Monday (December 23)

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Game 1

Riichi Battle

December 23, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2451

In S1-1, a fairly calm hand has led to a close game, with 1st place Hinata and 4th place Date separated by only 4,300. With 2,300 in the pot, a win here by anyone will be significant.

Date starts out the hand pairing up the east to get to 3-shanten. Unfortunately, it is the south round and the 3s penchan in her hand slows her down as well. In the first row, Date creates sequences to get to iishanten, but still holds the 3s penchan. As for her opponents, both Hinata and Sugawara match her speed at iishanten by the end of the row.

In the middle of the second row, Sugawara is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Hinata gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.

After pushing the once-cut red dragon during the ippatsu round, Date draws the 3s on her next draw. With the tenpai, Date calls riichi and waits on a 14p ryanmen. Within the go-around, Sugawara draws and discards the 4p and deals into Date. After Date’s hand explodes and she sorts it back together Date wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu for 3,900+300 plus four riichi sticks, moving into 1st place with exactly 30,000.

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Okada

December 23, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3099

In S2-1, Okada is in 2nd place and 7,300 behind 1st place Date. Okada still searches for her first 1st place of the season.

Okada starts out with a good 2-shanten hand with two red fives, but has a penchan and a kanchan to deal with. Okada spends the first round getting rid of her honours and the 3p penchan to improve the potential waits. By the end of the row, Okada is back at 3-shanten, but has a lot of potential for good waits.

With every single draw that Okada gets in the second row, she advances her hand well. By the middle of the row, Okada has a perfect tenpai and calls riichi on a 258s wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

On Okada’s very next draw, she gets the dora 8s and wins the hand. Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, moving into top spot.

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Date

December 23, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3601

In S3-1, Date is in 2nd place and 10,100 behind 1st place Okada. With a riichi stick and a honba on the table, a mangan tsumo would be enough for her to move into 1st place.

Date starts off the hand pairing up the 2s dora to get to 4-shanten for a pairs hand and 5-shanten for a standard hand. With a lot of stray honours and terminals, her focus at the start is to get rid of them as possible. As she does that, she pairs up the white dragon and the south for potential yakuhai outs. With a white dragon pon at the end of the first row, Date gets to 2-shanten.

Getting a third south two turns into the second row, Date advances to a perfect iishanten. However, trouble shows up on the table when Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p/8m shanpon.

Within the ippatus round, Date gets to tenpai and waits on a 69p ryanmen. Since Date is earlier in turn order, Date would win in a headbump scenario.

Sitting in 4th place is Sugawara, desparately trying to help the team. As the turns go on, she advances, but the loose 6p in her hand spells trouble At the end of the row, Sugawara throws the 6p trying to call riichi.

At the same time, both Hinata and Date call ron, but only Date has the pleasure of winning. Date wins the hand with White Dragon/South/Dora 2 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks. Because of the riichi by Hinata, Date has just enough to move ahead of Okada by 200.

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Secured

December 23, Game 1, S4-1

In S4-1, Date is 5,000 ahead of 2nd place Okada and looking to secure her second win in a row.

From the start, Date is 4-shanten with a green dragon pair, giving her a route to a faster hand. In the first row, Date builds six blocks and pairs up the red dragons to give her another potential yakuhai to go for. In the second row, she calls a 456p chii and a green dragon pon to get to tenpai on a 58s ryanmen. In the third row, Sugawar discards the 8s and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 2,000+300, getting the win and denying Okada her first.

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Results

Game 113

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Game 2

Monkey Magic

December 23, Game 2, E2-0

In E2-0, Sarukawa is tied for 2nd place and 1,300 behind 1st place Shiratori.

With Sarukawa’s very first draw, he is iishanten and holds a strong 258p three-sided wait, a secured red 5p and a pair of white dragons. Within four turns, Sarukawa improves the hand and then calls riichi on a 36m/white dragon wait.

In the middle of the second row, Sarukawa gets the expensive white dragon and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Sho-Rii

December 23, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4093

In E4-0, Shiratori is in 3rd place, 1,900 behind 2nd place Takizawa and 10,700 behind 1st place Sarukawa.

From the start, Shiratori is 3-shanten with a pair of dora 5p, including the red 5p. With the value in hand, he is guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Quickly, Shiratori builds a 47m ryanmen and fills in an 8p kanchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. Through the rest of the row, he simply draws and discards.

In the second row, Takizawa technically gets to tenpai first, but he waits dama with a yakuless 7p tanki. Two turns later, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, needing only one more han for a haneman. On his very next draw, Shiratori gets the 5m and wins the hand. With the uradora hit, Shiratori wins a bit Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 1 baiman for 4,000/8,000, catapulting him up to 1st.

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Takizawa

December 23, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3602

In S3-0, Takizawa is in 3rd place, 15,600 behind 2nd place dealer Sarukawa and 19,900 behind 1st place Shiratori. A good hand here could put him in contention for 1st place.

Takizawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with three ryanmens and a connected dora 7s. In the first row, he fills in these ryanmens while giving the possibility of a 567 sanshoku to form. All the while, Sarukawa tries for an aggressively fast hand, calling pon on the south and red dragon. By the middle of the second row, both players are iishanten. Near the end of the first row, Takizawa draws the 7p to secure sanshoku and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen.

Though Sarukawa is iishanten, he isn’t able to draw the right tiles. Okada, on the other hand, is getting the right tiles, giving her a chance to make a comeback. In the middle of the third row, Okada draws the perfect tile to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147s three-sided wait, wanting the dora 7s for a mangan. Unfortunately, she ends up drawing the 3m on her ippatsu draw and deals into Takizawa.

Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000, putting Takizawa within range of the top.

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Shiratori Streak

December 23, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4094

In S4-0, Shiratori is in 1st place, but is within range of both Sarukawa and Takizawa. Winning here would give Shiratori his fourth win in a row.

From the start, Shiratori is 2-shanten with two dora 8p and a clear path to tanyao. On turn 2, he pairs up the 2p and advances to iishanten. Before the first row is done, Shiratori calls pon on the 2p and gets to tenpai on a 69p ryanmen, only allowed to win on the 6p. With two turns, Sarukawa discards the 6p and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Results

Game 114

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