Highlights
Four Fours
October 7, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Okada is in the starting south seat, trying to get her team into the positives.
At the start, Okada is 3-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten from a standard hand) with a pair of 4p dora. While Okada discards honours and terminals in the first row, she is given a wonderful gift: two more 4p dora. With all four of the fours, she is guaranteed at least a mangan if she can win. By the end of the row, she is iishanten.
The second row provides her with no help at all, forcing her to simply draw and discard.
In this time, Nakada makes a call and is the first to tenpai, waiting on a 47m ryanmen.
Right after, Aki gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan.
Immediately, Okada draws Aki’s last 3m and calls riichi on a 5p kanchan. If she draws it herself or hits an uradora, it will be a haneman.
Near the end of the third row, Nakada draws the dangerous 5p. Seeing the danger, Nakada chooses to fold. On Aki’s last draw, she draws and discards the last 5p and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 4 for 8,000 plus Aki’s riichi stick.
Shiratori Fly High
October 7, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4076
In S3-0, Shiratori is in 2nd place and 8,500 behind 1st place Okada.
Shiratori starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) with a clear but delicate path to tanyao. Drawing the wrong side of the 14m ryanmen or the 69m ryanmen, or even a 9s could be problematic for an open hand attempt.
In the first row, Shiratori ends up drawing the 1m, but his very flexible iishanten balances it out, waiting on 11 different tile for tenpai.
On turn 7, he has a chance to take a 7m/4s shanpon or a 5s kanchan, but his current upgrades are too good to take a bad tenpai.
On his very next draw, he gets a 4s and calls riichi on a wide 569s wait.
During the ippatsu round, Nakada chases with a 6s kanchan, but no 6s remain in the wall. In the rare scenario that Okada or Aki discards the 6s, then Nakada would win on headbump.
At the start of the third row, Shiratori draws the 5s and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, the two 6s in his hand become dora and upgrades him to a haneman. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st place.
Tactical Pass
October 7, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2101
In S4-0, Shiratori is the dealer in 1st place, 7,500 ahead of 2nd place Okada.
Shiratori starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a floating 5p dora. His first few turns provide him with a 1p pair, a connector for the 5p and two ryanmens. On turn 7, he fills in his 3s penchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. At the end of the row, he draws the 4p to get to tenpai and waits dama on a 25m ryanmen.
Right after, Nakada discards the 2m, Shiratori’s winning tile.
However, Shiratori does not call ron!
Looking at the scores, a win by Shiratori here would give Shiratori 2,900, increasing his lead over Okada to 10,400. Though it is bigger, it is still not enough to remove the danger of Okada winning a mangan tsumo (which would be a net 12,000 gain) and passing him. If he wins this hand, there will be a whole new hand after this, which will give Okada a fresh new chance to get a mangan.
If Shiratori instead passes the ron here, Okada will only have about six more turns to get to a mangan tenpai and draw it herself, something that Shiratori deems has a lower probability of happening.
If the hand ends in a draw, then Shiratori can declare himself noten and secure the 1st place and the 1st place bonus.
In the middle of the third row, Shiratori draws the 2m and declares tsumo. With Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1, he gets 1,300 from all and increases his lead over Okada to 12,700, more than a mangan tsumo ahead of Okada
Chanta Push
October 7, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3080
In E1-0, Hori is the starting north seat and wanting to make that small last push to get the team into the positives.
Hori starts out 3-shanten with a bunch of kanchans and a floating 1p dora. On his second draw, he pairs it up, but has no good path to a yaku. In th distance, there is the potential for chanta, but it will require the luck of getting the 1s side of the 14s ryanmen and filling in the 8m and 8p kanchan.
At the start of the second row, he calls chii on the 8p to get to 2-shanten. Two turns later, he calls pon on the west and gets to iishanten. The biggest barrier still remains the 14s ryanmen.
