands at the same time. However, he doesn’t need to. Afteer avoiding the ippatsu, Katsumata has run out of completely safe tiles. Though Hisato is currently his biggest threat to his 1st place, he is not the dealer. In addition, Team Raiden is 3rd in the standings and Konami is in 4th. If the team wants to keep a larger lead over the competition, he wants to keep Team Raiden in 3rd. Because of these factors, Katsumata throws the 1m, a tile that is safe against Hagiwara and has a chance at dealing into Hisato.
With Katsumata’s 1m, Hisato calls ron and wins the hand. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 1 for 2,6000 plus Hagiwara’s riichi stick, ending Hagiwara’s dealership and moving the game along.
Quick and Quiet
May 2, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, Hisato is in 2nd place and trying to end the Pirates’ season. If he wins this hand, he secures 2nd place and can keep the Pirates in 4th.
Hisato starts off with a lucky 2-shanten with two completed sequences and one ryanmen. On turn 2, he makes a pair of 9m to get to iishanten with a penchan and a ryanmen. On turn 3, he fills in the kanchan and sits dama on a 69s ryanmen. Soon after, Yu discards the 9s and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins with Pinfu only for 1,000+600 plus one riichi stick to end the game.
With the game over, so were the semifinals for Team Raiden and the U-Next Pirates. With Team Raiden’s point total they clinch a playoff spot in their team’s history since it would be impossible for the four teams playing on Thursday to pass them. For the U-Next Pirates sitting in 5th place, they can only wait and see if any of the teams playing on Thursday lose enough points to fall below them.
4th to 1st
May 4, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p742
In S1-0, Okada is in 4th place, 7,400 behind 3rd place Shiratori, 12,500 behind 2nd place Aki and 14,900 behind 1st place Date. Though the Kadokawa Sakura Knights have little chance to advance to the finals, it’s always nice to end the season off with a win.
Okada starts off the hand at 5-shanten, but she has three ryanmens to provide good shapes. In the first row, she filled some of them and created new ones, getting to 2-shanten by the end of the row with a likely pinfu. On turn 7, she draws a 6m to complete a 678m sequence. With a 678s sequence already completed and a 56789p group in hand, drawing the dora 5p would be the ideal draw to secure tanyao, pinfu, sanshoku and another dora. On her very next draw, she gets the 5p and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. If she wins by tsumo, she will get a baiman.
Within two turns, Aki gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 47s ryanmen, having the opportunity to kill a baiman with a 1 han hand.
After Aki, Shiratori gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.
Two players have a chance to ruin Okada’s big hand, continuing the Kadokawa Sakura Knights’ streak of bad luck. However, the mahjong gods took pity on her and let her have have the 2s near the end of the second row. Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 2 for 4,000/8,000, moving all the way from 4th to 1st.
Tie
May 4, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p743
In S4-0, Okada is in 3rd place, 3,400 behind the dealer Aki and 11,000 behind 1st place Date. If Okada can win a haneman, she will be able to move into 1st place.
Okada starts out the hand 2-shanten with two red fives providing value. On turn 5, she guarantees a good wait no matter how she gets to tenpai. On turn 7, she gets to tenpai and waits dama on a yakuless 69m ryanmen. If she can somehow shift the 123p sequence into a 234p sequence, she could presumably shift to tanyao, then call riichi and hope for tsumo and ura.
Right after, Shiratori pairs up the red dragon dora and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.
With that single riichi stick from Shiratori, Okada’s winning conditions have changed. With that extra 1,000, Okada can now just win a mangan tsumo and tie Date for 1st place. With the new win condition set, Okada does a tsumogiri riichi and waits with her 69m ryanmen. Okada has 4 tiles, Shiratori has 2 tiles. More and more tiles are used up, the wall gets shorter, the intensity rises. Then, on Okada’s very last draw, she finds her winning 9m and wins the hand! Okada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick.
With the win, she finished the game tied with Date for 1st place.
Chiitoi Limits
May 4, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p751
In E4-2, Takamiya is the dealer in 3rd place and trying to get as many points before they go into the finals next week.
Takamiya starts out 2-shanten for chiitoi with pairs of 4s, east, 9m and 5p (including the red 5p). Though the start for her is good, Matsumoto start out better at 2-shanten with a lot of good shapes. By turn 3, Matsumoto is already tenpai and he calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen.
Having drawn a pair of 6s within the first three turns, Takamiya is already iishanten. She starts out by getting rid of her east pair at the start, get ends up getting back to iishanten in the second row. As more and more information is given out, Takamiya is able to dodge better while keeping her iishanten. Near the end of the second row, Takamiya gets to tenpai and waits dama on an 8m dora tanki. After a turn of waiting, she decides to throw the stick and call riichi. Near the end of the third row, Takamiya finds the 8m and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 6,000+200 all plus two riichi stick, putting her above 55,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p745
After three straight hands of draws, Matsumoto is now the dealer in S2-6, hoping to win the 4,800 in bonuses available. He is in 4th place, 4,900 behind 3rd place Rumi and 21,800 behind 2nd place Uchikawa. Matsumoto starts out the hand 3-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten for a standard hand) with a single 5s dora and pairs of 1p, 6p and 4m. The first row was just a bunch of tsumogiri, not giving Matsumoto anything good. At the start of the second row, Matsumoto gets his fourth pair as he draws a second red dragon. On his next draw, he draws the red 5p to get to iishanten. As Matsumoto waits, Uchikawa gets to tenpai on a honitsu only for two han. Soon after, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5s tanki, guaranteed at least a dealer haneman if he wins. Uchikawa is forced to fold his hand, but Rumi gets to an open tenpai later on a 47m ryanmen. Near the middle of the third row, Matsumoto draws the red 5s and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000+600 all plus three riichi sticks, pushing his score from 4,100 to 32,900.
8 Honba
May 4, Game 2, S2-8
In S2-8, Rumi is in 4th place and 1,800 behind 3rd place Uchikawa. Rumi starts off the hand. with three completed blocks and is 2-shanten. On turn 3, she creates a ryanmen to get to iishanten. Two turns later, she finds her pair and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. If Rumi draws the dora 3p herself, she would have a mangan. With two 3p in Takamiya’s hand, her chances of drawing dora are a bit low. On turn 8, Uchikawa draws a 3p, leaving just one 3p in the wall. But, all Rumi needs is one. In the middle of the second row, Rumi finds that last 3p and wins the hand. Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+800/4,000+800 to move into 3rd place.
Closing the Semis
May 4, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p746
In S4-0, Matsumoto is in 2nd place and 9,900 behind 1st place dealer Takamiya. With a mangan tsumo, a 3/40 direct hit or a haneman general ron, Matsumoto can finish the semifinals with a win.
Matsumoto starts out the hand 2-shanten with a connected 4s dora and a lone red 5m. On turn 3, Matsumoto fills in a ryanmen, gets rid of a penchan and shifts the hand to tanyao. On turn 5, he gets rid of the isolated 5m dora and replace it with either pinfu or iipeikou. On turn 7, he gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 7s kanchan, hoping to get a direct hit or draw it himself.
As Matsumoto waits, Takamiya hopes. On turn 8, she expands her iishanten to 8 different tiles for a good tenpai. Two turns later, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Matsumoto draws a safe tile and is able to keep his tenpai. On his next draw, he finds the 7s and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins the hand with Tsumo/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick to win the last game of the semifinals.
M-League Watch 