Friday (September 26)

Table 1

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Table 2

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Table A, Game 1

Haitei

September 26, Table A, Game 1, E1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7002

In E1-1, Sonoda is in 4th place early after dealing into Shiratori in the first hand. He sits 5,800 behind 2nd place tie and 11,600 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori.

Sonoda starts off 4-shanten with a secured red 5s. The first row provides Sonoda with a second sequence and a strong 778s shape (able to accept the 9s dora), but he only has 4 blocks. At the start of the second row, he creates a fifth block to get to iishanten.

As Sonoda adjusts to improve shapes and waits, Nakabayashi creates tenpai for his own. At the start of the third row, Nakabayashi gets to a 6s tanki but has no yaku. He switches to a west tanki soon after, but remains dama (and also furiten), still searching for a better wait. In the middle of the row, Nakabayashi finally gets what he’s looking for. He calls riichi and waits on a 369p three-sided wait.

During the ippatus round, Sonoda fills in a 5m kanchan and chases on a 69s ryanmen. With either wait, he will have at least a mangan. Though he only has two draws left, there is still a chance. On his second draw, the very last tile in the wall, Sonoda gets the 6s and wins the hand. With that extra han from haitei, his hand gets a pretty upgrade. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Haitei/Aka 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus one riichi stick, pushing him up to 1st.

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Aka Ippatsu

September 26, Table A, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Hori is in 3rd place, 2,800 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 10,600 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Hori starts out the hand 2-shanten with a secured 7p dora and is just a 9p away from a full straight. Even if he doesn’t get that ideal 9p draw, the pinzu shape itself is quite flexible for finding a pair or making sequences. On turn 3, Hori draws a red 5s. On urn 4, he gets a 9p, putting him iishanten with a good chance at a mangan.

As Hori waits, Sonoda gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a red dragon/5p shanpon.

During the ippatsu round, Hori draws a 6p. With it being dangerous, Hori decides to sacrifice some value in the name of safety, discarding the nakasuji red 5s. Near the end of the second row, Hori draws another 9p. Though his hand no longer has ittsuu, he is tenpai. He calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

On his very next draw, he gets the perfect tile, the red 5m, and wins the hand. With the 7p also being the uradora, Hori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, moving to 1st.

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Yakuman Tenpai!!!!!

September 26, Table A, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9003

In E4-0, Shiratori is in 3rd place, 10,700 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 21,000 behind 1st place Hori.

With Shiratori’s first draw, it looks like he is poised for seven pairs, already having five of them. On turn 4, Shiratori draws a third 1s, opening the possibility of going triplets.

But, he is faced with a challenge early on as Nakabayashi calls riichi on turn 4 with a 47p ryanmen.

Lacking completely safe tiles, Shiratori pushes while using discard clues to make sure he isn’t too aggressive. On turn 10, he draws a third 1p. With two triplets and three pairs, Shiratori is now iishanten for a potential yakuman.

On his very next turn, he makes that third triplet. With tenpai, Shiratori calls riichi on a 1m/5m shanpon.

The hand is special in two ways. If he draws either of the waits by tsumo, he will win with a suuankou yakuman. However, if he wins on the 1m, he will also have the league’s very first sanshoku doukou, a yaku that has not been seen in the league’s 7 year history.

Shiratori faces off in a riichi battle against the player who got a yakuman on the very first day this season. With two tiles for both of them, there is a possibility for Shiratori to go to the very top or to the very bottom.

Then, at the start of the third row, Shiratori gets that perfect tile: the 1m. With a tsumo, fans (and commentators) yelled with excitement at this yakuman which also has a sanshoku doukou. Hitting the Ura 3 for style points, Shiratori gets a big 8,000/16,000 Suuankou plus a riichi stick, putting him right into 1st place with the second yakuman of the season.

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Yakuman Tenpai!!!?!

September 26, Table A, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10507

In S1-1, Nakabayashi is deep in 4th place, 14,600 behind 3rd place Sonoda and 16,900 behind 2nd place Hori.

Nakabayashi’s starting hand is incredible, holding triplets of east and 8m and a pair of the double south. Honitsu is clear, but the possibility of suuankou is also top of mind for fans.

On turn 4, he makes a pair of white dragon, putthing him 2-away. On turn 7, he makes a triplet of white dragons. One away from tenpai with a chance at suuankou tanki if he completes the souths.

On his very next draw, Nakabayashi pairs up the 1m. Just two hands after Shiratori won a yakuman, Nakabayashi is tenpai for one. If he wins by tsumo he will have a yakuman. On ron, he will have a baiman. He sits silently, waiting for someone to fall into a surprise trap.

Then, near the end of the second row, Shiratori darws and discards the south. With a face of disbelief, Shiratori stares at Nakabayashi’s scary hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Honitsu/Toitoi/Sanankou/Double South/White Dragon for 16,000+300. Shiratori’s yakuman win has been cut in half and Nakabayashi gets back into the game, moving into 3rd place.

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Ura San

September 26, Table A, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7003

In S3-0, Sonoda is the dealer in 2nd place. Though Shiratori’s yakuman would make it seem like he is untouchable, Nakabayashi hitting him with a baiman has brought the swan back down to earth. WIth Sonoda just 9,200 behind Shiratori, a dealer mangan is enough to move ahead.

Creating a 7p triplet on his first draw, Sonoda gets to 2-shanten with three completed groups. On turn 2, he gets to iishanten and is a 3p away from a 123p sanshoku. On turn 4, he gets that 3p and calls riichi on an 89p wait.

