Thursday (December 26)

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Game 1

Dora Triplet

December 26, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Takamiya is in 4th place, but is just 4,000 behind 1st place Kobayashi.

Takamiya starts out the hand at a very annying 6-shanten hand, but has a red 5s connected to a dora 6s. After spending much of the first row discarding honours and loose edge tiles, Takamiya transforms her hand to 3-shanten with three ryanmens at the end of the first row. At the start of the second row, she draws a red 5m to secure her pair and guarantee a mangan if she manages to win.

To her left, 1st place Kobayashi has already made progress by calling pon on the east and getting to iishanten. With a chii near the end of the second row, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 3p kanchan.

On Takamiya’s draw, she gets herself to a perfect iishanten. Two turns later, she makes the 6s into a triplet and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.

With the riichi by Takamiya, Kobayashi starts to fold, but ends up drawing back to tenpai, waiting on a furiten 25m ryanmen. However, on his next turn, he draws and discards the 1s and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins he hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Hori

December 26, Game 1

In E4-0, Hori is part of a 2nd place tie and sits 5,400 behind 1st place Takamiya.
Hori starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but has quite a wide acceptance and has a red 5p secured. By turn 4, he is 2-shanten with pinfu on the horizon.

At the start of the second row, Hori has a choice to go for a poor 7p wait, but rejects it to aim for tanyao and a wider wait.

As Hori searches, Kobayashi gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan.

With few clues for safety, Hori keeps pushing. Near the end of the second row, Takamiya joins in and stays dama on a 58m ryanmen.

On Hori’s draw, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 147m wait. Just two turns later, Hori draws the 7m and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 8,000, taking the lead.

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Jumping to S1-1, Hori’s lead has now shrunk to just 400.

Hori starts out with a messy 4-shanten hand and lacking in good shapes and value. In the first row, Hori pairs up the white dragon and gets rid of his isolated terminals and honours to get to 3-shanten.
In the second row, he pairs up the 7m and fills in a 6s kanchan to get to iishanten. With a white dragon pon, Hori gets to tenpai and waits on a 25m ryanmen.

Soon after, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4s/east shanpon.

With a 4p pon to join her 678p chii, Takamiya gets to honitsu tenpai and waits on a 2p kanchan.

Wanting a piece of all the action, Genta calls a chii and gets to tenpai on a 7m kanchan.

On Kobayashi’s next turn, he draws and discards the red 5m and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,900 plus Kobayashi’s riichi stick.

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In S2-0, Hori is now the dealer and starts out 2-shanten with a secured red 5p and a connected 8m dora. Though he has a 1m pair, he can speed up the hand with ittsuu, needing only a 3p and 9p to get it done. At the end of the first row, Hori calls a 123p chii. Soon after he completes a 789m sequence and waits on a 369p wait. though, wide, he is only allowed to win on the 9p.

Within the go-around Kobayashi discards the 9p and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Ittsuu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,800.

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Kobayashi Counter

December 26, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5603

In S3-0, Kobayashi is in 4th place and 14,300 behind 3rd place Genta.
Kobayashi starts out the hand with pairs of west, 2s, 9s and green dragon, putting him 2-shanten for a seven pairs and 3-shanten for a standard hand. In the first row, Kobayashi makes a 9s triplet and draws a red 5p, letting him go either way.

In the second row, he makes the green dragons into a triplet and creates a 567p sequence to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a west/2s shanpon. If he can win by tsumo, he will add sanankou. All four of his winning tiles remain in the wall.

During the ippatsu round, Kobayashi draws a fourth 9s and calls a concealed kan. Though neither the kandura nor the rinshan help, it gives him an extra chance at uradora.

On Kobayashi’s next turn, he draws the west and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, his west triplet becomes dora and gives him a big boost. Kobayashi wins the hand with a big Riichi/Tsumo/Green Dragon/Sanankou/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 4,000/8,000, rocketing him up to 3rd place.

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Takamiya Two

December 26, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3603

In S4-1, Takamiya is in 3rd place, 4,200 behind 2nd place dealer Kobayashi and 13,700 behind 1st place Hori. Though 2nd place is simple enough with any 3-han hand, 1st place is a bigger challenge, needing a mangan direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron.

Takamiya starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a loosely connected red 5p and a triplet of 1p. The value is decent, but not quite enough for 2nd place. The first row is a battle between Takamiya and Kobayashi. Early on Kobayashi calls pon on the north and the 9s to go for a souzu honitsu. For Takamiya, she makes a 4m triplet to add potential fu and maybe even a triplet-based hand.

