Friday (November 28)

Table A

Table B

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Table A, Game 1

Dora Aka Ura

November 28, Table A, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9026

In E3-0, Shiratori is in 4th place, 5,800 behind 3rd place Nakada, 8,800 behind 2nd place Mizuhra and 12,600 behind 1st place Takaki.

Shiratori starts off at 3-shanten with a connected red 5m and a 7m. On turn 3, Shiratori creates a 7999m shape, a good candidate to secure the dora.

Across from him, Takaki wants to go quick. Having already called pon on the red dragon, he draws a red 5p on turn 5 to complete a sequence and get to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.

On Shiratori’s turn, he draws an 8m to secure the dora. A turn later, Shiratori completes a 345m sequence and has a chance to take an 8s kanchan tenpai. However, he chooses to pass on it with two 8s already discarded, choosing instead to keep a floating 7s and a floating 7p. On his next turn, he draws a 6s to create a ryanmen and calls riichi on the 58s wait, guaranteed at least a mangan.

Between the two tenpai players is Mizuhara, getting to iishanten during the ippatsu round on a closed honitsu. In the middle of the second row, she gets to tenpai on an 8p kanchan, guaranteed at least 5 han. During the go-around, she calls pon on the east. Her hand decreases from 5 han to 4 han (still a mangan) while widening her hand to a 69p wait.

Immediately after, Shiratori draws the 8s and wins the hand. With the 8s also being the uradora, Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, instantly moving him from 4th to 1st.

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Dora Aka Ura

November 28, Table A, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10528

In S1-0, Mizuhara is in 3rd place, 3,100 behind 2nd place Takaki and 16,000 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a red 5m in hand and two ryanmens. Very early, we see Takaki calling pon on an guest wind east, aiming for a honitsu or calling pon on the west at the very least. Even with this threat (especially with the 4s being the dora), Mizuhara keeps pushing. By the end of the first row, Mizuhara is at a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.

In the middle of the second row, Takaki draws a triplet of wests and gets to tenpai on a north tanki. Two turns later, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.

At the start of the third row, Takaki widens hi wait to a 2578s wait, but only a single 7s remains in the wall. On his next turn, he draws a dora 4s. Not wanting to throw the dangerous dora, she switches to a 245s wait. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall. Even worse, Mizuhara draws and discards that final 7s on her next turn.

On the second-last tile in the wall, Mizuhara gets the final 4p in the wall and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st place.

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Takaki

November 28, Table A, Game 1, S3-0

In S3-0, Takaki is the dealer in 4th place, 6,000 behind 3rd place Nakada and 13,700 behind 2nd place Mizuhara.

With another stroke of starting hand luck, Takaki has an iishanten hand with his first draw, holding a secured dora 3p and a floating red 5s. On his second turn, he gets a 4s to create a ryanmen. However, despite having five different types of tiles to get him to tenpai, he gets none of them. It is only in the middle of the second row where he makes progress, when he creates a 58p ryanmen to guaranteed pinfu and a good wait.

Across from him, 1st place Shiratori wants to keep the game going. Having already called pon on the south, he waits on eight different tiles for tenpai, guaranteed a good wait on all of them. Towards the end of the second row, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 25m ryanmen.

At the start of the second row, Takaki finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, he draws the 8p and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving him into 2nd place.

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U-Next Up

November 28, Table A, Game 1, S3-1

In S3-1, Mizuhara is in 3rd place and is just 3,800 from 1st.

Mizuhara’s starting hand is at 4-shanten, but the floating middle tiles and the 4567s shape show hope of big improvement. After discarding honours and drawing a second dora 4m, Mizuhara gets to 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row, Mizuhara draws a red 5p to create a ryanmen. Of note in this hand is the 2445m shape, crucially needing the 3m to get pinfu and tanyao (after discarding the 1m pair). Moreover, there is also the chance for a 456 sanshoku, needing the 4p and 6m for it to happen. While discarding her 1m pair, Mizuhara darws the 4p for iishanten. Two turns later, she draws the 3m. She stays dama on the 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. If she draws the 3m or calls ron on the 6p, she will have a haneman. A 6m tsumo will give her a baiman.

Within the go-around, Takaki discards the 3m and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000, moving her into 1st place going into the final hand.

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Results

Game 125

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Table B, Game 1

Asami

November 28, Table B, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7025

In S2-1, Asami is in 2nd place and is 2,500 behind 1st place Aikawa.

