Highlights
Katsumata
April 29, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2569
In E2-2, Katsumata the dealer is in 4th place early and just 6,000 behind 1st place Shibukawa. The team has been having an amazing semifinals and he hopes that the momentum continues.
Katsumata first 13 tiles is already iishanten with a secured red 5p double dora, 8 pinzu tiles and a pair of wests. The double riichi misses, but it means that he has the chance to build to a pinzu honitsu. On turn 5, he calls pon on the 2p to confirm his pursuit of honitsu. On his next turn, he gets a 3p to put him iishanten. At the start second row, he pairs it up and waits on a west/3p shanpon. His next draw upgrades his hand gives him a much wider 258p 3-sided wait. Soon after, Ooi discards the 8p and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Honitsu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000.
Kenji
April 29, Game 1, S4-2
In S4-2, Katsumata is in 2nd place and 4,600 behind 1st place Shibukawa. With two riichi sticks and two honba on the table, a 2/30 ron would tie him for 1st place. Otherwise, a 1/50 tsumo or any direct hit would be enough for sole top spot.
Katsumata starts out the hand with 3 honours (including a pair of red dragons) and 8 manzu tiles, sitting 3-shanten for a valuable honitsu. Within the first go-around, Katsumata calls pon on the 9m to get to 2-shanten. On turn 4, he pairs up the 3m to get to iishanten. With a red dragon pon in the second row, Katsumata gets to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen. Immediately after, Shibukawa discards the 6m and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Honitsu/Red Dragon for 3,900+600 plus two riichi sticks, giving the EX Furinkazan their 8th win in 17 games.
Rumi
April 29, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2570
In E1-0, Rumi is the starting dealer and carrying the incredible momentum of the EX Furinkazan and Katsumata’s win the game before.
Rumi starts off 4-shanten with a floating dora south. not much happens in the first row for Rumi, holy taking her to 3-shanten with the south still sitting alone. Still, her hand is starting to shape up into a sequence-based hand. In the second row, she fills in a ryanmen and draws a red 5p to be part of a new ryanmen. Through the rest of the row, she makes a 2m triplet and secures tanyao for iishanten. In the third row, she finally gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, wanting the 6p for a 456p iipeikou. Soon after, Takamiya makes a call and discards the 6p trying to get to tenpai and deals into Rumi. With the 4p being the uradora, Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 2 for a big 18,000.
In E1-1, Rumi starts off by drawing the dora 8s to get her to 3-shanten. With a red 5m as part of a ryanmen, she has a path to another limit hand. In her first three draws, she fills in two ryanmen and gets herself to iishanten. At the end of the first row, he improves even further to guarantee herself a good wait. In the middle of the second row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen for the mangan minimum. At the end of the row, Hori discards the 9s trying to accept a wide iishanten and deals into Rumi. Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000.
In just two hands, Rumi more than doubles her score.
Abemas Ascension
April 29, Game 2
In S2-2, Matsumoto is in 4th place, 6,300 behind 3rd place Hori. Time is running out for the Abemas with their final games being in just a day.
Matsumoto starts off the hand at a distant 5-shanten, but he does have two ryanmens, a connected red 5m and a floating dora west for value. With good efficiency and flexibility, Matsumoto creates two sequences and two ryanmens to get himself to 2-shanten on turn 6. On turn 7, he fills in a ryanmen to get to iishanten, still looking for a pair. To his right, Hori is going for a similar sequence hand. At the end of the row, Hori is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. If he wins on the 5p, he will add a 345 sanshoku for mangan minimum.
During the ippatsu round, Matsumoto fills in the last ryanmen and calls riichi on a dora west tanki. Near the middle of the third row, Hori draws and discards the west and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+600 plus a riichi stick, moving into 3rd place.
In S3-0, Matsumoto is now the dealer in 3rd place, 5,800 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 30,700 behind 1st place Rumi.
Matsumoto starts out with a big 2-shanten starting hand, holding a secured red 5p and a red 5s. On turn 2, he advances to iishanten and shifts his hand to tanyao, giving him a chance to call if he wishes. On turn 4, he creates a 369m 3-sided wait, expanding his tile acceptance. By the end of the first row, Matsumoto is guaranteed a good wait. Across from him, Rumi is trying to defend her lead and already has a hidden triplet of the red dragon. With a pon of the 7s and a good draw, Rumi is the first to tenpai and waits on a 5p kanchan.
On Matsumoto’s turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 369m 3-sided wait. Two turns later, Rumi draws and discards the 9m (since Matsumoto discarded the 8m in the first row) and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 12,000. With the win, Matsumoto is now just 6,700 behind 1st place.
Hori
April 29, Game 2 S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3066
In S4-0, Hori is the last dealer in 4th place, 16,400 behind 3rd place Takamiya and 20,300 behind 2nd place Matsumoto.
