Highlights
Back to Start
January 15, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4531
In S1-0, Daigo is in 4th place and 9,500 behind 3rd place Ooi. With the Sega Sammy Phoenix still trying to climb out of elimination territory, he needs to win to gain his team points.
Daigo starts out the hand already 2-shanten with the ability to accept the dora 7p. In the first row, he secures tanyao, replace a kanchan with a ryanmen and gives himself a chance at a 345m iipeikou, but is still iishanten. To his right, Nakabayashi is already iishanten with one 7p secured and another one floating. On turn 7, Nakabayashi is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, throwing his extra 7p.
In the middle of the second row, Daigo upgrades his 7p kanchan to a 147p wait, widening his potential. Despite it being nice, he isn’t able to throw manzu, so he breaks the 3-sided wait to keep his manzu iipeikou. As Daigo keeps juggling, Ooi gets to tenpai on a 369m wait. A turn later, Daigo gets the 4m to complete his iipeikou and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. With the two riichi calls and a dangerous draw two turns later, Ooi folds his hand. As Ooi folds, Aki manages to get to tenpai on a 2m/5p shanpon. In the middle of the third row, Daigo draws the 5s and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, bring Daigo into 3rd place and at exactly 25,000.
Pei Tanki
January 15, Game 2, E4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2516
In E4-2, Mizuhara is in 4th place and 3,200 behind 3rd place Shiratori.
Mizuhara starts out the hand 3-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, though lacking in any other value. In the first row, she creates a 123p iipeikou shape with helps both hand forms. By the end of the row, she iishanten for both. To her left, Shiratori has two ryanmens and is also iishanten. On turn 7, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan and hoping for the 6m to get tanyao.
After surviving a few more turns, Mizuhara is able to get to chiitoi tenpai at the end of the second row and stays dama on a 5s tanki. On her next turn, she switches to a north tanki and calls riichi. During the ippatsu round, Shiratori draws and discards the north and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Chiitoi for 6,400+600 plus one riichi stick to move into 3rd.
The Swan Rises
January 15, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4041
In S2-2, Shiratori is in 4th place and 18,100 behind 3rd place Mizuhara. With his last dealership already gone, he has to make the most of the last few hands.
Shiratori starts the hand at 2-shanten with a red 5p and a red 5s double dora. If he can keep both of them, he will be guaranteed at least a mangan. On turn 2, he fills in a kanchan to secure the red 5p and get to iishanten. As Shiratori shifts for tanyao and waits for tenpai, action begins around the table. To Shiratori’s right, Katsumata is able to draws to tenpai on a yakuless 3s penchan and stays dama. To Shiratori’s right, Mizuhara calls twice to advance her open hand. In the second row, Katsumata shifts his wait and calls riichi on a 14m/2s wait.
Immediately after, Shiratori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman now if he wins.
A few turns after that, Mizuhara makes her third call and waits on a 47m ryanmen. If Shiratori discards the 4m, she will headbump Katsumata and be the sole winner.
With the drawing and discarding, any one of them could win. In the middle of the second row, Katsumata draws and discards the 4p and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000+600 plus two riichi sticks, bringing Shiratori within 400 for now 3rd place Katsumata.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2517
In S3-0, Shiratori is 400 behind 3rd place Katsumata, 3,500 behind 2nd place Mizuhara and 8,900 behind 1st place Uotani. A good hand here can significantly raise his rank.
Shiratori starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of green dragons and the option to go for a manzu ittsuu. Everyone else at the table has a decent hand as well, being 3-shanten. The first row provides a some good tiles for Shiratori to advance. On turn 5, he gets to tenpai (drawing the wrong side for the ittsuu chance) and calls riichi on a 1m/green dragon shanpon.
With the scores so close and 2-shanten all around, everyone at the table is willing to challenge the riichi. In the second row, Mizuhara draws to tanyao tenpai and waits on a 36s ryanmen.
Nearing the end of the row, Uotani gets to tenpai on a 3s/8p shanpon with no yaku. Soon after, Katsumata calls chii and gets to tenpai on a 14s ryanmen, only allowed to win on the 1s.
With four players in tenpai, there are at least for different ways that this hand can go. Two turns after Katsumata gets to tenpai, he draws and drops the green dragon and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 5,200, taking Shiratori up to 2nd place going into the last hand.
