Game #3
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
U-Next Pirates
Akasaka
Drivens
Team Raiden
Yu
May 6, Game 1
In E1-0, Yu is playing for the U-Next Pirates, hoping to get the team’s first 1st place of these finals.
Before Yu even gets his first draw, he calls a 567m chii, securing a red 5m and getting to 3-shanten. With a pair of white dragons, he aims for the yakuhai. After making some more connecting shapes, he calls pon on the white dragon and gets to iishanten.
Across from him, Kurosawa has a hidden north yakuhai triplet and a pair of red dragons. When the red dragon comes out, Kurosawa calls a rare pon for iishanten. In the second row, she calls a 456p chii and gets to tenpai on a 7p kanchan.
Back to Yu, he is iishanten with a secured red 5p. Near the end of the row, he makes a 5p triplet and gets to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen. On his next turn, he replaces the regular 5s for a red 5s, giving him all the red fives. In the third row, Kurosawa discards the 3s and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with White Dragon/Aka 3 for 8,000.
In E2-0, Yu is now the dealer and starts out 4-shanten with a connected dora 8s and a floating red 5p. The first row provides him with a a cool 369m three-sided wait and a pair of 8s dora. By the end of the first row, Yu is iishanten, but the red 5p is still floating.
On turn 10, Yu draws a 6p to connect the red five, shifting him to tanyao at the same time. On his next turn he draws a 6m to fill in the three-sided wait stays dama on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.
Immediately after, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 1s/west shanpon.
With the 4p being a safe tile against Sonoda, Yu remains dama. At the start of the thir row, Yu draws the 4p and wins the hand. Yu wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 4,000 all.
Dora Aka Ura
May 6, Game 1, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2135
In E3-1, Sonoda is the dealer in 2nd place, 21,800 behind 1st place Yu.
Sonoda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with three ryanmens and a connected red 5m. Teh first row doesn’t fill in any of those ryanmens, but he does create a 2p triplet to get to 2-shanten. With chances to make other triplets, Sonoda breaks his pinzu ryanmen.
At the start of the second row, Yu is the first to tenpai, but is waiting yakuless on a 5s kanchan.
On Sonoda’s draw, he completes a 456m sequence for iishanten. Right after, Daigo calls a 456p chii and gets to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen.
After building a 789m sequence, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.
Right after, Kurosawa is the last to tenpai and stays dama on a 58m ryanmen.
Four players are in tenpai, but only one player can win. Two turns after Sonoda called riichi, Kurosawa discards the 4s and deals into Sonoda. Hitting the uradora, Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000+300.
Ura Ura
May 6, Game 1, E4-1
In E4-1, Kurosawa is the dealer in the negatives, needing a lot of points to even get to 3rd place. She currently sits 34,300 behind 3rd place Daigo.
Kurosawa starts out thehand with an annoying 5-shanten hand, but there are always ways to build. Kurosawa discards honours and terminals, trying to be as flexible as possible. As she discards the red and west, Daigo calls pon on both of them, trying to go as quickly as he can. By the end of the first row, Daigo is iishanten and Kurosawa is 2-shanten.
At the start of the second row, Kurosawa advances to iishanten and is just a 3p away from a 123p iipeikou. A turn later, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on that 3p penchan.
With Kurosawa’s discarded 5s, Daigo calls a 567s chii and gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.
With the chii, the winning 3p is shifted away from Kurosawa, but moves to Daigo. Wanting to keep tenpai, Daigo, discards the 3p and deals into Kurosawa. With her 4s pair also being the uradora, Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Iipeikou/Ura 2 for 12,000+300. With the direct hit, Kurosawa gets to within 9,700 of Daigo.
MVP Power
May 6, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2995
In E4-2, Daigo is down in 3rd place after being hit by a dealer mangan. He sits 20,000 behind 2nd place Daigo.
Daigo starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a connected dora 3m and two ryanmens. The first few turns quickly fill in these ryanmens and gets him to iishanten. With a 2344m block, Daigo wants an additional 3m for value and a ryanmen. At the end of the row, he gets that 3m and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen, wanting the 2m for iipeikou.
On Daigo’s very next turn, he draws the 5m and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2 for 3,000+200/6,000+200.
In S1-0, Daigo is now the dealer, sitting 4,200 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 12,700 behind 1st place Yu.
Daigo starts out with a very strong 3-shanten hand with two ryanmens and a connected red 5m. He fills in one of them and creates another in the first row, getting to iishanten with pinfu guaranteed at the end of the first row.
In the middle of the second row, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen, wanting the dora 6s for tanyao and additional value. If he draws it himself, he will have a dealer haneman. At the end of the second row, Yu discards the 9s trying to keep iishanten and deals into Daigo. With an uradora, Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000. With the hit off 1st place, Daigo moves up to 1st place.
Sono-damaten
May 6, Game 1, S1-1
In S1-1, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 7,800 behind 1st place Daigo.
Sonoda starts out the hand filling in a 6p kanchan to get to 2-shanten. With a pair of 8p dora, he has good value for moving up. He does have to fill in a 7m and 3s kanchan to advance, though. On turn 2, Sonoda draws a third 8p to get to iishanten. At the end of the first row, he fills in the 3s kanchan and waits dama on a 7m kanchan, guaranteed a mangan if he wins.
Two turns later, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, wanting the 6s for a mangan.
With Kurosawa’s riichi stick, Daigo calls chii trying to advance. He discards the 7m and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3 for 8,000+300 plus a riichi stick, moving up to 1st place.
MVP Power, Part 2
May 6, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4619
In S2-1, Daigo is tied for 2nd place and is 9,800 behind 1st place Sonoda. A riichi stick and a honba sit in the middle.
Daigo starts out the hand already 2-shanten with a strong leaning towards tanyao. As calls come from his left and across, Daigo waits for his tiles to come. With a 3p kanchan fill, he secures the 2p dora and gets to iishanten.
Putting pressure on the table, Kurosawa calls riichi at the end of the first row and calls riichi on a west/9s shanpon.
With the strong shapes and value, as well as having little chance of falling too far dow, Daigo pushes. Near the end of the second row, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. Two turns later, Kurosawa draws and discards the red 5s and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, enough to move back to 1st place.
Before Daigo gets his first draw in S3-0, he calls pon on the yakuhai west and gets to 2-shanten. A few turns later, he calls pon on the red dragon. Pairing up the 9m dora before the end of the row, Daigo gets his hand to mangan minimum. After forming a ryanmen and a sequence, Daigo gets to tenpai near the end of the second row and waits on a 58p ryanmen.
In the third row, dealer Sonoda tries to challenge Daigo with some calls. After calling a 345s sequence and a 3m pon, he gets to tenpai on an east/8p shanpon. He can only win on the east and he is furiten after discarding the east in the first row.
A few turns later, Kurosawa also gets to a furiten tenpai, but has a much wider 258m wait. Moreover, a 5m or 8m tsumo would be enough for a haneman.
On Daigo’s next turn, he draws the 8p and wins the hand. Daigo wins the hand with Red Dragon/West/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Final Scores
Standings
With Daigo’s convincing win, the Phoenix move back into the lead. However, Sonoda’s 1st place kept that lead to just 8.1pts. Yu gets the Pirates’ third 3rd place in three games and drops them a bit further from the top two. Kurosawa’s big loss drops Team Raiden into the triple-digit negatives.
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