Game #12
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
Team Raiden
U-Next Pirates
Akasaka
Drivens
Like A Phoenix
May 13, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4624
In E1-0, Kayamori is the starting dealer and trying to close the huge gap on the Akasaka Drivens.
Kayamori starts out the hand at 3-shanten with three ryanmens. In the first row, Kayamori makes a 567s sequence and a 4p triplet to get to iishanten.
As she looks to fill in her remaining ryanmens, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
With Kayamori’s good waits, she pushes a dangerous white dragon. At the end of the second row, Kayamori draws a fourth 4p and calls a concealed kan. As a big surprise, the 4p becomes the new dora and sets her up with mangan minimum. In the third row, she fills in a 456m sequence and gets to tenpai on a 3s tanki. On her very next turn, she draws the 3s and wins the hand. Kayamori wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 4 for a big 6,000 all plus a riichi stick start.
In E1-1, Kayamori again starts out 3-shanten, but only has one three-sided wait. The first few turns fill in a 5s kanchan (with the red 5s), a 3p penchan, and a 47m ryanmen. Though she has a chance to take a 3m dora penchan, Kayamori instead breaks that 12m block to hedge a better wait and a potential 456 sanshoku. She starts this breaks with a 1m discard.
At the start of the second row, Kayamori draws the 3m. It would have been a win for her, but she can’t look back now. Taking the risk, she calls riichi and waits on a furiten 147m three-sided win.
In the second row, Kurosawa also gets to tenpai, but is also furiten on a 69m ryanmen. The tenpai doesn’t last long as she folds when she draws the 7m.
As the draws go on, Kayamori’s winning tiles are being eaten up, going down to 2 winning tiles at the end of the second row. Then, at the start of the third, Kayamori draws the 4m and wins the hand. Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all, moving her up to 56,300.
Sticks
May 13, Game 2, E3-5
In E3-5, the past three hands have gone to a draw. As a result, Two riichi sticks are in the middle and the next winner will gain an extra 3,500. Kayamori sits with a huge 1st place lead.
Kayamori starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two ryanmens and a loosely-connected red 5s. The first row provides her a 4s kanchan fill for iishanten. At the start of row 2, she gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with tanyao guaranteed.
Through the second and much of the third row, she is unable to get that tenpai. Though, the same can be said for everyone else, all floundering at iishanten. Then, on her last draw, she draws the red 5m and gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.
On the very last tile, Nakabayashi has to discard. Seeing Kayamori discarding 4243s as her last four discards, it seems like she’s folding. With the 8p being safe against Taro and Kurosawa, Nakabayashi discards the 8p thinking it’s safe. With a ron, Kayamori wins with Pinfu/Tanyao/Houtei/Aka 2 for 8,000+1,500 plus two riichi sticks, getting Kayamori up to 65,800.
Ippatsu
May 13, Game 2, E4-0
In E4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place after dealing into Kayamori. He sits 7,500 behind 3rd place Kurosawa and 10,500 behind 2nd place dealer Taro.
Nakabayashi starts out at 4-shanten with a secured red 5p and a connected dora 7m. In the first row, he fills in a 2m kanchan and creates a 123p sequence, getting him to iishanten. At the start of the second row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
On his very next turn, he gets the 5p and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, instantly moving up to 2nd place.
Dora Aka Ura
May 13, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5130
In S2-0, Kurosawa is the dealer in 4th place and 5,200 behind 3rd place Taro and 17,900 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi.
Kurosawa starts out the hand at chiitoi 4-shanten (5-shanten for a standard hand) holding a loose 2p for value. To his right, 2nd place Nakabayashi is 2-shanten with a pair of green dragons in his starting hand. Kurosawa makes a 123p sequence to secure the dora 2p and a 456s sequence for iishanten. Nakabayashi gets to iishanten as well, calling pon on the green dragon for a secured yaku.
In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi calls a 567m chii and gets to tenpai on a 3p penchan.
Within the go-around, Kurosawa completes a 789s sequence and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
Near the end of the second row, Nakabayashi draws a dora 2p and switches to a 2p/2s shanpon.
Though Nakabayashi has taken one of her winning tiles, Kurosawa simply gets the red 5p on her next turn and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, moving up to 2nd place.
Ippatsu
May 13, Game 2, S3-0
In S3-0, Taro is in 4th place, 15,600 behind 3rd place dealer Nakabayashi and 18,800 behind 2nd place Kurosawa.
Taro starts out the hand at 3-shanten, but lacking in good waits and only has a floating 7m dora for value. Discarding mostly honours and a penchan in the first row, Taro gets to 2-shanten at the end of the row.
In the second row, Taro makes ryanmens to move towards a good wait, but fails to connect the 7m dora. As a result, Taro chooses to drop it in the middle of the second row for the widest possible acceptance.
After making a 345m sequence and a red 5p draw to make a pair, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. During the go-around, Kurosawa discards the 6s trying to call riichi and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000.
Dora 3
May 13, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Nakabayashi is in 2nd place, looking to win this hand to secure that placement.
From the very start, Nakabayashi has a triplet of the wests. However, it isn’t his yakuhai. On his very first turn, he pairs up the red dragons, giving a potential yakuhai option. On turn 4, he fills in a 5m kanchan to get to iishanten. At the end of the first row, Nakabayashi has five different tiles to get him to tenpai. Kayamori is technically the first to tenpai, but she has a yakuless 8m kanchan.
At the start of the second row, Nakabayashi fills in an 8s kanchan and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Taro discards the 8m and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3 for 8,000, securing 2nd place.
Final Scores
Standings
With a huge 1st/4th swing between the Sega Sammy Phoenix and the Akasaka Drivens, the incredible Drivens lead goes from 156.6pts to just 26.6pts. The big Phoenix win also increases the gap between them and the U-Next Pirates, now up to 211.0pts. Team Raiden continues to sink and is now 196.6pts from 3rd place.
And that’s all for the final Tuesday of the season! Just one more Wednesday break, then four more games will decide who will be the next champions. Will it be the Akasaka Drivens or the Sega Sammy Phoenix? Will the U-Next Pirates make the big surprise in the final four games? Will a miracle happen for Team Raiden? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
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