Hori starts out with a 3-shanten hand with two ryanmens. Pinfu is a possibility and sanshoku is possible with an optimistic outlook. On turn 4, Hori advances to 2-shanten, needing a 9p, 9m and 8s for the distant sanshoku. On turn 7, he gets the 9p to get to iishanten. On his very next draw, he gets the 8s and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. If he can get the latter, he will get at least a mangan. At the end of the second row, Hori gets the 9m and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Hori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, enough to move him into 2nd place.
Hidden Dora
April 30, Game 1, S1-1
In S1-1, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 4th place, 4,900 behind 3rd place Futoshi, 9,100 behind 2nd place Matsugase and 13,600 behind 1st place Hinata.
Nakabayashi starts off at 3-shanten with three ryanmens, a secured red 5m and a dora 3m. In the first row, he pairs up the 3m dora and calls a 678m chii to get to iishanten. with a 58 ryanmen in both pinzu and souzu, she has the chance for a sanshoku. At the start of the second row, Nakabayashi draws the 8s and waits on a 58p ryanmen. Immediately after, Futoshi discards the 8p and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+300, moving into 2nd place.
For The Team
April 30, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4070
In S2-1, Hinata is in 1st place and holding a slim 1,300 lead over 2nd place Nakabayashi. It will be difficult for the Shibuya Abemas to advance to the finals, but gaining as many points as they can will give them the biggest chance.
Hinata starts out the hand 3-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten for a standard hand) with pairs of 2p, 7s and west. In the first row, Hinata draws a triplet of norths and slowly shifts her hand to honitsu. To confirm her pursuit, she discards her 2p pair and calls pon on the 7s. By the end of the row, Hinata is 2-shanten. After pairing up the white dragon and calling pon on the wests, Hinata gets to tenpai and waits on a 25s ryanmen.
Across from Hinata, Futoshi is 2-shanten with a concealed quad of 2s. Soon after Hinata gets to tenpai, Futoshi calls a pon on the 5p and waits on a 7m kanchan.
In the middle of the second row, Hinata draws the fourth 7s and calls an added kan. The kandora misses and actually makes Futoshi 5p pon into dora, upgrading his hand. However, Hinata draws the 3s and shifts to a 3s/white dragon shanpon, giving her a chance at a mangan or even a haneman. After Matsugase makes a chii to get to tenpai and shift the wall, Hinata ends up drawing the white dragon and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Toitoi/Honitsu/West/White Dragon for 3,000+100/6,000+100.
Empty Riichi
April 30, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2970
Full Article: When Is a Riichi a Riichi? Unpacking Nakabayashi’s Cancelled Riichi
In S3-0, Nakabayashi was iishanten for chiitoi when he draw a white dragon. He instinctively calls riichi and just before he discards, he realizes his mistake. He calls the ref and the referee gives him a dead hand, to much controversy. You can read more about the incident in the following article : When Is a Riichi a Riichi? Unpacking Nakabayashi’s Cancelled Riichi
To The Limit
April 30, Game 2
In E3-2, Aki is playing the last semifinal game for the EX Furinkazan. If Aki gets a 1st place in this game, the EX Furinkazan will be guaranteed a spot in the finals. Currently, she is in 2nd place and 23,100 behind 1st place Yu.
Aki starts out the hand 4-shanten with two ryanmens and a connected red 5p. In the first row, Aki creates another ryanmen to advance to 3-shanten. On turn 7, she fills her penchan to advance and make pinfu much more likely. After filling in two of the ryanmens, Aki gets to tenpai near the end of the second row and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. On her very next draw, she gets the 2s and wins the hand. Flipping an uradora, Aki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+200/6,000+200 plus one riichi stick.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2571
In E4-0, starts off with a 4-shanten hand with a single 1m dora. In the first few turns, Aki becomes a dora magnet, drawing a second and a third 1m. After making an 8s triplet and filling in a 5p kanchan, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 23m wait. Two turns later, she draws a fourth 8s and calls a concealed kan.
The kandora misses and so does the rinshan, but she has a chance at another uradora. In the middle of the second row, Shiratori calls a chasing riichi and waits on a 36s ryanmen. Unfortunately, for Shiratori, this would end up hurting him quite a bit.
At the end of the second row, Shiratori draws and discards the 2m and deals into Aki. With a flip of the uradora, Aki’s 8s quad and her single 5p all become uradora and instantly upgrades her hand to a dealer baiman. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Ura 5 for 24,000 plus one riichi stick, taking Aki above 60,000.
In E4-1, Aki starts out 4-shanten with just a floating north for value. Providing Aki with a few sequences in the first row, Aki abandons the north on turn 5 to go for pinfu. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten. In the second row, Aki draws tiles in manzu to get to a yakuless 6m kanchan. With multiple ways to improve her hand, she keeps quiet.
Right after, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p tanki.
During the ippatsu round, she finds the improvement she is looking for and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. Immediately after, Sonoda draws and discards the 1m and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 12,000+300 plus one riichi stick.