South 4
January 15, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5532
In S4-0, the scores are fairly close with 1st place and 4th place separated by 13,700. In 3rd place is Mizuhara who needs to close a 5,400 gap from 1st place and Shiratori just 3,700 from the top. Mizuhara needs a 2/50 direct hit, a 3/40 tsumo or a 3/50 ron to get to the top. Shiratori wants a 2/30 direct hit, a 2/50 tsumo or a 3/30 ron.
From the start, Shiratori is 2-shanten with a chance at a souzu ittsuu. Before Mizuhara can get her first draw, Katsumata makes a call on the red dragon, showing that he will be aggressive this hand. When Mizuhara does get her first draw, We see her almost guaranteed to have a manzu honitsu with only two tiles not fitting in. In the first row, Shiratori gives himself the option to have iipeikou and the 7m dora, but is forced to stay closed to gain value and a yaku. For Mizuhara, she draws a red 5p and connects it with a 4p, ruining any honitsu plans but still providing value.
At the start of the second row, Shiratori secures a 345p iipeikou and stays dama on a 7m tanki, having enough value to win. However, the 7m is a hard tile to win with. Two turns later, Shiratori switches to a 25p ryanmen and calls riichi. In order to get the value he needs to win, he needs the 2p to get iipeikou or the red 5p.
With Shiratori’s riichi stick, Mizuhara can now win with a 3/40 ron and win. Staying cautious, Mizuhara carefully maintains her iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m/north wait. With the closed hand and two red dora, Mizuhara can win any way she wants and take the game. During the ippatsu round, aggressive Katsumata draws and discards the north and deals in. Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 2 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick, taking the game and making the U-Next Pirates the day’s winner.
Expensive Dama
January 16, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6036
In S1-0, Sarukawa is the dealer in 2nd place and 2,100 behind 1st place Okada.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with two dora 7m, a red 5m and a path to tanyao. In the first row, he threw out his terminals and honours to pursue tanyao and got to 2-shante by the end of the row. On turn 8, he fills in a kanchan to create a 678s sequence. With 6-9 ryanmens in both manzu and pinzu, he will need to get the perfect tiles to get both sanshoku and tanyao. Near the end of the second row, Sarukawa draws the 6m. Tenpai on a 69p with mangan minimum, he stays dama in order to snipe the 6p for haneman. Immediately after, Honda discards the 6p and deals into Sarukawa. Sarukawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 18,000, easily moving into 1st place.
Shortcut to Haneman
January 16, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3033
In E3-1, Hori is in 2nd place and 7,700 behind 1st place Setokuma. With two riichi sticks from the previous round going to the next winner, moving into 1st place is made a bit easier.
Hori starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi with pairs of 1m, 1s, 4s and 2p. Though this is a good hand, the 4th place dealer Date is one step ahead at chiitoi iishanten. As with most chiitoi hands, both of them tried to find the right tanki to get ahead. On turn 5, Hori pairs up the white dragon for iishanten. Immediately after, Date gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a west tanki. With two wests already discarded, she is waiting on just the one west.
During the ippatsu round, Hori draws the red 5s to make his sixth pair and calls riichi on a south tanki, waiting on just two. Both Setokuma and Daisuke start to fold, starting the waiting game. Setokuma draws the south in the second row, but holds it in his hand. In the third row, he draws the other one. On one hand, it means that Hori can’t draw it himself. On the other, Setokuma can tell that there is only just one south unaccounted for and may throw the south since a tanki is unlikely. Just a turn after drawing it, Setokuma discards the south as the “safest” tile and deals into Hori. Flipping two uradora, Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000+300 plus three riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Sanshoku
January 18, Game 1, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3545
In E2-1, Takamiya is in last place early, but is just 8,500 from 1st place.
Takamiya starts out the han 3-shanten with a secured 5s for value. With the 1m pair in her hand, she will likely need to wait for the right tiles to come and go for riichi. In the first row, she makes two sequences in pinzu and draws a lone red 5m for iishanten. With a 456s and a 456p, all she needs is a 4m and a 6m for sanshoku. On turn 8, she has a chance to take a 7p kanchan for tenpai, but declines it. After spending most of the second row waiting, she picks up the 6m at the end of the row and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. On her very next draw, she gets the 7m and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 to move from the bottom to the top.
Extreme Shortcut to Haneman
January 18, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3546
In S3-1, Takamiya is still in 1st place and starting her last dealership. There is no such thing as too many points.