In the middle of the second row, Rumi is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
On the ippatsu round, Hori draws the tile he needs, the 1s, and gets to tenpai on an 8m kanchan. Hori pushes, being so close to a decent-sized hand. In the third row, Rumi discards the 1p and Hori calls pon, upgrading his hand to a mangan and switching his wait to a 9m tanki.
On Hori’s very next draw, he gets the very last 9m in the wall and wins the hand. Hori wins with Chanta/Dora 3 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick.
Last To Tenpai, First To Win
October 7, Game 2, E2-0
In E2-0, Hinata is in 4th place after getting hit with the dealer penalty in the first hand. Still the game is young.
WIth the red 5s double dora in her starting hand, her value is hopeful. Unfortunately, she is 4-shanten for both a standard and chiitoi hand, meaning she has some work and some waiting to do.
The first row does a good job getting her to 2-shanten with tanyao is sight, but it also gives her opponents good tiles as well. By turn 6, Aki is iishanten while the others are 2-shanten.
On turn 7, both Sarukawa and Hinata get to iishanten, though Sarukawa’s is just a bit wider. At the start of the third row, he is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.
With Sarukawa’s riichi tile, Rumi calls chii and gets herself tenpai on a 7m kanchan.
On Hori draw, he gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
One after another, Hinata’s opponents have gotten to tenpai. Yet, Hinata doesn’t get to tenpai on her draw. But, there is still a row left.
Hinata keeps pushing, wanting to take advantage of her double dora. For Rumi, the danger is too much and she ends up folding. On Hinata’s second-last draw, she finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
Though her last draw misses, Sarukawa after her ends up drawing and discarding the 6s and deals into Hinata. Hinata wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus two riichi sticks, coming within 2,000 of 1st place.
Coming Close
October 7, Game 2, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6066
In S4-2, Sarukawa is in 3rd place and 14,700 behind 2nd place Hinata. In order to move into 2nd place, Sarukawa needs a mangan direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron.
Sarukawa starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a pair of dora white dragons. Though calling pon on it would be an easy mangan, it doesn’t quite reach the haneman tsumo level he is looking for. Still, points are good points.
In the second row, Hori discards the white dragon and gets himself to a dama 3s kanchan tenpai. With a pon, Sarukawa advances to iishanten, the path to mangan and securing 3rd place clear.
With Sarukawa’s pon and little risk of losing top spot, Hori decides to call a tsumogiri riichi, upgrading his hand to a guaranteed dealer mangan minimum.
Because of Hori’s riichi, Hinata discards the red 5p, a tile 100% safe against Hori. With a chii, Sarukawa ups his hand to 5 han and gets to tenpai on a 8m kanchan. On his next draw, he gets the fourth white dragon.
With a kan, he has secured 6 han, enough to meet haneman standards and giving him a chance at 2nd place. All he has to do is draw the 8m.
Near the end of the second row, Hori draws and discards the 8m and deals into Sarukawa. It’s not tsumo, but it still a good number of points. Sarukawa wins with White Dragon/Dora 4/Aka 1 for 12,000+600 plus one riichi stick. He finishes the game just 1,100 behind 2nd place.
Kan! Ron!
October 8, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4569
In S1-0, Genta is in 1st place and 5,900 ahead of 2nd place Asami. At the other ends, Mizuhara is the dealer in 4th place, 17,900 behind 3rd place Hagiwara.
At the start, Miuhara 4-shanten with a red 5s double dora, while Genta is 3-shanten with no value as of yet. In the first row, Mizuhara calls pon on her 2p pair and aims her hand for a relatively quick tanyao. For Genta, he makes a bunch of ryanmens and keeps his hand open for a callable tanyao. By the end of the row, both players are 2-shanten.
In the second row, Mizuhara keeps going for the called tanyao. With a pon of the 3p and a 567p chii, she is the first to tenpai and waits on a 4s kanchan.
