Shirinashihama Wataru (KADOKAWA Sakura Knights) needed 3,600 in the last hand of game 1 on table B. A stick and a 5,200 got him 6,200. Hori Shingo's dealer off the last tile of the wall took game 2, his eighth top of the season, level with Okada Sayaka for the most in the league. Round 35 was Sakura Knights' second sweep in a row: 148.6 on Tuesday, 152.7 on Thursday. They lead TEAM RAIDEN by 533.1. On table A, three-way riichi decided both games. Daigo Hiroshi (Sega Sammy Phoenix) won the first out of one. Date Arisa (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) won the second with a 12,000 out of another.
Game 1: Daigo (Phoenix) +53.7 on table A, Shirinashihama (Sakura Knights) +73.4 on table B. Game 2: Date (Fight Club) +57.6 on table A, Hori (Sakura Knights) +79.3 on table B.
Results at a glance
| Game | Place | Player | Team | pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | 1st | Daigo Hiroshi | Sega Sammy Phoenix | +53.7 |
| 1A | 2nd | Mizuhara Akina | U-NEXT Pirates | +10.2 |
| 1A | 3rd | Matsumoto Yoshihiro | Shibuya ABEMAS | -16.8 |
| 1A | 4th | Sasaki Hisato | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | -47.1 |
| 1B | 1st | Shirinashihama Wataru | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | +73.4 |
| 1B | 2nd | Asami Maki | Akasaka Drivens | +30.8 |
| 1B | 3rd | Nikaido Aki | EX Furinkazan | -34.4 |
| 1B | 4th | Ishii Kazuma | EARTH JETS | -69.8 |
| 2A | 1st | Date Arisa | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | +57.6 |
| 2A | 2nd | Suzuki Yu | U-NEXT Pirates | +6.7 |
| 2A | 3rd | Daigo Hiroshi | Sega Sammy Phoenix | -19.4 |
| 2A | 4th | Oi Takaharu | Shibuya ABEMAS | -44.9 |
| 2B | 1st | Hori Shingo | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | +79.3 |
| 2B | 2nd | Aikawa Megumu | EARTH JETS | +15.8 |
| 2B | 3rd | Sonoda Ken | Akasaka Drivens | -31.8 |
| 2B | 4th | Uchikawa Kotaro | EX Furinkazan | -63.3 |
Table A, game 1: Matsumoto's two riichi, Daigo's quiet top
Matsumoto Yoshihiro (Shibuya ABEMAS) won four hands worth 37,400 and finished third. He opened with a riichi that drew its winning tile on the last draw of east 1: riichi, tsumo, , , , red, , 3,000/6,000. He dealt 8,000 into Mizuhara Akina's (U-NEXT Pirates) riichi the next hand. As dealer in east 3 he chased Sasaki Hisato's (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) riichi on a 7m with two red fives and drew it: riichi, tsumo, two reds, ura, 4,000 all, 42,000. In south 1, second by 4,000 to Mizuhara, with Daigo Hiroshi (Sega Sammy Phoenix) dealer on 18,800 and Sasaki on 11,000, Matsumoto had two red fives again and , and a 5s to cut for a 4m-7m wait that was half a against Sasaki's riichi. , the hand couldn't . Riichi made it 5,200 on a ron and a on a tsumo, enough for the top. He declared, Daigo made it three riichi with a concealed triplet of the , and Matsumoto drew a 9m and dealt it to Daigo: riichi, , three dora, 12,000. The kinmaweb match report's point is that both riichi were declared on the same information, and the 9m that came later doesn't belong in the replay.
Daigo won four hands without dealing in, the 12,000 among them, and in the , 4,300 behind Mizuhara, a pinfu riichi that drew the red 5p for 1,300/2,600 and the top by 3,500. Sasaki tsumo'd a 3,000/6,000 in south 3 and still finished fourth on 12,900. M Data Lab's model puts the decisive hand at south 4, Daigo's 1,300/2,600, worth +43.2 to his expected score.
