Game #7
U-Next Pirates
Akasaka
Drivens
EX Furinkazan
Kadokawa
Sakura Knights
Ura Ura
May 10, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2064
In E2-0, Sonoda is the dealer and tied for 2nd place, 4,000 behind 1st place Shibukawa.
Sonoda starts out with a 4-shanten hand with a bunch of kanchans. He has no immediate value, but has a good route to tanyao. He converts some of those kanchans into ryanmens and pairs in the first row, taking him to chiitoi and standard hand 3-shanten by turn 6. After creating a 345s sequence on turn 7 and a 345p sequence on turn 8, Sonoda gets to iishanten and is just a 5p away from sanshoku. On turn 10, Sonoda draws a 2p and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. If he gets the 5p, he gets sanshoku. If he gets the 2p, he gets iipeikou. Either way, he is guaranteed at least a mangan. In the middle of the third row, Sonoda gets the takame 5p and wins the hand. With a flip of the uradora, his 2s pair becomes uradora and instantly upgrades his hand to a dealer baiman. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Ura 2 for 8,000 all.
Honitsu
May 10, Game 1, E2-1
In E2-1 Yu is in 4th place, 800 behind 3rd place Katsumata and 4,800 behind 2nd place Shibukawa. With both the EX Furinkazan and the Kadokawa Sakura Knights the U-Next Pirates’ rivals, he would like to move above them.
Yu starts off with a 4-shanten hand with a pair of white dragons. Combined with the three blocks in manzu and a few floating honours, Yu’s tiles are pushing him towards honitsu. In the first seven turns, Yu exclusively discards pinzu and souzu tiles. Calling pon on the white dragon in the second row, he gets to 2-shanten. A turn later, he makes a triplet of norths. With one more chii, Yu gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan. On his next draw, he gets the 3m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Honitsu/North/White Dragon for 2,000+100/4,000+100, moving into 2nd place.
Going Up
May 10, Game 1
In S1-0, Katsumata is in 4th place, 9,100 behind 3rd place Shibukawa and 9,300 behind 2nd place dealer Yu.
Katsumata starts off 3-shanten with a secured dora 3m and a ryanmen. With Katsumata’s first discard, 1st place Sonoda calls pon on the green dragon, trying to prevent anyone from catching up to him. On turn 4, Sonoda gets to iishanten and before the row is done, Sonoda gets to tenpai on a 258s wait.
Katsumata has only made one step forward to 2-shanten, but the fact that he has a triplet and no pair gives his hand extra flexibility. To Katsumata’s right is Shibukawa who is close to tenpai. At the start of the second row, Shibukawa is the second to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan.
Only Yu and Katsumata are left to get to tenpai. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 4s kanchan. His hand has a lot of value, giving him a guaranteed haneman if he wins.
On Katsumata’s turn, he draws the fourth 8s and calls a concealed kan. The new dora is the 9p, giving Sonoda two more han. However, since he is already in 1st place, he doesn’t want to push too hard. At the end of the second row, he chooses to fold. When Yu draws the 5s, he chooses to go a safe rpath and switch to a 2p/5s shanpon. In the third row, Katsumata finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Yu draws and discards the 8m (a tile safe against Shibukawa) and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place because of Shibukawa’s riichi.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2575
In S2-0, Katsumata has a 4-shanten starting hand with a secured red 5m and a floating 9p dora. Across from him is Yu, wanting to take revenge. Having started at 2-shanten, Yu quickly gets to tenpai on turn 4 and calls riichi on a 4s/west shanpon.
During the ippatsu round, Katsumata gets to 2-shanten for a standard hand. After breaking his 1m pair as one of his safest tiles, he gets to iishanten. With a pon of the double south, he gets to tenpai on an 8p kanchan, guaranteed a mangan if he wins. Right after, Shibukawa throws the 8p which was recently discarded by Yu and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Double South/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000. plus one riichi stick, another hit on a rival.
Final Scores
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p253
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1788898253465108892
Standings
With the win by Sonoda, the Akasaka Drivens are in the positives for the first time since the start of the finals. The 4th place by Hori drops the team back down into 3rd place and lets the EX Furinkazan move into 2nd. Interestingly, because of this movement, the U-Next Pirates’ lead actually increases from 120.6pts to 143.7pts.
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