With her first 14 tiles, Takamiya is already iishanten for chiitoi with a secured red 5m and a floating red 5p. On turn 2, she pairs up the 5p, throws the 4m and calls riichi waiting on the 1m. With such an expensive hand with a suji trap, it’s almost criminal. During the ippatsu round, Uotani needs to decide what to discard. Holding a pair of 1m in her hand and it being suji, she discards it and painfully deals into the early expensive hand. Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Chiitoi/Aka 2 for 18,000+300 plus one riichi stick, putting her above 60,000.
Fishing For Flush
January 19, Game 1 E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5533
In E3-0, Kobayashi is the dealer and holding a 6,000 lead over 2nd place.
Kobayashi starts the hand out 3-shanten with a pair of white dragons, a secured dora 6m and a floating 5s. Besides the white dragon, he could go for manzu honitsu, but that would mean throwing both the red dora and an existing pinzu block. Early on, Kobayashi creates a strong ryanmen block in pinzu to replace the pinzu kanchan. Soon after, he calls pon on the white dragon and discards the floating red 5s for iishanten. Near the start of the second row, Kobayashi has the chance to take a honitsu iishanten, but chooses to keep the good pinzu block instead. A turn later, he creates a ryanmen in manzu and starts to discard the pinzu. As Kobayashi waits for tenpai, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and waits on a 25s ryanmen for mangan minimum.
Soon after, Daisuke calls pon to get to an east/7m shanpon, only allowed to win with the east.
After Daisuke makes the call, Matsumoto chooses to call riichi with his hand. Two turns after the riichi, Kobayashi draws to tenpai and waits on a 1m/8m shanpon. On Matsumoto’s draw, he picks up the 8m, discards it and deals into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Honitsu/White Dragon/Dora 1 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick.
Cheap Yet Expensive
January 19, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5534
In S4-0, Kobayashi is in 2nd place and just 300 away from 1st place Daisuke. Even the cheapest win will result in large gains.
Kobayashi starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons. With a yaku right in from of him, Kobayashi gets to work improving the other shapes. On turn 4, he calls chii to fill in a kanchan and get to iishanten. With a pon on the red dragon soon after, Kobayashi is tenpai on a 7m penchan before the end of the first row. To his right, dealer Hagiwara is aggressively trying to chase both him and Daisuke, having already confirmed a white dragon pon. At the start of the third row, Hagiwara calls kan with the white dragon trying to get to tenpai. The rinshan and kandora miss, keeping him waiting. On Hagiwara’s next draw, he draws and discards the 7m and deals into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Red Dragon for 1,000, just enough for 1st place.
Hinata Highlights
January 19, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4042
In E1-0, Hinata starts out in the north seat and trying to recover the team’s points after Matsumoto’s loss the previous game.
Before Hinata gets her first draw, she calls pon on the yakuhai north. When we do get a glimpse of her hand, we see she has a pair of green dragon doras, a floating red 5p and sitting in iishanten. To her right, however, is the dealer Yu with a hand chock full of manzu. On Hinata’s next draw, she pairs up the red dragon to give her yet another possible yakuhai. She calls pon as soon as it comes out to get to iishanten. As Yu gets to 12 manzu tiles, he discards the green dragon, letting Hinata call pon and get to tenpai on a 7s for haneman.
With Hinata discarding the 9m, Yu calls pon and gets to iishanten, waiting on any manzu for tenpai. Soon after, he draws a 4m and waits on a 58m.
The two of them draw and discard, waiting for their tile to come. Unfortunately for Yu, his waits are stuck in Hagiwara’s hand. In the middle of the third row, Hinata draws the 7s and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Green Dragon/Red Dragon/North/Dora 3 for 3,000/6,000.
Hagiwara Haneman
January 19, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5043
In S3-0, is the dealer in 2nd place, trying to chase 1st place Hinata who is 40,300 away.
Hagiwara starts out the hand already 2-shanten with a secured red 5p and a very good chance at tanyao. On turn 2, he is already iishanten. On turn 5, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. If he wins on the 8m, he will add iipeikou and could get a haneman if he finds uradora. To his left, 4th place Nakada is trying to catch up to everyone else. Unfortunately, she has an isolated 8m in her hand. In the middle of the second row, she discards the 8m trying to accept tenpai and deals into Hagiwara. With the uradora flip he gets the one he needs and upgrades to a haneman. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 18,000, cutting Hinata’s almost in half.
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