During the ippatsu round, Hori ges himself to iishanten. Sitting in a precarious 3rd place and having wide acceptance, Hori pushes. In the middle of the second row, Hori calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.

However, the riichi ends up being a donation. On Sonoda’s next turn, he draws the 8p and wins the hand. THough it would seem like a simple 3-han hand, Sonoda gets the surprise ura 3 hit and double’s the han value. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Ura 3 for 6,000 all plus a riichi stick, giving him a very strong lead.

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Results

Game 17

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Table B, Game 1

Aikawa Ahead

September 26, Table B, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11505

In E2-0, Aikawa is in 1st place after winning a strong White Dragon/Dora 3/Aka 1 hand to start the game.

Aikawa starts off at 4-shanten with a pair of dora wests. If she can call pon on it, she will be on track to get a mangan. With one in each of Nagai’s and Takaki’s hand, she can only wait for them to discard it. As she waits, she builds her hand to iishanten. When Takaki discards the west for hand efficiency, Aikawa calls pon and gets to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen.

To her right Takizawa is iishanten with a guaranteed good wait. At the start of the second row, Takizawa calls pon on the norths and waits on a 25p ryanmen.

A few turns later, iishanten Takaki draws and discards the 5m and deals into Aikawa. Aikawa wins the hand with West/Dora 3 for 8,000, her second mangan in a row and putting her at 41,000 after just two hands.

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Results

Game 18

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Table A, Game 2

For Yu

September 26, Table A, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10508

In E3-1, Yu is the dealer in 1st place, but being at 30,700 is far from secure. Two riichi sticks and a honba sit in the pot.

Yu starts off with pairs of 2m, 3m, 1s and south, but his hand has the flexibility to go the standard route as well. Within the first row, Yu already decides to go the standard route by breaking apart his 1s pair. By the end of the first row, he is iishanten with triplets of both 3m and south.

In the second row, Yu fills in a 7p for tenpai. He discards the 4s and calls riichi, waiting on a 7s kanchan.

Right after, Matsumoto chases with a 6p/8s shanpon.

Okada tries to join in the fray by calling a 345s chii for mangan iishanten, but discards the 7s while doing so and deals into Yu. Hitting the notorious ura 3, Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Ura 3 for 12,000+300 plus three riichi sticks, taking him to 46,000.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10509

Jumping to S3-1, Yu has been making quite a lot of progress with many wins and dominating the game. At this point, he is at 72,400 and has command of the dealership.

Yu starts out by making a pair of 8m on turn 2 to go along with his 5m, 6m and 3p pairs. Just like the hand in the east round, this one also has the possibility to go the standard route. He maintains the flexibility to go with either route through the first row, getting to iishanten for both by the end of it.

In the middle of the second row, he pairs up the 2m, but his stand is still intact for either route. On his very next turn, he gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 3m dora tanki.

At the end of the second row, Matusmoto gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p/green dragon shanpon.

With no intention of folding the hand, Yu decides to go for more points and calls a chasing riichi, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins. On Yu’s second-last draw, he gets the 3m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 6,000+100 all plus one riichi stick, taking him all the way up to 91,700.

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Results

Game 19

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Table B, Game 2

Uchikawa Expertise

September 26, Table B, Game 2, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7504

In E4-1, Uchikawa is the dealer and 2,200 behind 1st place Daigo.

Uchikawa starts off at 3-shanten with a dora 2m and a red 5s for value. The first row makes the 5s as part of a pair and gives the potential for an iipeikou in pinzu. By turn 5, he is 2-shanten with two ryanmens.

At the start of the second row, Uchikawa draws a 2p to create a 1122334p shape. He has to discard either the 4p for guaranteed iipeikou, or the 1p for a chance at sanshoku. Because the guaranteed value, Uchikawa discards the 4p for iishanten. However, he decides to discard the 1p when he redraws the 4p, viewing an increase in danger (thus making a 4p discard a bit more dangerous).

In the middle of the second row, Uchikawa fills in a 5m kanchan and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. Within the go-around, Takamiya discards the 1s trying to take a wider iishanten and deals into Uchikawa. Uvhikawa wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 12,000+300.

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Sticks

September 26, Table B, Game 2, S1-5

In S1-5, the pot is stacked after the past two hands went to a draw. With three riichi sticks and five honba, the next winner will get an extra 4,500 in bonuses. Sitting in 4th place is Takamiya, 17,700 behind 3rd place Miura.

Takamiya starts out 2-shanten with two red fives and a pair of red fives. On turn 4, Takamiya draws the red 5p, setting her up for a mangan. By the end of the first row, Takamiya has a perfect iishanten.

At the start of the second row, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. Within the go-around Miura discards the 3m trying to get to tenpai and deals into Takamiya. Hitting an uradora, Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 3/Ura 1 for 12,000+1,500, plus three riichi sticks, easily moving into 3rd place.

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Double

September 26, Table B, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8503

In S2-0, Takamiya is the dealer and 5,900 behind 2nd place Daigo.

Takamiya starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5p and a floating dora east. Pairs start forming for her in the first row, including a red 5m to create a pair. By the end of the row, she is iishanten.

At the start of the second row, Uchikawa is the first to tenpai and waits on a 36p ryanmen.

Soon after, Takamiya draws a 5p to pair up the red 5p and gets to tenpai. She calls riichi and waits on an east tanki, guaranteed at least a haneman on ron and a baiman on tsumo.

With the dealer riichi, Uchikawa decides to fold. Daigo, on the other hand, pushes. When the red 5s comes out, he calls chii and waits on a 25p ryanmen.

On Daigo’s next turn, he draws and discards the east and deals into Takamiya.

Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 18,000.

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Results

Game 20

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