Monday (December 9)

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Game 1

Sanshoku

December 9, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5089

In E2-0, Hagiwara is the dealer in a 2nd place tie, 5,000 behind 1st place Uchikawa.

Hagiwara starts out the hand 2-shanten with a red 5m and red 5s. In the first row, Hagiwara gets rid of his honours, still staying in 2-shanten. In the second row, his hand leans towards a 789 sanshoku, needing a 9m and a 7p to complete it. In the middle of the row, he draws a 9m and discards the red 5m. A turn later, Hagiwara gets to tenpai, throws the red 5s and calls riichi on a 7p penchan.

Across from him, Uchikawa is iishanten with a pair of 1m dora. At the start of the second row, Uchikawa gives chase and calls riichi on a 7m kanchan.

Though there are these two players in tenpai, all eyes are on Taro, sitting iishanten for a potential kokushi. Having drawn the 7p at the end of the second row, fans were anxious to see whether Taro would deal in while pursuing the yakuman. In the middle of the third row, Taro decides to take a step back, breaking his 1p pair and delaying the 7p discard, essentially saving him.

On the second-last tile in the wall, Hagiwara gets the 7p and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku for 4,000 all plus Uchikawa’s riichi stick, moving into 1st.

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Sanshoku Two

December 9, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4587

In S1-1, Genta is the dealer in 2nd place and 11,300 behind 1st place Hagiwara.

Genta starts out the hand at 4-shanten with some potential sequences. Despite this, he only has three blocks and two of them are bad waits. The first row cleans up the hand just a bit to get him to 3-shanten with five blocks. In the second row, Genta shifts to tanyao and gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.

In the middle of the row 1st place Hagiwara sets his hand up for ittsuu, only missing an 8s. With a 789s chii, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 58m ryanmen.

Right after, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen

During the ippatsu round, Genta finally gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen, wanting the 6s for a 456 sanshoku.

When Hagiwara draws a dangerous 8p, he chooses to fold, leaving it to be a battle between Uchikawa and Genta.

Near the middle of the third row, Uchikawa draws and discards the ideal 6s and deals into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku for 12,000+300 plus Uchikawa’s riichi stick, putting Genta into top spot.

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Maestro’s Tile Draw

December 9, Game 1, S1-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3094

In S1-3, Uchikawa is down in 4th place, 14,400 behind 3rd place Taro.

Uchikawa starts out with a strong 2-shanten hand with a triplet of easts and two ryanmens. Very quickly, Uchikawa draws useful tiles. On turn 2, he gets to iishanten. On turn 3, he draws a 4p to create a 344p shape. On his very next turn, he draws another 4p and calls riichi on a wide 235p wait. Nine winning tiles remain in the wall.

At the start of the second row, Uchikawa draws the fourth east. Wanting the extra value, Uchikawa calls a concealed kan.

With the kandora flip, his 3p becomes the new dora. With the rinshan, Uchikawa draws…

…the 3p dora and wins the hand! Hitting an uradora, Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Rinshan/Tsumo/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 3,000+300/6,000+300, instantly moving him into 3rd place.

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Uchikawa Up

December 9, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Uchikawa is in 3rd place and 14,300 behind 2nd place dealer Hagiwara, hoping to continue the positive momentum.

Uchikawa starts out at 3-shanten with two completed sequences and a ryanmen. After getting rid of his honours in the first row, Uchikawa advances to iishanten at the end of the row with a 147m three-sided wait. In the middle of the second row, Uchikawa fills in a 5p kanchan and calls riichi on the 147m three-sided wait. If he gets the 4m or the 7m, he will have at least a mangan.

Across from him, Hagiwara’s hand is looking ripe for a manzu honitsu. During the ippatsu round, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 9m/east shanpon, hoping to hit someone with the “safe” east.

Though Uchikawa’s hand is wider in terms of types of tiles, both players only have two winning tiles left in the wall.

In the middle of the third row, Uchikawa draws the 4m and wins the hand. Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000, putting him just 2,300 shy of 2nd.

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Raiden Rise

December 9, Game 1, S4-1

In S4-1, Hagiwara is in 3rd place and 9,300 behind 2nd place dealer Uchikawa. To finish the game in 2nd place, Hagiwara needs a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo or a haneman ron.

From the very start, Hagiwara starts out the hand 4-shanten with a red 5p double dora and a path to tanyao. Discarding honours and terminals in the first row, Hagiwara draws a second 5p dora to set him up for mangan. By the end of the first row, he is 2-shanten.

Near the middle of the second row, Hagiwara calls pon on the 7p to get to iishanten. With a 234p chii two turns later, Hagiwara gets to tenpai on a 58s ryanmen, needing a tsumo for 2nd.

Right after, 1st place Genta calls a 234p chii and gets to tenpai on a south/4m shanpon. only allowed to win on the south.

Right after him, Uchikawa getws to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

Trying to avoid the ippatsu turn, Genta folds with the 8s, but ends up dealing into Hagiwara.

Hagiwara wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+300. Because of Uchikawa’s riichi stick, Hagiwar ahas just enough value and finishes the game in 2nd place.

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Results

Game 97

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Game 2

Hori

December 9, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Hori is in 3rd place in a fairly quiet game, 1,100 behind 2nd place Kayamori and 6,900 behind 1st place Sonoda.