Table B, game 1: Shirinashihama from 3,600 down in the all-last
Shirinashihama Wataru (KADOKAWA Sakura Knights) had 57,100 after east 2. A riichi, pinfu, red 5,800 off Ishii Kazuma (EARTH JETS) in east 1. In east 1 with one he paired the dora south and pon'd it when Asami Maki (Akasaka Drivens) cut it from a hand of her own. On his final draw he drew the last 1m in the wall: open , three dora, 4,000 all. In east 2 all four players were , three of them in riichi, and Ishii dealt him riichi, pinfu, , red, two ura: 12,000. Asami's dealer turn in east 4 ran seven hands. In east 4 with one Ishii riichi'd on pinfu and a dora, Shirinashihama sat dama on a 2p-5p, and Asami drew the last 2s in the wall on a : double east, dora, red, 4,000 all. Three draws later, tenpai at the end of each, she added a riichi, tsumo, two reds 4,000 all with five honba and led by 6,300 on 55,800.
Ishii and Nikaido Aki (EX Furinkazan) traded the south round, and the all-last came with Asami 3,600 ahead of Shirinashihama and the other two 40,000 behind. Ishii riichi'd a hand, fishing for a and ura. Shirinashihama drew a third 1s, from , and with nothing to lose below him pushed a 4m, pon'd hatsu, and took Ishii's 1m: hatsu, , 5,200, plus Ishii's riichi stick, which on its own had made toitoi enough to tie. 53,400 to Asami's 50,800. Shirinashihama and Asami dealt into nothing all game, five wins for him and two for her. Ishii dealt in four times and finished on -9,800. The kinmaweb match report spends its whole length trying to define "verse", a word the Sakura Knights coach uses about Shirinashihama, and gives up when he calls the win "an advance on verse" in the interview. M Data Lab's model puts the decisive hand at south 4, Shirinashihama's 5,200 off Ishii, worth +34.9 to his expected score.
Table A, game 2: Date's three-way riichi
Date Arisa (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) was around 140 points down for the season before this game. The kinmaweb match report starts there, against five plus regular seasons in a row and three individual titles. She said in the winner's interview, as the report relays it, that she'd told Sasaki before the game he should play instead because her luck was bad, and that at home she hadn't wanted to play. She won the first hand, a riichi against Oi Takaharu (Shibuya ABEMAS), with two dora, that she tsumo'd for 2,000/4,000. Then nothing for six hands. Daigo took 2,000/4,000 with riichi, , tsumo and two ura, and Oi, dealer, took 7,700 off Suzuki Yu (U-NEXT Pirates), Yu from here, with two reds. Date led Daigo by 2,700 going into south 2 with three honba.
Oi, dealer, riichi'd first. Date had fixed pinfu with a 1p-4p-7p wait and a red five, and chased. Yu made it three. Oi drew the 7p and dealt it: riichi, ippatsu, pinfu, , red, 12,000 plus 900, 45,700. Yu, dealer in the all-last, riichi'd a on turn two on a dora and tsumo'd it, two dora and a red, 6,000 all, for second. Oi tsumo'd a west hand with three dora the next hand, which ended it with him last on 15,100 and three deal-ins. Date's two wins came to 25,900 and she dealt into nothing. M Data Lab's model puts the decisive hand at south 2 with three honba, Date's 12,000 off Oi, worth +43.4 to her expected score.
Table B, game 2: Hori's haitei haneman and a 300/500
In east 1 with two honba Hori Shingo (KADOKAWA Sakura Knights) started with three dora and a red and pon'd Aikawa Megumu's (EARTH JETS) . He kept the kanchan 2p, the one with two tiles left, over the other and drew it a turn later. When Uchikawa Kotaro (EX Furinkazan) riichi'd on a with one east and two dead 9p, Hori had a four-sided wait on seven tiles. Uchikawa dealt in: chun, three dora, red, 8,000. The next hand was Hori's dealer turn and the deal was bad. Aikawa drew the fourth dora and riichi'd. Hori, who had caught up on a kanchan 7s with one dora, riichi'd behind her. Sonoda Ken (Akasaka Drivens), with an in built around the dora, pushed a red 5s through both riichi to reach tenpai and declared a third after Aikawa's of east. That kan took one 7s out of the wall, Uchikawa drew another, and the last one came to Hori on the last tile: riichi, tsumo, , two dora, ura, 6,000 all. 54,100.
