Tuesday (December 17)

---

Game 1

Ippatsu

December 17, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2100

in E3-0, Asami is in 1st place and holding a narrow 1,700 lead over 2nd place Hinata.

Asami starts out the hand at 3-shanten for both pairs and standard, but lacks value. In the first row, she breaks her 9m pair and fills in a 7s penchan, getting to 2-shanten and aiming for pinfu. To her right, Takamiya the 4th place dealer is also at 2-shanten, but with a much stronger hand, holding two dora 6s and guaranteed a good wait.

In the second row, Asami advances to iishanten, but is still lacking any value at all. In order to even get pinfu, she would have to fill in a 3s kanchan with only one left in the wall. For Takamiya, she gets to iishanten with 3 han basically guaranteed.

Two turns into the third row, Asami draws the red 5m to give her some value. In the middle of the row, Takamiya is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

During the ippatsu round, Asami draws a 6p middle suji, allowing her to safely maintain her iishanten. On her next draw, she gets to tenpai. Though there are only five tiles left in the wall, she decides to call riichi and wait on a 4s/5p shanpon, almost guaranteed ippatsu if she wins. On her very next draw, Asami gets the 4s and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Asami wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick.

---

Yaku Yaku Aka Aka

December 17, Game 1, E4-0

In E4-0, Hinata is in 2nd place and 12,700 behind 1st place Asami.

Hinata starts off the hand at 4-shanten with two ryanmens and two red fives. Though they started out as singletons, Hinata pairs up both the white dragon and red dragon within the first three turns to give her yaku options. One after the other, Hinata calls both of them to get to iishanten. Pairing up the 6p at the end of the row, Hinata discards the red 5p to get to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen.

Though she sacrifices one red dora, she would get one back as Takamiya discards the red 5m and deals into HInata. Hinata wins the hand with Red Dragon/White Dragon/Aka 2 for 8,000.

---

Ippatsu

December 17, Game 1, S1-1

In S1-1, Hinata is continuing her pursuit for 1st place, sitting 11,500 behind Asami.

Hinata starts out the hand 3-shanten, with a ryanmen, kanchan and penchan. In the first row, she creates a 36s ryanmen by drawing the red 5s and fills in the ryanmen in manzu. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row, she draws the 3s to get to iishanten. Two turns later, she fills in the 7m penchan and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan. Within the ippatsu round, Asami discards the 7p and deals into Hinata. Getting an uradora, Hinata wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+300. WIth the direct hit off 1st place, Hinata moves into the lead.

---

Takamiya Time

December 17, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3599

In S2-0, Takamiya is in 4th place and 6,900 behind 3rd place Mizuhara.

Takamiya starts out at 4-shanten with good value, holding a dora 5s and a red 5s double dora. Though the hand is expensive, the pair of 9m in her hand is slowing her down. In the first row, she does well to utilize both of the 5s and advances herself to iishanten with two pairs and a ryanmen.

However, she is not the only one at the table. To her left, Hinata is trying to help her own team rise in the rankings. By the end of the first row, she is also iihsanten. On turn 8, Hinata is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8p/red dragon shanpon.

Despite the value in her hand, Takamiya still has to stay relatively safe against the dealer riichi. Takamiya manages to maintain iishanten, but she loses a bit of efficiency for the sake of safety. Later in the row, Takamiya even goes back to 2-shanten, cutting her 9m pair to avoid discarding the 9p.

However, in the third row, Takamiya manages to pair up the 9p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. Late in the row, Hinata draws and discards the 7s and deals into Takamiya. With Takamiya’s 9p pair also being the uradora, Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000, moving Takamiya into 3rd place and Hinata into 2nd place.

---

Results

Game 107

---

Game 2

Straight Through

December 17, Game 2, E2-0

In E2-0, Shiratori is in 4th place and just 7,000 from top spot.

Shiratori starts off the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of south doras and a floating red 5m. Early on, Shiratori draws a 6m to connect to the red 5m. Sitting with a bunch of edge shapes, the only way that Shiratori can speed up the hand is aim for a manzu ittsuu, needing a 3m, 4m and 7m to make it happen.

In the middle of the first row, Shiratori calls a 123m chii, confirming his pursuit for ittsuu. With a 4m draw soon after, Shiratori gets to mangan tenpai and waits on a 7m penchan. A few turns later, Shiratori draws the 7m and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with Ittsuu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, taking the lead.

---

Sonoda

December 17, Game 2, E4-2

In E4-2, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 2,100 behind 1st place Shiratori. 1,600 in bonuses are in the pot.

Sonoda starts off the hand 3-shanten with a red 5m. In the first row, Sonoda quickly advances his hand to a potential iishanten on turn 4, but chooses to reject it to try and use the floating 5s dora. However, on his next draw, Sonoda draws a red 5p, a tile that would have put him tenpai and gives himself a potential furiten in the future.

On turn 8, Sonoda redraws the 1p, the tile that he threw to reject iishanten, and gets to tenpai. With mangan in sight, Sonoda calls riichi and waits on a 69m ryanmen. At the start of the third row, Sonoda draws the 9m and wins the hand. SOnoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus a riichi stick, moving into 1st.

---

Yu-sual

December 17, Game 2, S1-3

In S1-3, Yu is in 4th place and 5,800 behind 3rd place Hisato. Yu has been going the whole season without a 4th place and doesn’t want to start now.

Yu satarts out the hand at 2-shanten with a secured 8m dora. To keep all his options open, from ittsuu to pinfu to double south, Yu breaks his 7s pair from the start and goes back to 3-shanten. On his third turn, Yu draws a 9s to get back to 2-shanten. On turn 5, he creates a 25p ryanmen for iishanten. At the end of the row, he replaces the 9s with a 6s to create another ryanmen.

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

To his right, Sonoda is aiming for 1st place, needing any win to move ahead. Sitting iishanten and unlikely to fall into 3rd place anytime soon, Sonoda keeps moving forward. At the end of the second row, Sonoda calls a 456m chii and gets to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen. Unfortunately, on his very next turn, Sonda draws and discards the red 5p and deals into Yu.

Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+900, moving Yu up to 3rd place.

---

Sonoda Scores

December 17, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2101

In S3-0, Sonoda is the dealer and sitting 4,900 behind 1st place Shiratori.

Sonoda starts off the hand 3-shanten for a pairs hand with pairs of 3p, 1s and green dragon. With great confidence, Sonoda calls pon on the 1s within the first go-around to make the first move. A few turns later, Sonoda pairs up and calls pon on the 7s to get to toitoi 2-shanten.

In the second row, Sonoda draws a single 3s, then a second one, then a third one. WIth that 3s triplet, Sonoda gets to tenpai on a 3p/green dragon shanpon. Immediately after, Hisato draws and discards the green dragon and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Toitoi/Green Dragon for 7,700, moving Sonoda into 1st place.

---

Stealthy Shiratori

December 17, Game 2, S3-1

In S3-1, Shiratori is in 2nd place and 2,800 behind 1st place Sonoda. Shiratori starts out the hand at 4-shanten for both a standard and a pairs hand, holding pairs of white dragon and 6p. On turn 2, Shiratori draws an 8p pair. When the white dragon comes out, Shiratori skips it to reject the cheap hand. Being rewarded, Shiratori draws pairs every turn after. By turn 5, Shiratori is tenpai for chiitoi and waits dama on a 4s tanki. Soon after, Sonoda discards the 4s and deals into Shiratori. Though Shiratori wins with just Chiitoi for 1,600+300, the direct hit off 1st place puts Shiratori in the lead going into all last.

---

Results

Game 108

---

Intro | Standings