Seeing Mizuhara’s calls, Genta speeds his hand up with a call of his own. On his next draw, he gets the 5s dora and waits tenpai on a 36p.
In the third row, Mizuhara draws the fourth 3p. She declares kan and reveals the 3p. As she tries to add it to the kan, she hears a ron to her right.
In an extremely rare moment, Genta has done a chankan off Mizuhara’s 3p added kan! Even the commentators were caught off guard! Genta wins the hand with Tanyao/Chankan/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000, bringing Genta above 40,000 and Mizuhara into the negatives.
Genta’s chankan win is just the second chankan in M-League history. The first took place on This is only the second chankan in M-League history. The first one was by teammate Kayamori Sayaka back on October 16, 2020
Asami Ahead
October 8, Game 1, S2-1
In S2-1, Asami is the dealer and sitting 10,900 behind 1st place Genta. Because the previous hand went to a draw, there is now a honba and a riichi stick in the pot.
Asami starts out the hand the hand 3-shanten with a loosely connected red 5p and dora 7m, as well as a pair of souths. Within a few turns he calls pon on the yakuhai south and chii for a 123m sequence. After getting rid of her pinzu shapes, she gets to iishanten.
Across the table, Genta is also iishanten, but his shapes are much better than Asami’s (a 69m ryanmen and pairs of east and green dragon). At the start of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 3ast/green dragon shanpon.
During the ippatsu round, Asami draws a red 5m and gets to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen. Near the end of the row, Asami draws the 7s and wins the hand. Asami wins with South/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+100 all. With the riichi stick from the previous hand and Genta’s riichi stick this turn, Asami has just enough points to move ahead of Genta by 500.
Hagi Haneman
October 8, Game 1, S2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5070
In S2-2, Hagiwara is in 3rd place, 22,900 behind 2nd place Genta and 23,400 behind 1st place Asami. He has to win something big because he’s got an awfully long way to go.
Hagiwara’s starting hand is 4-shanten with three ryanmens, including one involving the 5m dora. In the first row, he is unable to complete any of them. Instead, he forms a 2m triplet to get to 2-shanten that way.
In the second row, he creates a 2p pair to make tanyao very likely. On his next draw, he gets to iishanten.
In the third row, he draws a 7p triplet to finally get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. On the ippatsu draw, Hagiwara draws the 6m and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, a significant step forward towards 1st place.
Royal Riichi
October 8, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5071
In S4-1, Honda is the dealer in 4th place, 19,700 ahead of 2nd place Yu. Being so far ahead, Honda can do almost anything he wants and get away with it.
Honda stars out the hand just 2-away with two penchans and a ryanmen. After getting rid of his penchan, he draws a 3s dora on turn 4 to create a sequence and get to iishanten. On turn 6, he discards the 6p. With a 3p wait possible, the potential suji trap is set.
On Honda’s next draw, he gets to tenpai and indeed calls riichi on a 3p penchan. During theippatsu round, Yu drops the 3p and deals into Honda. WIth the uradora flip, Honda gets two more han and hits the mangan. Honda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 12,000+300, bringing Honda’s score up to 58,500.
Headbump
October 10, Game 1, E3-0
In E3-0, Shiratori is the dealer in 4th place, 4,700 behind 2nd place Hori.
Shiratori starts out the hand with a decent 3-shanten hand with a floating west dora. More than likely the west will come out in favour of a sequence-based hand.
In the first row, Shiratori builds his hand towards both pinfu and tanyao. At the start of the second row, he gets rid of the west dora to accept a very wide 2-shanten. Soon after, 1st place Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
Immediately after, 3rd place Takamiya fills in a kanchan and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least 3 han if she wins.
Though Shiratori is still at 2-shanten, he has few safe tiles and his hand has good shapes. With six blocks, he can cut the safest one and still be the same distance to tenpai. After doing some acrobatics, Shiratori gets himself to tenpai in the middle of the third row and calls riichi on a 4s/8s shanpon.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya draws and discards the 4s.
