April 6 (Monday)

---

Game 1

Semifinals Start!

April 6, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11055

In E1-0, the first hand of the first game of the M-League 2025-26 semifinals, both Setokuma and Tojo start out ahead of the pack, both being at 2-shanten. Within the first three turns, Setokuma is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 147s three-sided wait.

By this point, Tojo is already iishanten for seven pairs. During the ippatsu round, Tojo pairs up the 1m and calls riichi on a 1m tanki, guaranteed at least a mangan. Though Setokuma has a wider wait, both players have 2 winning tiles left in the wall. Two turns later, she draws the 1m and wins the hand. With her 2p pair being uradora, Tojo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Ura 2 for a big 4,000/8,000 baiman plus a riichi stick, a huge start to the semifinals.

---

Setokuma Start!

April 6, Game 1, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10057

In E3-2, Setokuma is the dealer in 2nd place and 14,000 behind 1st place Tojo.

Setokuma starts out the hand with a strong 2-shanten hand with both the red 5p and red 5m secured. On turn 2, he makes the 5p pair into a triplet and gets to a perfect iishanten, guaranteeing him a good wait. Despite this rocket start, his hand stalls, only drawing and discarding, trying to find the tiles to tenpai. Near the end of the second row, Setokuma finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 4,000+200 all, enough to move into 1st place.

---

Sasaki Start!

April 6, Game 1, E4-1

In E4-1, Hisato is the dealer in 2nd place, 8,900 behind 1st place Setokuma.

Hisato starts out the hand at 2-shanten, holding a pair of dora souths. On turn 3, he makes a souzu ryanmen and gets to iishanten. A turn later, he fills in a 5p kanchan and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Hisato draws the 9s and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 4,000 all, taking his turn in 1st place.

---

Katsumata Consolation

April 6, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, Katsumata is deep in 4th place with -4,300, being 25,700 behind 3rd place Tojo. Though he doesn’t really have a chance to move up in the rankings, he does have a chance to at least reduce the loss for the team.

Katsynata starts out with a 3-shanten hand with a secured red 5m, a lone 1p dora and a floating red 5s. In the first turn, he pairs up the red 5s and draws some floating middle tiles. With these middle floating tiles, Katsumata gets rid of the 1p dora to keep his acceptance wide. By the end of the first row, he is iishanten.

In the second row, he has a chance to take a 1m/5s shanpon tenpai, but instead breaks his 1m pair to try to add a bit more value. On his next turn, he gets the upgrade, adding both tanyao and iipeikou. He waits dama on a 5p kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, her draws the red 5p and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 3 for 3,000/6,000.

---

Results

Game 1

---

Game 2

Beast Start

April 6, Game 2, E1-0

In E1-0, Daisuke starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a connected red 5m and a floating dora red dragon. To his right, Hagiwara is at 3-shanten with a secured red 5s. Daisuke fails to move forward at all, but Hagiwara quickly gets to tenpai on turn 5. However, he waits dama with no yaku on a 2s/5s shanpon. As for Daisuke, he is 3-shanten by the end of the first row, with a chance at a 678 sanshoku.

Two turns into the second row, Daisuke gets to iishanten with a strong chance at tanyao. Within the go-around, Hagiwara decides to call riichi on the shanpon, hoping to add pressure on the table and win.

On Daisuke turn, he gets to tenpai and chases with a 25p ryanmen. At the start of the third row, Hagiwara discards the 2p and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick.

---

Hagiwara Highlight

April 6, Game 2, E4-2

In E4-0, Hagiwara is in 4th place, 5,700 behind 3rd place Takamiya and 11,000 behind 2nd place Uchikawa. A riichi stick and two honba are in the pot.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons and a secured dora 4p. Within the first three turns, he pairs up the yakuhai south and draws another 4p, securing another sequence and gets to iishanten. On turn 5, Hagiwara has a chance to call pon on the red dragon, but he declines to try and get a potential closed hand for more value. At the end of the row, Hagiwara draws a red 5p, adding yet another han and giving him mangan minimum.

At the end of the second row, Hagiwara calls pon on the red dragon and waits on a 47m ryanmen.

Two turns later, Uchikawa chases with a 3m kanchan.

After him, Takamiya (who was already tenpai but had no yaku) shifts her hand to have a secured 678 sanshoku and waits dama on a 7p kanchan.

On Hagiwara’s next draw, he gets the 7m and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus two riichi sticks.

---

Takamiya Time

April 6, Game 2, S2-0

In S2-0, Takamiya is in 4th place, 4,300 behind 3rd place dealer Uchikawa and 5,100 behind 2nd place Hagiwara.

Takamiya starts out the hand at with a pair of white dragons and has the ability to accept the dora 7m. Starting out at 3-shanten, Takamiya is unable to get any progress in her first four turns.

Meanwhile, Uchikawa is progressing well, being iishanten by turn 3. Before the row is done, he calls pon on the green dragon and waits on an 8m/5p shanpon. At the start of the second row, he improves to a 36p ryanmen.

At this point, Takamiya is still at 3-shanten for a standard hand, 2-shanten for seven pairs.

While the first row was a flop, the second row gives her hope. Three turns into the second row, Takamiya makes a 3s triplet and a 789p sequence and gets to a perfect iishanten. In the third row, Takamiya makes a 3p triplet and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. On her very next turn, she gets the dora 7m and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.

---

Daisuke Drive

April 6, Game 2, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11056

In S3-1, Daisuke is in 1st place with a strong 20,800 lead over 2nd place dealer Takamiya. A win this hand will end her dealership and almost guaranteed to win the game.

Daisuke starts out the hand at 30hanten with a connected dora 3p. After creating a 58p ryanmen, Daisuke completes a 234p sequence on turn 5 and gets to iishanten. If he gets a 4p, 7p or 1s, he will also secure sanshoku. At the end of the row, Daisuke gets the 4p and waits dama on a 58p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan, with a tsumo giving him a haneman. In the second row, Hagiwara discards the red 5p and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick, getting him to 57,800 going into his final dealership.

---

Results

Game 2

---

Intro | Standings