Aikawa won 12,000 off Uchikawa with an open honitsu and chun in east 3. The hand the report singles out is south 1 with one honba. Sonoda, dealer, had three dora in a concealed triplet and a hand one shape from tenpai. Hori, one away from a riichi on a three-sided 2-5-8m with 4p-7p alongside, chi'd an 8m instead, took a 1,000-point tenpai, and tsumo'd 300/500 to end the hand. Uchikawa's riichi, ippatsu, dora, red 8,000 off Sonoda in south 3 and Aikawa's 3,900 off him in the all-last settled the bottom. Sonoda ended on 8,200 without a win and Uchikawa on -3,300 after four deal-ins. Aikawa was second on 35,800, Hori first on 59,300 with four wins and no deal-in. M Data Lab's model puts the decisive hand at east 2, Hori's 6,000 all, worth +43.3 to his expected score.
Standings after round 35
| # | Team | pt | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | +730.8 | 54 |
| 2 | TEAM RAIDEN | +197.7 | 52 |
| 3 | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | +174.2 | 54 |
| 4 | Akasaka Drivens | +74.8 | 54 |
| 5 | Sega Sammy Phoenix | -35.1 | 52 |
| 6 | BEAST X | -105.8 | 52 |
| 7 | EARTH JETS | -181.7 | 52 |
| 8 | U-NEXT Pirates | -195.4 | 54 |
| 9 | Shibuya ABEMAS | -262.9 | 52 |
| 10 | EX Furinkazan | -396.6 | 52 |
The night by team: Sakura Knights +152.7, Phoenix +34.3, Pirates +16.9, Fight Club +10.5, Drivens -1.0, Jets -54.0, ABEMAS -61.7, Furinkazan -97.7. TEAM RAIDEN and BEAST X had the night off. Sakura Knights have 730.8 and three players above +200 on the individual table: Okada third at +337.9, Hori fifth at +245.6, Shirinashihama seventh at +221.0. The order from second to seventh didn't change. Pirates and ABEMAS swapped eighth and ninth, and the kinmaweb match report on game 1A notes the rule hanging over ABEMAS: the same four players missing the semifinals two years running means at least one of them is replaced. Raiden were off, so Setokuma Naoki's +503.8 still leads the individual table. Sasaki's fourth dropped him from sixth to eighth at +151.2.
| Team | Semifinals | Title |
|---|---|---|
| KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | 99% | 34% |
| TEAM RAIDEN | 74% | 9% |
| KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | 79% | 11% |
| Akasaka Drivens | 79% | 15% |
| Sega Sammy Phoenix | 66% | 10% |
| BEAST X | 43% | 3% |
| EARTH JETS | 40% | 4% |
| U-NEXT Pirates | 56% | 9% |
| Shibuya ABEMAS | 38% | 4% |
| EX Furinkazan | 27% | 3% |
By M Data Lab's count Furinkazan lost the most ground on Thursday, 34% to 27% for the semifinals. Phoenix are up from 60% to 66% with a top and a third from Daigo, and Sakura Knights' title chance is 34%, up six.
Three things to take to your own table
Price the fold you give up before you declare. Matsumoto's second riichi was right by the numbers: two reds and no yaku, a , 4,000 to the top, a 22,000 cushion over last. What it cost was the option to fold when the dealer made it three riichi, and that was the hand that beat him. Add the folds you can no longer make to the price of the stick.
Kill the dealer's hand when you lead. Hori was 26,600 clear of second in south 1 and Sonoda, dealer, had three dora in his hand. Hori chi'd into a 1,000-point tenpai from the wide side of a hand that could have been a riichi for 3,000/6,000, and ended the hand. The report calls it the stingy side of his game. With a lead like that, end the dealer's hand as cheaply as you can. The 12,000 he could take off you matters more than the 12,000 you might draw.
Recount the condition after every riichi stick. Shirinashihama needed 3,600 to pass Asami in the all-last. Ishii's riichi put 1,000 on the table, and from then on a toitoi-only hand tied for the top and anything with hatsu won it. He called the hatsu and took the 5,200.
Sources
Results and pt from kinmaweb's monthly results page. Hand-by-hand from kinmaweb's text reports for table A, game 1, table B, game 1, table A, game 2 and table B, game 2, and its match reports on Matsumoto's two riichi, Shirinashihama's comeback, Date's night and Hori's eighth win. Values cross-checked against jankaku's reports for table A and table B. Standings from kinmaweb's ranking page, updated November 12. Decisive hands, swings and semifinal odds from M Data Lab's odds page and its game pages for table A, game 1, table B, game 1, table A, game 2 and table B, game 2, rebuilt after the night's last game. The league's official highlight video for November 12 wasn't up when this went live.
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