Two rons come out, but only one can be revealed. Since Shiratori is earlier in turn order, he has the privelege of winning, denying Sonoda of his mangan. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu for 3,900 plus two riichi sticks, moving him into 2nd place.
Moving Ahead
October 10, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3081
In S3-2, the scores are quite close. Only 5,300 separates 1st place Hori from 4th place Takamiya. With a riichi stick and two honba on the table, the next winner is sure to have a good advantage going into the final stages of the game.
At the start, Hori is 3-shanten He doesn’t have value, but has great flexibility to improve his wait shapes.
As the first round goes along, we see a very active Sonoda. Left, right and centre, Sonoda calls. By his third call in the second row, he is iishanten.
Soon after, Shiratori challenges the table with a decisive dealer riichi, waiting on a 7s kanchan.
With Shiratori’s riichi call, Sonoda calls a 345p chii, his fourth call of the hand. A single 1p tanki is in his hand.
While Sonoda was calling, Hori had been slowly and patiently building his hand. By the second row, he was iishanten with a guaranteed good wait. With Hori’s draw after Shiratori’s riichi, he gets to tenpai and waits on a wide 147p wait. The only problematic tile could be the 1p, being headbumped if Shiratori throws it.
But, headbump doesn’t apply to tsumo. On Hori’s draw, he gets the 1p and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo for 1,000/2,000 plus two riichi sticks. With the relatively small win, Hori gives himself a 10,300 buffer over 2nd place Sonoda going into South 4.
Escaping 4th
October 10, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3583
In S4-1, Takamiya is in 4th place and 2,900 behind 3rd place Shiratori. She already has two 4ths under her belt and doesn’t want to start the season with three in a row.
To avoid it, she can get into a 3rd place tie with a 2/40 ron. If she wants 3rd place outright, she needs a 2/50 or 3/25 ron, a 2/30 tsumo or a 1/40 direct hit.
If she widens her scope, 2nd place dealer Sonoda is within riichi. To overcome the 10,500 gap, Takamiya needs a 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.
Takamiya starts out the hand by drawnig the red 5s, joining her red 5p and getting her to 3-shanten. The first row is focused on being as efficient as possible. After connecting the red 5p and completing a sequence, Takamiya gets to a perfect iishanten by the end of the row.
Across the table from her, 3rd place Shiratori is trying to avoid bringing the Abemas down further. By this point, he is already tenpai with a pair of dora norths and an 8m kanchan, but has no yaku. On his next draw, he improves his wait and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. With any additional han, he can get 2nd place (or even 1st place if he hits 1st place Hori directly).
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. If she can win by tsumo, it would be enough for 2nd place.
Takamiya has 6 tiles left versus Shiratori’s 3. In the middle of the second row, Takamiya draws the 9s and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 2,000+100/4,000+100, finishing the game in 2nd place.
Simplicity
October 10, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3082
In S2-0, Hori is in 1st place with a 7,200 lead over 2nd place Futoshi. Though the lead is good, it could be even better.
Hori starts out with a very promising hand, being 3-shanten with a pair of green dragon doras and two ryanmens. Within his first four turns, he fills in the two ryanmens and gets to iishanten. Right after, Matsumoto discards the green dragon to accept a wide iishanten himself. Hori calls pon and gets to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen.
Immediately after, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147s three-sided wait. On one hand, his wait is wider. On the other, there is a chance that he will be headbumped by Hori on the 4s or the 7s.
Two turns later, Hori draws the 4s and wins the hand. Hori wins with Green Dragon/Dora 3 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, putting Hori over 40,000.
Jigoku Ippatsu
October 11, Game 1, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6067
In E3-1, Daisuke in 2nd place, just 2,200 behind 1st place dealer. With a riichi stick and a honba in the pot, any win is enough to take the lead.