At the end of Kobayashi’s first row, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 25s ryanmen.

On Takamiya’s draw, she makes a pair of 1m to go with her 2m pair. She breaks her 57p block in favour of a more flexible 67s block, though she does lose value. On her next draw, she draws a 2m and gets to tenpai on a 58s ryanmen. She stays dama in hopes to have a potential yakuman and for the ability to control how she wins.

Right after, Takamiya draws the dora 8s and declares tsumo. Takamiya wins with Tsumo/Sanankou/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000, finishing the game in 2nd place, just 3,300 behind 1st place.

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Results

Game 117

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Game 2

Shibukawa Streak

December 26, Game 2

In E1-0, Shibukawa is playing for the Kadokawa Sakura Knights and is coming off of the momentum from Hori’s win the previous game.

Shibukawa starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured 2m dora. The first row gives him a 345p sequence and a 7p triplet to get to iishanten. In the middle of the row, he fills in a 3s penchan and gets to tenpai on an 8s tanki. With so many tiles that can improve, he stays dama and waits for something better.

Switching to a furiten north tanki, Shibukawa keeps waiting with the safe tile. In the middle of the row, he draws the perfect tile and waits on the very wide 23568p wait with nine winning tiles left in the wall. Surprisingly, the winning tile doesn’t come that easily. But eventually, in the middle of the third row, Shibukawa draws the 2p and wins the hand. With the 2p being the uradora as well, Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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In E2-0, Shibukawa starts off with a strong 3-shanten with pairs of east and white dragon, as well as a connected red 5m. Early on, Shibukawa calls pon on the white dragon, then draws an 8m on his next draw. WIth a flush in sight, Shibukawa takes a step back and drops his 6s pair. After calling pon on the white dragon and drawing a third 8m, Shibukawa gets to iishanten.

With a 7m draw at the end of the first row, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on a strong 479m wait. Just two turns later, Yu draws and discards a 4m and deals into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins the hand with Honitsu/East/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 8,000, his second mangan in a row.

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In E3-0, Shibukawa starts with a clear tanyao 3-shanten with a red 5p as part of a 5p triplet. Just three turns into the hand, Shibukawa is iishanten with iipeikou in the mix. However, he will need a 6p to confirm tanyao. At the end of the row, Shibukawa gets the 6p and waits dama on a 5m kanchan.

Near the middle of the second row, Shibukawa draws the red 5m and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000, his third mangan in a row and putting him just 1,000 away from 50,000.

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Hisato Highlight

December 26, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3604

In S3-0, Hisato is the dealer in 2nd place, 21,600 behind 1st place Shibukawa.

With the direct hit off 1st place, Hisato moves to the top in one fell swoop. Hisato starts out the hand at 2-shanten with two secured red fives. With one more han, he can get a mangan. On turn 5, he fills in a 3p kanchan to get to iishanten. In the second row, Hisato completes a sequence to secure pinfu and tanyao and gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen. He stays dama, hoping to hit someone with a surprise mangan.

In the middle of the second row, Shibukawa discards the 3m and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 2 for 12,000. With the direct hit off 1st place, Hisato ascents to the top.

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Furiten Doesn’t Matter

December 26, Game 2, S4-2

In S2-2, the scores are close at the top with 1st place Hisato and 2nd place Shibukawa separated by only 400. Two riichi sticks and two honba sit in the pot.

With Hisato start at 2-shanten and Shibukawa at 3-shanten, Hisato has the slight advantage at the start. Through the first row, both players advance well and get to iishanten before the row is done, but Hisato has the cleaner shapes, with Daigo joining them soon after.

Near the middle of the second row, Hisato is the first to tenpai and stays dama on a 69p ryanmen. Being furiten, he is only allowed to win by tsumo.

Since Hisato is slowed down by the furiten, his opponents have time to improve. In the middle of the third row Daigo calls a 456s chii and gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen. Though a 6m ron off Hisato or Shibukawa would move him into 2nd place, no wining tiles remain in the wall.

On Shibukawa’s turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.

Hisato watches as Shibukawa throws the 9p as his riichi tile, unable to call ron. However, in a surprising turn of events, Hisato manages to draw the 6p and wins the hand! Hisato wins with Tsumo/Aka 1 for 700+200/1,300+200 plus three riichi sticks, finishing the game in 1st place.

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Results

Game 118

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