Even before Asami gets her first draw, Takizawa calls a concealed kan and makes the 4s into a new dora. When we do see Asami’s hand, she has two of the 4s. With her first draw, she is 3-shanten for a standard hand and 2-shanten for a pairs hand. By her third turn, she completes a 345s iipeikou and gets to iishanten. After getting to a perfect iishanten in the middle of the first row, Asami gets to tenpai at the start of the second row and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. If she wins on the 6p, she will have a haneman.

With Asami’s discarded 7p, Katsumata gets to iishanten. On the next go-around, she calls a 678s sequence and gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.

Right after, Takizawa discards the 9p and deals into Asami. With the 5s also being the uradora, Asami wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 12,000+300, holding a healthy lead.

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Aikawa

November 28, Table B, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11526

In S4-0, Aikawa is the final dealer and is 13,200 behind 1st place Asami.

Aikawa starts off at 3-shanten, but lacking in value. In the first row, she gets herself to iishanten, holding a 5m kanchan and a 2333p shape. The second row is a bunch of drawing and discarding, but at the start of the third row, she draws the 5m and calls riichi on a 124p wait.

During the ippatsu round, Katsumata calls a concealed kan on the 6p to break the ippatsu, but ends up making Aikawa’s 3s into a new dora. On Aikawa’s next draw, she gets the 1p and wins the hand. Hitting an uradora, Aikawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, moving into 1st.

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Results

Game 126

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Table A, Game 2

Ippatsu

November 28, Table A, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9027

In S1-0, Ooi is in 4th place, 600 behind 3rd place Tojo and 8,900 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi.

Ooi starts out the hand by completing a 3m triplet to get to 3-shanten. The first row’s main focus is getting rid of honours and terminals, with the exception of the single white dragon dora as a hedge. By the end of the first row, Ooi has a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with tanyao guaranteed unless he can pair up the white dragon.

Two turns into the second row, Ooi gets to tenpai, discards the white dragon and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.

Across from him, Nakabayashi is also iishanten. During the ippatsu round, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and chases with a 14m ryanmen.

When it comes back around to Ooi, he draws the 7s and wins the hand. With the 7s also being the uradora, Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, moving up to 2nd place and just 600 from 1st.

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Fu Fiesta

November 28, Table A, Game 2, S4-0

In S4-0, Nakabayashi is in 3rd place, 3,700 behind 2nd place Daigo and 11,100 behind 1st place dealer Ooi. For 2nd place, Nakabayashi needs a 2/30 direct hit, a 2/50 or 3/25 tsumo, or a 3/30 ron. For 1st, he needs a 3/50 or 4/25 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.

With Nakabayashi’s first draw, he pairs up the red dragon for a potential yaku, adding value along with the red 5s double dora. With just the double dora and the red dragon, he has enough for 2nd place. He just needs to move the 3-shanten hand along. On turn 2, he draws a third red dragon to secure the yaku, then pairs up the green dragon on his next turn to get to iishanten. Before the row is done, Nakabayashi calls pon on the 9s and gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.

At this point, his hand is 3/40, which is not quite enough for 1st place. To try to boost that score, Nakabayashi calls an open kan on the red dragon, upping the hand to 3/50, enough with a direct hit. A lot of waiting later, he draws a 9s and calls an added kan, upping the han to 3/60. With kiriage mangan, the hand is valued at a mangan. All he needs to do is draw the 4s himself.

As a result of the two kan calls by Nakabayashi, Daigo’s 3p triplet and south pair are now dora, giving him at least a haneman in value. However, his 344s shape is dangerous if he were to get to tenpai and take the ryanmen wait. At the end of the second row, Daigo does exactly that. Daigo gets to tenpai and tries to call riichi by throwing the 4s, only to end up dealing into Nakabayashi.

Nakabayashi wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000, finishing the game in 2nd place.

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Results

Game 127

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Table B, Game 2

Fighting Start

November 28, Table B, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8533

In E1-0, Takamiya is the starting dealer and starts out at an annoying 5-shanten hand. The first row does okay in giving her a pair of easts and some other pairs, getting her to 3-shanten for a standard hand and 2-shanten for a pairs hand. Two turns into the second row, Takamiya draws a third east.

To her left, Uchikawa is the first to tenpai calls riichi on a 3p penchan.

Takamiya is in a bit of danger with her 334p shape, but she ends up saving herself by drawing another 4p.

At the start of the third row, Taro calls a chii and gets to a 3m/5p shanpon, though none remain in the wall. On his next turn, he switches to a 47p ryanmen, but is furiten with the 7p he just threw.

Back to Takamiya, she draws a red 5s in the middle of the second row to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p/4p shanpon. Two turns later, she draws the final 3p and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Double East/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all plus a riichi stick.

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Results

Game 128

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