Daisuke starts out with a 3-shanten, heavily leaning towards sequences. In the first row, he fills in a penchan and gets to 2-shanten. To his left, Kobayashi is going for sequences as well and adds on the potential for both tanyao and sanshoku. Though he has more potential value, he lags a bit behind at 3-shanten.
In the second row, Daisuke’s pair becomes a sequence, then a separate pair becomes a sequence afterwards. By the end of the row, he is tenpai with a yakuless 2m tanki.
In the third row, Kobayashi gets himself to tenpai on a 7s kanchan. With Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 in his hand, he is guaranteed to get mangan if he wins and can upgrade to a haneman with just one more han.
On Daisuke’s turn, he draws the green dragon. Though there are already two out, it means that it is almost useless to anyone else. He holds onto it and waits on the green dragon tanki, looking to see if he can upgrade the hand to a better wait or maybe pinfu. After a few turns, he calls riichi and waits with only one remaining in the wall.
During the ippatsu round, Kobayashi draws the dora 8s. Though it ruins his sanshoku, it can now be his pair. He takes the opportunity to call riichi on a wide 147s wait.
On Daisuke’s ippatsu draw, he finds the last green dragon! Daisuke wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus two riichi sticks, moving into 1st place.
Takeuchi Turnaround
October 11, Game 1
In S2-0, Genta is in 4th place, 11,300 behind 3rd place Kobayashi. With his last dealership starting, he decided he needed to step his game up.
Genta starts out the hand by pairing up the 1s dora, moving him up to 3-shanten with some good value. However, with the irremovable terminal pair, he will need to resort to either a closed hand or forming a yakuhai.
In the first row, he sits patiently as he discards his honours. With each draw, the pieces fall into place. He creates and kanchan and a ryanmen, then proceeds to fill in two kanchans. At the end of the row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
In the middle of the second row, Genta draws the 1m and wins the hand. Genta wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2 for 4,000 all, pushing him up to 3rd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4570
Though he lost his dealership in S2-1, he has another chance to make a comeback in S3-0. He sits just 3,900 from 1st place.
Genta starts out the hand 3-shanten and leaning towards tanyao. However, there’s no value in it. The first row gets him a bit closer and moves him to 2-shanten, but he still has bad shapes and no value. Luckily for him, nobody else seems to have a quick hand either.
In the second row, Genta calls pon on the red 5m to get to iishanten and shifts his hand for a potential 234 sanshoku. In the third row, he calls a 234m chii and gets to tenpai on a 3s dora kanchan. If he wins, he will get a mangan.
On his next draw, Genta get the 3s and wins the hand. Genta wins with Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, moving into 1st place going into the last hand.
Saki
October 11, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5072
In S4-0, Kurosawa is in 3rd place, 2,100 behind 2nd place dealer Daisuke and 8,200 behind 1st place Genta. If she wants the optimal goal of top spot, she needs a 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.
Kurosawa’s start hand has hope, being already 2-shanten with a triplet of red dragons. Though, she still needs a bit more for mangan minimum. In the first row, she sets herself up for a good wait tenpai, but is otherwise unsuccessful at advancing.
At the start of the second row, Kurosawa draws a red 5m, the perfect tile. With the draw, she gives herself more value and puts her at a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.
As Kurosawa waits, Genta gets to tenpai first and waits on an east/9p shanpon, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
In the middle of the second row, Kurosawa gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. With a tsumo, she would finish the game in 1st place.
Right after, 4th place Kobayashi joins in and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. If he wins by tsumo, he will move into 2nd place.
With two dangerous riichi players and a chance to lose 1st place, Genta aborts and folds.
In the third row, Kurosawa draws a fourth red dragon. She reveals it and calls kan. With the rinshan, Kurosawa Saki draws…
…the 8p and wins the hand! Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Rinshan/Tsumo/Red Dragon/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, finishing the game in 1st place.
Asai Ahead
October 11, Game 1, E4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4571
In E4-2, Takaki is the dealer in 1st place, 4,700 ahead of 2nd place Nakabayashi.
