Game #11
U-Next Pirates
Akasaka
Drivens
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
Team Raiden
Riichi
May 13, Game 1
In E4-0, Sonoda is in 4th place approaching the halfway point of the game, but is just 5,200 behind 1st place Daigo.
Sonoda starts out the hand at a wide 3-shanten hand with a red 5m secured. By turn 3, he is alreayd iishanten and has added a dora 4p for value. At the end of the first row, Sonoda makes a 9p triplet to ge tto tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
To his left, Yu is iishanten with tanyao guaranteed and holding a hand worth at least a mangan. On turn 8, he fills in a kanchan and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman with his hand.
Both players have four winning tiles in the wall. On turn 11, Yu draws and discards the 2p and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,200 plus a riichi stick, just enough to move into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2140
In S1-0, Sonoda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons. He isn’t able to make a red dragon triplet, but he does make a 234m sequence at the end of the first row for iishanten.
As Sonoda waits for tenpai, Daigo gets to tenpai first and waits dama on a 3m kanchan.
On turn 9, Sonoda makes a 567p sequence to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5s/red dragon shanpon. Two turns later, Daigo draws and discards the red dragon and deals into Sonoda. With the uradora flip, the red dragon becomes the new dora and gives Sonoda his third-ever Ura 3 win. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Red Dragon/Ura 3 for 8,000.
Triplets
May 13, Game 1, S3-2
In S3-2, Yu is in 4th place, 1,000 behind 2nd place dealer Daigo and 13,000 behind 1st place Sonoda. Two riichi sticks and two honba sit in the middle.
Yu starts off with a 2p triplet and pairs of 4p, 3m and red dragons. On turn 2, he makes the 3m pair into a triplet, leaning a bit closer to an all triplets hand. With a 3s pair on turn 4, Yu gets to iishanten. If he can make one more triplet, he will be tenpai for a potential suuankou.
At the end of the the first row, Hagiwara discards the red dragon. Choosing to open, Yu calls pon and gets to tenpai on a 3s/4p shanpon, ready for a mangan if he draws his winning tile.
Immediately after, Sonoda draws the 4p, a tile that would have gotten Yu to suuankou tenpai. Though it’s frustrating for fans, they become relieved when Yu draws his winning 3s near the middle of the second row. Yu wins the hand with Toitoi/Sanankou/Red Dragon for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus two riichi sticks, coming within 200 of 1st place going into the last hand.
Escaping 4th
May 13, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4623
In S4-0, Daigo is in 4th place, 1,800 behind 3rd place dealer Hagiwara, 13,800 behind 2nd place Yu and 14,000 behind 1st place Sonoda. With a 2-han hand, Daigo will get 3rd place. If he wants to head higher, a mangan direct hit on either of the top 2 will get him to 2nd place, with a haneman tsumo put him all the way up to the top.
Daigo starts out with a nice 3-shanten hand with a connected dora 8s, as well as a 5m and 5p as part of pairs. On turns 3 and 7, Daigo makes pairs, shifting him towards seven pairs. On turn 8, he makes his sixth pair and has a choice between the 8s dora and the 3m for tenpai. The 8s dama would let him get a direct hit or tsumo to move up, but the 8s is unlikely to be discarded. Instead, Daigo takes the 3m tanki and calls riichi. A direct hit is enough for 2nd, a tsumo is enough for 1st.
During the ippatsu round, Yu gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 58m ryanmen. Any win is enough.
At the end of the second row, dealer Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m nobetan. If Sonoda or Daigo discards the 58m, Hagiwara will win and headbump Yu, causing the game to continue.
When Yu draws a dangerous 3p, he chooses to break his 3s pair. Right after, he pairs up the 3p to get back to tenpai.
On his next turn, he draws the 3m. Having a good wait and being so close to 1st place, Yu pushes the 3m and deals into Daigo.
Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 2 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick. Daigo finishes the game in 2nd place and Yu ends up in 3rd place.
Final Scores
Standings
With Sonoda’s 1st place, the Akasaka Drivens increase their lead to 156.6pts. It would have been much bigger if it weren’t for Daigo making the last-minute win to move from 4th to 2nd. Yu tried his best to get 1st place and close the gap, but ends up having a bigger gap between them and 2nd place over. And with Hagiwara unable to win a hand, Team Raiden drops back into the negatives.
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