Highlights
Perfect Timing
December 4, Game 1, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2023
In E3-2, Sonoda is in 3rd place, 1,000 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 10,600 behind 1st place Nakada.
Sonoda starts out the hand 2-shanten with two completed sequences, two sequence candidates and a secured red 5m. In the first row, he draws a red 5s, connects it and fills in a kanchan to get to iishanten, looking for a pair. He spends most of the second row looking for a pair (including discarding a 1s one after another) until Sonoda finally one at the end of the row and stays dama on a 47s ryanmen.
After spending one turn being dama, he decides to call riichi. On his very next draw, he gets the 7s and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 3,000+200/6,000+200 plus one riichi stick, getting him into 1st place.
Oops! Ura 3!
December 4, Game 1, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6022
In E4-1, Nakada is in 3rd place and 6,400 behind 1st place dealer Takamiya.
From the start, something didn’t seem right. As Takamiya discarded her first tile, Matsugase’s hand came out on the table. He was trying to stop Takamiya from discarding to remind her to draw her first tile, but it was too late. With the tile already on the table, she officially had too few tiles. The referee was called and her hand was formally declared dead. With a dead hand, she is not allowed to win, make any calls or declare herself tenpai at a draw.
As the game continues, we see that Nakada is already iishanten with her first 14 tiles, holding a 123p iipeikou and a secured 9s dora. On turn 2, she draws a 2p to allow some flexibility in her hand. Near the end of the row, she gets to tenpai. Instead of taking a 25m wait to have both pinfu and iipeikou, she instead chooses a 123p wait (with a suji trap on the 1p) and calls riichi. In the second row, she draws and discards the 6p to make the 3p suji. A few turns later, Matsugase tosses the 3p to advance his hand and deals into Nakada. With a flip of the uradora, her 2p becomes dora and upgrades her hand to a mangan. Nakada win the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 3 for 8,000+300, giving her her first Ura 3 of her M-League career and putting her into 1st place.
South 4
December 4, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2355
In S4-0, Takamiya is the dealer in 3rd place, 5,600 behind 2nd place Nakada and 12,100 behind 1st place Sonoda. With her dealership she can win a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or a haneman ron. Even if she wins a cheaper hand, she can continue her dealership and win something in the next hand.
Takamiya starts out the hand 2-shanten with a connected red 5m and a dora 7p. To her left is 4th place Matsugase, desperately trying to get any points he can get and sitting 3-shanten with a flush chance. To Takamiya’s right is 1st place Sonoda, wanting to end the game as quickly as possible. In the first row, Takamiya sits stuck at 2-shanten while she gets rid of her honours, Sonoda makes a call to advance his tanyao hand Matsugase brings his manzu count up to 12. Near the middle of the second row, Sonoda calls pon and creates a pair to be the first one tenpai, waiting on a 36m ryanmen.
Right after, Matsugase gets up to 13 manzu tiles, but is still iishanten. At the end of the row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan. With Riichi/Chinitsu/Ittsuu/Iipeikou in hand, a tsumo would put him into sanbaiman territory and would actually give him enough points to overcome the 34,900 deficit against 3rd place dealer Takamiya. Counting tiles, there is only one 8m left in the wall, but he only needs one.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya calls a chii and gets to tenpai on a 58s/7p wait. Holding a mangan guaranteed hand along with Matsugase’s riichi, Taakamiya can win any way she wants and move into 1st place. With Matsugase’s riichi, Sonoda folds his hand in the 3rd row. Soon after, Matsugase draws and discards the lat 8s and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, putting her 900 in the lead.
Shortcut to Baiman
December 4, Game 2, E2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6023
In E2-2, Sugawara is in 4th place, 8,000 behind 3rd place Matsugase and 16,000 behind 2nd place Futoshi. A mangan would be good, a haneman would be great, a baiman would be excellent.
Sugawara starts out the hand 4-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, holding only a floating 8p for value. In the first row, she picks up two more pairs to get her to chiitoi 2-shanten, still needing to connect the 8p. On turn 8, she pairs up the green dragons and gets to iishanten. On turn 9, she ups her hand’s value by switching out a normal 5p for a red one. Two turns later, she draws the dora 8p and calls riichi on a 5m tanki, guaranteed at least a haneman. At the start of the third row, she draws the red 5m and wins the hand. Though she is already at a baiman, she flips two more uradora to bring it up to 10 han. Sugawara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2/Ura 2 for 4,000+200/8,000+200, moving into 2nd place.