Takaki starts out the hand 3-shanten with a connected 6m dora. In the first row, he drops his honours and attempts to build his sequences. By turn 4, she gets to 2-shanten.
To Takaki’s righi, 3rd place Sugawara is speeding through her hand. After calling pon on the yakuhai south and filling in a kanchan, Sugawara gets to tenpai first and waits on an 8p kanchan.
A few turns later, Nakabayashi calls pon on the white dragon and gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan.
With no sign of anything too dangerous, Takaki keeps pushing. In the second row, he pairs up the 6m dora and gets to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Takaki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
With five of Takaki’s waits compared two the three of Sugawara and Nakabayashi’s waits combined, Takaki has the advantage. With the dealer riichi, Sugawara decides to push. As for Nakabayashi, he ends up drawing and discarding the 6s and deals into Takaki. Takaki wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 12,000.
Mangan Mangan
October 11, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6068
In S2-1, Sugawara is in 2nd place and 24,100 behind 1st place Takaki. With no more dealership left, she has three hands left to try to close the gap.
Sugawara starts out the hand 3-shanten, but lacking in good shapes. In the first row, she shifts her hand towards tanyao. By the end of the row, she is at 2-shanten. In the second row, Sugawara’s blocks are upgraded to sequences. In the middle of the second row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan.
At the start of the 3rd row, Sugawara draws the 7p and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100, moving into 2nd place.
In S3-0, Sugawara makes a north triplet with her first draw and gets to 2-shanten. With a pair of souths and a secured 7s dora, she has both a yaku and value. On turn 2, she fills in a kanchan and gets to iishanten, waiting on 10 different types of tiles for tenpai. Despite this, her hand doesn’t seem to want to get to tenpai. And she she does get to tenpai near the end of the row, it’s a bad tenpai and she rejects it.
Around the second row, Nakabayashi is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on an east tanki. One remains in the wall.
By this point, Sugawara has expanded to 13 different types of tiles to tenpai but some of them will leave her furiten. During the ippatus round, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69 ryanmen.
Immediately after, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 9p and deals into Sugawara. Sugawara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus Nakabayashi’s riichi stick.
Ice Cold K
October 11, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place after dealing into Sugawara’s mangan while in riichi. Sitting 3,700 behind 3rd place Setokuma, Nakabayashi needs a 2/30 direct hit, a 2/50 or 3/25 tsumo, or a 3/30 ron.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with four ryanmens in hand. He has the choice to either aim for pinfu or make the west pair into a triplet. With Sugawara’s west discard just before him, he doesn’t call chii because doing so would make his hand too cheap. In the first row, he builds his sequences and confirms pinfu by discarding his west pair. If he gets the right tiles, he can also add pinfu.
In the second row, he ends up making a 7s triplet. It ruins his pinfu potential, but his hand is still open to tanyao (though dangerously teetering).
In the middle of the second row, 3rd place Setokuma challenges Nakabayashi by making two calls and getting to tenpai on a 7s kanchan.
Though there are no 7s left in the wall, Nakabayashi has three and might end up discarding one to take a good wait. About half of his waits will lead to that dangerous scenario. Luckily, he ends up finding a pair of 8p and gets himself to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
Nakabayayashi’s hand is just on the edge of being enough and lacking. If he rons off the 4m, he will get tanyao but will need one more han to be enough. An ura will be necessary if Nakabayashi draws the 1m. If he can draw the 4m, everything will be fine.
At the start of the third row, Sugawara, who is in contention for 1st place, gets herself to tenpai on a 147m three-sided wait with three dora. Unfortunately, she is furiten and can only win by tsumo.
Soon after, Nakabayashi draws the perfect tile, the 4m, and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, his 7s triplet becomes a dora, doubling his han count and upgrading him to a haneman! Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 3 for 3,000/6,000, a good way to end a rather rough game.
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