With Hori’s starting hand, he is already stacked with a triplet of the 6p dora and sitting at 2-shanten. The first row is pretty slow, though, only getting him to 2-shanten with a yaku far from being guaranteed. During this time, Kayamori (who started at 4-shanten) catches up to Hori and gets to iishanten at the end of the row.

In the middle of the second row, Kayamori is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen.

To avoid the ippatsu round, Hori goes back a step and returns to 2-shanten. With a 567s chii at the end of the row, Hori returns to iishanten. A turn later, Hori gets to tenpai and waits on a 7s kanchan. However, no 7s remain in the wall.

But, there is hope for Hori. With the 7s being safe against Kayamori, there is a chance that someone folds with the 7s and deals in. Indeed, just two turns later, Kurosawa discards the 7s trying to defend against Kayamori and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3 for 8,000, taking the lead.

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Drivens Drive

December 9, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2097

In S2-0, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 2,100 behind 1st place Hori.

Sonoda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a secured red 5s. Though he does have a 12m shape, he can easily get rid of it and shift to tanyao. The first row pushes him in that direct and by the end of the row, the penchan shape gone.

On turn 8, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.

To his right, Hori is looking to defend his lead. Having already called once before the riichi, Hori breaks the ippatsu turn with another call to get to iishanten. Near the end of the row, he gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen.

Though behind in the tile count, Sonoda manages to get the 2p near the end of the second row and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, taking the lead from Hori.

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Chanta + Pinfu

December 9, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Hori is in 2nd place and 13,900 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Hori starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a 3556m shape. Despite this, his hand shifts more towards the edges with each draw. On turn 4, he completes a 123p sequence to get to 2-shanten. On his next draw, he draws a 9s to make a 789s sequence. At the end of the row, he fills in a 2m kanchan and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, wanting the 9p to complete chanta.

During the ippatsu round, Kurosawa discards the 9 to maintain a tanyao iishanten and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with the rare combination of Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Chanta for 8,000+300.

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Big Baiman

December 9, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2098

In S3-0, Sonoda is in 1st place and holding a relatively small 5,600 lead over 2nd place dealer Hori. If Sonoda can win this hand, he can be more comfortable going into South 4.

Sonoda starts out with a triplet of the 7s dora and pairs of east, 2m and white dragon. If he can start calling pon, a haneman is in his future. In the first row, his only progress is drawing a pair of 7p, putting him one away from a pairs hand. To his right, his rival Hori is iishanten for a standard hand.

When the 7p comes out from Kayamori in the second row, Sonoda calls pon to get to iishanten. With the wall shifted, Hori manages to get to tenpai on his next draw and calls riichi on an 8s/9s shanpon.

With the big value in Sonoda’s hand, he keeps pushing. At the end of the row, he draws the white dragon and sits tenpai on an east/2m shanpon. With a ron, he will have a haneman. With a tsumo, he will add sanankou and upgrade to a baiman.

In the middle of the third row, Sonoda draws the 2m and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Toitoi/Sanankou/White Dragon/Dora 3 for a big 4,000/8,000 baiman. With Hori’s riichi stick, it pushes Sonoda above 60,000.

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South 4 Sayaka

December 9, Game 2

In S4-0, Kayamori is the final dealer and looking to make ground on 2nd place Hori, 12,200 ahead of her.

Kayamori starts out the hand with decent value, holding a 7m dora, a red 5p and a pair of white dragons. Sitting at 4-shanten, she still has a bit of work to do. When the white dragon comes out, she calls pon to advance.

To her right, 4th place Kurosawa is just trying to get as many points as she can. With perfect pairing, Kurosawa manages to get to chiitoi tenpai on turn 4 and calls riichi on a north tanki.

Unlikely to fall into 4th place, Kayamori keeps moving forward. During the ippatsu round, Kayamori fills in a kanchan and gests to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. A turn later, she improves even further to a perfect iishanten. It takes a bit, but Kayamori get to tenpai at the end of the second row after calling pon on the 2p and waits on a 69m ryanmen.

In the middle of the third row, Kayamori draws the 9m and wins the hand. Kayamori wins with White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000 plus one riichi stick.

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In S4-1, Kayamori is now just 3,200 behind 2nd place Hori. Anything more than 2 han is enough to move up.

Kayamori starts out the hand with an annoying 4-shanten ahnd with only bad shapes to be seen. Kurosawa, on the other hand, is already 2-shanten with two ryanmens. By turn 4, Kurosawa is tenpai and waits on a yakuless 5m tanki, hoping to improve the wait. On her very next draw, she draws a 6p dora and calls riichi on a 69p nobetan.

Like last time, Kayamori can only go up. Incredibly, her hand is now iishanten at this point, but still left with difficult shapes.

In the second row, Kayamori converts a kanchan into a ryanmen to impve the hand a bit. A turn later, Kayamori gets to tenpai and stays dama on 25m ryanmen, both safe against Kurosawa. A draw after that, Kayamori adds a red 5s and gives herself the chance at a 234 sanshoku, needing the 2m to make it happen.

Immediately after, Kurosawa draws and discards the red 5m and deals into Kayamori. Kayamori wins the hand with Pinfu/Aka 2 for 5,800+300 plus a riichi stick, shifting her up to 2nd place.

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Results

Game 98

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