Beast Time
December 4, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6024
In E3-0, Sugawara is now the dealer after winning a big 10-han baiman to move into 1st place. She sits in 2nd place and 8,400 behind 1st place Takizawa.
Sugawara starts out the hand 3-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, holding a secured red 5p and a connected dora 8s. On turn 2, she pairs up the dora 8s. By turn 4, she secures a sequence hand and breaks up the 8s pair for a 69s ryanmen. At the end of the row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. On her very next draw, she gets the 5m (just like the previous hand) and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, easily moving into top spot.
Go, Daigo, Go!
December 5, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4513
In E1-0, Daigo is the starting dealer and one of two players in the league without a 1st. Today, he hopes to get his first 1st.
Daigo starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of green dragon dora Within the first row, he calls pon on the green dragon to get to 2-shanten. In the rest of the row, he started to convert sequences into triplets. In the second row, he draws a fourth 1s and calls a concealed kan. Unfortunately, the kandora and rinshan don’t help, so Daigo keeps waiting. Kurosawa does the same with the 9m and has the same result. Right after, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, giving him a chance at three uradora.
During the ippatsu round, Daigo makes a third pair to give him a chance at toitoi. On his next turn, he makes a concealed triplet of 5m and gets to tenpai on a 4m/2p shanpon. At the start of the third row, Daigo has a chance to make a kan on the green dragon, but declines it due to the risk posed by Uchikawa. On Daigo’s second-last draw, he manages to draw the 2p and win the hand. Daigo wins with Toitoi/Sanankou/Green Dragon/Dora 3 for a hefty 8,000 all plus one riichi stick, doubling his score to 50,000.
Finishing it Off
December 5, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4514
In S4-1, Daigo is in 1st place with a 5,800 lead and just one win away from getting his first 1st of the season.
Daigo starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of 6m dora and a connected red 5s. In the first row, he shifts his hand to be able to accept tanyao. In the second row, he completes a sequence and a triplet to get to iishanten. With a 234p chii he secures tanyao and gets to tenpai on a 6m/7m shanpon. Right after, Kurosawa calls riichi on a south/8p shanpon. At the end of the second row, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6m dora tanki. Though Daigo is starting to get nervous that he might lose his first 1st, those fears are soon relieved as he draws the final 7m to win the hand. Daigo wins with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100.
With that, Daigo has his first win in his M-League career, leaving only Nakada Kana to get her first.
Yakuman Tenpai!?!
Dcember 5, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4515
In E3-0, Uotani is in 3rd place and 2,400 behind the 1st place tie between Hagiwara and Shibukawa.
Uotani starts out the hand 3-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten for a standard hand). In the first row, Uotani draws two more pairs and gets to chiitoi iishanten. In the second row, she makes the east and 8p into an ankou to get to toitoi iishanten with a chance at a suuankou yakuman. In the third row, Uotani draws a third 6m and gets to tenpai on a 7s/8s shanpon. If she wins by tsumo, she will win a yakuman.
Immediately after, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2s/5p shanpon.
With Hagiwara’s riichi, Uotani decides to add value to her hand by calling a chasing riichi. Two turns later, Hagiwara draws and discards the 7s and deals into Uotani. Uotani wins the hand with Riichi/East/Toitoi/Sanankou for 12,000 plus one riichi stick.
Hunter Hagiwara
December 5, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5027
In S1-0, Hagiwara is the dealer in last place, 5,600 behind 3rd place Matsumoto, 13,000 behind 2nd place Shibukawa and 22,600 behind 1st place Uotani.
Hagiwara starts out the hand with a beautiful 2-shanten hand with a loosely connected 5s and an 8m away from from ittsuu. On turn 3, Hagiwara secures the 5s by creating a 567s sequence and gets to iishanten. After shifting to a 567p sanshoku, Hagiwara gets to tenpai on turn 4 and calls riichi waiting on a 6p kanchan. Two turns later, Hagiwara draws the 6p and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Hagiwara wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, instantly moving into 1st place.
Hoping Hagiwara
December 5, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2363
In S4-0, Hagiwara is in 2nd place and 12,900 behind 1st place Uotani. In order to move into 1st place, he needs a mangan direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron.
Hagiwara starts out the hand 4-shanten with the ability to accept the 7s for value. After drawing the 7s and getting rid of his honitsu and stray terminals, he sets his sights on pinfu. In the second row, he advances to iishanten, but is still looking for value. At the end of the row, he fills in his 5s kanchan and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. With only three han guaranteed, he needs to win by tsumo and get two more han (likely any combination of a red 5p, ippatsu or ura).
