Tuesday (January 21)

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Game 1

Ura 3!!!

January 21, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2107

In E2-0, Sonoda is in the lead after winning the very first hand of the game.

With Sonoda’s first draw, he gets the red 5p to create a triplet and gets to iishanten. On his very next turn, he fills in a 4s kanchan to get to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8p/west shanpon.

Within seconds, Shibukawa breaks his west pair trying to be safe and deals into Sonoda. WIth the uradora flip, the south is the uradora indicator, making the three wests in Sonoda’s winning hand into uradora. Sonoda wins the hand (before the table is done shuffling) with Riichi/Ippatsu/West/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 12,000.

For the first time in his more than six years in M-League, Sonoda finally has an Ura 3 to his name.

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Nanba Rebound

January 21, Game 1, E3-1

In E3-1, Shibukawa is the dealer in 4th place after dealing into a haneman two hands ago. He has made a little bit of ground in the previous hand, but he still neds more.

Shibukawa starts out the hand by creating a white dragon triplet to get to 3-shanten. However, he only has firm blocks in his hand, meaning that he still has some building to do. To his left, Hagiwara is 3-shanten with four ryanmens in hand, almost guaranteeing him pinfu. Int he first row, both players advance to iishanten, Shibukawa with a 567 sanshoku chance and Hagiwara with a likely mangan.

At the start of the second row, Hagiwara is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Shibukawa fills in a 6p kanchan and waits dama on a 58m ryanmen, hoping to catch someone off guard with the safe 8m against Hagiwara. After two turns of being dama and seeing his opponents pushing, Shibukawa decides to just call a tsumogiri riichi. If he wins off the 5m, he will have a haneman.

In the middle of the third row, Shibukawa draws the 8m and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/White Dragon/Aka 2 for 8,000+300.

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Sanshoku

January 21, Game 1, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3605

In E3-2, Date is in 3rd place, 7,400 behind 2nd place dealer Shibukawa and 13,500 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Date’s starting hand is incredible with a chance for a double riichi. She doesn’t get it with her first draw, but the iishanten is still quite strong. On turn 2, she draws a 7m to create a potential 369m three-sided wait and a potential 678 sanshoku. A turn later, Date draws a 3m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s nobetan. If she draws the 5s herself, she will have haneman.

Near the end of the second row, Date gets the 5s and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+200/6,000+200, moving into 1st place.

Dama Ken

January 21, Game 1, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2108

In E4-1, Sonoda has a narrow 2,900 lead over 2nd place Date after winning the previous hand.

Sonoda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a secured red 5m and a route to tanyao. On turn 2, Sonoda creates a 456m sequence to get to iishanten. On turn 3, Sonoda draws a red 5p to give the potential for a 456 sanshoku, needing to get the 4p and fill in the 5s kanchan.

At the start of the second row, Sonoda draws the 4p and stays dama on a 5s kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. At the end of the row, Hagiwara discards the 5s trying to call riichi and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 2 for 12,000+300.

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Pairs

January 21, Game 1, E4-4

In E4-4, Date is back in 2nd place and chasing after dealer Sonoda who is 19,200 ahead of her.

Date starts out the hand with pairs of north, 5m (including the red 5m), 8m and 4p, putting her 2-shanten for chiitoi. Both Hagiwara to her right and Shibukawa across from her are also 2-shanten. On turn 3, both Hagiwara and Shibukawa gets to iishanten, while it takes Date an extra turn to get there.

On turn 5, Shibukawa is the first to tenpai and waits dama on a 5s kanchan.

On turn 8, Date draws her sixth pair and calls riichi on a 9m tanki.

Near the end of the second row, Hagiwara joins in and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. Sitting furiten, he can only win by tsumo. But, it also means that any win will give him at least a mangan.

With the two riichi calls on the table, Shibukawa decides to fold with his weak wait.

In the third row, Date draws the 9m and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, cloding the gap on Sonoda.

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Raiden Return

January 21, Game 1

In S3-1, Hagiwara is in 4th place and 18,600 behind 3rd place Shibukawa. Hagiwara has only two hands in order to move up in rank.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 3-shanten with pairs of red dragon and south, as well as a secured 8m dora. In the first row, Hagiwara shifts to a manzu honitsu and pairs up the green dragon. No matter how he gets to tenpai, he will have at least a mangan.

At the start of the second row, Hagiwara calls a south pon for iishanten. With a 234m chii, Hagiwara gets to tenpai on a green dragon/red dragon shanpon.

