Game #12
Kadokawa
Sakura Knights
Akasaka
Drivens
EX Furinkazan
U-Next Pirates
No More Ura San
May 14, Game 2, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5577
In E2-1, there is one riichi stick and a honba on the table while Kobayashi is in a 2nd place tie and 9,200 behind 1st place dealer Sonoda. While the U-Next Pirates are in a very good position with five games left to go, Kobayashi wants to make sure that there is no doubt.
On turn 1, Kobayashi fills in a kanchan to get himself to iishanten. Not only are his shapes good, he also has two red fives for value. However, the dealer Sonoda is also in a good position, getting to iishanten on turn 2. On turn 3, Sonoda is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.
On turn ippatsu round, Kobayashi gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 1m/9p shanpon. Though ryanmens are typically better than shanpons, they actually both have three tiles left in the wall by the end of the ippatsu round. On turn 8, Kobayashi picks up the 8p and wins the hand. As Kobayashi flips the uradora, the number of han he has almost doubles as the 9p becomes the new dora. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2/Ura 3 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus one riichi stick, a big hand during a big time.
Ippatsu
May 14, Game 2, S3-0
In S3-0, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 2,700 behind 1st place Kobayashi. With the Drivens trailing the U-Next Pirates for the championship, a win here would be a big step in the right direction. Sonoda starts out the hand with a messy 4-shanten hand with only three clear blocks. After getting rid of stray honours and terminals in the first row, his hand improves drastically. By the end of the row, he is iishanten with a triplet of green dragons and a pair of red dragons. Across from him, Kobayashi gets to tenpai first on a yakuless 5m/5s shanpon. With a good chance to improve, Kobayashi chooses not to call riichi and stays yakuless. Soon after. Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a red dragon/2p shanpon. On his very next draw, Sonoda gets the red dragon and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Green Dragon/Red Dragon for 2,000/4,000, reclaiming 1st place.
Ura Ura
May 14, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5578
In S4-0, Kobayashi is the last dealer and trailing Sonoda by 7,300. The last dealership is the time to go.
Like many of his hands before, Kobayashi’s starting hand is strong at 2-shanten with a pair of norths and a floating green dragon. If he can get the 2s, he will also add a 234s iipeikou to his hand. On turn 3, he gets the 2s and drops the green dragon, trying to maximize his tenpai chances. On turn 4, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2m kanchan.
With no safety and sitting at 2-shanten, Sonoda just pushes his hand. On turn 7, he fills in a ryanmen to get to iishanten. Two turns later, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
Counting tiles, there is one of each tile in the wall, giving Sonoda double the chance of winning. However, this is mahjong. Near the end of the second row, Sonoda draws and discards the last 2m and deals into Kobayashi. Flipping the uradora, Kobayashi’s two 3s becomes dora and instantly upgrades his hand to a mangan. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Iipeikou/Ura 2 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, an incredible direct hit on a rival.
Final Scores
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p258
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1790392284997144914
Standings
With uradora on his side, Kobayashi was able to get a big 1st place to further extend the Pirates’ lead. They now sit 365.8pts ahead of the next team, a very difficult slope to overcome with four games left. For the 2nd place Akasaka Drivens, they extend their lead over the other two thanks to Sonoda’s animated fighting spirit. Hori’s loss puts the Kadokawa Sakura Knights into 4th overall. However, both they and EX Furinkazan are still within range of 2nd place, needing only a single good game to get there.
And that’s all for today! If these were the finals of the olden days, this would be the end. But we are in the future! We still have two more game days left and the standings can still change. How will the standings end up? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
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