With Uotani folding and preventing a direct hit, all Hagiwara can do is sit, hope and wait. In the third row, Hagiwara manages to draw the red 5p and declare tsumo. All he needs now is an uradora to get to haneman. In the most dramatic fashion possible, he takes the uradora and reveals…
… the 9p as the uradora. A miss. Hagiwara wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000. Despite not being the tile he hopes for, he is still all smiles has he takes a look at Uotani, both players enjoying the moment.
Flip
December 7, Game 1, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4029
In E4-1, Shiratori is in 4th place, 10,300 behind 1st place Rumi. A single haneman will be enough to flip his position from 4th to 1st.
Shiratori starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured red 5p and a likely tanyao hand. In the first row, he builds an extra group around the red 5p, fills in a kanchan, gives himself a chance at a 456 sanshoku and gets to iishanten by the end of the row. With a 6p draw, he would both pick up dora and secure sanshoku. At the start of the second row, Shiratori draws the 6p and waits dama on a 5m kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Two turns later, he picks up the 5m and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, moving into 1st place.
Quick and Expensive
December 7, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5028
In S3-2, Honda is the dealer in 4th place, 8,400 behind 3rd place Rumi and 8,700 behind 2nd place Date.
From Honda’s first 13 tiles, he is already iishanten with a chance at a double riichi if he draws a 3m, 7s or 6p. On his first draw, he gets the white dragon and misses the double riichi. After a bust draw on turn 2 as well, he draws the 3m on turn 3 and gets to tenpai, sitting yakuless on a 7s/6p shanpon. On his next draw, he improves to a 58s ryanmen, secures pinfu and calls riichi. On his very next draw, he gets the 8s and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu for 2,600+200 all, moving him into 2nd place.
Ippatsu
December 7, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5029
In E2-0, Setokuma is the dealer in 1st place after winning a mangan the previous hand.
Setokuma starts out the hand 4-shanten for a standard hand (3-shanten for chiitoi) with a secured red 5s and a pair of souths. In the first row, his hand naturally shifts to a standard hand with sequence draws, getting to iishanten early. On turn 10, he makes the south an ankou and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. On his ippatsu draw, he getss the 2m and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, getting him to 45,000.
More Than Septuple
December 7, Game 2, E4-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2373
In E4-4, there are 5 riichi sticks on the table after the previous four hands went to a draw. The next player to win with get at least 6,200 in bonuses.
At the start, we see Ooi with a pair of white dragons and Hisato with a pair of easts, both with the ability to go for a quick yakuhai hand. On turn 3m Ooi calls pon on the 1p, forgoing his chiitoi iishanten to aim for yakuhai. Within the next go-around, he calls pon on the white dragon to get to iishanten. Within the same round as Ooi calls the white dragon, Hisato calls a pon on the 3p to get to iishanten. Right after, he calls pon on the east tot get to tenpai on a 3s ryanmen.
Soon after that, Ooi calls chii and waits on a 58m ryanmen. Two players with very cheap hands vying to get all the sticks. In the second row, Aki discards the 8m and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with White Dragon only for 1,000, plus 1,200 in honba plus 5,000 in riichi sticks. A hand normally worth 1,000 becomes 7,200.
Escaping 4th
December 7, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4030
In S4-1, Ooi is in 4th place, 5,400 behind 3rd place Aki and 5,700 behind 2nd place Hisato. To move out of 4th, Ooi needs a 3/40 ron, a 3/30 tsumo or a 2/40 direct hit.
Ooi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured 5s and a connected red 5m, his shapes being less than ideal. Across from him is Hisato at 2-shanten with callable content. In the first row, Ooi draws the red 5p and creates sequence shapes getting to 2-shanten and catching up to Hisato. At the beginning of the second row, Hisato calls pon on the 2p and gets to tenpai on a 14s ryanmen, only able to win on the 4s.
As Hisato waits, Ooi shifts to tanyao. To his right, 1st place Setokuma also makes progress. At the end of the second row, Setokuma makes a concealed triplet of white dragons and gets to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen. However, he would fold just two turns later because he draws a dangerous 7m. In the third row, Ooi makes a second call and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.
Aki joins in on the party within the go-around and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. Being furiten, she can only win by tsumo.