Soon after, Date gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

Unfortunately, just two turns later, Date draws and discards the red dragon and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins the hand with Honitsu/South/Red Dragon/Dora 1 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5099

Moving to S4-1, Hagiwara is 8,300 behind 3rd place Shibukawa, needing a mangan ron to tie. If Hagiwara were to set his sights higher and aim for 12,500 ahead Date, Hagiwara will need a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 3-shanten with no dora or value. There’s no clear path to a mangan, let alone a haneman. To his left, Date is 3-shanten with a triplet of green dragons.

In the first row, Hagiwara tries to form value by shifting his hand to tanyao. In the process, he gives himself the possibility of a 234 sanshoku. On turn 4, Hagiwara gets to iishanten and needs a 2s and a 3m to get the sanshoku.

At the start of the second row, Date is the first to tenpai and waits dama on a 4s kanchan.

Right after, Hagiwara draws a 2s and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan. Guaranteed at least a 3rd place tie if he wins, a tsumo plus one more han will be enough for 2nd place.

With the riichi by Hagiwara, Date decides not to tempt fate and folds.

However, the player who is not folding is Sonoda, the dealer in 1st place with an insurmountable lead. In the third row, Sonoda draws the red 5m to get to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.

Right after, Haagiwara gets the 3m. With the uradora flip, Hagiwara gets his +1 and makes the incredible comeback! Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, enough to give him his eighth 2nd place in a row.

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Results

Game 139

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Game 2

Toitoi

January 21, Game 2, E3-1

In E3-1, Honda is the dealer in 1st place and just 1,200 behind 1st place Uchikawa. With a riichi stick and a honba in the middle, any win is enough.

Honda starts out the hand with pairs of 9m, 9p and red dragon, a good base for a triplets hand. When the 9m comes out, Honda calls pon. On turn 5, he pairs up the green dragon, then calls pon on it soon after. With a 9p pon at the start of the second row, Honda gets to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen.

Near the middle of the second row, Honda switches to a 5p/red dragon shanpon. With only the red dragons and a red 5p left in the wall, he is guaranteed a mangan if he wins. In the third row, Honda gets the red 5p and wins the hand. Honda wins with Toitoi/Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus a riichi stick, taking the lead.

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Taro Towards

January 21, Game 2

In E4-3, Taro is in 3rd place, 1,400 behind 2nd place Uchikawa and 17,600 behind 1st place Honda. If Taro can finish the game in 1st place with 49,200 or higher, the Akasaka Drivens will break +1000.0pts.

Taro starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a connected dora 7m. In the first row, Taro creates a 678s sequence and a 3s triplet, getting him to iishanten and needing a 6m for a 678 sanshoku.

In the middle of the second row, Taro draws the 9m. It’s the wrong side, but it gets him to tenpai and Taro calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. On his very next draw, Taro gets the 5s and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1 for 2,000+300/4,000+300, moving up to 2nd place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2109

In S1-0, Taro is now 6,400 behind 1st place Honda.

Both Taro and Takamiya start out the hand at 2-shanten, with Takamiya holding the slight advantage with a pair of green dragons, a connected red 5m and a secured dora 3s. When the green dragon comes out, Takamiya calls pon for iishanten. As for Taro, his first three discards are the white dragon. In the middle of the row, Takamiya gets to tenpai and waits on a 58p ryanmen.

On Taro’s turn, he fills in an 8p kanchan and gets to tenpai on a 2p tanki. With a lot of potential improvement, Taro stays dama. Over the next few turns, Taro switches to a red dragon tanki and then a 7m tanki. Surprisingly, Taro accepts the 7m tanki and calls riichi, securing the wait.

Even more surprising (or a gift to Zeus from the mahjong gods), Takamiya ends up drawing and discarding the 7m and deals into Taro!

Hitting the uradora as well, Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000, moving into 1st.

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Uchikawa Attempt

January 21, Game 2, S4-0

In S4-0, Uchikawa is in 3rd place, 14,600 behind 2nd place Honda and 14,800 behind 1st place Taro. With a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron, Uchikawa can pass both of them and win the game.

Uchikawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with some sequence candidates and a secured red 5s. In the first row, Uchikawa shifts his hand towards tanyao and gives himself options for pinfu as well.

In the meantime, Honda tries to to rush the hand with a lot of calling. With a white dragon pon, an 8p pon and a 678m sequence, Honda gets to tenpai on a 5s kanchan.

Soon after, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 457s wait. In order to get to haneman, Uchikawa needs to draw either the 4 or 7s and get one more han, or draw the 5s and get two more han.

At the start of the third row, Uchikawa draws the 5s. With the weaker wait, Uchikawa needs two uradora. Unfortunately, Uchikawa doesn’t get a single one. Uchikawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, finishing in 3rd place.

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Results

Game 140

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