Shousangen
April 30, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2572
In S2-0, Aki is far ahead in 1st place, but there is no such thing as too many points.
Aki starts out by pairing up the white dragons, joining her 4p pair and triplets of red dragon and 3s. On turn 3, she calls pon on the white dragon and waits on a 7p kanchan. On turn 5, she draws a third 4p and moves to a 56p wait, having a chance at sanankou. A turn later, she draw the green dragon and switches to a green dragon tanki, guaranteeing a sanankou and shousangen. On Sonoda’s turn, he discards the green dragon and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Toitoi/Sanankou/Shousangen/Red Dragon/White Dragon for 16,000, taking her score to 87,900.
Escaping 4th
April 30, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, Sonoda is in the negatives and 8,400 behind 3rd place Shiratori. To move up in rank, Sonoda needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or a mangan ron.
Sonoda starting hand is 3-shanten with just a 1p for value. Early on, he secures the 3p penchan and builds sequences in other areas. On turn 6, he secures a 789s iipeikou and calls riichi on a 3p penchan. With only three han secured, he would need to get a direct hit or tsumo, or be lucky enough to get one more han when winning by ron. After a while of waiting, Sonoda draws the 3p near the middle of the third row and wins the hand. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200, finishing the game in 3rd place.
Final Push
May 2, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3574
In E4-0, Date is playing for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club sitting in 4th place. Based on the current team standings, the team needs an extremely big 1st place and push Taro into 4th place. Though it’s extremely unlikely, there won’t be a chance if she doesn’t try.
Date starts the hand at a distant 5-shanten, but she has a red 5p connected to a dora 7p. In the first row, she creates a 345p sequence, makes a 7s pair to go along with her 678s sequence and forms two ryanmens. Though the 7p is now relatively isolated, she can secure it with a 6p draw (reconnecting with the red 5p), an 8p to create a new ryanmen, or by pairing it up. On turn 7, she gets the 8p to secure that dora and guarantee pinfu. A few turns later, she draws the 6p and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen, wanting the latter for tanyao. In the third row, Date gets the 4m and wins the hand. With a flip of the uradora, Date’s three 7s becomes dora and instantly upgrades her hand. Date wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 4,000/8,000, enough to move her into 1st place.
MVP
May 2, Game 2
In E3-0, MVP Yu is playing the last semifinal game for the U-Next Pirates. With the team sitting 28.2pts behind the EX Furinkazan, Yu wants to win this game to put the team in 1st place going into the finals.
Yu starts out the hand by filling in a kanchan to get to an very strong 2-shanten hand, holding three ryanmens, a connected dora 2s and a secured red 5p. After the first row was a bust, Yu finally fills one of them on turn 8 to get to iishanten. A turn later, he fills in another and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. In the middle of the third row, Yu draws the 4s and wins the hand. Hitting one uradora, Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving him into 1st place.
Skipping to S2-0, Yu’s lead is being threatened by the dealer Hori, just 1,900 behind him.
Yu starts off with another strong 2-shanten hand with a red 5s firmly embedded. After making triplets of 7m and 5s, Yu gets to iishanten on turn 3. On turn 4, Yu draws the dora 5p and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, Yu gets the 3p and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5570
In S3-0, Yu starts out 5-shanten, but has a pair of the 4m dora. In his first six draws, he creates a triplet of 3p, but is otherwise only able to get to 4-shanten. In the second row, Yu draws a 456m sequence and divides the 3p’s into a 234p sequence and a 3p pair. In the middle of the third row, Yu finally gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 47m/3p wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. On his very next draw, Yu gets the 7m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 3 for 2,000/4,000, keeping his strong lead going into the last hand of the semifinals.
Semifinals Finish
May 2, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, it is the last hand of the semifinals. Sitting in 3rd place is Sonoda, just 2,700 behind 2nd place Hori. With both teams going to the finals, any advantage now will aid them in the finals. For Sonoda to move up a rank, he needs a 1/50 direct hit, 2/40 tsumo or a 2/50 ron.
From the start, Sonoda has a red 5s but has a bunch of bad waits and sits at 4-shanten. Sonoda fills in a bunch of the bad shapes in souzu during the first row, but he doesn’t quite have enough fodder to force a honitsu. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten. On turn 8, he creates a 1123m shape, letting him make it a ryanmen or find a pair elsewhere. At the end of the second row, Sonoda makes a 6m pair.
Sonoda has the choice to call riichi and wait on either a 2s or a 4s. If he waits on the 4s, he will be guaranteed enough value with iipeikou added on. However, three of the 4s are visible. So, Sonoda takes the risk and calls riichi on a 2s, needing one more han if he wins it off of Yu or Hisato. In the middle of the third row, Sonoda is able to draw the 2s and wins the final hand of the semifinals. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, finishing the game in 2nd place.
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