Three player wanting to win and take 2nd place. The fourth player has the ability to decide. Setokuma is in 1st place with a 16,400 lead over 2nd place Hisato. If he lets the hand keep going, it will give dealer Aki a chance to win and surpass him. Setokuma knows that Ooi is likely tenpai on a mangan if he has all those calls. If he deals into Ooi, he will win the game. Counting dora, it is very unlikely for Hisato to have a mangan so Setokuma can afford to deal into him as well. With the 4m safe against Aki and dangerous to the others, he throws it and successfully deals into Ooi.
Ooi wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3 for 8,000+300 plus one riichi stick. Ooi moves into 2nd place and Setokuma successfully secures 1st.
Efficient Dealership
December 8, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3022
In E3-0, Shibukawa is the dealership in 2nd place, 2,700 behind 1st place Tojo.
Shibukawa starts out the hand already iishanten with a secured 3p dora and looking for the west, 7p or 7m to immediately get to tenpai. On turn two, he finds the west and has the chance to take tenpai, but chooses to stay iishanten to pursue a manzu honitsu. On turn 3, he pairs up the green dragon to get the honitsu and waits dama on a 7p/green dragon shanpon. Immediately after, Nakabayashi discards the green dragon and deals into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins the hand with Honitsu/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 12,000.
Riichi Battle
December 8, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5518
In E2-0, Yu is the dealer tied for 2nd place, 1,900 behind 1st place 1st place Kayamori.
Yu starts out the hand 3-shanten with the framework for tanyao in hand. In the first row, he draws the perfect tiles to go for it and gets to tenpai on turn 4, staying dama on a 5s kanchan. At the start of the second row, he improves the wait to a 58s ryanmen and calls riichi.
Immediately after, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan.
If two riichi calls weren’t enough, Kayamori manages to get to tenpai while half-folding and calls riichi in the middle of the third row on a 2m dora tanki.
With three tiles left in the wall, the hand looked like it would go to a draw. Then, on the second-last tile in the wall, Yu draws the red 5s and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all plus two riichi sticks.
Ura 3
December 8, Game 2, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4516
In E2-1, Kayamori is in 2nd place and 17,100 behind 1st place dealer Yu.
Kayamori starts out her hand 4-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten for a standard hand). In the first row, she creates a combination of sequences, triplets and pairs, forcing her to aim for a riichi hand. Across from her, Yu aggressively calls, trying to get to tenpai first. In the second row, all the players advance to iishanten. The first to get to tenpai is Shibukawa, though he is yakuless on a 2p/south shanpon, later shifting to a yakuless 5p/south shanpon.
After making a third call, Yu gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen for honitsu.
Soon after, Kayamori fills in a kanchan and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. Late in the game, Yu draws and discards the 7s and deals into Kayamori. With a flip of the uradora, Kayamori’s 7s triplet becomes dora and upgrades her hand to a mangan. Kayamori wins with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 3 for 8,000+300, closing the gap to 1st place to just 500.
Unbroken
December 8, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3023
In E3-0, Shibukawa is in 3rd place, exactly 10,000 behind 1st place Yu.
Shibukawa starts out the 2-shanten with sequences and sequence candidates. On turn 2, he draws the 5m dora to fill in a kanchan and get to iishanten. On turn 3, he actually goes back a shanten to fish for tanyao and better waits than a penchan. As he converts his hand, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen.
In the second row, Shibukawa draws a red 5m dora to up his hand’s value and returns to iishanten. At the start of the third row, he creates a three-sided wait, discards the regular 5m and calls riichi on a 147s wait. On his very next draw, he gets the 4s and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st.
Yu Win
December 8, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5519
In S2-0, Yu is in 1st place with a 9,600 lead over 2nd place Shibukawa. With his dealership continuing, he has a chance to widen the lead even further.
Yu starts out the hand 4-shanten with two ryanmens for good shapes. In the fisst row, he fills in a kanchan, makes a triplet of 7m, confirms tanyao and gets to 2-shanten. Unfortunately for him, he is actually the furthest behind as everyone else is already at iishanten. In the second row, Kayamori has a chance to take a 2p/6p shanpon, but rejects it as all the other 2p are out. With a call in the middle of the second row, Shibukawa is first to tenpai, waiting on a 7m kanchan.
Near the end of the second row, Kayamori also gets to tenpai, though she is furiten.
Near the middle of the third row, Sarukawa completes a triplet of 3m dora and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.
Drawing a dangerous south during the ippatsu round, Kayamori decides to fold her weak tenpai. Still during the ippatsu round, Yu draws the dora 3m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. On Yu’s ippatsu draw, he picks up the red 5m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000+200 all plus one riichi stick, bringing Yu’s score up to 59,600.
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